What Worked Well Wednesday

Happy Hump Day everyone!! I know many of you are headed back to school (if not already there). I hope you have had an incredibly amazing start to the school year!!

I have had so many amazing opportunities to meet some really amazing people through these social media platforms. One of the best things I've done so far is to find my #teachertribe.  I am a proud member of the #kindertribe and am so excited to have found a group of people who are more concerned with building each other up than tearing each other down. I'm so grateful for this group!! A Facebook page was just a start for this tribe, we soon branched out into a collaborative blog. 

The blog is mostly run and taken care of by the administrators, who will create different posts for the blog. There are two days a week other kindergarten teachers can link up to the blog. On Wednesdays we get to link up for 'What Went Well Wednesdays' and share something that went well during our week. I'm not back to school just yet, but I would love to share something that worked well for me last year!

I really like how I handled student supplies last year. I purchased a carton of these zipper pencil pouches from The Dollar Tree (in our district, teachers/schools are responsible for providing student supplies). I numbered each of the kiddos on my class list and then used a Sharpie to write the number of each student on the pouches.

Inside the pouches are all the supplies my kinders need during the day.

I purchased these really awesome 'soap containers' from The Dollar Tree. They came two to a pack and the lids are able to lock on. Not only that, but they perfectly hold an entire box of 24 crayons. How sweet is that?? I also numbered their crayon boxes.

In each pouch there was also a sharpened pencil, pair of scissors, and a glue stick. (I use glue sticks and glue sponges) These three tools are like the Holy Trinity in kindergarten, aren't they??

Also in the pouch is a dry erase marker and a piece of square felt to use as an eraser. We do A LOT of work with whiteboards in our classroom and we go through A LOT of dry erase markers during the year!! We have to spend many days in the beginning of the year practicing the proper way to use these markers, including not banging them on the boards to make dots and not using them for drawing or coloring on paper, as well as not to use them for drawing and coloring when we're using them to learn!

This is how I handled classroom supplies last year, and it really seemed to work well. The pouches from The Dollar Tree are super cheap-o and don't hold up well to kindergarteners, so I'm glad that I bought the whole carton so I can swap them out throughout the year. This year I am going to make stick-on labels for the crayon boxes, and I might change the way I label the pouches. I think this year I'm going to write the names of my kinders instead of a number. Honestly y'all, it was hard for all of us to remember who had which number! Being OCD, I definitely had a list, but it got to be a pain having to constantly check it. I think names are going to be much easier.

How do you handle classroom supplies? I'd LOVE to hear from you in the comments!!

If you head back over to the Kinder Tribe blog you can see lots of other amazing tips and tricks from teachers this week!

You can still link up for Spotlight Saturday! It's a Teacher's Show and Tell to share our favorite products, resources, activities, ideas, tips, tricks, and anything and everything else that could make our classroom lives easier!!

Tell All Tuesday: Top Ten Things Teaching Has Taught Me

Today is Tuesday, so that means it's time to link up with My Day in K and Teach. Create. Motivate. for their awesome Tell All Tuesday link up party!

This is such a fun weekly linky where we can learn more about each other and get to share a bit about ourselves too! It's so much fun to read everyone's responses to each week's topic! This week is no exception!

This week we are telling all about the Top Ten things being a teacher has taught us. Lots of alliteration to this weeks topic!! :-)

Being a teacher has taught me so much, and I honestly love each new year because I learn something new. In no particular order, here are ten things being a teacher has taught me.

It's important to not only be a team with the other teachers in your grade level, but also with your students. In your classroom, work together to set the rules and expectations. Make sure everyone knows where supplies go, so that everyone can be responsible for keeping things where they belong. Working together as a team can help make your school year go by smoothly!

Kids love to point out the obvious, and they find the simplest things to be hilarious. Every so often they are going to find something hilarious about you. Whether it be that you just spelled a word on the board wrong or that you wore two different colored shoes to school that day. It was dark that morning, okay?? You need to be able to laugh at yourself, there are going to be days when that's all you can do!!

Regardless of how many years you have been teaching, every single year is so very different from the previous years! You are going to have a constantly changing group of students who bring with them their constantly changing families. What worked so incredibly well one year may never work again, and you'll have to be prepared to adjust for that. Remember to change with each year and tweak what works to fit each new challenge!

Please know that I mean this both figuratively and literally. You are going to have to know how to quickly adapt to change, like when you're being observed by other teachers in your district and the bulb in your projector stops working and the SMART Board crashes. You are also going to know how to quickly adapt to change in direction, since your kiddos will stop on a dime right in front of you or completely dart across your path like a game of Frogger...

