Brain Benders

So, I blogged about my Brain Benders, but got no response. Maybe people already have their own routine for Morning Seat Work??? Here's a glimpse... would you want it? Should I bother posting the rest that I have?  It's a front and back sheet.  This is my first one I used towards the beginning of the year.  So, give me some feedback- do you want them?  It's a lot of files.

Let me know what you think.
Oh, and the next post?  100 Days of school!  We just had our 100 Day celebration yesterday. 
When is your 100th day??

Literacy Centers

So, I promised a blog on Literacy Centers to wrap-up my "I love centers" ramblings for the past week... and... well, I've already done that...

Click HERE to read my past post on Literacy Centers.

Sorry, for the confusion.  I'm not sure why I forgot about that post! :)

Anyway, so this post, is now all about Brain Benders.  Brain Benders are what I am currently working on... it's a morning paper the kids can work on while the rest of the class is getting settled.  My school opens at 7:30, but class doesn't start until 8:00, so I need to fill that time for those early-arriving students.  I used to use connect the dot pages, coloring pages, color by number pages, and other essentially useless busy work.  I know, I know... I can justify coloring- it helps with fine motor skills... and connect the dots- it helps with number sense... and color my number-it helps with number recognition...

but I wanted MORE!  With the pressure that comes with the new common core standards, I needed to milk every last minute I have with these kiddos to get it all in... plus it serves as a small assessment tool- because I never give them something I haven't taught... they should (in theory) be able to do these small tasks.  right?  right :)

When I finish putting them together, I'll share... so, don't forget to follow me, and you'll not miss out on my Brain Benders freebie!  (should I make it a contest... like... when I reach XXX amount of followers I will unleash the freebie?!?!)  or should I do a giveaway for all the people that comment?  I'm not sure how that works- I've won a couple (Thanks KindergartenWorks and Thanks Miss Squirrel for my wins!) but I don't know how to HOST the giveaway.

leave me a comment, and tell me what you think! :)

A day in my shoes...

Well, I lied.  I told you next time I posted... it would be about literacy centers.  sorry to disappoint, but I'm pretty sure you'll be OK with it... because I'm linking up with Miss Katie from The Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher for her linky party...

Thanks Katie for this awesome idea... I love reading about what everyone else's day is like.

Here's mine: and I'm gonna focus on MONDAY :)

5:40... alarm goes off...  I listen.
5:45... jump (my husband says I shouldn't jump... I'm gonna hurt myself one of these days) in the shower.
6:00... wake, dress, and feed my 2 boys.  (hubs helps with this, so I'm not flying solo...)
6:30... give hugs and kisses to Ben, Wade, and Henry (my husband takes them to the sitters, it's so nice to have the house to myself for 30 min. to finish getting ready)
6:31... grab a bowl of Frosted Shredded Wheat, blow out my hair, pretend to style it, listen to the past days Y&R as I do all of this
7:00... head for school
7:28... (Yes, I live 28 minutes away from my school... I hate the commute, but I love my school.) Arrive.
7:30... kids start coming in (and I'm sooo sooo sooooooo jealous of you teachers who don't have kids until 8:00 or even 8:30!!!)
8:00... Reading/Literacy Centers
9:10... Math
9:40... Religion (I teach at a Private School)
9:55... Specials (Music on Mondays)
10:35... Gather my kids from specials
10:45... 1/2 day dismissal (I have 4 kids that leave.)
11:00... lunch (it's so early!!!)
11:25... recess (Monday's I have duty.. yuck)
12:00... science (I love science!!!  The experiments are the BEST!)
12:30... science again (to my teaching partner's kids... she teaches social studies)
1:00... snack
1:25... recess (no duty on Monday!)
1:55... quiet time
2:15... centers
3:10 dismissal (I do bus duty...)
3:30 leave school
4:00 pick up my boys from the sitter and (if it's a nice day) we go to the park
5:00 dinner
6:00 Henry's Toddler time at the library
6:30 Wade's story time at the library
7:00 head home
7:30 watch Wild Kratts with the boys
8:00 put boys to bed
8:10 put on my running shoes and do the treadmill thing while I watch Pretty Little Liars or The Bachelor or Ellen or Y&R or Big Brother or The Amazing Race or Kortney and Kim Take NY or any other show I happen to be obsessed with at that moment.
9:00 shower
9:30 bed

Ok- I think it probably took you an entire day just to read my outline... sheesh, I just noticed... I even stopped putting the ... after the time because I was getting tired of writing it! haha.  Now that's it IS a Monday, you know that in an hour I have to be at the library with my kiddos for story time- so that's where I am!

