Whew - two posts in one day - but I just joined the Linky Party at Lory's Page for The Daily 5.
I'm trying to remember how I first came across this book this spring - it was probably from one of the blogs that I've been reading since the end of February when I learned I would be teaching Grade 1 this year. I know that I borrowed a copy from our school system's library, and read it in one evening, knowing that I would definitely be buying my own.
Since then I have read through parts of it several times, and I am so excited to get started on the program this fall. The more I think about it - and especially now, the more I read about what other people have done - the more convinced I am that this is the way to go in Language Arts teaching.
What made me SO happy yesterday morning was an e-mail from one of my new colleagues. She'll be teaching a combined Grade 2/3 class (A, if you stumble across this through the link that I sent you, hello!) and went to observe at another school last week. They were using Daily 5 so she saw it in action and let me know how much she loved it. She is also going to buy the book and we are looking forward to talking about it this summer.
Because I haven't been doing much classroom teaching in the last few years - and because the classroom teaching I was doing was in a shared position, and I don't feel that we had a really coherent literacy plan - I don't have much to contribute as to what I am doing now, and what I would do differently. However, I can share my thoughts about the book based on what I have seen and what I would like to do next year.
I do find that the Gr. 1 teacher at my current school does a lot of "busy work". The work that I see displayed definitely follows a format and you can tell that a lot of the time children are copying phrases that are on the board for them, rather than doing their own writing. My impression is that for the most part, the majority of the children are doing the same thing at the same time. I know that she has adult volunteers who read or practise spelling with the kids, but I don't believe that she does Guided Reading in the way I've seen it described, or Word Work. Looking on, it seems that her classroom and style of teaching resembles what The Sisters describe on page 4 about their first years of teaching.
It's very easy to be critical of others when you are not in their shoes, and I admit that I have had these moments in the 9 years that I was a specialist, not a classroom teacher. I have often thought that our teachers haven't spent enough time establishing routines with the kids in my school and it's reflected in their behaviour, particularly during transition times (i.e., when they're coming to see me!). Reading this sentence, "It is this explicit teaching and practicing of behaviors that sets the Daily Five apart from the other management systems we have tried over the years" was like having an "Aha!" moment. This is what I thought was lacking in my own school - explicit teaching and practising of behaviours. I knew this was the book for me. Seeing Richard Allington and Michael Pressley cited as "favorite colleagues" cemented the deal, as I am in love with the book Learning to Read: Lessons From Exemplary First-Grade Classrooms - another wonderful book I stumbled upon when searching about how to teach Grade 1 - of which they are co-authors (with 3 others). I already had this book when I saw it listed in the Daily 5 Research Base on page 11.
So, those are my first ramblings. I look forward to sharing this journey with you and hope to get to "know" some of you in the blogosphere! I need to write down questions for future chapters!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Approaching Summer Holidays!
Is it really already June 19th? I read a lot of American blogs, and I know that many people are already on summer holidays. Here, we start school the day after Labour Day and generally finish on the last Friday in June. Our students will be done on June 27th this year...I will have that afternoon and the next day to finish tidying/packing up at my old school, and then will have a planning day at my new school.
I am getting very anxious for this year to be over and for holidays to start. My husband and I are going on a road trip, which will include visits to California (relatives and Disneyland!), South Dakota (Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and Mount Rushmore) and Minnesota (more Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Betsy-Tacy Convention!). Our kids will fly down to California for a few days to join us, but we will get some experience as to what it's like to be travelling as a couple again (last road trip together of any length was in 1990, when I was pregnant with our first daughter).
And then, once, home, it will be a working summer. I'm not sure when we can get started setting up our classrooms in the new school, but I hope that it's as soon as early August! I can't wait to start arranging my calendar board and putting my various supplies away. Our basement rec room is currently a depository of teaching "stuff" and I know my husband is also very anxious to see it moved to the school! I haven't kept things at my current school because there wasn't really any storage room - I was sharing a class/classroom with a teacher who has been teaching for many years and the cupboards were pretty full...and open shelf space very limited. I would bring in the items I wanted to use for the week or month, then take them home. I've also been acquiring various new items for next year.
