Back to School

So I had every intention of blogging last week and participating in Teacher Week. But it just didn't happen. I had registration Monday and Tuesday night. We have registered so many kindergartners. It is crazy. I have 22 on my list right now. Wednesday was our first official day of work and things just got more and more hectic from there. Friday was the first day of school for all kids except kinder. We screened in the morning and then did planning in the afternoon. I was at school until after 7:30 on Friday night. Chris beat me home which never happens on a Friday. Usually he's the one working late. He's been threatening to go live with my parents for the first six weeks of school because I'm so crazy. I just don't sleep this time of year. I'll go to sleep fine but then I wake up at ridiculous times. Wednesday morning it was 4:30 and Thursday it was 5 ish. I used the time to work on some things. We had these videos we had to watch for training on bullying, cyber bullying, suicide and blood borne pathogens. It was loads of fun. But at least I got it over with and could do it from the house. Another big change is we are required to do our lesson plans on an online website. So worked on that one morning as well.
So I think my room is ready for kids to come and I think I have planned what we're going to do. But I'm still not sure I'm ready. We have a staggered enrollment for 3 days thankfully. But this is the first year we've moved to a full day kindergarten. In the past on the first week, all the students left at 12:30. But it's going to be good and I have some fun stuff planned for the week. I thought I would share a few things we're doing.

We're going to read Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes and then go on a tour of the school. Thanks to my friend Mary over at Mrs. Lirrette's Learning Detectives. She posted one earlier this summer. (Check it out here.) When we get back to the room we're going to have Pete and a snack waiting for us. If the weather is good, we're going to have a picnic outside for snack. Later in the week when all the kids are there, we're going to reread the story and practice retelling the story with pictures.
We are also going to start on Nursery rhymes for the week. Monday-Weds we'll read Humpty Dumpty and make a puppet. Thursday we're reading Little Miss Muffet and making a spider and then Friday Twinkle Twinkle little Star and making a glittery star. I made a PowerPoint of nursery rhymes and I'm sharing it with you.

Click here to download the freebie from TPT

We're also going to be doing a self portrait and a picture of me. I found this freebie from Fran at Kindergarten Crayons. (check it out here) This will be their first piece of work to hang in the hallway and I will keep it as part of a portfolio assessment. 

In math we're going to be exploring manipulatives and working on counting. I hope to have a chance to listen to each kid count and to check about their one to one correspondence. We'll see. 

There will also be lots of practicing and learning procedures. I plan to launch into some Whole Brain Teaching. I've also decided not to use a clip chart this year. I'm a little nervous about it but I think it will be good. Kids are going to have logical consequences for their actions. They will also have a place they can go and have a breather. I bought 2 bath mats to make the spaces in the room. So that's what's going on in my room. 

I'm participating in the Back to School sale over at TPT. So be sure to head over there and check out what is on sale.