Weekly Reading Wednesday-Teaching with Intention Chp. 2

Welcome to the second week of the Teaching With Intention book study hosted by Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard.

I have to say, I am so glad that he chose this book. It's a very easy read, but it's so much more. It has really reinforced my thinking about making sure that my teaching and the activities I present have a purpose. I highly recommend this book to any teacher at any grade level. There are many things that can be taken away and applied to any teacher's classroom.

This week's hosts are

Melissa from Mrs. Dailey's Classroom,

Amanda from The Primary Gal,

and Latoya from Flying into First Grade.

On to my thoughts on Chapter 2: Defining Beliefs and Aligning Practice.

This chapter is all out one's beliefs about teaching, learning, and education in general. Debbie begins by writing about her beliefs, which in turn made me begin thinking about my beliefs. Of course, I have my beliefs about education, but sometimes I feel like I lose track of my beliefs because it gets so busy. We have state mandates, district mandates, school/principal mandates, and sometimes if feels like my own professional thoughts get a little lost in there. Debbie suggest actually posting your beliefs in your classroom…I love that thought! I have a little window into my closet/office (cloffice if you will) behind my "hub" (teacher table/desk area). I think it is a perfect place to post these beliefs so that I can just look up and remind myself of them whenever I feel the need. YAY!

So you might be asking, "Well, Laura, what are your beliefs?" Debbie says that it took her about a year to really chisel out her beliefs, so I don't want to say that these beliefs of mine are set in stone. Over the next year, I plan to really focus on them and maybe change the wording a bit to get them exactly the way I want them, but for now…here they are:

1. I believe that every student is a learner and it is my responsibility to facilitate their learning. I believe that giving students choices in their learning helps them to take ownership of it allowing me to be only a facilitator or a "guide on the side."

2. I believe that students learn best by collaborating and working with others. They often learn just as much, if not more, from their classmates than from me.

3. I believe that everything I do and say helps mold my students into who they are and who they will become.

4. I believe that assessment should guide my instruction.

5. I believe in purposeful and authentic learning activities including as many real world applications as possible. I believe that the more students can connect their learning to their lives, the more they will take away.

6. I believe that students retain more of their learning when many styles of learning are incorporated into the lesson.

Now that I have (roughly) defined my beliefs, I must align my classroom practices with them. This means everything…like EVERYTHING! My work is cut out for me, that is for sure. My goal this summer, and this school year, will be to closely examine each piece of my classroom practices to be sure they align with my beliefs about teaching and learning.  As Debbie says, "Nothing is sacred."

Of course, I expect to find practices in my classroom that don't align with my beliefs. My job then is to decide whether my belief or the practice itself flawed, and whether I need to change my belief or change the practice. I know this won't be easy, but I'm really looking forward to a year of "defining my beliefs and aligning my practices" to become a better teacher for my future students.

Nashville Teacher Bash-Summer 2015

I decided to skip Whole Brain Teaching Tuesday this week to fill you in on my fabulous weekend. I will be back to WBT Tuesday next week.

So, this past weekend was super busy! It all started Friday when I got to watch the sweetest Monkey and Little Bug ever! My parents were starting to fill up their pool, so we got in a bit before the water was too high for Monkey to touch the bottom. It was hilarious! Now, anytime he sees the pool, he wants to go jump right in! At least he's not afraid of the water like last year. Little Bug, on the other hand, screamed the entire time. She wasn't a fan at all. Poor girl. She did look super cute in her little swimsuit though.

Monkey was so excited! There were a couple of frogs still in the pool, so his daddy got him in there and they were trying to catch the frogs. It was hysterical! Everytime Monkey touched a frog, he squealed. It was precious!

Then, on Saturday, I was fortunate enough to spend some time with some amazing teacher-bloggers at the Nashville Teacher Bash with one of my BFFs, Tiffany!

We got together, ate some delicious lunch from Jim and Nicks (paid for by GoNoodle!), and just hung out.

We also got some great swag and freebies from tons of fabulous bloggers! Thank you to all of the hosts! Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard, Alexandria from Classroom Action with Ms. Jackson, Dana from Common to the Core, Latoya from Flying into First Grade, and Cindy from Exploring is Elementary.

