Will you be my Valentine? First, you should get to know me…hehe.
What do I love? Let’s talk beyond the easy (family and “framily”). What do I love in the classroom?
I Love Kindergarten
I know I’ve said it before. There’s nothing as fun and exhausting as teaching kindergarten.
They come to you knowing precious little and you get to be the first one to teach and mold and instill the love of learning.
I can’t explain how important. Not everyone can teach kindergarten…it takes a special person to understand you are the first to touch their lives.
You are the first to create a love of learning. You are the first…now that’s important.
AND sometimes you get one of these love notes from a student…and it’s all worth it. By the way, put this in your happy file for later.
I Love Centers
I do love center time in a kindergarten classroom. Centers should be the best time of the day.
You get to teach reading and they get to work independently, grow as independent beings, practice reading, practice writing, practice fluency…I could go on and on and on.
If it’s set up correctly, it can be managed by your students so guided reading can continue.
If this blog has a FAQ section, the first question would be “What is the key to surviving centers in kindergarten?” The answer is easy: Routine.
I posted a full explanations of centers on Adventures in Literacy Land, but the simple answer is ROUTINE (and expectations).
Check out the Centers post for ideas for making it your favorite part of the day.
I Love Writing
Showing students from an early age that writing is fun is such a rush!
I believe the biggest reason students don’t like writing is they FEAR writing.
First, they don’t know what to write about and are afraid their writing won’t be good enough. Then, they are afraid they’ll spell something wrong. UGH.
Why do they learn so quickly to ask someone “How do you spell…?” Taking those fears away creates a love of writing. I could talk about writing all day!
I Love Reading
How can you not love reading? By equipping students with the tools to read – you change lives.
Period. Read alouds, reading connections, and reading instruction. Make sure you do it all around reading.
It doesn’t matter if you are teaching a kindergartner with early reading instruction or a second grade in an intervention groups strategies to get on grade level…it’s amazing!
My best advice again is: ROUTINE. Read Every Day. No excuses.
I Love Owls!
I have become the crazy owl lady…but it happened by accident.
I was the “bee classroom” for a long time. I had a hive outside my door and my rules were: Be kind. Be safe…and so on.
Then, I changed schools and they already had “bee classroom” right across from me. What could I do?
So, I decided to be the “owl classroom,” but this was 10 years ago when you couldn’t find owls anywhere. Then, all of the sudden, they are everywhere. I can’t help it.
I’m not even sure why? But I do. I have found myself slowly becoming the “crazy owl lady.” They are so cute.
I love Presenting
I knew I loved teaching but I didn’t realize how much I loved presenting to teachers. I guess I don’t mind WHO I’m teaching, I just love teaching.
The first time I presented outside my school was a the VSLA Conference in Richmond, Virginia in 2008…and I was hooked.
I was talking about writing. I loved it when teachers were excited about learning something new. AND I loved it when teachers told me how the writing routines are working in their classroom, too.
I Love Teaching
I have asked teachers while I’m presenting why they became teachers.
a. They were born to be a teacher.
b. They decided in college.
c. It just happened…by accident.
I’m often surprised by the answer, but for me…I was always born to be a teacher.
I have a Happy Valentine’s Day Activity Set for $3.00 Will you be my valentine?
