Butterfly Math and MY NEW STORE!

Each year I tend to focus on growing as a professional and improving one area of my kindergarten curriculum. This year it's reading. Last year, math and writing. The year before, ELD. The trouble is, with only 3 hours a day with my kiddos (not to mention only 24 hours for myself) I've struggled this year to keep up with the improvements from previous years as I focus on reading this year.

Long story short, we're behind in math. Like a lot. So now it's April and I'm just now introducing addition (although if Monday's lesson was any indication, most of my students already have a pretty good idea of what they're doing without me!). We've been adding butterflies on the SMART board and using toys, so I created a cut-and-paste word problem activity for my substitute to do with my students today. It's not anything particularly unique or original (or even very challenging...) but it was faster for me to create my own than find the right one online, and it was a good introductory assessment to get started with. We'll see how they did when I get back on Monday! 

In addition to being a convenient sub activity, this worksheet was the perfect thing for my very first TeachersPayTeachers freebie! I got home early tonight and set up my TpT seller account and posted my first product! Hopefully this is the first of many. As a bilingual teacher I often feel like an island, working on my own and having to come up with almost everything we do from scratch (or at least taking everything my English kinder team has found or purchased and reproducing it in Spanish). I want to be a part of the growing community of bilingual teachers who are sharing quality, engaging, relevant materials online for other kinder teachers! 

So here it is--my very first freebie! Butterfly Addition Cut-and-Paste Word Problem in English AND Spanish! Click the image to go to my (new!) TpT store. If you download my product, please leave feedback so that I can build my rating. Thanks so much for your support!

Projects to Start With...

So much to think about and consider before we get rolling in just a few weeks! Here are some routines I want to think through and revamp for next year. Interestingly, they all have to do with folders! Stay tuned to see what I come up with...

1. Homework folders
2. Communication folders (should 1 & 2 be the same?)
3. Sub folder
4. Writing folders
5. Science/Soc St/Song $& chant folders
6. Math folders

Now, last year, a good chunk of these folders spent a good chunk of the year empty, in a basket, collecting dust on my top shelf. And the kids' papers were a mess... At the same time, I have to remember, they're only five!

A Box a Day Keeps the Clutter Away!

Clutter Free Classroom's Flash Freebie today was labels for daily planning magazine files or book boxes where you put your read alouds, copies, materials, etc. for each day of the week. I've tried this method on-and-off the last two years, but it's hard to find room for this in a shared classroom, and to keep up with things--especially if you have materials you didn't end up using. I do really like the idea, though! Maybe if it's cute and in a new space (new classroom for the fifth year in a row!), it will be easier to keep up with. I like the quick and visual way of long-term (well, for the week) planning, instead of writing out: "I'll need this book for Monday and these copies for Tuesday and died pasta shells for Friday," or something like that.

I do know that having everything together like this makes it so easy for a sub to follow, or for my assistant to show my sub the plan. I did do this faithfully one week at a time (one tub per week) when I was out for an extended period last year for my surgery.

Cheap cardboard magazine files
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50022354/

Clutter Free Classroom Post
http://www.clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/07/organize-daily-copies-materials-teacher.html