Thursday, December 15, 2016
Community - Monthly Summary
Community in our Kindergarten class
We are continually working on our Classroom Champion lessons, and growing more self-aware each month. Since the beginning of November we have been looking at our community and how we can be positive members of the communities that we are involved in. To start the discussion around the idea of community, we discussed the important people in our lives and the groups we are involved in, soccer teams, school, home, bhangra dance, etc. The students, with the help of their buddies, wrote notes of appreciation to people in our lives. Many students wrote to Akeem, some wrote to their buddies, some wrote to family members and some to their friends.
To extend our idea of community to others we may not connect with on a regular basis, we have written Christmas cards, with lovely drawings in them, for Grandma's and Grandpa's in a local nursing home who may not get to see family this holiday season. It challenged the students to think beyond their immediate surroundings, to others that live in the same community as us, even though we do not know them, and to extend kindness to them, with something as simple as a drawing and a note.
As an annual tradition our school has chosen to support several families for the Christmas season. The families in the school donate food, gifts and essentials to our Christmas families that may be having a difficult time this season. As a class, we have discussed how we are helping our christmas hamper families in our school by providing them with food and toys for children who may not have as much as we do.
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas also helped us learn how Christmas is not about presents, but about quality family time and the love we have in our hearts. We read the book, wrote him letters telling him how we would make him grin by being his friend, sharing with him, playing with him, inviting him to dinner, and many other ideas! Then the Grinch 'visited' our classroom one night and left us a note thanking us for our friendship and many thoughts of kindness. He even left us a treat (Grinch Milkshakes) and some Grinch fur which was all over the class! We then related these ideas back to how we can be positive members of our community by extending our ideas of kindness to everyone.
Again, we loved watching our video with Akeem and meeting his challenges of writing notes of thanks to people in our lives. We were THRILLED to interact with Akeem during our live chat!
We are looking forward to our break and starting back up with our Classroom Champions lessons in January.
We are continually working on our Classroom Champion lessons, and growing more self-aware each month. Since the beginning of November we have been looking at our community and how we can be positive members of the communities that we are involved in. To start the discussion around the idea of community, we discussed the important people in our lives and the groups we are involved in, soccer teams, school, home, bhangra dance, etc. The students, with the help of their buddies, wrote notes of appreciation to people in our lives. Many students wrote to Akeem, some wrote to their buddies, some wrote to family members and some to their friends. 
To extend our idea of community to others we may not connect with on a regular basis, we have written Christmas cards, with lovely drawings in them, for Grandma's and Grandpa's in a local nursing home who may not get to see family this holiday season. It challenged the students to think beyond their immediate surroundings, to others that live in the same community as us, even though we do not know them, and to extend kindness to them, with something as simple as a drawing and a note.
As an annual tradition our school has chosen to support several families for the Christmas season. The families in the school donate food, gifts and essentials to our Christmas families that may be having a difficult time this season. As a class, we have discussed how we are helping our christmas hamper families in our school by providing them with food and toys for children who may not have as much as we do.
Again, we loved watching our video with Akeem and meeting his challenges of writing notes of thanks to people in our lives. We were THRILLED to interact with Akeem during our live chat!
We are looking forward to our break and starting back up with our Classroom Champions lessons in January.
Friday, October 28, 2016
October - Fair Play
Fair Play in Kindergarten
The topic of fair play came at a perfect time for my kindergarten class. I usually begin the year with creating our class expectations, practicing how to resolve conflicts and learning how to manage our emotions. So fair play tied in nicely with our friendship discussion.
We started by discussing emotions that we feel. Then we practiced using our "I messages" when asking someone to stop doing something we do not like. For example, "I feel mad when you poke me, please stop." The next lesson we 
read "Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Sportsmanship" by Howard Binkow. The students were able to connect to Howard's soccer experience, wanting to win but also needing to be kind to others. As a class we brainstormed ideas of how to play fair and what to say to our classmates to encourage them.
The following lesson we revisited our brainstorm list and then watched Akeem's video. The students were thrilled to see Akeem again. We would pause the video periodically to reinforce some of the language we were also using and discuss how it related to Howard B. Wigglebottom and our previous discussions. In their groups, the students chatted about how they play fair and then chose one idea to draw about. I compiled their work and created a classroom book that they share and read every day during buddy reading.
The students are doing great at using their "I messages", encouraging each other and many quickly internalized the classroom expectations to try their best and play fair. We revisit our brainstorm charts regularly and there are many 'in the moment' opportunities for me to reinforce positive interactions.
Friday, September 30, 2016
October's Monthly Summary - Goal Setting
Kindergarten's Setting Goals!
To move into goal setting I started by reading the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. We discussed how the main character felt when she didn't feel she could draw, then how she felt when she just tried and practiced. The students decided that the main character felt mad and sad but once she tried her best and practiced she felt happy and made amazing art! 
The next lesson we read "Ish" by Peter H. Reynolds. We talked about how what you do doesn't have to be perfect, you just need to try your best and keep practicing. The main character also encountered someone who discouraged them, the students decided that it doesn't matter what others think, if they are trying their best and enjoy what they are doing. After that class conversation we brainstormed some ideas of things we would like to get better at. Many students wanted to ride their bikes without training wheels, some wanted to read, others wanted to learn how to print their names, and many more ideas. I asked them to think about something they really want to work on and told them we would be talking about their chosen goal the following day. I also mentioned that we would be watching other video from Akeem and the class erupted in cheers!The next day we revisited the two books and discussed what we had learned alongside the main characters. Then we watched Akeem's video on goal setting. The students were thrilled to see Akeem again. We discussed how Akeem mentioned that goals were a way for us to focus on something we want to do better and that we need to try our best and work hard to achieve the goals we have chosen.
