Standard 3-ME

Standard 3-ME
　
Kindergarten Newsletter
Mrs. Dittmore and Ms. Kelly
10/04/04-10/08/04
Thank you for helping your student with their homework last week. Everyone turned in their folder on Friday! There were only a few students who needed to make corrections to their homework. Please remember to write how many times your student practiced their reading homework and sign it. This week homework will come home today, Monday, and will be due on Thursday. Due to teacher workshops, there will be no school on Friday.
Last week, in reading we reviewed all 26 letter sounds with our Zoo Phonic friends. We also completed Unit 2 in our Companion Reading Program. In this unit we learned the sounds for s and n. We also learned the words This and The. We worked on the colors red and blue and added a red rail car to our color train. In math, we worked on counting to 50, counting backward from 10, one on one correspondence, shapes, and writing the numbers 2 and 3. In writing, we did our second piece of shared writing. Our topic was things we do not like to do. We also had our first handwriting lesson. We learned to write the letters a, m, and f. In Art, we learned about warm and cool colors.
Starting this week, 4 students per week will be bringing home an English/Spanish video to watch with you. The videos will go home on Wednesday and will be due on the following Wednesday.
We will be taking our first field trip on Friday, October 22nd. We will be going to Carpinito’s Pumpkin Patch. Please fill out the volunteer forms as soon as possible, if you would like to go with us. We will send home more information about this field trip next week.
Looking Ahead
Monday- Homework is sent home.
Wednesday- Library (Bring books back).
P.E. (Wear tennis shoes).
Thursday- Homework is due.
Friday- No school-Teacher Workshops.
Friday, October 22nd- Field trip to Carpinito’s Pumpkin Patch.
　
Kindergarten Newsletter
Mrs. Dittmore and Ms. Kelly
02/28/05-03/04/05
The week before mid-winter bread was a very busy one for us. On Monday, we celebrated Valentine’s Day and on Tuesday we celebrated the 100th day of school. Thank you to everyone who brought treats and supplies for these two days. We would also like to thank everyone who brought us cards and candy on Valentine’s Day. Your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated!
On that Wednesday, we celebrated Mrs. Dittmore’s birthday with our 3rd grade buddies and on Thursday we planted our seeds in the milk jugs that you sent to class. Our plants have started sprouting and the kids are very excited about getting to watch them grow. We continued our work on reading, writing, and working with numbers. Our students have made a lot of growth in their learning and we are very proud of them!
Looking Ahead
Tuesday- Homework is sent home.
Wednesday- Library (Bring books back).
P.E. (Wear tennis shoes).
Friday- Spring Concert 2:15
Homework is due
P.E. (Wear tennis shoes).
　
　
Professional Certification Program Notes
Standard 1a: Using instructional strategies that make the learning meaningful and show positive impact on student learning.
Rubric #9- In the Videotaped lessons you will see students actively working in two different groups. One group is working on counting and the other group is working on making patterns. In both groups students are able to listen to, talk to, observe, and help each other. Students are able to verbalize to each other and to me how they are completing their assigned tasks while learning how others are doing the same assignment. They can modify, if necessary how they are working to better meet their needs. By interacting with their peers, they are able to learn different ways to complete their assignment.
Standard 1c: Using appropriate classroom management principles, processes, and practices to foster a safe, positive, student-focused learning environment.
Rubric #36- In my Videotaped lessons I give one student individual assistance when he struggled to complete his assigned task. During all of my lessons I walk around the classroom to monitor and observe my students working on their assigned tasks. I check-in with each student and give them praise and encouragement. Students are encouraged to help each other with their lessons.
Rubric #38- During my Videotaped lessons I had one student leading a small group of students in counting. This student was praised for her work. All students were actively involved in the lesson and voluntarily took on the task of helping other students who needed assistance.
Standard 1d: Designing and/or adapting challenging curriculum that is based on the diverse needs of each student.
Rubric #1- During a Recorded conversation, my students talk about why they needed to learn their numbers before they could learn other math skills. They discuss the other skills that they were able to learn once they knew their number. They also discuss what they are expected to learn in class. (Taped conversation).
Rubric #5- During a Taped conversation, my students discuss how their math skills are based off of knowing their numbers. They also discuss what other math skills they can learn after they know their numbers. (Taped conversation).
Standard 1e: Demonstrating cultural sensitivity in teaching and in relationships with students, families, and community members.
Rubric- During a Taped lesson my students can be seen working with each other in a cooperative and respectful manner. (Video)
Rubric #17- During a Taped lesson my students can be seen respecting each other and not taking any issues to the way that some of my students dress or about the names that they have. (Video).
