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I am a first grade teacher who has rediscovered a love for firsties this year. I have taught pre-k, kindergarten, first grade and even second over the past 16 years. I have been married for 17 years to my wonderful husband and have been blessed with 2 very active boys.

Pre-K Back to School

Pre-K Back to School
Pre-K Back to School

Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy

Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy
Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy

Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy

Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy
Pre-K/Kindergarten Literacy

Phonics Games

Phonics Games
Phonics Games
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Calendar Math for Primary Grades

Calendar Math for Primary Grades
Primary Calendar for the Year

Showing posts with label Character Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Character Education. Show all posts
Making Meaningful Family Connections

Making Meaningful Family Connections


Making meaningful family connections is such an important part of teaching, 
but can often be put on the back burner 
due to the increasing workload put on teachers.


One of the reasons I LOVE teaching pre-k is the connection with the families during drop off and pick up. Parents love to hear a little snippet about their child's day! It might be where they played, what they learned or something sweet that they said or did.  And yes, sometimes we need to let a parent know that their child had a difficult day, but we are sure tomorrow will be much better! Always leaving on a positive note makes the parent know you are all in for their child!


We send a monthly newsletter as part of our school initiative to keep parents in the know. This year, I decided to send a weekly "Peek at My Week" which is a half page weekly newsletter that quickly lets parent know what we are learning, important dates and a brief note from the teacher.  I have had several parents share that they LOVE this as they are able to connect to the classroom and SUPPORT the learning that is going on.  I have made  a 52 EDITABLE Weekly Newsletter Templates pack that is available on Teachers Pay Teachers to make it that much easier to connect with families!
Hosting events is a fun way to connect with families on a more personal level.  Our school hosts Family Math and Literacy nights, a Fall Festival and The Pro-Kids Show which promotes social skills in a FUN and ENGAGING way.  In pre-k, we offer a 3 day science time though a grant with our local Orlando Science Center as well as our VPK Spring Fling which includes an egg hunt with HUNDREDS of eggs and rotating stations outside.   

  


Pre-Kinders LOVE to sing! We have worked hard this year leaning a new song, poem or nursery rhyme each week.  The teacher in me not only adores when they sing, but appreciates all the pre-reading skills they are learning through this! You can find the monthly poems with rebus pictures HERE.  My kids love to interact with the large charts and "play teacher" during the week.
 

On Fridays, they get a small copy of the poem to put in their poetry journal and practice "reading" and illustrating it.  The REAL MAGIC happens once a month when they take their poetry journals home and SHARE their favorite songs, rhymes and illustrations with their families. The parents OFTEN share how much their children LOVE these songs!
Sharing pictures of their kids is definitely a go-to way to connect with families.  In this digital age, it makes it that much easier to share a little piece of their child's day with them.  There are apps like CLASS DOJO where the parents can sign up for texts from the teachers.  You can send pictures through Class Dojo. You can read more about what Class Dojo has to offer over at A Primary Owl.
                             
One of the easiest way to build connections is by making someone feel appreciated.  Thank You notes are the PERFECT way to show parents you are part of a TEAM!  When I receive a gift, I try to write a personal note to each family.  However, families do TONS of things to help out the classroom every month.  In order to stay on top of it, I print out THANK YOU NOTES with messages already included that I use in a moment's notice.  Parents TRULY appreciate this!
So those are my top 5 ways to build meaningful relationships with parents.
You can use the image below to pin this for future reference!
 
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Mrs. Wathen
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How to bring GOD back in the classroom

How to bring GOD back in the classroom


The greatest lessons I learned this week were taught to me by God loving children!

Let me back up a little bit and give you some background and I hope you will stay with me.  I am a Christian who LOVES my Lord and Savior! I was blessed with parents who know God and brought me from birth in the Catholic church. I attended Catholic school from kindergarten through twelfth grade with the last four years being at an all girl Catholic high school, and I am beyond thankful.