Each student chose something that they wished to get better at for their goal and then drew a picture of them accomplishing their chosen goal. Many of the goals revolved around an activity that they could work on at home, such as riding their bike without training wheels. Our next lesson we will brainstorm what we want to learn in kindergarten. Each student will choose one of those ideas as their second goal, a goal we can work on at school. These goals will allow me to encourage and scaffold their process, assisting them in determining their short term goals in order to achieve their long term goals.
We will then collectively decide on one goal that we can work on collaboratively as a class. This classroom goal will also be chosen by the students. The goal may be for each student to bring a healthy snack at recess, or to write their names using the appropriate upper and lowercase letters, or count to 20, we will have to see what they determine to be important in kindergarten!
I believe that if the student's choose the goal, they will feel more ownership, more dedication and therefore enthusiasm and conviction to put in the effort to achieve the goal. By the end of next week each student will have an individual goal to work on at home, an individual goal to work on at school and a goal to work on collectively with the class. These three goals will meet Akeem's video challenge of three goals per student!Wednesday, September 28, 2016
September's Monthly Summary - Welcome to the Journey
September's Monthly Summary - Welcome to the Journey
My students and I are on this exciting new journey together, learning how to be Classroom Champions!
While I am thrilled to be a part of this amazing program, I am also wrapping my mind around a new classroom of young kindergarteners, learning all about their little personalities and needs and establishing class expectations and routines. I was overwhelmed at the prospect of also tackling the first tasks from Classroom Champions. Thankfully I work with a seasoned Classroom Champions teacher, Robyn Thiessen, who I went to several times for reassurance and support.
I made several classroom videos, trying to get the best lighting and wanting to ensure I explained all that our room offers. Then I began re-learning how to use Animoto to add subtitles and fancy transitions, I had used it previously and needed to reacquaint myself with the app.
For the reveal, I began by discussing the Olympics and asking the students what they knew about the Olympics. A few of them had seen the Olympics this summer on television, many had no idea what they were about. I read a few non-fiction stories, explaining the summer and winter Olympics and the sports offered, they are now in our classroom library to allow the students to read them during their choice or reading period. We then discussed what sport they thought they would like to do if they chose to be in the Olympics. Many of them thought they would be fast runners, so I ran with that idea and asked if they would be interested in learning about one of the fastest track and field runners in the whole world! They were thrilled with the idea! I shared Akeem's photo and we discussed some information about him, that he is Canadian, when his birthday is, his family and then we watched his welcome video. The students were enthralled! They were waving at Akeem's video, they are looking forward to his shared ice cream idea and hope to meet him soon. My eyes were welling up as I watched how quickly they attached to this amazing young man. When I explained my student's reaction to Robyn, I teared up again! I knew this would be a phenomenal program but I had no idea how instantly it would impact my students.
We then coloured our own medals that we will use in our next lesson in goal setting!
I sent home the link to the CC introduction video and the Welcome video over that week and have had several positive comments from parents. One student, Mackayla, told her Mom that she could beat Akeem in a race if she wore her Native shoes (a brand name slip-on summer shoe)!
I cannot wait to see how our journey with CC and Akeem Haynes unfolds, the positive power of influence has already exceeded my expectations and it has only been two weeks!
My students and I are on this exciting new journey together, learning how to be Classroom Champions!
While I am thrilled to be a part of this amazing program, I am also wrapping my mind around a new classroom of young kindergarteners, learning all about their little personalities and needs and establishing class expectations and routines. I was overwhelmed at the prospect of also tackling the first tasks from Classroom Champions. Thankfully I work with a seasoned Classroom Champions teacher, Robyn Thiessen, who I went to several times for reassurance and support.
I made several classroom videos, trying to get the best lighting and wanting to ensure I explained all that our room offers. Then I began re-learning how to use Animoto to add subtitles and fancy transitions, I had used it previously and needed to reacquaint myself with the app.
For the reveal, I began by discussing the Olympics and asking the students what they knew about the Olympics. A few of them had seen the Olympics this summer on television, many had no idea what they were about. I read a few non-fiction stories, explaining the summer and winter Olympics and the sports offered, they are now in our classroom library to allow the students to read them during their choice or reading period. We then discussed what sport they thought they would like to do if they chose to be in the Olympics. Many of them thought they would be fast runners, so I ran with that idea and asked if they would be interested in learning about one of the fastest track and field runners in the whole world! They were thrilled with the idea! I shared Akeem's photo and we discussed some information about him, that he is Canadian, when his birthday is, his family and then we watched his welcome video. The students were enthralled! They were waving at Akeem's video, they are looking forward to his shared ice cream idea and hope to meet him soon. My eyes were welling up as I watched how quickly they attached to this amazing young man. When I explained my student's reaction to Robyn, I teared up again! I knew this would be a phenomenal program but I had no idea how instantly it would impact my students.
We then coloured our own medals that we will use in our next lesson in goal setting!
I sent home the link to the CC introduction video and the Welcome video over that week and have had several positive comments from parents. One student, Mackayla, told her Mom that she could beat Akeem in a race if she wore her Native shoes (a brand name slip-on summer shoe)!I cannot wait to see how our journey with CC and Akeem Haynes unfolds, the positive power of influence has already exceeded my expectations and it has only been two weeks!
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