Fourteen in '14

I'm linking up with my bloggy friends to go over 2014.  What a year it has been.  Here are some things about me.

Hard

2014 was literally one of the hardest in my life.  As many long term readers of my blog know, my husband had three major surgeries over the past year.  He was in critical care twice, needed a blood transfusion and is still working on the road to recovery.  He may still need more surgery and each day is a struggle.  I've had to be a nurse to him while working two jobs and still managing to get the children where they need to go.



My goal for the coming year is to enjoy every moment.  Even the little ones.  You never when life is going to throw you a curve ball.  We have to celebrate all the small accomplishments and use them to get us through the rough times.

My favorite memory from 2014 is when we went down to Detroit for the winter classic.  My youngest was in the winter classic tournament and it included tickets to the winter classic game.  The kids came in second in the tournament and we spent the New Year in a hotel.  The kids had a fabulous time and my hubby felt well enough to come with us.  While we were in Detroit, I also got to meet up with my bloggy buddy Maria from KinderCraze.  It was one of the highlights of the trip.

I think this is the only family shot we took this year.  This was taken just before Jakob's grade 8 graduation.

I love my class this year and I'm so proud to say that 100% of them know 100% of the Pre-primer Dolch word list.  I couldn't have done it without all the help I've gotten from my TpT buddies.

My favorite blog post was the one on how I make my sight word stones.  They are so easy to make and the kids love using them.

This was my favourite pin.  I love this picture and I did this activity with the kids and it worked out great.

pin

Our reindeer

I must say that my favourite gift was all the people and sponsors I had that gave money to allow Joshua to continue playing hockey.  Without the help I never would have been able to keep him playing.

I dont' know if this was my favourite but I did several new things in 2014.  I learned how to change an IV bag, I can change an ostomy bag and I can give a needle like nobodies business.  I had several people joke that after all this, I should be getting my nursing degree.

 In 2014 we didn't actually go any restaurants.  One of our favourites though is a little local restaurant call Haugen's.  They make chicken and ribs and I love their ribs.

 Right now I'm watching Supernatural on Netflix.  I love this show.  I try and watch one everyday while I'm doing my exercises on my stationary bike.  There are 192 episodes so I'll be watching it awhile.

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my favourites this year.  It was funny and really good for both kids and adults.  My boys enjoyed posing with the display.

I would have to say my jeans.  I love my jeans and would wear them everyday if I could.

So very often the children I teach are misjudged in their abilities.  I work very hard everyday to change that perception.  

Click on the button below to see some more favourites of 2014

Daily 5 - second edition book study and freebie

I'm so excited to be joining on the Daily 5 book study with my friends from Freebielicious.  If you haven't gotten your copy, you can grab it below.  This the second edition of the book and they have made some changes and refined the program since the first book came out.

When the first book came I was so excited.  I read it from front to back and had every intention of implementing it the following year.  Unfortunately, since I teach special ed, the class I had that year was not conducive to the program.  The children were not at a point where they could independently manage the centers and with only 7 children (and several could be gone at any given time for therapy), my enthusiasm for something great waned.

Low and behold, after I received my class list for next year, I realized that next year may be the perfect time for me to try and implement the program again.  Next year I will have 10 children and the teacher next to me will have 8.  She also wants to give it a go, so we are going combine our two classes for our literacy block to try our hand at Daily 5.  We still have special children but these children will be ready for some more intensive literacy instruction.

Chapter 1 is all about how the Daily 5 has changed and evolved over the years.  I think all teachers, well myself anyway, reflect on what they do, decide what worked and didn't work and then adjust their program accordingly.

Although I didn't do The Daily 5,  I did try my hand at some centers this year.  In looking at what I did, it was, in some ways, similar to the Daily 5 model.

This year I had sight word centers and the kids loved them.  I combined with another class so between the two of us we had 15 children.  We split the children into five groups according to their ability.  Since two classes were combined, we had two teachers available and our educational assistants (4).  

For our hour literacy block we split it into two half hour time slots.  For the first 1/2 hour, one group came to me, one group went to the other teacher and two groups went to centers.  The fifth group was our life skills group and they did sensory activities.  In the second 1/2 hour, we switched groups and the 2 that were at centers came to one of the teachers and the 2 with teachers went to centers.  The life skills group did a gross motor activity.

For the teacher groups, I did a guided reading or phonics lesson and the other teacher did writing.     

So as I got thinking, here are the things I'm doing that are the same or similar:

The children have choice:

When the children picked a center they had a choice of 10.

Some of the options were the same:

The children worked on writing with one of the teachers.

Word Work was a component of the centers.

Here are some of the differences:

Some of the options are missing:

Read to self, listen to reading and read to someone weren't touched on.

