We Believe in Peace.

November is an important month. Although we should frequently think of and remember the soldiers who fought for our freedom, November 11th marks a day each year, that we take extra, purposeful time to pay tribute the fallen.

In Kindergarten, when we switched our calendar from October to November, I put a picture of a poppy on the 11th and asked the students if anyone knew what it meant. Some of them piped up "that's a flower that you wear on your jacket!" But they weren't sure why. We talked about Remembrance Day - what it means and why we recognize it.

This brought us to a conversation about Peace. I read the students "The Peace Book," by Todd Parr.

After we finished, I asked the students what the word "Peace" meant to them, Here were some of their responses...

 Peace is being friends.

Peace is sharing.

Peace is relaxing,

Peace is love.

Peace is giving.

I follow several other primary teacher bloggers, and one of them posted this great dove activity. You can download it here.

I was so proud of the insightful answers that the littles were coming up with. They did a great job carefully cutting, colouring and gluing their doves and writing pieces, 

Mrs. Skinner's class also did this activity. Here is our finished bulletin board celebrating our work!

Our theme for the month of November is going to be "Peace." Next week, we are going to be getting to know each other a little better, and learning how we can create a peaceful classroom community together. 

The Great Pumpkin Conundrum

We had a big problem in Kindergarten today. We wanted to paint pumpkins but there was NO ORANGE PAINT! How on earth can we make pumpkins with no orange paint? I posed this predicament to my littles and with her index finger in the air MJ exclaimed "We can MAKE it!"
Well. That would be game changing.
When I asked how we could do that, I got a lot of "You should mix some colours together!"
Hmm, I wondered what colours we should use. Neo was convinced that "we need to mix red with a different colour to make orange," Many of his peers agreed,
I said "Well I have blue... would that work?"
"Noooo!" (And even a few "that would make purple!")
Hayden shouted "Red would work!"
"Okay, I have red. What other colour should we use? I have purple...-"
"No!!"
Finally Vander stood up. "You need to use yellow."

I thought that was a great plan, and so did most of the littles. Check out the progression of our pumpkins in the photos below. (And it goes without saying that the best way to do a colour mixing experiment is with your fingers...or hands, and forearms in some cases.)

P is for Pumpkin

It has been a very busy few weeks! With Thanksgiving, Fire Safety week, school photos and initial assessments all wrapped up, I have finally found a minute to post.
The Kinders and I have been exploring individual letters of the alphabet. We started with A and B, but when the opportunity presented itself, we skipped over to P.
When I say "the opportunity presented itself," I mean two of my students' mom thoughtfully donated a ton of coloured pumpkin seeds to our classroom.

This is just a fraction of the seeds!

I decided it would be fun to use the seeds to create a letter...even better, to create the letter that Pumpkin (seeds) begins with!

With each letter we have and will explore, we begin by brainstorming a list of words that begin with said letter. Did you know there are a LOT of animals that begin with the letter 'P'? Did you also know that drawing animals is not my forté? As the students come up with the words, I do my best to keep up and record what they say, along with a picture. 

Not included...panther, platypus, parrot, poodle, pig, piglet

After we looked at how a 'P' was made, I gave all of the littles a piece of black cardstock on which I had photocopied an upper-case 'P' and a lower-case 'p.' (Did you know you can photocopy black Sharpie onto black cardstock!?) They each got a small paintbrush, and I put little containers of white glue at each table (a method which I find a lot less time consuming than the bottles...because I don't have to unclog any lids with a paperclip.) I filled a pie pan with a handful of each colour of seed and let them have at it!

Some kids created patterns, some used all the same colour, and some went completely random, They all turned out great!

Stay tuned for more ABC fun!

Red, Green and Yellow

Apples that is! Another activity courtesy of Mrs. Skinner, we did apple tasting yesterday. I was amazed at how engaged the students were for the whole time, especially watching me chop up the apples for us to eat. (I didn't want to worry about them turning brown, so I'm glad my knife skills were of interest to the littles!) 

Since 'tis the season for apples, we tried 3 different kinds/colours. Red, Green and Yellow - or as several of the kids pointed out, to my surprise - Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious. 

Another bonus of cutting the apples then and there, was that we had the opportunity to examine and discuss the different parts of the apples, skin, seeds, flesh and stem.

I jotted down a few of the very insightful comments some of the littles made during our observations...

"The stem attaches the apple to the tree." - Leland

"If you want to grow red apples, you put the red seeds (from the red apples) in the ground!"- Carter

"The skin is what makes it green, and the skin is very good for your teeth!" - Mackenzie-Jayne

And while we tasted the each type of apple, I told the students to think about what was different in their mouths while they chewed. I was impressed with their remarks...

"The green one is delicious, but a little bit sour." - Neo

"The red one was juicier than the green one." - Keaton

"Sweet!" - Lilie, about the yellow apple

"I like all of them!" - Ainsleigh

After we were done tasting, the students thought about which apple was their favourite, and we showed our choice on the smart board by moving our names into our preferred apple. I was pleased to see that each type of apple ended up with about the same number of names.

