Sneak Peek At My Classroom

It's Friday!  LOVE the weekend.  I always think I have so much time to get a ton of stuff done but what usually happens is Sunday comes in a flash and I'm disappointed in myself for not getting anything done.  So I just came home from work.  Took a ton of pics of my classroom to show you what it really looks like in kinder land.  I like it bright, welcoming, and an environment that makes kinders want to learn and stay.  It's important that my students LOVE their classroom.  I am also the type of teacher that likes to change-it-up each year because I don't want to get bored with my environment with the same ol' thing every year.  I like change, trying out different color schemes, and making it a place where I WANT  to spend time.  So take a peek at my room and please tell me what you think!

Every kindergarten needs a dramatic play area.  This is our Surf Shack!  Here our Surfer of the week is highlighted and students visit the Surf Shack to take orders, write recipes, or play house.  The Surfer of the Week decorates their own surf board and we interview them and make a class book each week.

Right next to the Surf Shack is my Technology Zone.  There is the computer area where students visit Kidpix, Starfall, or PBS Kids.

The listening center is where students independently listen to the story of the week.  I post clear directions for the children so they know what to do when they get to that center.  

This is my classroom library.  Each student has a book box with individualized leveled reading books.  When we meet for guided reading, students bring their book boxes with them to read and exchange books.

I love the location of my guided reading/math table.  This is where I spend ALL MY TIME!  I never sit at my desk.  I sit here because it is in the center of the room.   I can see all areas from here.  I organize my reading groups by color and store the guided reading books in each colored bin.  On the right side of my reading table I store all my leveled Take Home Reading books.  I also have a set of easy access drawers where I store all my guided reading materials.  I also use this table for my guided math groups.  Each day I meet with one leveled math group to practice skills of the week.

 My class goes SURFING otherwise known as Plan Do Review.  Students pick which area they would like to visit like the writing center, building center, surf shack, listening center, puzzles and games, IPads, or computers.








My calendar is next to my whiteboard.  Here I have my classroom jobs posted, daily schedule, Literacy center and Math center boards.

This is my Discovery Science table.  The kiddos bring in all kinds of items to share and let other children explore.  I store my science journals on this table and display science books of our unit at that time.  What I love about this discovery table is our "I wonder" bulletin board.  Here students ask "I wonder" questions when we start a new unit of study.  Then we constantly refer back to these questions to make sure our learning is complete.  

 

This is our Poetry center.  During literacy centers students visit this center to read, highlight sight and rhyming words, and illustrate pictures in their Poetry journals.  All supplies are in the drawers for students to use and their journals are right there for them to find easily.  Each week I post a new poem and we highlight the rhyming words. Then students write rhyming words on sentence strips.  I always display our monthly art work surrounding the poem.  We are learning about insects and here students created the life cycle of the butterfly.  They used pastel crayons to illustrate beautiful flowers!

Here are some more pics of my Literacy centers.  Top left is our Writing center.  Students can write letters, mail postcards, use stencils to create stories you name it.  Markers, colored pencils, tape, glue, pens, scissors, stickers, and a crate of monthly thematic words are all there at their fingertips.  

Top right is our Tech Support.  Here is where I store our IPads and ITouch for students to grab on-the-go in easy carrying baskets.

Bottom left is our Art Center.  Each week I place all supplies for our weekly art project in the red tray.  When students visit here they grap the tray and find an empty table to create the project.  I also store more markers, dot markers, stamp pads, paper and foam scraps here as well.

Bottom right pic is our Word Work center.  Here I store all my sight word games and activities for students to find easily.  

My Math Center is right next to the Discovery table.  I have two wonderful display cabinets so that I can easily grap a basket of manipulative's at any time of the day.  I keep everything in sight so that kiddos explore and I don't have to go searching for something way deep in the back of a closet.  

 ...and finally the most important!  My coffee station.  I LOVE my Keurig one cup coffee maker.  I can't wait to make that first cup each day.  

Share with me your classroom pics.  I would love to hear your ideas or thoughts.

 Have a nice weekend!

LET'S GET WACKY!

So here we go... week #2 of my new Linky Party!  Last week I only had 1 faithful follower join my party.  To be honest, I felt a little lonely.  I am hoping this week will turn out much better(keeping my fingers crossed)?  I love Linky Parties and I love meeting new blogging friends.  So the other day I was walking my class to music, and one of my kinders said to me, "It's Wacky Wednesday, Mrs. Andrighetto!"  Now in kindergarten every day can be a bit "Wacky," but I know that we all have those days when things just don't go as planned, or the unexpected happens!  For me, that is what makes teaching an experience, learning how to handle the unexpected, the crazy mishap, or the unpredictable event.  What do you do?  How do you remain calm or do you remain calm?  So taking this 5 year old's expression, "Wacky Wednesday," I decided to turn this into a weekly LInky Party where teachers can share those funny stories you run home to tell your family about.  I know in my house I always have a story to share for the dinner table.  So join the party and let Wacky Wednesday make you giggle...grin...or make you realize that we are all in this together!