Every child is different in so many ways. From personality to learning style, every child is unique. This seems like such a 'duh' piece of advice, we all know kids are different. I bring this up because it is important to remember that each child is unique and they all have different learning styles. You will need to adjust your teaching methods to best meet the needs of the various learners in your classroom.

No matter how much you prep and plan your lesson, inevitably something will go wrong. Usually it's the day that you are being observed by your principal and vice principal and district supervisor. The computer crashes. Your manipulatives have disappeared. One of your littles throws up all over the floor and another walks in it. Realize that things are going to go wrong, and accept that when they do you will get through it. Take a deep breath and remember to be flexible!

It is very important to laugh as much as you possibly can! Your kiddos are going to be brutally honest and tell you all about everything and everyone in their lives. You are going to laugh at the things they say, the things they do, and the things they wear. Take time to find the humor in all situations, because there are days when it will be you're either laughing or you're crying!

Carry a clipboard or a notebook around with you. To your planning sessions. To meetings. Just when walking your kids to their special. You never know when someone is going to tell you something important when they see you in the hallway, and when they do you can write it down. If you write it down, chances are you won't forget it! There is always something you need to remember or somewhere you need to be, so write it down as soon as you find out and you won't forget!! Whenever you are talking with a parent, whether on the phone or in person, write it down! Write down the date, who you talked with, and what you talked about. Trust me, you never know when this information will be needed later in the year!

Find an organizational system that works for you and STICK TO IT! You are going to have so much to file and tools to store. You need to know where things are in your room, filing cabinets, and computer files. You'll have to organize your student data records as well as the different committee notes you have. Figure out how to organize the papers you'll use during the week, what you'll do with extras, and how to address student absence. Papers will pile up quickly if you let them, so start the year off organized and continue on that way!

Tell yourself this every single morning. When you wake up. When you're in the shower. On the drive to work. Before the first bell rings. No matter what happened the day before, no matter how bad things got, you have to let it go. You have to treat each day as a fresh, clean, blank slate. Holding on to the bad things that happened the day before only adds to your stress and the stress in your classroom. Remember that no matter how crazy things get, how much of a headache you have before lunch, or how many things go wrong: every single day is a new day. Treat each day as a brand new start and your stress will be less!!

I hope you enjoyed reading about ten different things teaching has taught me. I am so proud to call myself a teacher, and I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing community! Swing on over to My Day in K or Teach. Talk. Inspire. to see who else has linked up to share ten lessons they have learned!

Don't forget to link up with me for Spotlight Saturday! It's a Teacher's Show and Tell where you can showcase your favorite products, activities, resources, or ideas!! Tell us all about something amazing that we need to try in our classroom or with our kiddos!

Rock Your First Year Teaching

One of my very favorite parts of blogging is getting to learn so much from other educators! There are so many amazing and incredible educators out there who enjoy sharing their tips, tricks, and advice. It's like having a library full of tips and tricks right at your fingertips! Today I am participating in a linky that allows teachers to share their advice for that slightly-daunting, incredibly exciting first year of teaching!

I am linking up with Teaching with Crayons and Curls and My Mommy Reads in order to bring you lots of advice for your first year in teaching! I would have LOVED to have something like this when I first started teaching! It is so great getting to be part of a community that shares their successes and celebrations as well as their trials and tribulations! With that being said, here's my advice for all you Newbs out there! :-)

1. Make friends with the support staff at your school! I can't stress how important it is to make friends with the office staff, custodians, and lunch room staff! These are the people who keep the school running, who knows where everything is located and how it works, and who are the first people you go to when you have a question about school. Trust me, you will need these people so much more than just once or twice throughout the school year! Make friends with them and keep them on your good side, and you will enjoy the benefits of those friendships all year long!!

2. Find someone in your school who knows not only how to work the copier and laminator, but who also know how to unjam the copier and replace the laminating film! You will use these machines A LOT during the school year, and once school gets started you may not be able to find someone to help you during the day. It is important to know the fundamentals of these pieces of technology so that you can problem solve yourself when you need to. Trust me, the copier will jam when you only have 5 minutes of planning or lunch left and the laminator will run out of film on the day the only person who knows how to change it is absent!

3. There are going to be many mornings during the year when you are running late. Maybe you overslept or the alarm didn't go off. There will be days when you run out of the house with barely enough time to get to school, and those are usually the days you forget to do things. Brush your teeth, put on deodorant, wear matching shoes... If you have some travel sized personal hygiene products kept in a drawer or a cabinet in your classroom, you can feel better about running out of the house and forgetting to do something!

1. Hopefully you are lucky enough to work on a team where you can plan together and share ideas. If you come across an awesome idea or activity, don't be stingy with it and only use it for the kiddos in your classroom. Good ideas should be shared so all can benefit from them. Plus, if you don't share with others no one is going to want to share with you! Your school life will go so much easier if you are willing to share with the other teachers in your building!