Rubric #18- During a Taped lesson my students can be seen treating each other with respect. They also can be seen accepting and ignoring any differences that their classmates may have from them. (Video).
Standard 1f: Integrating technology into instruction and assessment.
Rubric #21- I take my students to the computer lab twice a week to work on the computers. They work on two different programs there. One is a math program called Millie’s Math House and one is a reading program called A To Zap. They also have access to the classroom computers during center time. They have had to learn how to use the mouse and how to turn on and shut down the computers.
Rubric #22- My students helped me make a Power Point presentation about what they have learned in kindergarten so far. My students took each other’s pictures using a digital camera. My students also used the digital camera to take pictures of themselves working in class. My students filmed my lessons for me.
Rubric #23- My students know and can demonstrate the correct way to use a computer, digital camera, and camcorder. They understand the ethical and responsible way to use all of these pieces of technology.
Final Reflective Paper
I have learned a lot about my teaching skills and myself during this past school year. I have learned about the importance of working closely with the community and my students’ families and about bringing technology into the classroom.
The first thing I learned this year is the importance of having close ties with the community and the families of my students. I have done this by making myself available to my students and their families before and after school and during my breaks. However, I realized that just making myself available to them was not enough. Even though some families appreciated my generosity, there were many that did not understand my intentions. This was especially true of my non-English speaking families.
One thing I did to improve communication with my parents is to send home a newsletter every week. This newsletter lets my parents know what we did in class the previous week, any upcoming events, and changes occurring in the classroom (like our homework policy).
In order to develop more two-way communication between myself and the parents of my students, I created a parent check-in form that I send home with my students on a weekly basis. This form is in English and Spanish. I am also in the process of having this form translated into Somali and Russian. My intention is to get my students’ parents more involved in their child’s learning.
I have formed a partnership with the community through the Washington State University Food $ense Program. Through this program my students have learned about nutrition, cooking, and growing plants. This program helps my students learn these topics from an expert in these fields. It also helps my students understand that there are people outside of the classroom that they can use for support in their learning process.
I also had my students help other students in need by having them participate in Scholastic Book Club’s ClasssroomsCare Program. This program required my students to read or be read 100 books by the end of December 2004. For reading these books, 100 books were donated to children who need them in our class name. My students’ ability to differentiate a word from a letter and recognize sight word improved because they were constantly looking at books. My students also improved their ability to comprehend the sounds of letters.
When I first started this school year, I knew that I needed to take my students to the computer lab twice a week and make the classroom computers available to them during center time so that they could start learning about technology. I had my English Language Learners working on a reading program called A To Zap because they were not ready to do math yet. The rest of my students worked on a math program called Millie’s Math House.
However, I was afraid to let them do anything on their own because I assumed that they were too little to understand and learn how to use computers. Contrary to my belief, I soon discovered that my students were very capable of learning the ethical and responsible way to use computers.
Once I realized my fears were unjustly founded I started teaching my students another computer program called Graph Club. With this program my students were able to graph our monthly weather on the computer. Most of my students are able to do this graph with very little assistance.
I have also taught my students how to use a digital camera and a camcorder. They have used these two pieces of equipment to tape two of my lessons and take pictures of themselves working in the classroom.
Recently I have taught them the basics of using Power Point. With this knowledge they helped me make a Power Point presentation entitled "What We Learned In Kindergarten". My students made their own slide and used a digital camera to take each other’s pictures.
This year I have learned the importance of having close ties with the community and the families of my students. According to Deborah Davis of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, students whose parents are involved in their school have higher grades, better attendance, excellent behavior, higher graduation rates, and higher enrollment in colleges. I have personally seen the difference that having parents involved in the classroom can have on my students. The students whose parents helped in the classroom and had an open line of communication with me behaved better in the classroom and performed better academically. Making a connection with my students’ parents and the community is Criteria #7 of our requirements.
I have learned to have more faith in my students and their ability to learn how to use technology. Once I got over my fear of having my students use different pieces of technology, they easily learned and quickly learned how to use the different types of technology that I brought into the classroom. Bringing technology into the classroom is Criteria #6 of our requirements.
Next year, I want to continue to teach my students about the different types of technology. I also want to teach them how to use Power Point earlier in the year so that they will each be able to make their own presentation at the end of the year. I am also planning on having a day when their parents can come in to watch the presentations that their student had made. Another thing that I would like to do is finish the classroom web page that I started this year. The second thing I would like to work on next year is differentiating my instruction more to better meet the needs of my very diversified classroom.
NOTE: Rereading this paper has been very enlightening to me. I remember being very excited about using technology in my classroom. However, I don’t remember starting a web page!