I decided to join up and do this Daily 5 Kindergarten Book Study with some really great kinder teachers. If you know me, then you know that I don't actually teach Kindergarten, I teach Pre-K. But, with our curriculum getting more rigorous, and with us using the Kindergarten Common Core Standards, I figured it couldn't hurt. (And maybe, just maybe, it will help me get some more followers.)
I am a Daily 5 nut! I love the Daily 5! I found it my last year in second grade and was in heaven. All of my teacher troubles seemed to just wash away when it began. All last year, as a new Pre-K teacher I felt like it was my first year teaching all over again. What a nightmare! I kept thinking to myself, there has got to be a way to incorporate the Daily 5 into my Pre-K routine. So when I found this book study I was so excited. This had to be the answer to all of my problems. And, as I read chapter 1 again, through the eyes of a Pre-K teacher, the book started to talk to me.
Tammy at Live Laugh Love Everyday in Kindergarten lead chapter 1 and provided these questions for her readers and book study participants to reflect on. (She also provided the SUPER CUTE pictures)
1. How do I teach new behaviors?
Just as with any 4-5 year old, my kids need constant reminders. I have to admit, at the beginning of the year I am on it. Reviewing the classroom rules and reminding the kids how i expect them to behave at their seats or at the carpet. Then as the year goes on, I wind up having to constantly tell several individuals to stop whatever it is they are doing and get back on task.
2. How do I teach expectations?
When starting "centers" (which were; Lego's, wooden blocks, Play Doug, Baby Dolls, etc.) I started by introducing one thing a week. If it was the puzzles that I wanted the kids to learn how to use, I would get out a giant puzzle and we would all sit around it in the floor. I would discuss with them how the puzzle should be used and how it should look when they are done (cleaned up). After the first day, we would review the expectations and then the kids would "practice" with a partner. Unfortunately as the year progresses I wind up spending less and less time focusing on expectations and more time on the alphabet/sight words and all of the songs that we sing.
3. How do I monitor student behavior? whole group? small groups? individual?
This is where I start confessing. I am a control freak. When it comes to my classroom I have high expectations and they better be met. However, when I was using Daily 5 in my second grade room, I found myself much more relaxed and as a result, I was much less stressed and frazzled at the end of the day. I do use a clip chart. I like the ones that start in the middle where I can have kids move up when kids display desired behaviors or make a good choice, or move down for bad choices. I will move kids up and down all day. I like that kids can correct the bad behavior and get rewarded for it instead of being "stuck" where they had to move down the chart. I was reading on Kindergarten Smiles blog where she commented on this question. I like the idea that she had for creating a clip chart to monitor where her kids are on the Daily 5 and how she plans to use dot stickers to limit the amount of kids who are allowed on each task at a time.
4. What do I do when a student is not exhibiting desired behavior?
Yell. Get frustrated. Go on and on about what they are doing. Wast a LOT of class time. Well, not always but, does anyone else have those moments when you think that if little Johnny does that one more time you just may loose your mind? I did find myself getting very frustrated with my little babies last year. I mean, why shouldn't preschoolers be able to act like my second graders did? (Just kidding!) But let me tell you, moving from 8 year old kids to 4 year old kids will put you into a state of shock! I had NO IDEA how to handle behaviors in a Pre-K room and I had a son in kindergarten, you would think that I would be able to handle 9 more of him. There were days when I would sit and cry at the end of the day. What happened that that teacher who loved her job so much that she would never quit? I found myself reflecting back to what I loved about my second graders and how easy it was to manage them, and I would think, why isn't there a Daily 5for preschool/kindergarten? I knew how to manage a classroom, that had always been my strong point but I could feel myself slipping further and further away. I'll be honest, I never got there last year. I floated through the year and thanked God every day that my principal did not walk through. If she would have come in I would have pulled it off and made it seem that I had it all together but in truth, I was falling apart. I was swimming against the current and about to drown. (Wow, I just realized just how bad it really was.)
5. Whose classroom is it?
Mine. Mine. Mine. I can hear myself now, " You are not going to act that way in MY room." "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in MY classroom." How sad! That is NOT how I wanted to be. I said I wanted a sense of community in "my" classroom. We had class meetings at the carpet. I allowed the students to "share" things that were important to them. I just couldn't let go of that control for fear of sinking under. I reflect back once again to my second graders, now we were a tight group. I loved them, they loved me, we all got along (most of the time), we were a family. Where did that go? I guess it floated down that current that I was fighting.
6. Locus of control?
Honestly, when I looked at this question the first time, I was like "What? What is that?". Then as I read, "Ohhhhhh. OK.". I guess this goes back to me being the control freak that I am. I do use the treat box and the stickers, I have to admit. I mean, what kid doesn't love a McDonald's toy or a Tootsie Roll? There were kids who naturally got it, they knew that they wanted to learn how to read, or how to count so they just took it upon themselves to be attentive and try hard.
7. Where are supplies stored?
Kids have their own supplies that they keep at their seats. The scissors are safely kept on a small shelf in the middle of the room where they kids can get them when they need them. (They were in their supply boxes but after one kid cut his hair and another cut her shirt to pieces I decided that they were best use on an as needed basis.) Any materials that are needed for the task of the day I place on that same shelf so that they are easily accessible. The rest of the time, they are kept in the supply closet.