That being said, my faith is still growing and I attend a Christian church now and love where my faith has taken me.  I am, however, a public school teacher and at times it saddens me that I can't share the fact that Jesus loves them with my students.


Today, our voices are stifled in public schools, but GOD is not. Here are 5 ways I have learned to bring GOD back into the classroom.



We, as believers in Christ, need to lead as Christ lead us.  He came to this earth to give us the perfect example of how we can live our lives. So now its our turn to teach, model and love these children that have been entrusted to us.  Yes, that also includes the not so easy to love child...You know the one-the child that pushes every limit and gets under your skin.  He/she needs our LOVE the MOST!



So friends, this year my paraprofessional and I have prayer specifically for our students.  We have been intentional with our prayer and we schedule who we are praying for.  There are days and even weeks that we are more consistent than others, but the good news is God hears our prayers! So yes, we may not be able to pray with our students, but we can certainly pray FOR our students!



My youngest son  sent me a selfie on Friday to ask if his shirt matched his shorts. This was the shirt he received at church two years ago when he was baptized.  It even says NEW CREATION on the back. My first thought was concern that he would be called out on it in middle school.  (Middle school kids can be so mean!) But isn't that what we are called to do? Imagine if the Holy Spirit used Zach or even the message on his shirt to speak to someone.  That is exactly what we are called to do and I am so thankful that my son has the conviction to do it! #proudmama



And yes friend, this sweet little pre-kinder friend taught me a HUGE lesson on Friday too! I was so touched by his honest answer when asked why he loved his mom.  I am sure his mama was having a proud moment too! Children don't know to sensor their conversations to leave God out of public school and their is such power in this innocence!  The Holy Spirit moved me to share his story, our story, our Savior's story with all who are willing to listen.



I believe the most powerful lessons we can teach our kids in the classroom are classified as "character education" but know this: we are planting a seed in these sweet, little children that will grow when tended to.  So PRAISE GOD- against such things there is no law!

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Mrs. Wathen
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St. Patrick's Day and Five for Friday

St. Patrick's Day and Five for Friday


I love celebrating holidays with my Pre-K friends.  
Most of my littles have not been in school before so what they experience 
in my room is a first, and that is exciting!
So on Saint Patrick's Day, we had a visit from Lucky the Leprechaun.
Let;s just say their excitement could not be contained...
ALL DAY LONG!!
Our rainbow windsocks took several days to complete, 
but were well worth the effort! 
I love how the colors compliment out alphabet too!
We painted every other color the first day,
so the colors wouldn't bleed together.
After all rainbows were painted and dried,
we worked on measuring and cutting the party streamers which was
the perfect addition to our measurement focus in math this week.
Windsock idea was found on Pinterest HERE.
CRASH! is one of our favorite games!
It is a matching game and can be played with any concept. 
We are working on number recognition from 1-20 
and I was able to differentiate the numerals worked 
during small group instruction.  
If the numbers match you keep them, if they don't match
you return them and CRASH! makes you return all your cards to the pile!
This edition of CRASH! can be found in my Farm Unit for pre-k and kinder.
With our teacher work day on Friday and spring break next week, 
we had to sneak in a few Easter activities this week.
Easter grass, Easter eggs, large tweezers and buckets were a hit!
I ordered the large tweezers from Amazon,
 but have also seen some at the Dollar Store recently!
Our class was invited to watch Scott Humston on Tuesday and his Pro Kids Show
 Can I just share with you that this is the BEST character ed show
that I have seen in my twenty years of teaching!
I saw the Pro Kids show five years ago at the elementary school 
that I taught at and when my youngest son attended.  
Scott Humston used comedy, magic, puppets and music 
to teach character ed in a way that CONNECTS with students!
So much, in fact, that my now middle schooler wanted to go watch 
the evening show at my current school for parents and students!
I LOVE his saying:
CHARACTER IS WHO YOU ARE WHILE NO ONE IS LOOKING!
I am linking up today with Doodle Bugs Teaching and Five For Friday.
Be sure to head over to see what everyone has been up to!
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Mrs. Wathen
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