Making Friends

 A shinning moment occurred today!  As students were finishing up morning work and moving to the carpet to do puzzles, I found myself sitting back and simply observing the interactions being made between students.  I watched as four boys used communication and team work to put together a complex puzzle.  I heard encouraging comments and some awesome social skills occurring between these boys!  When they completed the puzzle they were so excited to show Megan and I.  We were so proud of them for working together to complete a task. Teamwork is so powerful!  I love to see it in action!

Pre-writing fun!

One of my favorite things about being a teacher is all the school supplies! That's right...the crayons, the scissors, the markers... I could go on and on! Today, in celebration of school supplies, we tore off some big sheets of chart paper and did some pre-writing practice! Horizontal lines, vertical lines, x's & circles. We had a great time practicing and using the teachers special markers! Today was a good day to be a kindergarteners!

Our little friends in KGS are growing so much every day.  As we reflect on the past couple of weeks we can already see such growth towards independence during the school day.  Our students are starting to take initiative and find their groove in the classroom! Being in a co-taught room, many of our students have questions in regards to different equipment and instructional practices being used for certain students. We LOVE and encourage these questions and are so glad our students are curious about happenings in their environment.  Personally reflecting, one of my goals is to foster relationships in the classroom and promote disability awareness not just in my classroom but in all classrooms (I'm positive Megan would agree).  We are so proud of our students everyday!

Although this picture is humorous, I also feel it is very representational of the past few days in our new kindergarten class.  Shocking, overwhelming, scary, and unpredictable!  All of our students bring such different capabilities to our classroom and we are starting to discover how we are going to need to approach this year.  Although the past few days may have been a little rocky, there has been such positive moments in our classroom!  Thank goodness for my co-teacher in crime, otherwise I would standing under a never ending waterfall of kindergarten! Best news of all, our SmartBoard is being installed as we speak!

My first official post as a new kindergarten teacher!  Megan and I have started to meet some of our smiling students as well as their parents.  I am very eager to get them all in the classroom on Thursday and get this year going!

Here is a picture of the picnic on August 17, 2014 held by the schools within the district.  There was different food, games, and organizations for the students and families to explore.  I met a few of my students and other families within the district.  What an awesome way to kick off the school year!

This is the start of our crazy blogging adventure!  I have been saying for years that I wanted to embark on this journey, but I've always been to scared to start.  No time like the present :-)

This year Steph and I will be co-teaching together for the first time.  I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we are excited and nervous all at the same time!

Although Friday was our Institute day, today was our first day of Kindergarten meetings.  Every year I am amazed and surprised by all these little faces that come into our lives.  Steph and I had the joy of meeting a few of them today and will meet the rest over the next two days.  I can't wait to see all those smiles and even those tears on the first day.  We are going to have a great year!