My swag:

It was such a fun time, but next year I think I want to do all of the weekend activities. This year I just went to the little get-together, but after seeing everyone's pictures, I'm definitely going to have to hang out with these people more next time!

And one last photo to share with you. I found this yesterday while moving the hanging plants from their hooks to the ground yesterday before the storm. How beautiful! Monkey wants the spotted one to hatch, but he's not too sure about the others. Ha! What a goober!

Monday Made…A Mess

Well, I had great plans to make a portable word wall today, however, my printer had other plans and it was storming this afternoon.   :(  Maybe another MMI…

Anyway, while I was thinking about what else I could possibly make for Monday Made It, my good friend texted me about a play kitchen and whether my niece and nephew would like it…I said "of course they would." So she brought it over. What a great time to make a semi-playroom for the kids!

Woo-hoo!

So, my sister and I turned a junk room into a basic little playroom. No paint or anything fancy, just moved the kids' toys to a new room and set them up nicely. We did, however, make a large mess in the process! YIKES!

Here are some before pictures of the space:

So, we cleaned it up, threw away TONS of stuff, and it turned into this:

Off to the side, you see a couple of clothing racks. It's consignment time here in town! Its a huge mess right now, but it will soon be a beautifully organized, hung, tagged, bagged for consignment. The best part is that it will be out of the house! Woohoo! Here's a picture of the current mess:

So if you need any girls size 12-18 months or boys size 3, let me know ;)

There's my Monday Made It  a Mess! Enjoy!

Thrifty Thursday- Easy Alphabet Center

Welcome to Thrifty Thursday. I like thrifty, and I really like Thursdays. You want to know why I really like Thursdays…because it's FRIDAY'S neighbor!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Today, I'm linking up with Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard. Go check out his Thrifty Thursday for another super easy and cheap center activity.

Anywho, today is Thrifty Thursday, and I have something for you that is super cheap and super easy to make! 

Ready? Here it is! Letter/Rice bottles!

All you need for these cute and fun bottles are a couple clear plastic bottles that are clean and totally dry inside. This is extremely important because you are putting rice into the bottle, and there is nothing worse than rice getting wet on accident. YUCK! Anyway, you need a couple of bottles, some rice, some letter beads, and some glue.

My mom recycles plastic, so I just rummaged in the recycle bin and found several bottles and tops. I had some rice in the pantry, and the glue was left over from another project (actually from Monday Made It). The only thing I had to buy was the letter beads. I found them on Amazon. I actually bought several packs because I have plans to use them in many different projects. The beads only cost $3.28. WHAT?!?! This entire project only cost $3.28 because I already had most of what I needed! Don't you just love projects like that?

So, here's how I made my super cute, super easy, super inexpensive, and super fun letter/rice bottles. 

First, get the bottles and make sure you have tops for them. Of course, make sure the inside of the bottles are totally and completely dry. Then, grab a funnel and start pouring some rice into the bottles.

I put about two funnels full of rice in before I started putting in the beads. I made sure that each bottle had the full alphabet (A-Z) twice.

Then, I put in some more rice. I actually put in too much rice. My advice is to only fill the bottles about two-thirds of the way so there is still room to shake it.

Once I got the full alphabet twice into the bottle and filled it with rice, I realized I still had a ton of letter beads left over. I didn't really want to have to put them away, so I just put half of the rest of the letters into each bottle.

I haven't glued the top to the bottles, yet, but I will as soon as I can find my glue. I will use the Glass, Metal, and More glue I used a few days ago for my Monday Made It test tube math, but you could just as easily use hot glue.

There you have it, folks, a super cheap and easy center! Have fun making your's!

Weekly Reading Wednesday- Teaching with Intention Chapter 1

This summer, Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard is hosting a book study on Teaching with Intention by Debbie Miller.

This week was all about Chapter 1: Your Ideal Classroom.

I really liked this chapter. It was such an easy read. It was like Debbie Miller was speaking to ME, and inspiring me to move out of the way and let me kids LEARN! I know I'm going to take some great things away from this book as the summer continues! Let's get on with Chapter 1, shall we.