Rules of Wacky Wednesday Linky Party

1.  Tell me that crazy, unexpected event that happened in your class this week.

2.  Leave a comment for the person before and after your link!

3.  Make sure you include my link in your post.

4.  Most importantly Have fun!

Where do I begin with this week.  With a week long vacation in the gorgeous Palm Springs, I knew coming back to reality was going to be tough.  I never expected this CRAZY Northern California wind storm to hit the Bay Area.  It sounded like a hurricane!  I was up beginning at 3am because I was so worried my teenagers would not wake up for school.  Constantly checking my cell phone over, and over, and over, and over again!  Was school going to be canceled the first day back from break?  Oh gosh I did not sleep all night.  So our first day back school was canceled due a huge power outage.  But believe it or not some parents still brought their kids to school to what?  Play in the dark?  I had one student in my class who by the way is adorable.  We just hung out all day doing projects, beading, reading, playing with flashlights, you name it.  ALL IN THE DARK!  Some teachers had half their class all day in the dark.  It was CRAZY!  I think parents had a hard time understanding that they had yet another day with their child, that Spring Break was still not over with.  We made it through the day and I am very impressed with those teachers that had a positive attitude and did what they do best, work in the oddest situation and act like it's normal when it truly was not a normal day at school.

Now PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CRAZINESS IN YOUR CLASS :)

     I think it is back to reality for me! Spring Break was terrific but now I need to get that kinderhat back on and plan, plan, plan! So what do I do? I start blog hopping to find those creative ideas from all my lovely blogging buddies. 
... And what did I find along the way but a good ol' Shout Out Linky Party from Lisa from Growing Firsties. 
     Wanna link up with a Shout Out Post? Please keep this in mind...Shout Out two bloggers - one with more followers, one with less...link to the specific blog post with the shout outs. 

     So here I go. 

 SHOUT OUT #1

Lately I am going CRAZY over Maria at Kinder Craze!  For a new blogger like me, I struggle on a daily basis to find the answers of the how-to of the blogger world.  Maria has a page called Techie Tutorials that I found so useful and simply a life saver.  Her creative ideas are more than creative, THEY ARE A TEACHER'S MUST HAVE!  Love visiting her blog, and love all her fantastic ideas.  Make sure you visit!

SHOUT OUT #2

I love finding fellow California bloggers and Katie at A Basket Full of Apples is one of my favorite new blogs to visit.  She is very organized and I love her tips on classroom decor and her bulletin board ideas.  She loves to travel too!  Great place to visit so get on over to her blog :)

So link up and share your favorite blogs to visit!  So much fun!

Don't forget to join my Wacky Wednesday Linky party.  It happens weekly and it is a chance for you to share those crazy and wacky things that happen in your classroom.  Come on, I know it gets crazy so link up and share!

Wacky Wednesday Linky Party!

So here we go...my first Linky Party!  I love Linky Parties and I love meeting new blogging friends.  So the other day I was walking my class to music, and one of my kinders said to me, "It's Wacky Wednesday, Mrs. Andrighetto!"  Now in kindergarten every day can be a bit "Wacky," but I know that we all have those days when things just don't go as planned, or the unexpected happens!  For me, that is what makes teaching an experience, learning how to handle the unexpected, the crazy mishap, or the unpredictable event.  What do you do?  How do you remain calm or do you remain calm?  So taking this 5 year old's expression, "Wacky Wednesday," I decided to turn this into a weekly LInky Party where teachers can share those funny stories you run home to tell your family about.  I know in my house I always have a story to share for the dinner table.  So join the party and let Wacky Wednesday make you giggle...grin...or make you realize that we are all in this together!

Rules of Wacky Wednesday Linky Party

1.  Tell me that crazy, unexpected event that happened in your class this week.

2.  Leave a comment for the person before and after your link!

3.  Make sure you include my link in your post.

4.  Most importantly Have fun!

So I will start.  It was our last week before Spring Break...ahhh!  One of my students decided it to wear his dad's belt to school.  Now if you could only picture this, a small 5 year old boy wearing his dad's 32" waist belt to school.  I think it went around his waist 42 times.  He definitely was a fashion statement because it stirred up an entire fashionista in all my kinders.  Each day yet another kinder friend would come to school with either their mother or father's belt around their waist.  They were comparing, contrasting, and even measuring who had the longest belt at school.  Actually a teacher's dream lesson because students were actively involved and engaged in finding who brought the coolest belt to school.  It all started out peaceful and actually academic until belts started to come off during recess time.  Now children were connecting belts to form long trains, using belts to swing wildly around their heads, or simply belt someone around a school pole.  Oh no!  Belts gone CRAZY in the kindergarten playground!  So to mildly end the belt craze in Room 8, I kindly explained to my friends that belts of any sort will be no longer be coming to school.  

What will my fashionistas do?

Next day...They started to wear hats :)

Can't wait to hear how your week went!

Join the party!