Thanks for reading! :) and leave me some comments!  how far do YOU live from school?? 

Math Stations

Centers Part 2: Math
I have 7 Math Stations.  The kids BEG to do math stations.  I think they love the independence.

Station 1:  Manipulatives.  Here, I put any manipulatives I feel the kids need more exposure to.  Currently, they are working with money... and since money isn't a Common Core Standard- who knows why?!?! they are adding money.  I feel like money is a life skill and I'm not about to let it go by the wayside... so we just double up and do money and addition.  Here-they are using magnetic coins.  I've also put linking cubes, counters, dice, pattern blocks, geoboards, etc.  If you can manipulate it, it's here!

Station 2:  Sensory.  I don't change the sensory tub in between my afternoon learning centers and math stations... I just give the math station a math objective.  Adding, subtracting, comparing, dividing, patterning, etc.  You get the point :)

Station 3: Teacher.  Here is the one I love most because I get to spend small group time with the kids and really individualize instruction.  I got these mats from KindergartenWorks.  (Thanks, Leslie!)  I also have a stack of work mats that I got from F is for First Grade (Thanks, Melissa!) that I keep at the table for the kids to work on in case I have to leave the station to help someone.  I put them in clear page protectors so the kids can write on them with dry erase markers.

Station 4: Computers.  We use Saxon Math, and it came with a Saxon Math game.  I love this game because it goes all the way up to 3rd grade.  So, I can challenge my high level thinkers to the upper grade games.  They love it too!

Station 5: iPads.  I am blessed to have 2 iPads in my classroom.  The kids LOVE them! (obvi)  So, I search the App store for Math related games and they play them :) If I can't find any I like that fit the standard I'm teaching, they use the Chalkboard App to work the skill being taught.

Station 6:  Work Mats.  I have a ton of Math workmats, and the kids get to use them at this station.  Here, specifically, they are subtracting.  (Put 5 birds in the pet store.  Take 2 birds home.  How many birds are left at the pet store.  Use number tiles to write the number sentence.)  I got these from Scholastic.com during their dollar days.  L.O.V.E. dollar days!! :)

Station 7: Teacher Correct.  The kids love this center because they get to grade MY homework.  :)  These new Common Core Standards are all about thinking.  I figure, why not have them grade papers!  Here's my thinking... instead of them adding 2+2 and figuring out it's 4, why not solve it for them, and ask them to critique my work.  Are they still adding 2+2?  YES  Are they still figuring out that it's 4?  YES.  So, why not give them some avenues to think about how I may have gotten my answer, and justify why it's wrong and why they are right.  Now, granted, it's pretty cut and dry with addition and subtraction... but think about dividing, patterning, etc.  There's a lot of room for higher level thinking here.

I even spoil them with markers! stickers! the whole 9 yards.  I always write "I'll try harder next time!" or "Thanks for helping me figure this out!" or something along those lines when I'm checking their work.  They eat.this.up!

So, there you have it- my math stations.
Up next... LITERACY CENTERS.

Don't forget- I love comments and followers! :)

Centers

Centers.  Stations.  Literacy Centers.  Learning Centers.  Math Stations.  Whatever you call them,  I love, love, LOVE them!  I love the independence they can give a child.  I love the small group setting that I get to have with the kiddos during centers.  I love the imagination the kids get to use during centers.  I love it all.  So, I want to do a series of blog posts dedicated to my favorite teaching method:  CENTERS! :)

So, I'll start with my afternoon learning centers.  I store all my center materials in cereal boxes with labels on them.  All the supplies fit nicely inside, and I asked my art teacher (she also helps me for Kinder Resource each morning for an hour) to make some fancy labels, because if you know anything about me... you know that I am NOT an artist.  My students even laugh sometimes at my pathetic attempt to draw things.