I was at the new school again this last weekend - I was able to take my sister, who was visiting from Toronto, to see where I'll be next year. She's glad that she can picture me there now!
Next week will be bittersweet, knowing that it's the last time I'll see some of the kids, but I also know that I'll continue to see many of them at church each week. Similarly, it will be emotional saying good-bye to my colleagues, but again I know that I will keep in touch with those to whom I'm the closest.
10 days to holidays!
I am getting very anxious for this year to be over and for holidays to start. My husband and I are going on a road trip, which will include visits to California (relatives and Disneyland!), South Dakota (Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and Mount Rushmore) and Minnesota (more Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Betsy-Tacy Convention!). Our kids will fly down to California for a few days to join us, but we will get some experience as to what it's like to be travelling as a couple again (last road trip together of any length was in 1990, when I was pregnant with our first daughter).
And then, once, home, it will be a working summer. I'm not sure when we can get started setting up our classrooms in the new school, but I hope that it's as soon as early August! I can't wait to start arranging my calendar board and putting my various supplies away. Our basement rec room is currently a depository of teaching "stuff" and I know my husband is also very anxious to see it moved to the school! I haven't kept things at my current school because there wasn't really any storage room - I was sharing a class/classroom with a teacher who has been teaching for many years and the cupboards were pretty full...and open shelf space very limited. I would bring in the items I wanted to use for the week or month, then take them home. I've also been acquiring various new items for next year.
I was at the new school again this last weekend - I was able to take my sister, who was visiting from Toronto, to see where I'll be next year. She's glad that she can picture me there now!
Next week will be bittersweet, knowing that it's the last time I'll see some of the kids, but I also know that I'll continue to see many of them at church each week. Similarly, it will be emotional saying good-bye to my colleagues, but again I know that I will keep in touch with those to whom I'm the closest.
10 days to holidays!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Busy Days!
I haven't written for so long, because life has been so demanding - lots going on at home, and in my current teaching position. I'm finding it really difficult to have my head in one place (new school) and my feet in another (old school)...with my heart in both. I am just so excited to get moving on to my new position.
I have met with my new colleagues several times now, and am just as much in love with them as I was the first time we met. I really think it's going to be so much fun working together. We are definitely all different people, from different backgrounds, but share some important philosophies and will, I think, complement each other's differences.
I was absolutely thrilled yesterday to stumble upon a sale at scholastic.com (thanks to Lyndsey at A Year of Many Firsts for mentioning it): full-size e-books (pdf form) for $1 each! I ended up spending $118 and have some incredible resources right on my computer now. I love the fact that I will be able to just print these reproducibles off so easily (I'm presuming that my new school will allow me to do what I can at my current one, which is print directly to the photocopier). I don't like to use too many drill-type worksheets, but I love the idea of making mini-books and using thematic stationery for writing, poetry frames, graphic organizers and so on. I also got books to help with Math and Literacy Centres, excellent thematic books, books of ideas for the whole year and teacher books on things like multiple intelligences and brain-based learning. Lots of reading ahead for me!
I can't wait to meet my new students. We are having an open house on June 9th, where parents and children can drop in and meet us (there are just 3 teachers this year). I am planning to make a large "jigsaw puzzle" and have each child draw themselves and print their names in large letters - I will then have this assembled as a "Welcome to School" bulletin board for the fall, with a caption along the lines of "We all fit together!" I like the idea of the children coming in September and seeing some of their own work up already. I'm also planning to take photos of each one to use for coathooks and other displays. Who are these little people with whom I will be spending the next year?!?!?
Off to finish downloading my new books and skimming for great ideas!
I have met with my new colleagues several times now, and am just as much in love with them as I was the first time we met. I really think it's going to be so much fun working together. We are definitely all different people, from different backgrounds, but share some important philosophies and will, I think, complement each other's differences.
