Open House

Open House is our Kindergarten Orientation. We greet families and meet the children who will be our students for the year. It is also a time to take care of business and accomplish a few things.

 I create a "Take-Home Folder" for each child with the following labels: "To be LEFT at home." and "Bring it RIGHT back!" This helps busy families go through papers and assists with left vs. right skill building. I get these ready for each family and child before open house, with school papers and documents, my welcome packet, and favors. This year for my "bright" theme, I gave out glow sticks with the tag "We're going to have a bright year!"

Children also learn their class number and find their line order spot. (These are laminated stars with Velcro sticking them to the carpet.)



 This summer, I created Open House labels based on the checklist I have for families and students to complete together while they're here.

 

This is the set of labels I created:                         

 1. How is your child going home?
 2. Mark all of your supplies with your name.
 3. Stack tissues here.
 4. Take this home and create a page about yourself.
 5. Any extra supplies go in the baggie with your name.
 6. Sign up for conferences.
 7. Can you find your spot in line?
 8. Instructions for pencil box supplies.
 9. Put your folders in here.
 10. Where is your spot at the circle?
 11. Place your markers here.
 12. Wet wipes go here.

First students grab a checklist with their parents and try out their locker doors.

Then students put on a name tag and parents get some paperwork.

 Families also take home their first project for the year. These papers are scrapbook pages to be displayed on the "Masterpieces" art wall and then put into a class book. It's a great way to get to know one another. 

Here is my example!

At our school, we also have families sign up for conferences. They pick a time for both dates in the fall and winter and then write them down on a slip of paper. I also do reminder calls in addition to reminder notes. They are very well received!

 I keep markers, scissors, gluesticks, and glue bottles separate from our pencil boxes. We use them as community supples in bins that are color coordinated to match the tables. (Orange bin for the orange table, etc.) It's much easier to have families unpack supplies in an organized fashion that saves me time later. They follow the instructions and the community supplies are in bins together and the pencil boxes contain a box of crayons, a highlighter, pencils, and an eraser. Perfect!

Responding to a message is also a job for Open House. I love to see their faces afterwards!

 By far, my favorite part of Open House is meeting my kiddos. I talk to each child as they arrive at the door and as they leave with their families. (I also help when I can with the supply sorting.) The last item on the checklist is to tell Miss Smith one thing you like about Kindergarten already. This is a great clue as to what the students look forward to, enjoy, and feel. There was a sweetie this year who said, "I like you!"

Using Space Wisely...

With our bulletin boards on one side of the room and the SMARTboards on the other, many teachers elect to have one large circle space and another smaller space by the bulletin boards for calendar time. I thought long and hard about how to combine the spaces to make better use of my room. I chose to adhere cork squares to the back of this very sturdy cubby shelf (made by our carpenter custodian who is amazing!). By turning the shelf sideways, I create an entryway into the classroom and also a surface perfectly suited calendar time. Hooray!

Refinished Lamp

I'm really proud of my refinished lamp! This old thing was in our basement family room, just waiting to be better used. It was a dark stained wooden floor lamp with the tan lamp shade. I painted it white and hot-glued white and pearl buttons to the shade. Cute!

Displaying Student Artwork

Sharing student work is a great way to create a sense of belonging and share accomplishments in the classroom. This board is purple fabric with a decorative border, white swiss-dot letters and labels.
A cricut is a perfect tool to quickly produce inexpensive lettering. I used the white swiss-dot textured paper with the hopes that it would pop on the purple paper.
The labels are secured with white tacks so they can be moved to accomodate different sizes of artwork.

http://www.cricut.com/

Classroom 2012-2013

Welcome to my classroom! I'm very pleased with the way my room turned out. I organize and manage the tables by color, so you'll see the yellow table, blue table, orange table, and purple table. These colors make up the bright scheme. The bulletin boards are covered in cloth and from left to right are for "Hopes and Dreams," the word wall, and a student work display. I have 20 students and two tables situated to seat two adults for intervention/center time.

My classroom this year includes a writing center, class library, block area, art center, and dramatic play. I also have a sensory table masquerading as a side table under the whiteboard until I need it.

I'm excited to share this room with little people! Cheers to another great year!

Alicia