One (Kind) Kindergarten

Hello and welcome back to cycle three of my posts on teaching mathematics in a task-based classroom! This week, I will be talking about how the "formative five" allow teachers to assess tasks in the classroom. When I am preparing a task for my classroom, I first create a rubric (pictured above). I consider what the goals of the task are: are students generating ideas about how to solve a new type of problem? Are...

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Welcome back! I am so glad you are joining in for session two, which will focus ideas for on launching mathematical tasks. There are several goals when launching a high-quality task: Eliminate all contextual and linguistic barriers for all students so they can focus on mathematics Pose a problem Generate interest Activate background knowledge Share logistical information: how long will students have to work? How will they be working (partners, individual, etc.)? Notice and Wonder...

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Hello! I am so happy you are joining me for session one of A New Vision for Mathematics today. Today will be a general overview of what the math task cycle is, its effect on student learning, and the three types of tasks. One one hand, we have our old way of mathematics: introducing a concept and its vocabulary, teaching strategies, students completing work and then (maybe...) applying to a contextual problem to extend their learning....

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Over the past few weeks, I have been leading each grade levels planning meeting during their planning time. Each hour brings a new grade level and new challenges. This is my first time leading a PLC, and I wrote the proposal and presented it to my administrators. Although I had originally envisioned my trainings as a series of after-school meetings, my administrators offered me three professional days to take to train teachers instead. I spend...

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Welcome back to the blog--I want to talk a little about our mornings today. In my class, there are about 15 minutes from 7:45 to 8:00 where students are in the classroom, but instructional time has not started yet.  As teachers, we are doing 1 million different things in the morning. Greeting students, accepting notes, collecting forms and money, taking attendance, comforting students, finding breakfasts, and hearing tidbits students have been holding onto since the...

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I love teaching comparing numbers and quantities every year in kindergarten! In kindergarten, these two standards address what kindergartners need to know and do to master number and comparisons: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.C.6 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.1 CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.C.7 Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals. I developed...

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I am so proud of the littles around this time of year. They are developing so well in their reading and writing skills, all at their own perfect paces. Kids start to really pay attention to letters and sounds at this stage. They notice when one friend has a "long word" and they begin to venture out into spelling multi-syllabic words. I find this is the perfect time to begin introducing students to sound and...

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Last year, I designed the classroom of my dreams. My first two years, everything in the classroom was reflective of being a first-year teacher with a tiny budget and using what was already around. My colors were red, blue, and yellow. My classroom was cute enough to get by, but it wasn't what was in my heart. My classroom this year reflects who I am so much more closely! Everything is in ROYGBIV order, clean...

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Differentiating is one of those oft-used terms in modern education that gets thrown around. I remember in college, differentiation would feel essential, and as I began to plan lessons for my internships, student teaching, and first class it would become time-consuming and exhausting. Every child is so unique and special--how can one teacher serve every student in the class? Turns out, differentiation doesn't always require hours of planning...sometimes it takes your grade-level assignment and just...

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It's coming up on testing season in the early grades. Every time I hear the term "non-tested grade" I want to go crazy. We test, and test, and test these littles! In the span of a few weeks, my kiddos will best tested using Fast, MAP, text-leveled assessments, and WIDA ACCESS. In addition to needing assessed on kindergarten year-long skills at regular intervals PLUS 4-5 assessments in subject areas every week (grades for reading, writing,...

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At the beginning of this school year, I received some news from the state board of education. My evaluation score had errors, and the state refused to fix it. This led me down a rabbit hole of emailing people, being rerouted to new people, being disrespected, disbelieved, and down trodden. I discovered that the state commissioner of education had called kindergarten through second grade a "dumping ground" for weak teachers. I felt negative, like I...

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Do you use the IBRDS protocol for teaching phonics? It goes like this: I: Introduce the sound and spelling pattern B: Blend words R: Read sentences D: Decodable texts S: Spelling This process is a simple lesson design to teach a new sound or spelling pattern, and can occur in a daily or weekly cycle. To me, it seemed such a simple organization and quickly I adapted it to start teaching my kinders about vowel...

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Do you make resolutions each year? I look forward to it every December, when I reflect on my old goals and make five new ones to work towards. I also pick a word for each year. This year my word is venture. I have 5 goals this year: 1. Finish my master's degree 2. Dedicate 3 hours a week to One Kind Kindergarten (blog, TPT store, Youtube) 3. Find a new professional adventure 4. 100...

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