I was absolutely thrilled yesterday to stumble upon a sale at scholastic.com (thanks to Lyndsey at A Year of Many Firsts for mentioning it): full-size e-books (pdf form) for $1 each! I ended up spending $118 and have some incredible resources right on my computer now. I love the fact that I will be able to just print these reproducibles off so easily (I'm presuming that my new school will allow me to do what I can at my current one, which is print directly to the photocopier). I don't like to use too many drill-type worksheets, but I love the idea of making mini-books and using thematic stationery for writing, poetry frames, graphic organizers and so on. I also got books to help with Math and Literacy Centres, excellent thematic books, books of ideas for the whole year and teacher books on things like multiple intelligences and brain-based learning. Lots of reading ahead for me!
I can't wait to meet my new students. We are having an open house on June 9th, where parents and children can drop in and meet us (there are just 3 teachers this year). I am planning to make a large "jigsaw puzzle" and have each child draw themselves and print their names in large letters - I will then have this assembled as a "Welcome to School" bulletin board for the fall, with a caption along the lines of "We all fit together!" I like the idea of the children coming in September and seeing some of their own work up already. I'm also planning to take photos of each one to use for coathooks and other displays. Who are these little people with whom I will be spending the next year?!?!?
Off to finish downloading my new books and skimming for great ideas!
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Exciting Times!
Life has been very busy lately - in my current job, I teach Music as well as Kindergarten, and we are preparing for our annual School Musical in about 2 weeks. My heart hasn't been in it the same way this year, especially now that I know I am moving on...but I still must do my best, right? (I keep telling myself that...)
So, what has been exciting? I got to meet my new colleagues on Saturday! The three of us met at the new school with our principal-to-be and had a short meeting and a long look-around. Oh my. My current school building is over 60 years old and shows its age. Case in point: in my Music Room I have ONE electrical outlet. In my new Grade 1 classroom there are outlets on all four walls, plus places for internet connections (although I think I heard that we're going to have wireless) and even a PHONE. The principal laughed when I was so excited about that one thing, but when you have to go downstairs to the staffroom or office any time you get (or want to make) a phone call, that's a pretty big improvement!
I LOVE my new colleagues. The three of us (Kindergarten, Grade 1 and a combined Grade 2/3) hit it off immediately. It was a lovefest. We were all so giddy and excited, but I learned enough about them in those few hours together to feel really optimistic about next year. The cherry on top was an e-mail from one of them later that evening, affirming everything that I felt.
More excitement: the church we are attached to had a Scholastic book fair on the weekend when they held an open house to see the new school, and raised about $6000. The principal said that she plans to give us each $2000 of that for our classroom libraries. Yippee! I love books! I still have most of the books that I acquired when I first taught Gr. 1, but most are looking VERY used, as my own kids read them. In my years of teaching Music and French I did get some books to support both of those subjects (and I will take the Music ones with me, although I'll leave the French) but little else. I spent some time on the Scholastic website creating a theoretical order, and I am amazed at how many books I will be able to get! Fun times ahead!
We are meeting again at the end of April - it's nice to actually have some ideas about how next year will go. More fun ahead, I'm sure!
So, what has been exciting? I got to meet my new colleagues on Saturday! The three of us met at the new school with our principal-to-be and had a short meeting and a long look-around. Oh my. My current school building is over 60 years old and shows its age. Case in point: in my Music Room I have ONE electrical outlet. In my new Grade 1 classroom there are outlets on all four walls, plus places for internet connections (although I think I heard that we're going to have wireless) and even a PHONE. The principal laughed when I was so excited about that one thing, but when you have to go downstairs to the staffroom or office any time you get (or want to make) a phone call, that's a pretty big improvement!
I LOVE my new colleagues. The three of us (Kindergarten, Grade 1 and a combined Grade 2/3) hit it off immediately. It was a lovefest. We were all so giddy and excited, but I learned enough about them in those few hours together to feel really optimistic about next year. The cherry on top was an e-mail from one of them later that evening, affirming everything that I felt.
More excitement: the church we are attached to had a Scholastic book fair on the weekend when they held an open house to see the new school, and raised about $6000. The principal said that she plans to give us each $2000 of that for our classroom libraries. Yippee! I love books! I still have most of the books that I acquired when I first taught Gr. 1, but most are looking VERY used, as my own kids read them. In my years of teaching Music and French I did get some books to support both of those subjects (and I will take the Music ones with me, although I'll leave the French) but little else. I spent some time on the Scholastic website creating a theoretical order, and I am amazed at how many books I will be able to get! Fun times ahead!
