I went back to work last Wednesday for teacher work days. We had meetings on Wednesday. Then on Thursday my awesome principal gave us the whole day to work in our classrooms! {Plus, my bestie and I went out for lunch. We can't ever do that during the school year!} On Friday, we had a couple more meetings and some more time to get ready for Meet the Teacher.
Meet the Teacher
One o'clock came and it was time! Many smiling faces came through my door that day! Some of the faces were new, and some were very familiar from past siblings. I enjoyed talking with each and every one of them! I even had past students come by to visit me. I always tell my students that they can visit me any time.
Our Meet the Teacher is very informal. Families literally come in to meet the teacher, find their classroom, and ask any questions that they might have about the first days of school. We will have a more formal Open House next week where we go into all the details about our classrooms. Does your school have a Meet the Teacher session, Open House, or both?
The First Day of Kindergarten
Today started with the students coming onto the playground with their families. Once the bell rang, we came inside. Our parents are allowed to come into the classroom, take pictures of their little ones, and say goodbye. At each student's spot, I had put the student's name tag to wear, the student's lunch card, and a First Day of Kindergarten coloring page. While the parents said their goodbyes, the children started coloring their pages, and I went around to help my students put on their name tags.
After that, I taught my newest Kinders how to put their lunch cards and lunch boxes where they belonged. We then took lunch count to the lunch room and took a short tour around the school. I was so proud of how well my Kinders walked through the hallways!
We got back to the classroom, and I gave my Kinders a little tour of our classroom bathroom. I love that we have a bathroom, well two actually, for the students to use. It's so convenient! We then got a drink of water from the water fountain and headed outside for a little recess and first day of school picture taking.
We literally went inside for 10 minutes before it was time to go back out for our lunch recess. When my lunch was over, I joined my class in the lunch room. We let our Kinders take a little longer for lunch today since we are still learning our routines!
We went back into the classroom, put our lunch boxes away, got a drink of water, and sat down to read our first story of the year. I read the favorite First Day Jitters. Before I read the book, we talked about the Back to School Magic Confetti that I sent the students. Many of my Kinders said that the confetti helped them get their jitters out. Score!
After our story, I introduce our Smartboard to my Kinders. We sang a few songs using my August Smartboard file that I made a few years ago. It's always fun to see the students dance around!
Next, it was time for the students go to PE and for me and my bestie to have prep. How is it that 50 minutes can go by so quickly? {haha} We then, once again, went out for a little recess time.
We came inside, and I introduced my book buckets to my students. While the students read books, I pulled students to do handprints. Can someone remind me next year that handprints on the first day of school might be pushing it a little? lol Just kidding - my Kinders rocked it! Once the handprints were done, I showed the students their take home folders and they packed up. We finally talked about how great the day was, went over the dismissal procedures, and it was time to line up!
Overall, today was an awesome first day of Kindergarten! I can't wait to see what happens the next 179 days!
On my way home, I got myself a little treat! Yum!!!
