I am still in "Finally Done" mode- but this week's link up is Beginning of the Year Ideas, so I am going to get myself into that mode and share some ideas that I like to use to get ready for the year. It's good to start thinking that way. I'm linking up with Laura from Where the Magic Happens for Diggin' Into Next Year.
TEACH CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT.
I am going to start the year using Go Noodle . I didn't know about it at the beginning of last year, but luckily I found it!
YA-HOO. I posted all about Go Noodle here. I can't say enough great about it. It's a wonderful motivator and reward for the children. And fun. And free. Win. Win. Win. Win.
I am also going to start the year assessing with ESGI. I could say "obsessing" because I am a little obsessed with all that it offers.
Now, with the Class Management Tool added on, I can whip off my class lists- even name tags- with no problem- on top of getting all of my data.
The kids actually can't wait to come up and be tested on their letters, sounds, numbers... I am looking forward to using this from Day 1 this year. I posted about ESGI HERE. If you want to learn more about ESGI and to get a free 60 day trial of the software, click here. If you like using it and want to purchase the program, you can use my special PROMO CODEB1119 and receive $40 off your purchase for the first year. The price is usually $199 a year, but with the promo code, it will be $159 for the first year. I like that you can try it free. It really gives you a great idea of what you can do with it.
Dr. Jean and I got together and made some Kindergarten CCSS I Can Cards and activities for you to use in the classroom- free!
Each standard is written in "kid friendly" language, and is on a card that you can make into a flip book with a book ring to display as you work on that standard. Dr. Jean has posted over 80 ideas to go along with the Reading Standards (Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Reading Foundational Skills).
She has them organized by each standard. She is AMAZING. Yes she is. That's not even all- in August, she is going to have activities to go along with each Writing and Math Standard. This is such a gift. You can download the cards free HERE at my TPT store and get her ideas HERE.
Finally, I made a Back to School Prezi that is FREE if you would like it! HERE is the US version.
It is part of my Fun in Fall Prezi (which I also made for US and for Canada.)
Meanwhile- I'm not ready for fall yet!
Have a great day, and thank you for stopping by! I can't wait to see what great ideas everyone has for back to school! Here are the links for the rest of July.
Happy Friday! I am linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! Thank you for always hosting this, Kacey. I love it.
I had such a wonderful time meeting and learning from Dr. Jean this past week. She put on the best Professional Development workshop for our district on Friday afternoon. There was just a JOY in the room that hasn't been there at other PD workshops. It was fantastic. I posted about it HERE!
(My sweet teaching buddies and me with Dr. Jean in Tooty Ta mode!)
Friday night I was lucky enough to get to go to dinner with her and three other friends. We had such a great time. I, of course, have no pictures because I didn't want to be so annoying, star-struck, needy, rude- you pick. But I will never forget it. It's like the olden days when we had memories in our heads and not on the phone.
On Saturday, she put on such a fun concert for our Kids' Book Fest, took pictures with the kids, and signed their books.
I love the faces!
If you haven't had a chance to see her or go to a conference she puts on, GO! You will just be a better teacher- because she makes you feel like what we are doing- singing, finger plays, dancing, telling stories, AGE APPROPRIATE activities- are the right things. The children are not only learning all the while, but they are making memories while they learn. AND she will take one song and magically give you ten different extension activities that you can do with it. On her website she has so many freebies that are SO wonderful! Check out her Cheer Cards if you don't have them. Here are a couple of our favorites this week:
And OF COURSE the Firecracker Cheer!
I had used some of her cheers, but somehow some of them escaped me! Not anymore- we are cheering up a storm!
Next is... GO NOODLE! I posted about my love for it HERE. It's a FREE brain break site that offers calming, energizing, and focusing brain breaks. They include Olympic Track and Field events, Youtube video dances, sing-a-long songs, Zumba, yoga, calming activities, plus more.
Your class chooses a Class Champ Mascot, and each time you complete 15 minutes of brain breaks, he goes into a transformer machine and grows. It is magical. The children try so hard to do their best, concentrate, run fast, or sing along- because I may have told them that they think they may earn more points if they all participate and do their best. Magical.
They are twisting to warm up for the long jump!
Here is one little movement Youtube video that my kids love. I complimented one little guy on his very fast feet, and all of a sudden I had 34 VERY FAST FEET dancing away. Magical.
Cleaning up to Happy- Magical.
Sometimes this time of year, you need a little magic!