There were a few apples leftover, so I cut them in half and quarters and set up an "apple print" centre.

And of course, the reality of eating apples in Kindergarten, somebody is bound to lose a tooth! :-)

Another First! (Day of Fall)

Yesterday was the first day of Fall! It's hard to believe summer is officially over, especially when we have been having such lovely weather. We celebrated on the playground yesterday, with an impromptu leaf gathering before we came inside after second activity break. I wasn't sure how this would go, it being only our third day of Kindergarten and all, but the littles did great! I asked them to each collect five *fallen* leaves (some got five, some got twenty five, some got one, it was great!) and then we brought them inside. After overcoming the challenge of taking off our outdoor shoes while still holding our leaves ("No, Mrs. Chubey can't hold all your leaves"), we headed back to class.
My original plan was to have each student do their own individual leaf rubbings, but then I remembered that it was the third day of Kindergarten. Instead, I set up a centre and had the kidlets put all of their leaves in the middle of one table.

Leaf Rubbing Centre

I did one demonstration and told the students that during choice time, the leaf rubbing centre would be open for whomever would like to try. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the table was full or almost full for the entire length of choice time.

Student/Teacher joint effort demonstration

There was definitely some trial and error involved, but I was impressed with some of the perseverance that I saw. One student sat at that table for the full choice period. For the longest time, her paper looked as if she was just colouring the paper, with nothing underneath. Slowly but surely, she figured out the technique and near the end of the period, she came over to me, absolutely beaming. The picture below is the paper she was holding in her hands!  I was so excited and proud. 

The finished product!

The leaf rubbing centre was absolutely a hit! Integrating nature centres into our choice and centre time in Kindergarten will definitely be continued in the future, often.

The *First* First Day.

When a Kindergarten student comes to school on their first day, it is a huge milestone. There are so many experiences that they will have, (on that day alone!) which they have never had before. The first time they walk down the hallway with their class - it wasn't a line, but we were in a group at least! - the first time they hang their backpack up in their very own locker, the first time they order milk, their first recess on the playground! The list goes on, and on. You get the idea.

This being my first Kindergarten gig, it was very cool to be a part of all of this. When I went outside into the sunshine to greet my littles in the morning, I was also greeted by many, many bigs! How adorable to watch so many parents and grandparents sending their tiny loved one(s) off the school for the first time. There were some tears (from the parents), and a lot of photo taking. It was a lovely way to begin the day.

Now I was aware that the day was going to be a little hectic, but I had not quite braced myself for how quickly the time would fly, and how very little we would manage to get done! It is easy to forget that so many of these little beans have never even been in a setting with a large group of their peers, let alone have to follow specific instructions, eat their snack in ONLY 20 minutes, have their outside activity time determined by a bell... once again, the list goes on! It is going to take some time, some slowing down and some practice, and I'm excited for the challenge. There are a few things I would have done differently, had I the opportunity for a do-over on the first day, but for the most part, we had a great time.

We started out the day with "The Kissing Hand," by Audrey Penn, and talked about how we might be missing our families a little bit. Then we made our own "kissing hands" to go along with a cute poem to take home, to let our loved ones know we were thinking of them while we were at school.

Painting our hands to make a hand print.

We glued a small heart in the middle of the palm
of the hand to represent a kiss.

 This was a great activity. If you click here you can download it for free!

We also did a few things to put in our portfolios that we will do again at the end of the year to see our growth. One of those jobs was to draw a picture of ourself on the first day of Kindergarten! We talked a lot about how in real life, our arms and legs do not come straight out of our heads (although a few pictures still portrayed that, which was okay too!) and we had some really great results.

And what is a day in Kindergarten without a brain break dance party? The kids loved getting their groove on to a few "Go Noodle" videos. Go Noodle is an awesome resource for anyone who wants to get kids moving in a fun engaging way!

A highlight of the day was the giant spider that visited our classroom, too! And by highlight, I mean the most terrifying moment of my life to date? This spider. One of the kids went home and told his mom that it was as big as his hand, and that was hardly an exaggeration. Luckily, I managed to hold my wits together enough to scoot the spider into a paper cup with a paper plate (and quickly put a mason jar on top of as a weight). and we took it outside to release it at recess.

Gross.
This photo hardly does the size of this guy justice.

All in all, reflecting back, we truly had a fabulous first, first day. I am sure that our first second day will be even better. Maybe even a little less crazy. But probably not.

And just because I thought it was fitting, here is a photo of a double rainbow that appeared at the end of our day.

An Important Start

While most students and teachers in ISD (Interlake School Division) had their first day back to class on Thursday, our beginning to the year is looking a little different. In Kindergarten at TES (Teulon Elementary School), we have the unique opportunity to meet with each student and their parent(s) individually. This runs over a period of two days, with each family having about half an hour to come into the classroom, check things out, and chat with the teacher (me!). I think this is so beneficial, not only for the kids, who are starting school for the first time, but the parents. *Especially* those parents who do not have any other children in the school system yet. I also found it to be so helpful to talk to the parents about the way things work at TES and programs their child could participate in, such as Milk, Breakfast Program, Canteen and Scholastic (to name a few).
From a teacher perspective, it is great to have the students come individually as well, because I was able to give them a little job to do while I talked with their parents. It may seem simple, but Mrs. Skinner (my teaching partner, the teacher of KS) had a great apple activity that shows a quick glimpse of several essential Kindergarten skills; counting (one to one), cutting, gluing and printing their name. 

