Kindergarten Teachers Chatboard

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Amy K Kindergarten in the United States varies from state to state. The area of the country where I live (Pennsylvania) most schools have a cut off date of September 1st. This means a child must be 5 by September 1st to start school. We usually start school around that time, so all of my kids are at least 5 years old. Some students are older. Often paren...See More

Aug 10, 2016

Ellen Hi there ido,

I've just joined this website to connect with teachers around the world. I live 45 mins south west of Sydney in Australia. This is my 3rd year teaching kindergarten (1st year of proper schooling after preschool).

The age difference can be a whole year or so between students here. Some are still 4 turning 5 when they ...See More

Aug 13, 2016

How do you set up your reading center

by Amy K

Aug 1, 2016

How do you set up your reading center in your classroom? I see so many pictures of rooms online where people have bins and bins and bins of books for the kids to select from. They are all organized so nicely by subject, author etc... They then have comfy chairs or even a couch in the reading center. It all looks great, but do most people really hav...See More

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Flacka Pinterest has been a godsend and a curse to everyone, including teachers. If your system works for you then there is no need to change. I am a big believer that kids need choices but too many choices is overwhelming, even for adults.

I found that reading in the reading center became social time and they really didn't read or even look at ...See MorePinterest has been a godsend and a curse to everyone, including teachers. If your system works for you then there is no need to change. I am a big believer that kids need choices but too many choices is overwhelming, even for adults.

I found that reading in the reading center became social time and they really didn't read or even look at the pictures much. Sometimes it was part of my daily 5 rotation and sometimes not.

We each have to find what works for us and our class and there is no need to "compete" with the teachers who post these fabulous pictures.

On 8/01/16, Amy K wrote: > How do you set up your reading center in your classroom? I see so > many pictures of rooms online where people have bins and bins and > bins of books for the kids to select from. They are all organized so > nicely by subject, author etc... They then have comfy chairs or even a > couch in the reading center. It all looks great, but do most people > really have that much space? My room is not super tiny, but it isn't real > big either. If I dedicated as much space in my room for a reading > center as I see on Pinterest and teacher websites, my kids wouldn't > have any space too sit, do work or play. It baffles me that so many > teachers have rooms that have to be at least twice the space that I > have. I have a very small, simplistic reading center. I have a very > nice Lakeshore reading shelf that I change out monthly. It houses > holiday / seasonal books (fall, Halloweeen, Christmas, winter etc....) I > then have a shelf that holds four large bins. I label 2 bins "fiction" and > 2 bins "nonfiction." As we read books that are not holiday/seasonal, I > put them in these bins for the kids to read and look at. Once they get > too full, I take some of the books out and put them away to make room > for new books that we have read. It works and my kids have plenty of > books to read. I just feel like sometimes I am the only teacher that > doesn't have an elaborate reading center for my kindergarteners. So I > am just curious as to what everyone else is doing.

Aug 1, 2016

maureen I was always blessed to have rather large classrooms so I usually had a little sofa where 2 or 3 children could sit and sometimes I even had a couple added recliners (that I tied inside so they couldn't recline). The other children just sat on the floor or brought books to a table.(I usually had between 24 - 30 students each year) I had a nice litt...See MoreI was always blessed to have rather large classrooms so I usually had a little sofa where 2 or 3 children could sit and sometimes I even had a couple added recliners (that I tied inside so they couldn't recline). The other children just sat on the floor or brought books to a table.(I usually had between 24 - 30 students each year) I had a nice little throw rug in front of the sofa and a basket of books set off to the side. There would a nice print of a classic painting over the sofa to tie in the color. I didn't have access to Pinterest in those days.

My bookshelves for all of my books were separate from the reading corner. I didn't use bins. I just taped a strip on the binding in different colors (green for science, blue for geography, brown for botany, red for fiction, yellow for cultural) and kept them sorted on the bookshelves like they are in libraries. Sometimes a child would "fix" any out of place books or we would do it together as a project. Overall, the children did a great job keeping the books organized. I only changed the books in the basket next to the sofa. Those would have some seasonal books or the ones I read to the class as a group. We had very few fiction books in our classroom. I kept the ones we had that did not have talking animals - only reality based as much as possible. The children would spend a great deal of time looking at pictures of the non fiction books especially those animal "dictionaries".

