I want to ride my bicycle...

Wie versprochen, ein besseres Bild (noch mehr auf flickr) von unserer Fahrradkiste.
Nach dem Dauergeburtstagsfest hat Kind1 nun Fieber, aber heute war Familienfest im Kiga und deshalb durfte sie für die Aufführung - der kleine Käfer Immerfrech! - dann doch noch hin.
Dort war sie dann wohl überwältigt von der ersten Bühnenerfahrung und dem überbordenden Publikum, jedenfalls wurde alles nur im Tandemverfahren geboten: Sie saß am Schoß der Betreuerin, diese sprach den Text und krabbelte ähem rutschte herum.
Kurz nach dem Schlussapplaus bekam Kind1 wohl ein Gefühl für Premieren/Afterparties und war kaum noch zu bremsen.
Typisch Mutter wurde dann aber natürlich als es so richtig lustig war, zur Heimfahrt gerufen.
Und siehe da: unsere Fahrradkiste rettet selbst solche Krisen...ein Lächeln ist immer garantiert - vom Transportgut oder von Passanten.
Da darf ich sogar am Gehsteig fahren, was hier in Wien sonst mindestens einen depperten Kommentar pro Gehsteig bringt....

Noch erwähnen möchte ich, dass ich bereits einen Schnitt für ein Kleidchen aus einem der Spoonflowerstoffe in einem Probestoff überprüft habe, ein paar Änderungen, nix Schwieriges, alles perfekt - bis ich zuschneiden wollte...soll ich es wirklich zugeben?
Der sch...Rapport - ich hab doch tatsächlich zuwenig Stoff - wenn es nicht total bescheuert ausschauen soll.
Wie blöd kann ein einzelner Mensch eigentlich sein?
Also Weltwirtschaft, keine Sorge, solange es mich gibt, wird der transatlantische Austausch sicher nicht gefährdet sein: Firmen wie Spoonflower, die Verpackungsfirma, die Firma, die Spoonflower den Webauftritt macht und ihr Orderprogramm liefert, die Transportfirma zum Schiff, der Spediteur, die Matrosen, der Kapitän, (möglicherweise auch die Piraten?), dann die Hafenarbeiter und die ganze Transporttruppe einschließlich Briefträger, achja die Zöllner nicht vergessen - also all diese Menschen leben NUR VON MIR!!!
Das ist doch auch was.
Für eine Mutter in Karenz.
Na bitte.

A nice pic of the new cargobike.
And I have to admit the transatlantic backorderstory will be continued!
I managed to get a nice, flattering pattern for a certain fabric.
But I managed to order too less of this very certain fabric.
So what to do: BACKORDER!!!
If anyone has any fears due to the economiccrisis - rely to me - I feed a whole transportation business on two continents....

Teaching Kids to be Kids!

I am so excited to be writing my first post on the Kinder Tribe Blog!!!! I love the unity that this tribe has brought me and the happiness I have gained from being able to be a part of such a strong, determined, and crazy (the good kind!) group of amazing teachers!!

I am just entering my second year of teaching and even though kindergarten is the only grade I have taught, I know it is where I am meant to be. There is something so magical and amazing about teaching kindergarten!!

Reflecting on my own experience in kindergarten, I remember how my teacher made me feel comfortable and always managed to make learning fun. She engaged us and let us learn while still letting us be kids. This is a concept that I try to incorporate on a daily basis.

Teaching a kid to be a kid. What a concept! I love the sound of it and I love depth behind it even more. Most of my little rays are five with the exception of two who recently turned six. Plain and simple, I teach CHILDREN. The last thing I want to do is take their childlike experiences away from them. I want them to explore, be adventurous, and silly. I want them to sing and dance and play with each other just like I did when I was in kindergarten.

What I do to keep my little rays excited to learn and remain the children that they are is simple. I teach them how to learn to be a kid. I teach them how to explore mathematics, literature, science, and all other topics with excitement and adventure. I take every opportunity I can to make a lesson an experience.