Students chose an apple, and counted the number of seeds that matched how old they were, They had to cut out the apple, glue the seeds on, and the print their name in marker.

The kids were excited to pick their very own spot to place their apple on the waiting bulletin board. There have only been one of four rounds of interviews thus far, so once the board is full of apples, I'll post a picture!

Goldfish Snack

While the students were working, I offered them a small snack, following a super cute theme (thanks Pinterest). There were so many ideas to choose from! If you like the theme, click HERE!

I am o-"fish"-ally in Kindergarten!

Becoming a Kindergarten student is huge deal! It marks the beginning to an exciting journey of new learning, new peers, new challenges, and of course, new fun! Documenting the entrance into Kindergarten is important. Mrs. Skinner and I thought we could stick to our o-"fish"-ally theme, and take a picture of the students holding this sign!

We will take pictures on their first day of class too. so keep an eye out for a post in the near future, where I will share our first day of Kindergarten in KC!

Lifelong Learners

When I was in university, we were often reminded that as teachers, we are lifelong learners. This means two things to me: First, that I am learning everyday in my classroom, different things about different students, strategies for teaching them to grow as little people in new ways, and countless other little tidbits. Second, that as teachers our profession is in a constant state of evolution, and there are always new books to read, new methods to try and endless ways to grow as a teacher. To learn. Today was a day for learning.
Annually, the teachers of the Interlake School Division come together at the beginning of the school year for a professional development day. This was my first official experience as a teacher in the division (not a student teacher, not a substitute teacher) so it was exciting for me. I even got a pin!

Christine Penner (superintendent) and Wayne Davies (asst. superintendent)
handing out pins to the new teachers in the division
Photo Cred: Lindsey Jack :-)

Cindy Levesque-Brown

The topic of our training today was Restitution.
It was a very full day with some heavy topics, so I could write pages on it (but I won't!), and today was only day one of two of the workshop (the second day is in November). Our presenter was Cindy Levesque-Brown, a teacher from Pembina Trails School Division, who is an expert on Restitution.
"What exactly is Restitution?" you might be asking yourself, and how could there be two full days of material on it for a teacher workshop? These were some questions I had this morning, and they were certainly answered as the day went on. In a nutshell (from my point of view), Restitution is a practice in self awareness and self evaluation. It can be used in a way to teach people (in our case students) to take responsibility for their actions, particularly when they make a mistake, and to solve (or help solve) their own problems. It is an alternative to punitive behaviour management, and directs us away from consequence driven actions. Instead of being punished for their mistakes, students are guided in a way that helps them get to the root of the problem, and fix it. As teachers, we can provide students with the tools they need to do this, whether it be Kindergarten or Grade 12.

I took a lot away from the presentation today, and would be happy to talk in more detail about it with anyone who is interested. I will leave you with some little tidbits that stood out to me today, and really got me thinking of my role as a teacher, and my influence on not only my students, but their parents, my peers, and the community that I live and work in.

• Discipline comes from the Latin word "disciplina", which means "to learn"
• You cannot teach the mind until you have the heart
• Attitude is contagious. Is yours worth catching?

And of course, what's a teacher workshop without some Big Bird? Here is a video that I plan to share with my class entitled "Everyone Makes Mistakes." It's a great way to introduce restitution to younger students, and talk about how it is okay to make mistakes, and learn to fix mistakes when they happen, Take a gander.

Up and Running!

Hi! Welcome to my blog! Thanks for coming!

Leslie and Me at our
ValenHundredPinkandRedDay Celebration
February 2015

Now, I can honestly say that blogging is not something that I ever thought I would be doing. However, when my most recent teaching partner (Leslie Dent Scarcello :: check out her blog here!) came into my life in January 2015, she rocked my world with a plethora of new information and opened my eyes to a whole new realm of communication! (She also taught me all kinds of other amazing things and I consider her a close friend, but that's a post for another day - or several).

My fam jam
Fall 2013

See? My husband Gord with our son Liam

I am so excited to start this adventure of sharing my "days" with anyone who visits! I will be starting my new position as a Kindergarten teacher at Teulon Elementary next week, and the bulk of my posts will be about what we are up to at school! Don't be surprised if I throw in some snippets of my family here and there too, because, well, they're pretty adorable.

Liam and Me at the Goldeyes game
July 2015

Since Leslie so graciously invited me to post on her blog last school year (stay tuned for those posts - I'll be throwing them up in the next few days), this isn't technically my first blog post, but it IS however, my very first post on my OWN blog! 

How did I do? Feel free to follow me as I share the adventures of Kindergarten - starting so very soon! Share your feedback in the comments, I'd love to hear from you! 

Can't wait for what's to come!