2. Every school has different rules about how you can hang things on your walls. Most schools follow a strict fire code that states exactly how much you are allowed to have on your walls as well as if you are able to hang things from your ceiling. Before you spend hours and hours setting up your classroom, make sure you have checked with other teachers in your building the correct way to hang things on the walls. If you use the wrong tape or pins or staples to put things into the walls and ruin the paint, you will be making your custodians very unhappy. And remember I said it was important to keep them happy?? It would be a shame if you spent days hanging things on your walls only to be told you had to take it down and redo it! A simple question asked can save you hours of extra work!!

The biggest piece of advice I can think to give is that you need to understand that your job is never, ever, ever over when the bell rings. You will be staying after school to put your classroom back in order after a hectic day. You'll find yourself coming to school early because you enjoy getting work done when it's so quiet in the building. You will lug home stacks of papers to grade and forms to fill out. You'll spend your weekends planning awesome activities, creating amazing lessons, and scouring Pinterest for new ideas. You may find yourself attending after school PTO meetings or a sporting event of one of your students. Even over the summer, your job's not done. You'll have PD sessions and courses to take in order to keep your certification. You'll find yourself on vacation and walking by a storefront window and getting inspiration for a lesson or activity. Your brain will always be on the hunt for the best ways to teach new concepts to your students, and that's a switch you'll find it very hard to turn off! Our jobs are not like office jobs, where whatever they were working on gets left on their desk at 5:00 and waits there till the next work day. We work every day, whether we're in the classroom or not. Oh, and don't forget that should you ever have to call out sick, you'll be doing more work for that day than you would if you actually went into school! It takes organization and patience to get through your first year, but you will get through it. And you'll become a better teacher for the following year because of everything you went through!!

I can't wish you enough luck for your first year of teaching! You will laugh, cry, yell, and pull your hair out. However, you will never find another job as rewarding and fulfilling as being a teacher! There is so much more wonderful advice out there for getting through your first year of teaching, make sure you head back over to Teaching With Crayons and Curls or My Mommy Reads to see who else has linked up!

Don't forget to come over and link up for Spotlight Saturday! I can't wait to read the products, activities, resources, and ideas you showcase! This week I am Spotlighting Mrs. Garcia's Super Scholars! Come read all about it and link up to share your Spotlight!!

To a Kindergarten Teacher From a Kindergarten Teacher

Two posts in one day??!! Yes, it can happen! Especially when I find out about another awesome linky party that I want to be a part of!!

This AWESOME link up is hosted by Mary from Sharing Kindergarten and is all about kindergarten teachers sharing advice with other kindergarten teachers! Mary has created these adorable templates to use during the linky. I decided to link up and learn from the wisdom of so many other kindergarten teachers! Here is my advice to you:

You never know what just happened at the home of the kiddos who are coming to you every day. They may never get the chance to hear a kind word. Make sure that you let each and every one of your kinders know how incredibly special they are and how much you believe in them! For some of them, your kind words may be the only ones they hear! Something as simple as 'What an adorable hair bow!' or 'I just LOVE that new hair cut!' can go a long, long way in a child's world!

Children, especially young children, are creatures of routine and habit. Set your expectations for class behavior and create your class rules the very first day. Make sure to review your rules and expectations every single day, and encourage them to show off what they know! Setting up your expectations in the beginning will make the rest of your year go oh-so-smoothly! Trust me, it will help you retain your sanity!

No matter what happened the day before, each day is a brand new beginning. Whatever happened the day before; student cuts their hair, student cuts their friend's hair, student feeds the fish pencil shavings, student teaches all the other little boys the latest wrestling move and they practice on the carpet....every day is a new day. Shake off whatever stress you went through and approach each new day with a positive attitude and a bright smile, ready to show your kinders some love!

You will always carry your job with you. Your day never ends just because the bell rings. You'll find yourself grading papers at home, writing narratives by the pool, responding to parent emails on the subway ride home, getting sparks of lesson ideas and activities when shopping at the Dollar Tree. You are a teacher and will always be a teacher, and you will spend much of your life outside of school thinking about your life inside of school. Remember to schedule some time for yourself where you don't have to do anything related to school. This will help you to stay sane and not burn out....though you will probably notice bits of your job will sneak in anyway!

I'm so glad that Mary from Sharing Kindergarten has set up this linky! It's a great way to learn from other kindergarten teachers and gain a few more bits of wisdom! Make sure you go to Sharing Kindergarten and read about all of the other advice that has been given! Just click on the image below to head over to the link up!

P.S. - Don't forget to come link up for Spotlight Saturday and showcase your favorite product or idea! There have been some AMAZING resources Spotlighted so far!