When whole group reading begins, I could just have my kids sit in their spots on the carpet. Instead of just simply sitting, we sing a song to get our bodies quiet and read to learn. When it is time to line up, I could have the kids line up quietly and leave it at that. To add some fun, once we are in line we giggle as we get those marshmallow toes ready for the hallway! Is it simple to make a transition more fun? YES! I even have kiddos who remind me if I forget! "Wait! Miss K, our toes haven't become marshmallows yet!!" When it is time to dance during our guided movement time, I get on the carpet with them and break out into Pop-See-Ko. I don't do it because I want to (lies: I TOTALLY want to!!) but I do it because I want them to see that it is okay to be silly. It is okay to let loose and be FIVE! They are so worried about getting in trouble or being told that they are doing something wrong that they lose their silliness. I never want to let that happen, rather, I want to ignite their inner child. I want to bring out the eagerness to learn and to grow.

When we started our unit on apples, we didn't have to do apple tasting. We didn't have to make applesauce. We could have stuck with the expectations and learned only about their lifecycle and read a book or two about them. It would be way less work, but would it be enjoyable?? Would my kids walk away from the week and be excited? Would they be talking about it in a few weeks? Nope. By making activities and opportunities for the kinders to explore and learn in multiple ways, they are BOUND to remember it.

In the end, it may not matter to some how their students learned. But to me, what is important is if they enjoyed learning it. If they were challenged, if they were encouraged, and if they were excited. As a kindergarten teacher, I want to make a difference. Not just in teaching my kids academics, but in teaching them what they need to know through being a kid.

It is my wish that every teacher remembers who they teach. CHILDREN. Take the opportunities to go above and beyond a simple lesson.

How is that for some Monday reflection???

Molly

Teaching Back to School Procedures and a FREEBIE!

Hi Everyone!

   It's Cori from Mrs. B's Beehive!  Today I wanted to talk to you about teaching procedures at the beginning of the school year.

We all know how important it is to set the tone, and clearly communicate our expectations at the beginning of the year.  At the end of the year, your class will be running like a well oiled machine.

By May, I've got all my little teacher helpers organizing things for me just the way that I like them.  I often forget, (probably on purpose) just how much time it takes to get them to that point!  There are so many little pieces of information that I need my students to understand to make sure that the day is focused on learning, and that I am not spending my time running around behind them cleaning and correcting.

I wanted to share with you what my first week's schedule looks like:

Like most other teachers, I read a lot of back to school books. I do a lot of activities around those books and start my preliminary assessments.  In between all of those activities, is the teaching of procedure after procedure.  In the first week I try to prioritize my most important procedures, and go over the ones that will be most effective in establishing a smooth running classroom. (Don't touch the fire alarm!).  Even a simple task such as entering the classroom in the morning, has many different components.


To help myself remember everything that I need to teach them, I made this procedure checklist.  I keep it right next to my first week (and second and third week) lesson plans.  As I teach a procedure, I check it off the list.

There are many times that I find an extra minute here or there in the first couple of weeks, and I quickly scan over my procedures list, and see if there is any information that I can squeeze in to a lesson, to make sure that the students fully understand my expectations.

If you would like a free copy of this Back to School Procedures Checklist, click HERE, or on any of the pictures above.

This list has worked well for me over the last couple of years, and I hope it is something that you will find useful as well as you gear up for back to school!

Blog Launch & Giveaway: Welcome to Kinder Tribe!!!

We are so excited to launch Kinder Tribe, the blog, today!!

For those of you who do not know about teacher tribes they have been popping up everywhere recently.  Teacher Tribes are groups of teachers who help, support and inspire you in this crazy teaching world.  They understand your daily successes and struggles.  They are YOUR people!

We initially started a Kinder Tribe Facebook page and had such an overwhelming response that we decided to extend it into a collaborative blog! To learn more about the admin click on the "Meet the Teacher" button above!