We are meeting again at the end of April - it's nice to actually have some ideas about how next year will go. More fun ahead, I'm sure!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Reading About Reading
I'm so excited! I was tracking my page views (really not expecting to see anything) and SOMEONE out there looked at my page! So cool!
It has been 19 years since I taught Grade 1 - I've taught Grade 1 kids since then, in Music and French, but not the full curriculum - and I haven't kept up with what's current in literacy teaching. I hate to say it, but the Grade 1 teacher at my current school hasn't really kept current either, and I can't see myself emulating her style. That's why I've enjoyed reading so many great blogs over the last few weeks - and it seems that one great blog leads to another; I have close to 20 bookmarked right now! These, combined with other searches on first grade literacy and browsing in teacher's bookstores, have led me to some resources I've really enjoyed reading.
One of the first things I found was this study about effective literacy instruction. So much of what it said made sense! I was happy to find out about Learning to Read: Lessons from Exemplary First-Grade Classrooms by Michael Pressley et al which references the study (has some of the same authors) and describes some real classrooms and routines in detail. I can definitely see myself doing what some of these teachers are doing.
At my local teachers' store I came across The Great Eight: Management Strategies for the Reading and Writing Classroom by Pam Allyn, Jaime Margolies and Karen McNally (note: I am not promoting any specific places to buy these books, just linking to them where I find them!). Again, there were many ideas in here that I can see myself adopting. I particularly like the section on organizing small-group learning. Their ideas about management tie in very nicely to the Michael Pressley book.
I was visiting the US on Thursday and went to a great teachers' store there. I decided to look for the book The Complete 4 For Literacy, also by Pam Allyn. This seems to be quite a flexible method for teaching reading and writing. I was looking at my provincial curriculum outcomes and can see how they fit into what Ms. Allyn is talking about.
Since I'm on Spring Break right now I've had time to devour these books (staying up late and getting up early, and reading!). I am really anxious to get down to actual planning for the year. My new school is just opening this year and has NOTHING in the way of resources yet. When I met with the principal, prior to my formal interview, she talked of wanting to get hiring done early so that the teachers could be in on the process of planing and ordering. I'm expecting that that should be happening fairly soon, so I do want to have some idea of what I'll be teaching and what is out there.
On that note, I have some questions for anyone who might possibly be reading this: are you familiar with the books I've mentioned above, and if so, what did you think of them? And, as far as leveled reading goes, do you recommend any particular series of leveled books? I've seen several different series mentioned in the various reading I've done, but there are no experts like those in thetrenches classroom!
Off to read some more!
It has been 19 years since I taught Grade 1 - I've taught Grade 1 kids since then, in Music and French, but not the full curriculum - and I haven't kept up with what's current in literacy teaching. I hate to say it, but the Grade 1 teacher at my current school hasn't really kept current either, and I can't see myself emulating her style. That's why I've enjoyed reading so many great blogs over the last few weeks - and it seems that one great blog leads to another; I have close to 20 bookmarked right now! These, combined with other searches on first grade literacy and browsing in teacher's bookstores, have led me to some resources I've really enjoyed reading.
One of the first things I found was this study about effective literacy instruction. So much of what it said made sense! I was happy to find out about Learning to Read: Lessons from Exemplary First-Grade Classrooms by Michael Pressley et al which references the study (has some of the same authors) and describes some real classrooms and routines in detail. I can definitely see myself doing what some of these teachers are doing.
At my local teachers' store I came across The Great Eight: Management Strategies for the Reading and Writing Classroom by Pam Allyn, Jaime Margolies and Karen McNally (note: I am not promoting any specific places to buy these books, just linking to them where I find them!). Again, there were many ideas in here that I can see myself adopting. I particularly like the section on organizing small-group learning. Their ideas about management tie in very nicely to the Michael Pressley book.
