Creating Kindergarten Magic!: A New Year and a New Goal

My goal this year is to collaborate and share best instructional practices with other kindergarten teachers. This week I have been busy getting ready for the first week of school. Our district has received a grant that encourages Blended Learning. For those who are not familiar with this term, it means maximizing learning through the use of high quality first instruction and technology resources. This can be foreign to many, but exciting. I have seen the power of this kind of classroom for the past 5 years. I have had the use of a Smartboard, individual clickers (iresponds), and 8 computers for 25 kindergarten students.

This week I have revised several powerpoint presentations I will use for our First Day Orientation and Back to School Night.

Welcome to Kindergarten loop
Back to School Presentation

One of the projects that the students will be completing during the first week, is decorating a large paper doll. I will take head shots of the students the first day to glue on the dolls after students have dressed them. Their names will be displayed under the doll. These are displayed on Back to School Night.

Also important is a good set of Common Core Standards. I created these standards with matching stickers. The posters come in both portrait and landscape view and are in kid friendly language and color pictures that illustrate what students need to know. I display them in a pocket chart that I found that allows me to easily change the posters.