My ideal classroom is a space where students feel welcome, supported, and safe. So many children come to school in the morning after a rough time at home. I want my classroom to be their safe place, where they do not have to worry about going hungry, getting beaten, or feeling like they aren't important. I want them to feel "at home" or better than being at home!

When students come into the classroom, I want them to be able to learn where and how they can be most successful. I want my students to learn how to make smart choices and to take responsibility for their education. Choice is so important and helps students take charge of what they are learning.

So, in my ideal classroom, I want to give the students the ability to choose as much as possible. I believe that will really help them to take the initiative to learn more.

In my ideal classroom, I want to see the students learning, working hard, discussing things, teaching and helping each other, and most importantly enjoying themselves. The teacher would be working with students in a variety of settings: 1-on-1, conferencing, small group, guided reading, math group, strategy group, whole group, etc.

Last year, I did not give my students assigned seats. Other teachers thought I was losing my mind, but I wanted to see how my kiddos did with the freedom. I couldn't believe how well it worked out. My students usually made smart choices about who to sit with or work with. Their assignments got done, and I didn't have the usual headache of "Little Susie touched me with her pencil." I mean really, folks, it was awesome! They had the choice of sitting at the tables, on the floor or carpet, the center areas, or anywhere around the room. I was inspired to give them more choices for them to take charge of their own learning.

My next move to give more choice in my classroom was to give center choices. I still wanted them to try activities in each center, so I created a chart with a picture representing each available center, and the kiddos got to choose the order they went to the centers. It worked out so much better than I ever thought. They really took charge, and I began to see the kiddos blossom!

One of my favorite things to hear is, "Is there anyone in your classroom?" I know that sounds strange to want to hear, but on multiple occasions, someone (including my principal once) asked this question. The first time I heard it, I was a little confused. I looked around my room, and realized that my kiddos were super quiet. Not mischievously quiet, but hard-at-work quiet. While working with a small group, I'm not one to interrupt quiet learning, so I was very proud. Of course, the class got a reward for getting a compliment about being so good at quietly learning independently or pairs. After the first time, I learned to just smile and say, "We're just learning hard."

I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to my ideal classroom. However, each year brings a different chemistry into the classroom, so we will see how it goes next year, but I will definitely be striving for this each year!

Can I just say that I hate paper. I know that we need to have paper for certain things: students have to practice writing, teachers need to have a paper-trail for certain things, documentation, student portfolios, etc. I'm just not good at keeping up with it all and getting it organized. UGH! It's awful! My poor kiddos often said something to the tune of "Miss C, you really need to clean your table off!" Yes, my sweet kiddo, I know I do.

So, my goal for next year is to be more organized with the paper work. This summer, I'm working on collecting all the binders I can get so I can put all papers away into binders on the shelves behind my table next year. We shall see.


There are quite a few teachers working together on this book study. Check out Greg at The Kindergarten Smorgasboard, Keri at the Enchanted Kindergarten, Jessica at Mrs. Plemon's Kindergarten, and Stephany at Primary Possibilities to see more thoughts on Chapter 1 of Teaching with Intention.

Whole Brain Teaching Tuesday- Class/Yes Edition

Welcome to the first Whole Brain Teaching Tuesday here at The Polka-dot Kindergarten!

I'm just going to come out and say it…Whole Brain Teaching has saved my life in the classroom. I was never really good at following through with rules and consequences. My rules were never really clear to the students. AND to top it all off, there were these little things called loopholes!

I don't know where I first learned about Whole Brain Teaching (WBT), but wherever or whoever I got the first little clue I am so very thankful. I truly enjoy using WBT and I believe my kiddos have had fun with it, too.

Some of you might be asking, "What in the world is WBT?" Basically, it is a procedural system that deeply engages students and helps them retain more information. The goal of WBT is to use as much of the brain as possible. Did you know that there is not just one place in the brain to store memories? You memories are stored all over your brain. Have you ever smelled something particular and it reminded you of a memory? Or heard a song? Or tasted something specific? You have memories of those things stored in the part of your brain that has to do with smell, hearing, or taste. If you'd like to know more about Whole Brain Teaching click here.

Alrighty then, on to some of the WBT things I used in my classroom. So, first up is the response call of Class/Yes. It couldn't be simpler. When the teacher needs the class's attention, the teacher says "Class," and the class responds by saying "Yes." It's that simple, people! Really!

