Hey, I hope everyone has their book and has decided to join my pal, Tammy, over at Live, Love, Laugh Everyday In Kindergarten as she leads us through our Daily 5 Book Study just for kindergarten.
Tammy offered up some guiding questions in her initial post about chapter one. I hope you had a chance to down load her guide and take advantage of her questions to guide you through our first chapter. The interesting thing that occurred to me as I read through them were that they were the same questions and concerns I had to address when preparing my class for differentiated instruction.
1. How do I teach new behaviors?
For most kindergarteners and certainly in my classroom, showing or telling a child once is never enough. I find that by modeling, practicing, modeling, practicing and modeling and practicing some more . . . eventually new behaviors can develop. When old behaviors show up, we stop and start over by modeling and practicing until we are back on track. I try to make sure that these behaviors are demonstrated in order to address the learning profiles of auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners.
2. How do I teach expectations?
In order to get ‘buy in’ with kindergarteners, it’s important to make them part of the process of developing expectations. By guiding them through the process, they usually come up with the ‘right’ answers. Once everyone has developed and agreed upon the expectations of the class, I feed into their egos. Kindergarteners love to play make believe and most love to preform. When I teach what I expect of them, it is always really effective to allow students to demonstrate, model and role play a child meeting the expectations of the classroom and also a child not demonstrating the expectations of the class.
3. How do I monitor student behavior? whole group? small groups? individual?
I believe that kindergarten teachers have this ability to see everything going on in every corner of our room. At least that’s what we like to believe. My room is very open so I can usually tell with a quick glance who is doing what they are suppose to be doing and who isn’t. I also do alot of partner or group work so that students become accountable for each other.
4. What do I do when a student is not exhibiting desired behavior?
Generally, when students chooses to not demonstrate the desired behaviors and expectations of the class, I let them know that it’s a sign to me that we need to practice those behaviors again.
5. Whose classroom is it?
Take a look at my classroom layout below. You will notice how much space is devoted to me in this classroom. . .very little. I don’t even have a desk. My space is so minimal. I really believe that any space I take for myself is space that is only borrowed from my students. I have learned to be compact in order to make room (in my tiny little classroom) for all the activities I want them to be able to do.
6. Locus of control?
I admit. I have a treasure box. But I also celebrate everything in my classroom so I feel like it all evens out.
7. Where are supplies stored?
With differentiated instruction, I have to have materials as accessible as possible for students or I would be chasing down dice, pencils, dry erase markers . . . you name it . . . all day long. I established a routine a long time ago of making materials accessible to students so I wouldn’t loose valuable teaching time. Here’s a couple of examples of what I do.
I wish I could tell you where I got the printables for the book hospital and extra items labels but for the life of me I can’t figure it out. If you know, drop me a line so I can give them credit.
So that’s it for chapter 1. I’m off to read chapter 2 again and looking forward to sharing again next week. Who knows, I might even come up with a couple of freebies for you by then. Drop me a line and let me know how its coming along for you. Things you’re questioning . . . great ideas you might have. I’d love to hear from you.
And don’t forget to check out our bookstudy pin board for other great ideas to go along with this study.
With nearly 20 years of experience as a full-time kindergarten teacher, I’m committed to creating a classroom where learning is joyful, engaging, challenging, and fun. Each day, I work to ensure that my students feel successful through instruction that considers their unique interests, learning profiles, and readiness levels. I believe that students should be excited to come to class and enjoy a myriad of hands-on activities that encourage exploration and discovery.
While I continue to teach full-time, I find so much joy in connecting and building friendships with teachers worldwide. It’s why I started this blog back in 2012. My hope has become a reality as I have been able to forge relationships with teachers, sharing ideas and building friendships beyond my little neck of the woods through professional development sessions and this blog.
So by all means, take some time to look around and explore A Differentiated Kindergarten. Gather some new ideas, fun tips, and most importantly, don’t forget to reach out and say, ‘Hi!’
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