I was visiting the US on Thursday and went to a great teachers' store there. I decided to look for the book The Complete 4 For Literacy, also by Pam Allyn. This seems to be quite a flexible method for teaching reading and writing. I was looking at my provincial curriculum outcomes and can see how they fit into what Ms. Allyn is talking about.
Since I'm on Spring Break right now I've had time to devour these books (staying up late and getting up early, and reading!). I am really anxious to get down to actual planning for the year. My new school is just opening this year and has NOTHING in the way of resources yet. When I met with the principal, prior to my formal interview, she talked of wanting to get hiring done early so that the teachers could be in on the process of planing and ordering. I'm expecting that that should be happening fairly soon, so I do want to have some idea of what I'll be teaching and what is out there.
On that note, I have some questions for anyone who might possibly be reading this: are you familiar with the books I've mentioned above, and if so, what did you think of them? And, as far as leveled reading goes, do you recommend any particular series of leveled books? I've seen several different series mentioned in the various reading I've done, but there are no experts like those in the
Off to read some more!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Here I Am!
After reading some amazing first grade blogs, I have decided to try this out myself!
Who am I? I'm currently a Music/Kindergarten teacher in a small independent school somewhere in Canada! In September I will be changing schools and changing teaching assignments - yes, I'm going "Back to Grade One" - my teaching career started in a Grade 1 class, and I'm excited about going back. It's very difficult right now to have my head in my new classroom (BRAND NEW, I might point out - the school is just opening in September) and my feet in my old.
Why the move? My initial teacher training was in early primary, and I taught Gr. 1 for three years, then Gr. 2 for one. After that I stayed home with my kids for a few years, and then ended up getting a job teaching Music and French - two great interests of mine, but neither of them fields I had specifically trained for. However, desperate times call for desperate measures - on both my part (I really wanted to start working again, at that particular school) and the school's (we are kind of a remote area, and it was hard to find specialist teachers willing to come). I DID enjoy the nine years that I taught those two subjects, but over the last few years I've yearned to have my own classroom again. I got a taste of classroom teaching when, two years ago, I was asked to job-share a full-day Kindergarten class, in addition to teaching Music. My experiences there only made me want to teach full-time Kindergarten even more!
At the start of this year I decided I was going to start the process to help me transfer to a new school. Lo and behold, the very day I went to tell my principal what I was going to do, I found out that this new school had posted positions for Kindergarten and Grade 1! I got the process in motion, went through the interviews, and at the beginning of this month I was offered the Grade 1 position. Initially I was a bit disappointed, but the more I have looked into teaching Grade 1, the more excited I have become. I really want to be the best Gr. 1 teacher I can be, and I'm thrilled to have all the help out there!
Who am I? I'm currently a Music/Kindergarten teacher in a small independent school somewhere in Canada! In September I will be changing schools and changing teaching assignments - yes, I'm going "Back to Grade One" - my teaching career started in a Grade 1 class, and I'm excited about going back. It's very difficult right now to have my head in my new classroom (BRAND NEW, I might point out - the school is just opening in September) and my feet in my old.
Why the move? My initial teacher training was in early primary, and I taught Gr. 1 for three years, then Gr. 2 for one. After that I stayed home with my kids for a few years, and then ended up getting a job teaching Music and French - two great interests of mine, but neither of them fields I had specifically trained for. However, desperate times call for desperate measures - on both my part (I really wanted to start working again, at that particular school) and the school's (we are kind of a remote area, and it was hard to find specialist teachers willing to come). I DID enjoy the nine years that I taught those two subjects, but over the last few years I've yearned to have my own classroom again. I got a taste of classroom teaching when, two years ago, I was asked to job-share a full-day Kindergarten class, in addition to teaching Music. My experiences there only made me want to teach full-time Kindergarten even more!
At the start of this year I decided I was going to start the process to help me transfer to a new school. Lo and behold, the very day I went to tell my principal what I was going to do, I found out that this new school had posted positions for Kindergarten and Grade 1! I got the process in motion, went through the interviews, and at the beginning of this month I was offered the Grade 1 position. Initially I was a bit disappointed, but the more I have looked into teaching Grade 1, the more excited I have become. I really want to be the best Gr. 1 teacher I can be, and I'm thrilled to have all the help out there!
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