Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

I came back into my cleaned classroom....aaahh! I love it when I get to set up. The floors were sparkling and it smelled fresh. Then I saw the line of ants leading to the dead roaches, after I cleaned that up..it was back to the fresh and clean classroom. I'm pretty blessed to have a large classroom with student bathrooms and plenty of storage. I manage to rearrange some furniture and I decided to get rid of my teacher table. Ill post more of my classroom  when I finish the set up. The video above is the before. For most of the day, I manage to simply sit and stare at tables, pondering where they should go. I wish I was able to visualize my classroom and it's set up, but instead I would physically move the giant kidney table (YES ALL BY MYSELF - have bruises to show for it), just to see what it would look like if I place it there or there, no wait..maybe there...

Monday, August 5, 2013

How I Line Up my Kinders + FREEBIE

Okay, once again, I've been a bad blogger, but to make it up for you I've place a new Freebie on TPT (for a limited time).

I've always assign my students a number based on my class roster. My students are required to line up alphabetically for lunch, and lets face it...it's a nightmare for the first few weeks in Kindergarten. To curb this problem, I created Ten Frame Number Cards, laminated and taped them to the floor. Each student also has a name tag with their name and corresponding number. They learn that that is their spot and there ins't any arguments for who is first. (I'll take pictures later.) It's also great for emergencies if students must immediately evacuate the classroom without chaos. We practice getting into our line spots the fastest and safest way before leaving the classroom. Within a few weeks, most of my students are able to tell me all of their friends numbers and place them in order. This year, I decided to make them into ten frames based on suggestions from colleagues. They will be listed as FREE on TPT for a week (until August 9). I'd appreciate it if you follow my TPT or blog and leave any feedback. Click on the picture below to be sent TPT.