I'm using a combination of the ideas I've seen. Each student has their own space with a clothespin to pin up their work. I'm still unsure about how I'm going to identify their space. I loved the idea of the chalkboard tags but I'm running out of time. I'm thinking I'm going to put each child's picture on their clip. Any other creative but easy ideas I'm missing out on?
Here's what it looks like so far. My theme is Ms. Kerri's Busy Kindergarten and my boyfriend came up with the title for this board. He's clever like that.
I've still got to figure out a few things like how to report my kids' behavior each day in the simplest way. One of the other teachers suggested using a color dot on a calendar to report it. I like this idea but I'm also thinking about having the student color their own square in a calendar but I'm not sure they'll be able to do that at the first of the year.
I'm also trying out centers again after a while and I'm not sure how to show my kids which centers they need to go to. I would love any suggestions for how you do this in your classroom.
I love hearing other people's ideas and suggestions.
On a side note, I'm pretty excited about my 15 followers.
I teach kindergarten in Kansas. For the past 3 years I have placed a calendar in their daily folder and they mark an X on the day with the color they were on for that day. We start this from the 2nd week of school. It may be chaotic for a week or 2 but they get the hang of it pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteKerri, Cute work board! How did you attach the clothespin to the board or is it just clipped on the paper???
ReplyDeleteCamille
An Open Door
I just clipped the clothespin to the paper. I was thinking I'd hot glue them at first but them clipping seemed easier. I was afraid the paper wouldn't hold the glue and the pin. Thanks for the comments. They make me so happy.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few suggestions (from a few years of joyful trial and error :)
ReplyDeleteDisplay: It doesn't seem like it, but I would laminate the construction paper you have as the display backings for your students' work if you have a lot of natural light coming into your room because otherwise they'll fade before the year ends. I've always used nameplates to identify work. Simple but effective because it's large print. Also, I use a board like yours for students' monthly writing assessments, but I put 2 clothespins b/c with one the paper tends to fold over.
Behavior: I tried having the students color their own little squares @ the end of each day on a weekly half sheet, but neither they nor I ever really efficiently got the hang of it. Last year we created folders (manila) specifically for behavior. Inside was the calendar for the entire year, with a key explaining what the different colors mean, laminated, and at the end of each day our routine involved ME circling the date with, using a colored sharpie, the color the students were on that day. That way the kids and I kind of get a reminder of how the day went. They tell me what color they were on. They've been pretty honest about it. And the few who decided to lie, of course, went straight to the bottom and that never happened again :)I think we'll do this again this year.
Center rotations: Practice, practice, practice, and patience, patience, patience! I am actually thinking of trying out a system like the one on Clutter-Free Classroom's blog from August 2. It looks like a great idea. Also, I would suggest tape (whatever works best on your classroom floors) at each center where you expect students to line up, clearly marking the front. This really helps @ the beginning of the year.
Sorry for the long post :/ Hope this helps.
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