Straight Lines

I found this in a new book I'm reading. You would think when you graduate from college you would stop reading text books. Not me. I'm currently reading: A Place for Wonder and learning a lot about Inquiry in my little Kindergarten room. I came across this and it struck me, I'm totally guilty of this! 

Straight Lineby Georgia Heard

All the kindergarteners
walk to recess and back
in a perfectly straight line
no words between them.
They must stifle their small voices,
their laughter, they must
stop the little skip in their walk,
they must not dance or hop
or run or exclaim.
They must line up
at the water fountain
straight, and in perfect form,
like the brick wall behind them.
One of their own given the job
of informer – guard of quiet,
soldier of stillness.
If they talk
or make a sound
they will lose their stars.
Little soldiers marching to and from
pretend
their hair sweaty
from escaping dinosaurs
their hearts full of loving the world
and all they want to do
is shout it out
at the top of their lungs.
When they walk back to class
they must quietly
fold their pretends into pockets,
must dam the river of words,
ones they’re just learning,
new words that hold the power
to light the skies, and if they don’t
a star is taken away.
One star
by one star
until night grows dark and heavy
while they learn to think carefully
before skipping,
before making a wish.

I hope that I cherish their little thoughts and help them discover their wonders. 

Like it or Lump it.

"Like it or lump it my third grade students will walk in someone else's Moccasins." Said Mrs. Elliot. Watch this frontline video it's AMAZING. If only we could still do this today, I pretty sure I'd be sued by parents and thrown in Jail if I taught kids discrimination this way, however, Concrete teaching by experience is SOOOO Powerful. Love this. 

WATCH!!!! 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

Please comment (all four of you) on what you think about this!!! 

The Garden is Growing.

I'm almost getting to the end of putting my room together. I've been planning with my team now so I feel better in that category. I'm almost done with all of my bulletin boards which is great! Now I need to make some bins for my listening center, finish my focus wall, and get ready for my twenty faces that will enter my room August 15!!!!

This is my awesome closet. I organized my 2000 books on this shelf into categories. 

My Mother is amazing. She made me these chair packs for my kiddos things. 

Focus Wall needs to be finished it will be covered with fun things! 

This will be the Bloom of the Week (star of the week)

Growing Writers...(writing conference table)

This is my huge bulletin board out in our hall. Welcome to Mrs. Sage's Room!!! 

Preparing the Soil for Growth.

I've been working pretty hard in the garden lately. Going in about every night for a couple hours after Brinn goes to bed. I've decided to think of my classroom and students as my garden. I love my sweet little garden. It's not perfect, you will find weeds in there. I do have trouble getting things to grow, and yes I did put way to many plants in there and they all have overgrown each other and are killing each other as we speak. let's just pray that doesn't happen in my classroom. (which some days it will!) Not killing children no, but maybe just rough days, I want to make that clear.

Back to my garden, you have to take time when growing a garden. You have to be gentle and you have to know exactly what each plant needs to grow. Same goes for kiddos, we need to know what it takes for them to learn, they are all different. What excites me and scares me is just that. Will I be able to figure out what they need? What if Suzie gets behind? How will I help her? I'm getting very nervous the closer August 20th comes!

I've been doing a few things in my room and I'd say my 'theme' is a Garden. I have plants in my room, I have greens, yellows, and oranges. I love color especially in a Kindergarten room! 

So... preparing the soil for growth!!! 

I will be having a hanging word wall. After the fire Marshall comes! This will be to save my walls for the kiddos work!

This will be to organize different things we will need. I got the small bins dollar bin at target. The larger bins were in the serving ware at target. 

Our Garden of Reading. (My mom is wood burning a sign to hang over this area :) 

Table numbers definitely classroom management piece. 

My Aunt gave me probably 2,000 plus books no joke. It took days to sort and get put up on a shelf in my closet. I was pretty overwhelmed I think the majority of the sorting I was balling. No Joke. 

My peanut just woke up! More to come in the next couple weeks :) 

It's a process.

If I didn't say that I'm extremely overwhelemed then I'd be lying. Wow. I have a lot of work to do before August 20th. These are my fun finds!

This chair I got from a garage sale. 2.50! 

Check out what Keely got me!! :) 

This lamp was more than I should have spend $13.00. 

Literacy bags, these will be filled with activities and books that will go home each week. Starting in September! Now that they are made gotta get them filled with great learning activities. (yikes)

Free globe from the CTLT at school! SCORE! Also got the moon too! 

(pppsstt look in the background... do you see dede? Yes Brinn loves my classroom!)

This idea came from my first grade teacher they are pointers when my kiddos start reading. You can get the figures at Michales for 49 cents then just buy the sticks and hot glue them on... this takes about 5 minutes. 

I've got lots more to do, just doing the fun decorating this now... I should be more worried about what I'm teaching right!?

I got my ROOM!

I can't even begin to say how excited I am! Brinn loved it too, I need that reassurance. 

Writing in the younger years!

Younger children usually can't distinguish between drawing and writing. They think if you ask them to write you something they can also draw you a picture! Usually you can ask them to "read" their writing and they will tell you a story! WHICH IS AWESOME!!! My favorite is when they begin to see us writing and then they start to scribble. They are recognizing differences and they want to be like us so they scribble! Usually ages 3-4. Gradually their writing begins to somewhat resemble the English System which I THINK IF PHENOMENAL!!!! 

