Currently and Open House Linky

Are you ready for some Farley!?! It's Currently Linky Party Time!

September?? I can't believe it! September is a special month for me... a quite emotional one, too. September 14th is my wonderful grandfather's birthday and we always celebrate his beautiful years together. He passed last May, which has been really hard on me and my family. Then, September 17th is my wedding anniversary!! It will be 2 years this year. Time is flying right by us. AND now that our anniversary is coming around, also come the baby questions... "Nope, not yet" I always say. THEN, my first and only nephew's birthday is September 28th. He will be 2! 2! He is definitely a terrible 2 right now. But oh, so adorable when he is. In case you caught that, my sister was pregnant for my wedding. REALLY pregnant. Full term pregnant. We ordered her dress 2 sizes too big and had it fitted to her the day before because there was just no knowing what could happen. I told her to hold him in until after the ceremony! lol. She did. And 11 days after that. He is a beautiful little addition to our family. Man, I'm all teared up just writing this. 

On to the next order of business (as I wipe away some tears)... The Open House Linky Party!!

Hosted at Teaching Blog Addict. It's a week long linky party to get to know you! Sounds fun right??
Monday- Meet the teacher...tell us about you and your teaching style
Well, you just found out that I am a little emotional this month, lol. About me? I am 27, I have been married for almost 2 years and I love teaching! This is my 5th class and I love everything about it. I love the excitement of the first days. I love the organization of the classroom. I love teaching new routines and the aha! moments that I see in my students everyday. It's such a rewarding job that we have. My teaching style is hard to describe. In fact, I don't think I have ever had to describe it so here's my attempt: I am firm but kind, organized and fun. I make silly jokes, silly faces and have a LOT of dance breaks with my kiddos. I enjoy my time with my students, I laugh with them, sigh with them and yawn with them. I try my very best to make sure that everyone is ready and present, and especially, benefiting from each lesson. I teach at a school that is full inclusion. Making lessons that are Universally Designed to meet each students' needs is a fantastic method. Time consuming? Yes. But worth it in so many ways. I love that my students are kind, welcoming and non-judgmental. I like to assume that it is with my guidance and modeling that they are so kind and helpful to their peers. It is easy to leave someone out because they are different but in my classroom, that is unacceptable. My classroom is structured and expectations are followed through. Does everyone get the same things? No. Why? Because everyone gets what they need. I know that. Students know that. Does everyone get the same attention and respect they deserve? ABSOLUTELY.
I love my job.

I love my iPods!

Are you a lucky teacher who gets to use iPods or iPads in your classroom? I am! I wrote a grant last year to get these babies and I actually won! I never win anything! There were over 500 applicants and I was awarded with 8 iPods to use in my classroom. I LOOOOVE them. I use them for so many different things but I will share all of their uses over time... right now I have to focus!
The first way (and the easiest for me) I have used them was as a small group activity. We all have the "morning meeting" or morning routine that gets build into our daily schedules, right? I use this time as an opportunity for the kids to play some games and learn! I started the "App Store" as soon as I felt they had the morning routine down.

First, I created this schedule...

Each iPod is numbered and each student has a different day to play. You can see that William plays on iPod number 1 on Mondays and so on.

Next, I downloaded some games. I work in an inclusive classroom so I have students with varying abilities. I make sure to get games that will benefit all students and specific students. I explain to students that they get to play 1 or 2 different games that will be fun and work best for them to learn. That's when this comes in...

I have lots of different games that will work and meet each students' needs. I chose 2 games for them and they get to choose to play 1 or both of the games with the time that they have, which is generally 15-20 minutes.
Then, I place their choices on the chart next to their name. I have to do this each day but it takes just 2 minutes and makes all the difference!

Now you can see that William plays on Mondays and he has his 2 choices next to his name & number.

This is a part of our morning meeting each day and practically runs itself. My only job is to change the games each day to meet the students' needs and make sure the iPods are charged (my goodness, this a disaster when they lose battery!).

Here is a list of my favorite apps to use. If you have some that you use and love, PLEASE let me know, I am always looking for more.

What to do for next time?
I am going to delete the games that I don't want to students playing quite yet. Too many pages of apps is very confusing! If you delete an app from the iPod/iPad you can always download it again through the AppStore, just don't delete it from your iTunes... then you're in trouble!

What to do for inclusion?
This lends itself nicely for all students. I make sure that there are an equal amount of games for all students to use and since they each have their own in such a small group, each has a different game to play based on their skills and needs. All students loooooooooooooooooooove to use the technology, no matter what it is.

Don't have iPods? I imagine something like this working with computers as well. My favorite sites are starfall.com and brainpopjr.com. Check out my Computer Groups Post to see how my computer groups are organized. 

Daily 5- Part 1

Hello All!
I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what the best first post would be but there are so many ideas that I can't choose one! Can you tell I'm excited to join the blogging world? I decided on... DAILY 5. I have just started the Daily 5 with my kinder kiddos a mere 3 weeks ago. I started it at this time because I wasn't sure if my kindergarten team and I would be using it for next year so I used my current kiddos as guinea pigs. I AM THRILLED! I love it, my kids love it, the parents love it, who could ask for more? I didn't follow the book's recommendations on how to begin the process because I had 1 week open to teach my kids how to do it before beginning so we just jumped right in.
I started by organizing their choices board...

Students make their Daily 5 choices by moving the magnet under their name.

We only have time for 2 rotations. We are all doing Read to Self first then moving to their own choice for the 2nd rotation. When we build our Read to Self stamina to 15 minutes... we get to choose white and yellow! Oh so exciting!

I Charts & Choices board

 Here are some action shots...

Stay tuned... I am going to try to figure out how to upload my posters and magnets to make them available to anyone who wants them. Let's see if this works...

Building our Stamina Poster      Daily 5 Magnets & Images (Clip art from Kindertastic.Blogspot.com)



I was thinking about what I could use my blog for and how it can help and I think I have figured it out. I work at a fabulous school whose philosophy revolves around full inclusion. This means all students of all abilities are in a classroom working and learning together. Students that have special needs, students who are gifted and students who are typically developing are working together to make our school as amazing as it is. Sooooo.... I am going to try to add tidbits of advice and reflection to my blog posts...here I go!

What would I change for next time?

*I am going to change my building our stamina tracker to a clock with just the minute hand. I have a feeling that will help the kiddos with time.
*I will make sure that the iPods have all of the books that I need on them BEFORE I give the iPod to the students! Avoid that headache! 

What to do for inclusion?

*With Daily 5 all of the students have their own book boxes with leveled readers in them. Pairing students for read to someone will ensure that everyone is participating at their ability level.

What did you think of my first post? Long right? Any thoughts or questions?