If I used actual "readers" I kept them in a separate area. I wanted to be sure they were reading those books instead of just memorizing the text.

I think your approach is very good and since it works so well for you, I wouldn't change a thing. I was an interior designer in my first career so I was strong in providing an inviting and classic environment just for children. To me as long as the children want to spend time in the area looking or reading books, then you have a nice reading center. I have seen such centers that were so over the top, that it looked like it was more to impress the adults then it was to support children's reading of books.

I agree with Flacka - don't sweat it - your reading corner sounds like it is working just fine.

Aug 1, 2016

20 Movement Activities for the School Day

Jul 26, 2016

Being involved in movement positively affects children both cognitively and physically. Here are 20 quick, simple ideas to use (and adapt) in your classroom. {Click below]

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DonnaR/CA On 7/26/16, Teachers.Net Gazette wrote: > Being involved in movement positively affects children both > cognitively and physically. Here are 20 quick, simple ideas > to use (and adapt) in your classroom. {Click below]

I have my kids use Jack Hartmann's stuff -- available on CD or on YouTube -- during the day. Among my favorites (a...See More

Aug 8, 2016

Let's get the ball rolling

by Flacka

Jul 25, 2016

Lets get a discussion going...

What new things do you want to try this year?

What book/program/idea really changed the way you teach (in a good way)?

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DonnaR/CA On 7/25/16, Flacka wrote: > Lets get a discussion going... > > What new things do you want to try this year?

It's not a new thing, but I'd really like to have a real writing center -- one with different types of paper, different pencils and pens, etc. I'm being thwarted right now by the lack of a table that fits in the area that I...See More

Aug 6, 2016

ZIP On 7/25/16, Flacka wrote: > Lets get a discussion going... > > What new things do you want to try this year? > > What book/program/idea really changed the way you teach (in a > good way)?

My new thing is a class website for parent commnication. using Bloomz.I am hoping to have this very technological group of parents get ...See More

Aug 26, 2016

I used to post on the kindergarten chat board, but last year I taught 3rd grade after teaching K for 16 years. I had a great time in 3rd grade, and am scheduled to teach 4th grade this year to the same kids I had last year in 3rd grade (we are a small school), so I am on the 4th grade board now. I posted something there a few days ago, asking for p...See More

Where did everyone go?

by Steve

Jul 24, 2016

Except for Tnet Gazette, it has been 2 weeks since there have been any postings on here. This board used to busy with lots of new, young teachers heading into the unique world of kindergarten and seasoned teachers looking for some new ideas and information to make tweaks for the new year.

I know there are lots of K teachers out there beca...See More

no postings

by Flacka

Jul 24, 2016

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Pfp On 7/25/16, Amy K wrote: > I used to spend a lot of time here as well. Then I got obsessed with > Pinterest and TPT. I am now over that phase and am ready for teaching > discussions again. Like you, when I returned I found that nobody is here. > > > On 7/24/16, Flacka wrote: >> Except for Tnet Gazette, it has been 2 weeks si...See More

Jul 26, 2016

DonnaR/CA On 7/24/16, Flacka wrote:

> Where did everyone go??

I, for one, have been on a road trip. Then, after a few days home, younger daughter had her baby. So I was with her and her husband as part of the LDR support team.

Donna

Aug 6, 2016

K-12 - Quotes, links re students' body & mind

Jul 24, 2016

“Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong.” John F. Kennedy

CLICK below for more quotes and articles related to the importance of physical exercise as it relates to learning.

Alarming Effects of Lack of Active Learning, Recess

Read this excerpt from Brad and Melody's book to learn why it's important that educators press NOW for more movement, more recess, more physical education in every school day. For example, this stunning fact:

Core muscle strength actually affects the area of the brain which controls executive function. Research shows that only one in twel...See More

Jul 20, 2016

How recess supports academic, social-emotional, development

Jul 14, 2016

Stanford Study Shows School Recess Offers Numerous Benefits

Click below to read more about what the report reveals about how recess can impact students' physical, emotional and academic well-being.

At the Start of School: "It is my duty to remind you..."

Jul 13, 2016

Principal Todd Nelson shares his all-time favorite back-to-school charge to the faculty, written by Jonathan Slater, a school head with whom Todd worked "a while back."

“It is my annual duty to remind you...” Slater begins. (Click below to read the rest, a message all educators should hear!)