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Kindergarten Teachers Chatboard

ESGI vs. NWEA MAPs Surveys

by Jennifer S./KS

Jun 15, 2016

I have been using ESGI for the past 2 years and I love it. But, my new principal wants me to try using the NWEA MAPs Surveys instead.

Has anyone used these for assessing? I am wondering what kind of information they give, if it's as detailed as ESGI?

Thoughts would be greatly appreciated because she wants me to get back to her on...See More

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Journals

by Nikki

Jun 6, 2016

Looking for some good templates to make homemade journals for writing in the mornings. I want something that would show growth in writing each 9 weeks and perhaps showing a rubric. Any suggestions?

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Flacka I made mine in Word - at the beginning of the year the paper was horizontal with a large box for their picture, and a few lines below the boxer them (or me) to write. I started shrinking the box some to fit more lines and by mid year or so, I switched to a vertical format. The box got smaller and there were more lines for them to write on. I made a...See More

Jun 6, 2016

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Journeys reading program

by Arlene

Jun 6, 2016

This year we will be using the Journeys reading program. Anybody familiar with this program? Can you give me some good websites to help in the planning etc.

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Whatever happend to our chaboard??

by Michelle in MI

May 20, 2016

Years ago, you used to see 30 or 40 posts daily on this K chatboard. Now you'd be lucky to see ten in a month. I wonder what happened?

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DonnaR/CA On 5/20/16, retired K teacher wrote: > This has happened to Tnet in general - it used to be so active and > now it's pretty much dormant. I'm sure it's a combination of > things - testing, push down curriculum, little freedom in how you > teach etc. Teachers are becoming robots who collect data.

I think it's also blogs, Faceboo...See More

May 21, 2016

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Jessie I feel that excessive testing, data collecting, and teaching to the test have sucked the joy of learning and teaching from teachers ( and students!). In past years, this board was usually a place to come to for sharing ideas, creating "fun", age-appropriate lessons and activities, and sharing discipline techniques. Now, the main concern i...See MoreI feel that excessive testing, data collecting, and teaching to the test have sucked the joy of learning and teaching from teachers ( and students!). In past years, this board was usually a place to come to for sharing ideas, creating "fun", age-appropriate lessons and activities, and sharing discipline techniques. Now, the main concern is how to push the little learners hard in order to get those scores. Who wants to post about that- dreary business at best?

On 5/21/16, DonnaR/CA wrote: > On 5/20/16, retired K teacher wrote: >> This has happened to Tnet in general - it used to be so > active and >> now it's pretty much dormant. I'm sure it's a combination > of >> things - testing, push down curriculum, little freedom in > how you >> teach etc. Teachers are becoming robots who collect data. > > I think it's also blogs, Facebook, and Pinterest, that have > affected T-net. There are a lot of Kinder blogs out there, > many of them have Facebook pages, and of course there's > Pinterest for getting actual photos for ideas. > > The above ideas all have merit, too. I am thankful that my > school district isn't one to expect every teacher on a grade > level to be on page X, sentence X, at a given time. We are > still given a little leeway. But I am still expected to test > my kinders, present the data, and that "every child should > have mastered the skills" by the end of the year. Bah, > humbug, we all know that some kinders are just not > developmentally ready! > > Speaking of testing....yesterday, one came near to tears. "I > don't want to do this." I patiently explained to him that we > don't always want to do certain thinga in life, but there are > some things we have to do. "But this is boring!" He was > trying to take the mouse and make it play a game -- in the > MAPs test for Math. Sorry, buddy, this isn't a game, it's > some of the more serious stuff in life. "But I don't want to > do this!" I bit back the urge to tell him that I didn't want > to listen to him whine, either, but I have to. This is a > child whose mother decided to enter him in kindergarten in > February -- when she should have waited until fall -- but she > didn't want to pay for babysitting when she went back to > work. So I end up picking up the pieces of what this child > does NOT know. Fortunately, he's considered a "TK" in Calif., > and will do another year of kinder. No way would I let this > child go to first grade. > > > Donna

May 21, 2016

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Report card ratings

by Lisa

May 8, 2016

HI. Our County is revising our elementary report cards. Does anyone have a rating scale that they love? We currently use PINT (proficient, in process, needs development, and to be taught). I saw the proposed scale which includes D,S,M, P (distinguished, strong, marginal, progressive). I have been told this won't change but when I look up the defini...See More

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Jessie Call me old school, but I think E,S,N,and U clearly tell parents where their children stand concerning grades and progress. E=Excellent, S= Satisfactory, N= Needs improvement, but is progressing, and U= Unsatisfactory, progressing very slowly or not at all. I never had a parent not understand this grading method. IMHO, when we get to "fancy&qu...See More

May 14, 2016

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Lisa I agree!

On 5/14/16, Jessie wrote: > Call me old school, but I think E,S,N,and U clearly tell > parents where their children stand concerning grades and > progress. E=Excellent, S= Satisfactory, N= Needs improvement, > but is progressing, and U= Unsatisfactory, progressing very > slowly or not at all. I never had a parent no...See More

May 20, 2016

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Report card ratings

by Lisa

May 8, 2016

Hi. Our County is revising our elementary report cards. Does anyone have a rating scale that they love? We currently use PINT (proficient, in process, needs development, and to be taught). I saw the proposed scale which includes D,S,M, P (distinguished, strong, marginal, progressive). I have been told this won't change but when I look up the defini...See More

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NWEA

by Nikki

Apr 25, 2016

Are any of you familiar with the NWEA computerized test? What are some sites to practice test questions? Thanks so much!