Of course, if you only said "Class" it would get boring, right? Well, just change it around a little. My go-to is "Classie, Classie" and the kiddos respond with "Yessie, Yessie." I know a teacher who says "Class-a-doodle-do," and her class responds with "Yes-a-doodle-do." You can really change it up and have fun with it. WBT really encourages teachers to change it up and have fun with it.

My favorite thing about Class/Yes is that it really does get everyone's attention; if not the first time, at least the second. I could get my class's attention even when the entire school was in the gym. If they could hear me say "Class," they responded with "Yes" and looked right at me. It is simply fabulous! I even had lots of mommies commenting on how awesome it was that it only took 2 seconds for me to get everyone's attention during field day. Field day, ya'll…the chaos…the insanity…my kiddos knew to give me all of their attention because I said 1 word! It's amazing! You should try it!!!!

For more information about Class/Yes, click here.

Monday Made It!

AHHH! My very first Monday Made It! I'm so excited to be linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for the first 2015 Summer Monday Made It.

Unforunately, she is still in school. What?!?! It's June! Anywho, Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard guess blogged his Monday Made It!

I must say it's pretty fabulous, and I might need it! And its a FREEBIE!!!!! Who doesn't like freebies???

Ok, on to my Monday Made It. The Monkey and I has a blast making it! Are you ready to find out what it is??????

It's test tube addition centers!!!!!!! As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm a huge fan of Greg's (Kindergarten Smorgasboard), so you'll hear a lot of ideas that have come from him. This is one of them. I saw them here.

So first, I ordered test tubes, number beads, and glue from Amazon.

I ordered these colored test tubes, like Greg, because they looked way cooler than just clear, but I have heard that the clear ones actually work better. I had a slight problem with the caps, but more about that later. Click on the pictures to take you to Amazon.

Little Bug helped me get all the test tubes put in the rack so they could be accessed easily.

Then, Monkey put one numbered bead into each tube while I went after him and put in a second bead. Students will look at the two numbered beads and add them together.

Because I teach Kindergarten, I made sure that none of the tubes added up to more than 10. However, because 9s and 6s look the same, I might have a few friends who add more than 10, but that's okay…we'll call it differentiation. Speaking of differentiation, I did take all the teal colored tubes and made them only add up to 5. This will help some of my friends who might be struggling to just focus on smaller numbers until they understand better and can move on.

They look so fun!

After I knew the two numbers only added up to 10, I put water in the tubes so they were between half and two-thirds of the way full. And by I, I mean Monkey. Hey, we have to work on those fine-motor skills!

We started with a water dropper, but it was too slow. I found an infants' medicine syringe in the drawer, and that went much faster. Plus, Monkey had more fun with it.

Once we had enough water in the tubes, it was time to start gluing the lids on. Luckily for me, it was time for Monkey and Little Bug to take a nap, so they weren't climbing all over me while I tried to do this.

I used the "Glass, Metal, and More" glue from Amazon (linked above).

I tried it several different ways. I first tried to put the glue on the lid and then push it into the test tube. I didn't get a picture of that way because it was kind of messy. So, I tried it a different way. This time, I put the glue around the top of the tube itself and pushed the cap into the test tube. This seemed to work better.

I did have some issues with getting the caps on the tubes. Some of the caps kept popping out of the tubes even after being glued. It was very frustrating.

I talked with Greg, and he had the same problem, too. He suggested taking the water level down a bit. That did worked for some, but others I just had to keep closing. Eventually, as the glue became tackier, the caps began to stay on better. 

Overall, I'm very excited to use these. Plus, I have a TON of number beads left. The possibilities are endless, people. I'm thinking we are going to need test tubes for making ten, test tubes for number recognition 0-20, test tubes for place value of teen numbers, etc. I can't even put into words how happy and anxious I am to get more made and use them in centers next year! The sweet kiddos who end up in my class are going to have a blast! And I'm going to have a blast watching them!

If you think you'll need a recording sheet (I will), head over to the Kindergarten Smorgasboard, and he has a test tube recording sheet FREEBIE!!!!!