But of course, we are not the only ones that are part of the Kinder Tribe.. we just keep things running around here! So every Friday we will be doing a Feature Friday where you are all invited to sign-up to send a blog post in that will appear on this blog! More information about Feature Friday and how to sign-up is coming shortly... so stay tuned on the Facebook page! The first one will be July 31st!

We will also be having a linky party every Wednesday called "What Went Well Wednesday!"  One of the admin's will be posting a successful lesson, activity etc. from their classroom and you are all invited to link up as well! 
The first one will be on July 29th!

And now for the big blog launch giveaway!

You do not want to miss this!!

We had so many generous donations to the giveaway!

First up is the "Clip Art Bundle"!

$10 Gift Certificate from Mel @ Graphics from the Pond

3 Colored Clipart Sets from Nikki @ Melonheadz Illustrating
School Schedule Kids Bundle from Sarah from EduClips and
Bus Stop Kids Clip Art Set from Emily @ Polka Dots Please!

Enter below to win all of the goodies above!

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Next is the Kinder "teacherbrities" bundle!
These teachers have had huge successes with their blog and TPT stores and for good reason! They're resources and blog posts are amazing! They are our role models and we were so happy that so many of them were willing to donate their fabulous products to the giveaway!

Color Word Writing Practice by Hadar @ Miss Kindargarten
Search and Color - Sight Word Edition by Tara @ Little Minds at Work
Pencils, Glue and Centers too - Back to School Centers for Kindergarten by Melissa @ The Printable Princess
Magnetic Letters Word Work - CVC Words by Caitlin @ Kindergarten Smiles
K Back Pack by Elizabeth @ Kickin' it in Kindergarten
Literacy Circle Time Charts - Bundle Pack by Elissa @ Mrs. Jones' Creation Station !

Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Next up... you could win a personalized pal from Lauren @ Polka Dots & Pals!! You can learn more about her pals here.

Enter below!

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Who wouldn't want to win a $75TPT gift card!?
The answer is nobody!! :P

Enter below!

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Is your classroom techy? Or are you looking to get started with iPads in your room? How about entering to win a 1 year subscription to Showbie!

Showbie makes the paperless classroom simple. Students can edit documents right on their iPads, comment, send messages to you, app smash, integrate QRs and more! Check it out for free, or win your subscription for Showbie Pro below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Kinder Tribe admins have also each donated a product from their store! One winner will win all of these units! Just in time for back to school!!

Sight Word Games for the Year (Pre-Primer) from Amanda @ Mrs. Pauley's Class
Ten-Frame Flash Cards (0-20) from Molly @ Miss Ks Little Rays
All About 2D Shapes: A Kindergarten 2D Shape Unit by Yukari @ A Pinch of Kinder
Read the Room - Year Long Resource by Cori @ Mrs. B's Beehive
Reading Strategy & Word Helper Posters by Breanna @ A Pinch of Primary
Phonics Picture Pages & Picture Cards: Initial Sounds & Writing, Word Wall by Palma @ KFundamentals
Scoop It Up - Kindergarten Math and Literacy Centers by Kelly @ My Fabulous Class
Kindergarten Quick Assessments by Katie @ Miss Kate's Class
Community Helpers Unit by Jill @ Chevron & Centers
Goal Met Lanyard Tags by Emily @ Carnes' Corner
Manners Posters by Heather @ Learning with Mrs. Langley
Beginning Sound Clips by Megan @ Megan's Pad
Count On It - A Math Centre by Lindsey @ Chalkboard Charm
Apples - Literacy & Math Centers by Kirstin @ Hip Hooray in K
Sight Word Lists and Letters by Deirdre @ Mrs. Garcias Super Scholars

Enter below to win all of the above!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We hope you are excited about Kinder Tribe as much as we are!!
Come back tomorrow for our first linky party!

Love, the Admin Team