What if spaces accommodated students instead of the other way around?

Teamwork

Team"work"...whew what an important responsibility as a learner leader!!

Every year it is highlighted for me the importance of teachers working together, not only to share ideas about instruction, but to brainstorm ideas for the unique needs of the students in their classroom.
The students who attend my classroom, participate in their core kindergarten classroom for the other half of their day. I have an opportunity to work alongside our curriculum director, numerous teachers, reading specialists and reading tutors who provide Tier 2 interventions to students in all elementary buildings in our district. The meetings I have with these professionals to discuss individual student needs and specific interventions helps to expand my thinking as well as solidify what I know to be true for early learners. I believe each week, one of them teaches me something new, that makes me better at what I do! Because what might seem OBVIOUS TO YOU, CAN BE AMAZING TO OTHERS.
until later~
b~

Environmental Print

Every year, I have the chance to meet every kindergarten student in our district for an initial benchmark assessment. I arrive at their classrooms and tell them we will be doing a little reading together. I am so surprised at the number of students who always exclaim that they don't know how to read yet. For someone who has only been on the earth for approximately 1600 days, their expectations for themselves are very high.
One of the most important goals I have for my students is to see themselves as readers. Even if they can't exactly process functional print yet, they are already emerging readers with a great understanding of the contextual clues around them that they identify with everyday.
This environmental print is everywhere and a great starting point for young readers. It is a concrete connection that allows them the ability to "read" within the context of their everyday experiences. From the breakfast cereal box they choose at the grocery store, to recognizing their favorite places like McDonald's or Target, kids are using those clues in their environment and are easily comprehending its meaning.
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/i_can_read_.html

until later~
b~

Finally...the kids came

...and then there were kids!!
Such a great week for me. I have such a great opportunity to spend the first month of school meeting all the kindergartners in our district. I assess them and then, along with their classroom teachers (who really are the experts) place them in the right fit intervention. It is a very hectic and harried start to the year, but there are little rewards, discoveries and just simple joy that comes along with taking time to listen to the thoughts and idea of five year olds. The last week of September marks the finish line for that challenge and the start of the next. I teach the tier 3 literacy intervention to our "at risk" kindergartners. They attend their core class for half of their day and then come to my classroom, Kindergarten Foundations, for the other half of their day. Finally, they have been selected, conferenced about, received parent approval, visited the classroom, health records collected, transportation set, lunch menus delivered and then....finally, yes finally, they arrived. It was a wonderful week of getting to know each one... Most of them don't know the letters in their first name, but they are brilliant in so many ways! Can't wait to share all my learning about my students and what they have taught me here in my own place....Life and Literacy...Day.to.Day!
until later~
b~
October 2.2011