Who thought working PK would be easy?

I am combining several strategies I use to teach because students develop in different stages. Workstations are used daily. Workstations are tools to help students learn literacy and math. Early Language and Literacy Instruction: Language Development can be promoted by using the digital tablets students listen to various programs: PBS-Sesame Street, Star Falls, Literacy workstations, Storyline online, there are so many. Another activity is working with learning identify alphabet; http://literacycenter.net/ will help students learn letter in any language. How do students use this center it is by having they repeat letter as they hear it and then copy letter to their writing journal. Their writing is just in beginning stages and that is OK. Many times it is scribble and that is OK. They are starting to develop. Remember their hands are not fully developed. As you can see their hands have not developed to hold a pencil. There are special tools to help them hold a pencil. Its available online. Literacycenter.net does have math and colors and shapes too. I enjoy this website. Spanish language is phonetic learned. There is a wonderful program called Estrellita. It introduces the alphabet letters by sound. From letter sounds then they begin to read syllables and then learn to form two syllable words. Estrellita helps children learn to read. So as children walk around their surrounding; they begin to see and read. Even an error of a sound makes me happy. Why? It tells me they are trying. They searching that sound to match that is on the wall. Word wall is great to have them increase vocabulary but also have them develop alliteration (initial letter sound to words). Read alouds gets them going when reading poems, reading stories. In their journals, as a teacher, I see them drawing, I ask them, I love what you drew. Tell me who is this? So whatever they say I write on their journal. At this time they need to feel validated that what they say matters. Science is fun. We explore by having fun. Classroom management is important. I am in a kind of small classroom but I try to make it work. So management in a classroom is important to keep your students engage in classroom activities. Social Emotional Learning is an important tool to use. Students come from different back ground that the classroom may be their only place to be safe. So as a teacher one needs to make the emphasis you are safe here because I am to protect but I also teach them speak up. Many times, they begin to tattletale. So I will respond: what are going to tell them? Tell them don't hit me. What they will say Ms Valdez said, "Don't hit me." Well you get the idea. I empower them to take a stand. We help them to get along with others. As I tell them we are a family. Both my parents come from large family compare to the size of families we see today, I heard through my life how make things possible and not to give up. So my students and I, we sing songs that teach them to be safe etc. I worked couple of years, as Intervention Assistant Team coordinator (IAT), sometimes children struggle to learn due to a disability. We address it, when data shows us deficiency in one of the areas literacy or math, by working with them and parent engage in the process. It is amazing I see growth. However if child continues with the struggle of acquiring concept then we record it in Chancery online or process to IAT.

Circle Time PK Part 3: Phonemic Awareness

-Circle Time PK Part 3: Phonemic Awareness

Pre-kindergarten: What the research shows

Pre-kindergarten: What the research shows

A variety of ways to communicate with our parents in the classroom

< A variety of ways to communicate with our parents in the classroom Today most our parents have to work. So I communicated with other cohorts (teachers) on how they managed to keep parents posted on current news or issues in the classroom. Email vs mail? So I encourage many teachers to try to open communication with parents by any means like a phone call, email, or a note. Many years ago, we did not have today’s technology. This makes work much easier communicating through via email. I found sending emails became much doable than sending letters through their back pack; not many times did it get to the hands of mom or dad. So this is another reason why sending an email is preferable. Now not all have access to an email account. So we as a teacher we make it possible to communicate with our parents in every way or form; just keep them posted on current news, events in the classroom etc. So teachers make it easy on yourself; find what works in your classroom and community. Have a great school year.

Expectations for Students with Cognitive Disabilities - NCEO Synthesis Report 55

Expectations for Students with Cognitive Disabilities - NCEO Synthesis Report 55

Accomplished this school year with all my goals. One accomplishment was to gather other Pre-K teachers from other schools to share and discuss on variety of topics on science.

Science is our motto

Summer 2011, I attended Baylor Science Institute and was enlightened with all sorts of science experiments and collaboration of other colleagues from HISD. This created for me an upbeat at our school district; we (Pre-teachers) have made every effort to construct changes. This time we were proactive. We decided to get out and get our teachers involve in thinking science. Changes in curriculum have made it happen. The upper grades depend on us. This school year, I coordinated several schools to interact and exchange ideas with teaching science in Pre-K. Schools from Pugh, Scroggins, Eliot and Martinez made this happen. Teachers worked diligently to make this happen for all.