I have 8 afternoon learning centers:
1.  LISTENING.  The kids get to listen to the book on CD (or tape).  After reading the story, they get the magnet letters out and spell words in the book.  There is a left over metal shelf from a cabinet unit that I didn't need, and it fits nicely behind my bench.  The kids pull it out, and start sticking the letters on!

2.  ART.  I always put the example on my easel.  This time just so happens to be penguins! :)  All the patterns they might need to trace...glue they need...scissors...construction paper...googly eyes...EVERYTHING their little hears desire, is right at their fingertips.  If they finish early and have spare time (and they hardly EVER have spare time... because I judge my center length based on how the art kids are progressing) they can color in coloring books.  They are in the black milk crates on the side of the table.

3.  WRITING.  I tape the example up (again penguins.. this one says "Penguins are black and white.")  I give the kids writing paper, and they go to town.  As the year progresses, I make the sentence longer, harder, and eventually, give them the writing prompt and they write their own sentence.  Spare time- free write on scrap paper with stencils.

4.  MATH.  This one I still would like to give more attention to- it just needs SOMETHING.  I'm OK with it for now, but it's one that is in my "to-do" list for re-vamping.  Here the kids get to do a variety of things.  Sometimes I have a math game for them to play, or give them manipulatives to work with, but their favorite thing to do is play "teacher" and do the morning routine with each other.

5.  SENSORY.  This is probably one of the kids favorites.  I fill it with sand, water, rice, tire shreds, pattern blocks, linking cubes, easter eggs, jingle bells, pretty much whatever I can find that I think would be FUN! :)

6.  COMPUTERS.  The kids can play on KidPix (with a specific project to work on), Saxon Math, or starfall.com.  Enough said :)

7.  PUZZLES.  No picture- just a table with a puzzle crate on it :)
8.  SURPRISE.  No picture-again :)  This is whatever I think the kids need to work on at that point.  I've used nuts, bolts, and screws to work on fine motor.  I've used playdough, letter tiles, stamps, etc.

How do I keep it all organized?  The chart:

So, let me know how you do YOUR centers (or just tell me what you think of mine... because let's face it, I just love comments!), and stay tuned... next time ...
MATH STATIONS! :)

Currently

Farley posted a January CURRENTLY.  Check her out here.

And here is my Currently:

 

Thanks Farley!  I've found so many great blogs through your Currently posts.  Keep it up! :)

My first award!!

Oh my!  I'm so excited about receiving my first blog award!  Tammy, from Forever in First gave me the Versatile Blogger award!  Soooo over the moon about it :)  I feel like a real-life blogger now! :)

So excited!  Here's what I have to do:

The Versatile Blogger Award rules:

1.  Thank the person who nominated you with a link back to them.  Thanks Tammy, check out her blog with the link above!

2.  Tell 7 things about yourself

3.  Pass this award on to 12 other newly discovered blogs and let them know they received an award.

 

 

7 things about me...

1.  I dated my husband for only 6 months before he asked me to marry him.  I guess when you know, you just know, right?  :)

2.  We are blessed with 2 boys, Wade and Henry.

3.  I play tennis and love to ski.

4.  I have a minor in Spanish... hola!

5.  I do photography on the side, and I LOOOVE it.  Some might say I'm addicted to photoshop :)

6.  I'm training for a half marathon.  This time last year, I wasnt even able to run for a whole minute... but thanks to the Couch to 5K program, I ran my first 5K this spring, and now have set my sights on a half marathon in May.

7.  I love the color green.  :)  -- the same color of this award!! :)

And now to nominate 12 other blogs:

1.  Circus of Learning

2.  Classroon Confetti

3.  Finding my Marbles

4.  Kate's Kindergarten

5.  Marvelous Multiagers

6.  Misters and Misses

not a teacher blog, but I just love this girl's style!

7.  Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business

8.  Mrs. Plant's Press

9.  Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

10.  A Place Called Kindergarten

11.  A Teeny Tiny Teacher

12.  Oh Boy, 4th Grade