So today while I was showering, I let Brinn draw. By the way side note, I lock her in my room and continually make sure she is in the room. She would totally walk out the front door and down the road to Rebekah's house, if I didn't have her on lock down. So usually I find something to keep her occupied. I showed her last week how to draw a circle. She's really been practicing circles now, that's all she draws are circles. WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! Ok, sorry, I'm getting to my point! So I asked Brinn what did you draw! I used draw because lets get rea,l she's two she will not be writing anytime soon :) I'm not that crazy! She said, "ahhhh circle."  What else? "Momma and Daddy." "My arm." "My hand."  She then started to trace her hand! It was SO NEAT she was telling me her little story sort of. 

Teaching POINTS ARE EVERYWHERE!!!! I think the best thing we can do with little ones is just encourage their little creations. Encourage their little brains. Not make them learn and get worried when they don't know their colors! (used to be me) Just to celebrate those little times when you know they are learning!!! Celebrate learning is the best thing we can do, and there is always something to celebrate! 


Also having that conversation with your child. Making sure they begin to see that you're also invested in their learning, you're committed as a parent. Not trying to tell you what to do just what has been working for me! I've never taught on my own what do I know!? This is basically what I've learned from Brinn :) 

Happy Saturday much love!

This is boring but...

This is boring but I've really been into reading lately. For Fun. Which I what I'm supposed to teach kids to do, however, almost everything we read in college is not fun at all and very dry and boring. So I've picked up my own reads lately just to soak up whatever I can to embark on this new, fun, crazy, wild first year teachign experience I hear is the hardest thing a teacher does in their career. (pretty sure that was a run on sentence and I don't care). 

So, what's been on my nightstand lately that I'm loving. 

IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD OF HER OR HER BOOK RUN FAST AND GET IT NOW. My idol teacher Ann Marie Corgill has a book. I read it cover to cover in a week. I pretty much cahnged my entire teachign philoshpy because of her. I. Love. Her. Proabably more than I should. Of Primary Importance is her book, and yes I will have this at my side every single 180 days next year. This book is amazing. It's more about teaching writing in the primary grade levels but wow what a lady :) I'm SO inspired by her.

Next, I just got is On Solid Ground By: Sharon Taberski this is a book about guided reading in the primary grades. I most excited to get into this one because I feel guided reading can be very frustrating at times. I want to be prepared for that, and I want the confidence in teaching children how to read (which is why I'm getting my reading endorsement and oh my is that another story). I want to come to my groups each day being confident that my students will love to read and I will be doing my very best to guide them... hint guided reading. Wow I'm dry.  Ann Marie suggested this one wink ;) love her.

The next one I have is Envrionments for Learning by: Eric Jensen. I don't know much about this book it's shot only about 50 pages, howerver, I know there is a great amount of reserach on the importance of the learning environment. One thing I learned from Ann Marie Corgill is that it's not about how cute you're room is. It's not about what YOU do and waht YOU put on the walls. It's about what the students do and what they put on their walls. I really want them to feel that way, that the room is centered around their learning and their growth throughout the year. However, there are some fun things I just can't NOT do :) Like cute curtains for my awesome window, and maybe a few woodburing pieces. So I'm looking forward to learn more about the learning envrionment for my kiddos. 

I might just end with this... I just started my summer classes. I'm pretty excited to learn, not so excited to spend 2-7pm in class. Howerver, in five weeks I will have my reading endorsement!!!! I get to tutor a student for four of the weeks pretty pumped for that, poor kid. Anyways enough boring teacher talk for now. I'M SO EXCITED!!!! 

P.S. I'm also finishing up A Wife After God's Own Heart that's a good one too. Not too teacher oriented but a good read. I'm all about professional and charcter development these last couple weeks. 

Happy Monday Love you all!!! 

My Team!

I was able to go and meet my team today!!! I went in for the day just to get to know them and observe them in their classrooms! I even got to see my classroom it ROCKS!!! I love love love love love it :) It has a BAY WINDOW yes, bay. Also a door with a breeze way that I share with another team member (who is also a new first year teacher!) 

Today was an awesome day!  I was going to get a picture of us but some had to leave right away after school... soon I will get one! I'm going back for their graduation in 7 days so I"ll get one then and share it with you.

There is a first year teacher and myself. Then we have a teacher who has taught 12 years a teacher who has taught 5 years and then a teacher who has taught 25 years. It's going to be a great year!

I've been truly blessed with this job and all that it has to bring. I see four new friends that will be entering my life and also 25 little boogers that I get to help inspire and celebrate learning with. 

I can't wait to take Brinn to see my room because I KNOW she will just LOVE that her Momma is a teacher :)

That's all for now! 

Happy Thursday

Kindergarten Inspiration!

Thinking about my NEW room! I've been pinning some things! 

I love RED and Green :) I'm thinking that would be a theme color??? 

I Love these bins for my classroom library and they are cheap! 

Teaching my little Kinders how to put a pen away... HUGE :) Also how fun is this? 

Love this way to do a word wall save some wall space for THEIR work :) 

I do a Mystery Suitcase why not a Mystery Calendar???!!! 

Nikki found this for me! I'm thinking my Momma could wood burn me this!? 

I also know that I want some front facing book shelves so that the kids have easy fast access to GOOD BOOKS! I won't obviously be able to do this with all of my books, but for the author study we are doing or the reading for writing books I definitely want out and VISIBLE. 

I won't have time to do half these things but still so fun to look. More tomorrow I get to go to Southeast and hang with my team for the day! Pretty excited to get in there and meet everyone and start collaborating!!!