I wrote a post about practicing recognizing and writing sentences, AND using periods correctly. We had lots of fun, learned a lot, and only ate 6 mini m&m's in the process. Not too bad!
Angela, from The Cornerstone shared such a great tip, that I can't stop thinking about it. If a child answers with, "I don't know," she said that one simple phrase can get a child talking. You just say, "If you did know, what would you say?" This takes the pressure off of the child, and let's him/her answer without worrying about being right or wrong. I loved it! She also give some other possible responses.
I just want to remember that tip! And I also want to remember that it's OK not to know sometimes, and I just have to say, "Well, you don't know YET. Let's find out!" There may be a thing or two I don't know, so it's even good for adults.
My fifth one is just a sweet moment. This morning after morning work, these little guys finished up, got a book, and decided to go into housekeeping for a quiet spot to read together.
I wish some day, when they were all retired guys meeting for coffee at a diner, I could send this to them and say, "Remember when!" (My one little guy wouldn't even stop reading for the picture. It must have been a great book!) This picture also made me smile and take a moment to think how FAR everyone has come this year. Sometimes we get so busy trying to get them to learn more and more, we forget to enjoy that part.
If you have not found Go Noodle- FIND IT NOW. It is free. FREE! And fun as can be. It's a brain break site that the children cannot wait for and is so easy to use. I leave it up on the Smart Board all day. This post is just because I found it and wanted you to find it to. Go Noodle doesn't even know I exist! It's just a great site that I passed on at school, and wanted to pass on to you, too, if you haven't discovered it already.
After you sign in (so easy) and name your class, the children's first fun activity is choosing your Class Champ!
Your Class Champ will grow every time you complete 15 minutes of brain break activities. Every time we finish one activity, my class says, "See how many points we got!" You can see the level climb closer to that 15 minutes! (over on the right hand side in the picture below)
When you complete a level, the Class Champ goes into a machine to transform! It is perfect. The kids just love it. When your Champ completes five levels, he is full grown.
There are calming, energizing, and focusing brain breaks, so you can choose the type that works best for your class whenever you need it.
Here is what the page looks like where you choose your activity. Underneath each name of the activity is the length of time, so you can plan accordingly. I love that part, because if we have 3 minutes before lunch, I can choose one to fit that.
Maximo has lots of yoga and calming brain breaks to choose from. Air Time has lots of focus opportunities. We love Run With US, which teaches the children some of the the Olympic Track and Field events! A real Olympic athlete "trains" the kids before you compete.
My class was so serious and tried to do everything just right. It really makes the kids feel special thinking that a real athlete is teaching them.
Here they are twisting to warm up for the long jump!
I MAY tell the kids that we get more points if we all participate and try our best. I think that is what Go Noodle would want me to do. Boy, do they all LOVE it and try hard. Nobody wants to be the reason we don't get as many points as we can!
Go Noodle also includes Zumba songs and popular Youtube video sing-a-long songs like Let It Go, Everything is Awesome, and Happy. We played Happy during clean up time and I have NEVER had a better clean up. The kids tried to get everything done before the song ended and were singing! It doesn't get much better than that.
Oh and this song that is GREAT because you can say, see how fast you can move those feet! And then, if you happen to compliment one child on their fast feet, all of a sudden you see lots more feet go fast for compliments! Finally- you have some tuckered out kids ready to sit and work again. You can find some of these songs on Youtube, but these are all in one place- and you earn those fabulous points to make your little Champ grow!
The songs and activities are set up very clearly and easy to use. If you have some you love the best, you can create your own list of favorites.
Try it and have a ball! You will love it. We have had the rainiest spring EVER and have had lots of inside recess, so this has been such a blessing. Our first Class Champ (Tangy Bodangy) reached Level 5! When it grows up completely, Go Noodle emails you a picture to print out. We are hanging them up in the front of our classroom and seeing how many we can get.
Those 2 or 3 minute brain breaks add up- before lunch, after snack, during clean up, a few minutes before specials, or after they have done a great job with a lesson. Yesterday, during math testing for the older grades, the library was being used, so my kids were in our classroom for four straight hours until lunch. Then, after lunch we didn't have recess because of the rain, so it was all inside until we went home. Those are perfect days for some breaks. It was one of my favorite days, actually, because the kids just loved singing and dancing. My girls singing Let it Go from Frozen just about made me cry it was so precious. Even my boys love singing that one. They all know the words. It is so sweet.
I told all of my teacher friends about this site because it is really great. We are always hearing that children don't get enough physical activity, so this gives them a little more here and there, as well as some ways to calm down and settle.