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Class became animals with sub

by Daisy

Apr 23, 2016

Ok K friends, I need opinions on serious consequences for the 11 kids who behaved so so badly for my substitute yesterday. I get that they are anxious about our 22 days left but their blatant disrespect evidently was off the charts. On the other hand I had 13 kids who were absolute model citizens. All this happened after many stern directives to to...See More

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retired K teacher First thing Monday morning call a class meeting and ask the class what happened on Fri. Have them talk about it and how they felt about what happened. They will have no trouble pointing out who was responsible (as if you didn't already know!) They may even have more to reveal than you or the sub were aware of.

I would ask them what the con...See More

Apr 23, 2016

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Carolyn As a retired teacher and sub...I understand your concern. However...with 27 days left and possibly not having a sub again this year. I would give them a lecture. Tell the children who behaved how proud you are of them...give them a treat or extra recess...or whatever would be allowed at your school...and close the door on that day.

Apr 24, 2016

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I took "Spring Break" too literally!

by K.Fair

Apr 3, 2016

Yes, here I am at the end of Spring Break, with a splint on my hand due to a fall at the beginning of my week off! Thank heavens it was my left hand, and that I didn't have to make week's worth of lesson plans for a variety of subs for a whole week! Tomorrow is a grade level collaboration day and that's when I'll take off for an appointment at 12:0...See More

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DonnaR/CA On 4/03/16, K.Fair wrote: > Yes, here I am at the end of Spring Break, with a splint on > my hand due to a fall at the beginning of my week off!

(Raising right arm gingerly) Been there, done that -- just last summer! I broke my right elbow late last July, and it was a rather rocky start to the school year. I was moving into a new cl...See More

Apr 5, 2016

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Shari I know where you are coming from. I broke my right wrist one spring break. Three weeks later, I accidently stepped wrong and broke my right knee. I taught the last three weeks of the year in a wheelchair with a broken wrist and knee. Get the kids to do as much for you as possible. Hopefully your teammates will help out as much as mine so kindly did...See More

Apr 18, 2016

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Kindergarten Teachers Retention Practices

by Gwen

Apr 7, 2016

Hello, I'm a grad student (education), my assignment for this week is to ask a kindergarten teacher question about their retention practices. If you could be please take the time to answers these questions, that would be wonderful. 1. How often have you retained children in kindergarten during your career? 2. Has there been change in their philoso...See More

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DonnaR/CA Before I answer your questions, I should add a caveat: I have only been in my current Kinder assignment for two years. Before that, I was in Music and in 5th grade. However, as a music teacher, I usually knew what was going on in the school when it came to retentions.

> 1. How often have you retained children in kindergarten > during...See More

Apr 10, 2016

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Judy2/CA I taught kinder for 6 years in a Title 1 school district. 99.9&37; of our students were ELLs and knew no English when they started school. I probably had 2-3 students who'd been to Head Start but no other preschool for the others. For most it was their first time away from family members. I only retained 2 students during my 6 years because the...See MoreI taught kinder for 6 years in a Title 1 school district. 99.9&37; of our students were ELLs and knew no English when they started school. I probably had 2-3 students who'd been to Head Start but no other preschool for the others. For most it was their first time away from family members. I only retained 2 students during my 6 years because they simply could not have made it in 1st grade. The main reason we didn't retain is because a child could be retained only once during the elem years. Our kinder was just 1/2 day. If they were going to be retained it was preferred they be retained in 1st grade when they would repeat a full day program rather than 1/2 day kinder. Also in 1st grade they would get a full day of English rather than another year of 1/2 day exposure to the language. The teacher in our district makes the initial determination on retention but the principal has to sign the form and the parent also. If the parent doesn't agree it would be rare for the principal to let the child be retained. The feeling is if the parent doesn't support it, it will not be successful. Retentions at every grade level in my district are now rare. They seldom seemed to be successful and the students often seemed to have discipline issues as they reached the upper grades.

On 4/10/16, DonnaR/CA wrote: > Before I answer your questions, I should add a caveat: I > have only been in my current Kinder assignment for two > years. Before that, I was in Music and in 5th grade. > However, as a music teacher, I usually knew what was going > on in the school when it came to retentions. > >> 1. How often have you retained children in kindergarten >> during your career? > > None of my students were retained last year. This year, I > took in 2 students who had been retained *by their parent*. > They were simply not ready for kindergarten in the first > place. > >> 2. Has there been change in their philosophy/practice of >> retaining children in kindergarten since starting >> teaching? > > No, not really. We still don't retain in kinder unless the > parent requests it, or if the child is very, very immature. > (The latter problem has been somewhat solved by the > "transitional kindergarten" in CA these days, where a child > who turns 5 between September 1st and December 2nd is > enrolled in Pre-K then in regular K the following year.) > > >> 3. What criteria do you use in making the decision to >> retain a child in kindergarten? > > See above. > >> 4. Who else is involved in the decision making? > > Parents and principal, and to a degree, the special ed > department chair and psychologist. > >> 5. What is done to ensure that children do not suffer a >> loss of self-esteem or stigmatization by other children? > > Since we haven't done it in so long except by parent > demand, I'd say it was up to the parent. > > > > Donna

Apr 11, 2016

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