Stamina:

We didn't really work on this.  We just went straight to the 1/2 hour blocks.

Brain breaks and mini lessons

This something we didn't do either.

Chapter 2 focuses on core beliefs.  

These foundations are:

1. trust and respect

2. community

3. choice

4. accountability

5. brain research

This chapter really hits home because I think it's this foundation that will lead to success. Here's my thoughts:

1. Trust and respect:  I've never treated my kindergarten students as though they are 2 years old.  I've always treated them as little people.  I hate, hate, hate it when people treat my students as younger than their age.  Just because they are in a wheelchair or because mentally they may be working at a younger age level (often times they are not, people assume wrong), does not mean that they need to be treated that way.  They are not babies.  I have always felt that if you treat kids with respect and at the level you expect them to be then they will step up to the plate and trust you.

2. Community:  Is so important.  Children who trust and respect each other can work together and accomplish so much more. 

3. Choice:  My students did so much more when they were given a choice about the centers they went to.  It shows them that I trust them.

4. Accountability:  Self-reliance is the key word in our curriculum and I think that is such a important step to becoming independent.

5. Brain Research:  I think this type of research has to be the basis of what we do.  Working within proven parameters with only make teaching easier for us.

In the end, my students are usually only with me for one year before they are integrated back into their home schools.  That means I have one year to prepare them for the "big" world.  One year to teach them the skills and independence to cope in a larger class with less support.

I think the Daily 5 will be the perfect start.

Since I'm just starting out I made this posters for the different choices.  You can pick them up for free by clicking on the picture below.

Don't forget to follow along with the book study each week.

You can also find more great posts on chapters 1 and 2 by clicking on the links below.

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm Thankful for.....

 What the Teacher Wants and Oh'Boy 4th Grade are holding linky parties on what you are thankful for. Head on over to join in the fun. Here are my answers.

1. What are you thankful for in your classroom?

I have to say my new IPad!  It just arrived on Friday and I am beyond excited.  I go to a workshop tomorrow for tips and tricks.  Can anyone recommend any great apps for kindergarten and/or special ed?  I would love to hear them.

2. What person are you most thankful for?

I would have to say my children and husband.  We lost a child last week that was with us last year at school and it makes you realize just how precious your own family is.


3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

I would have to say Deanna Jump's blog (she's the reason I started blogging), Growing Kinders and Kindergarten Crayons.

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

I would have to say reading.  I have read some awesome books lately:  The Hunger Games Series (can't wait for the movie) and the Junie B Jones Books (with my son).

5. What are you most thankful for?

I am thankful for everyone who reads this blog.  When I first started, I wasn't sure I would have anything worth writing and I wasn't sure anyone would read it.  So I'm very thankful that you stopped by today.

Summer to do list Linky Party

Littlest Learners is having a summer to do list linky party.  Here is mine.


1. Be more organized. I think I say this every year, but it's true.   I would like to have September all planned out.   I never seem to have enough time to get organized so hopefully the summer will give a good chunk of time.
2. Investigate the Daily 5.  I have ordered it from the library because I'm not sure that it will be suitable for my types of students.  I believe it is similar to our 4 Blocks. Does anyone use Daily 5 with kindergarten? I'm wondering if it is possible to do with a group of special needs students?  It looks like next year's class will include 3 children with no speech at all. Could the Daily 5 be adapted this way? Any suggestions would be welcome.
 
3. Revamp my current 4 Blocks method of literacy instruction (if Daily 5 won't work).  My kids are great with sight words but I'd like to work on my word families and blending. 
 
4.  I'm joining in the Math Stations Work Group Blog Party and I'm so excited.  I have my copy of the book (I had to get the e-book as getting it in Canada was challenging).
 
5. Make more items for my TpT store.
 
6. Make more accessible books for my non-verbal students.
 
7. Brush up on my switch accessible software.
 
8. Relax.
 
9. Enjoy my children and husband.
 
10. Visit with friends.

10 Things I've Learned about Teaching

Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade is hosting a Ten Things I've Learned From Teaching Linky Party.

10 Things I've Learned about Teaching Special Ed:

1. Children with disabilities are just children and they need to treated the same as everyone else. The "oh, look at the poor thing", doesn't apply in my room.  If it would be expected from a regular kid, I expect it from mine.

2. A child who can't walk, talk, see, or hear has the ability to learn too.  You just have to figure out how.

3. Getting along with your educational assistants makes life a lot easier and whole lot of fun.

4. Anything can be adapted, you just need a little imagination and (usually) a lot of Velcro.

5. Being able to get your finger up your nose CAN be considered an increase in fine motor skills.

6. A child does not need to be able to talk in order to read.

7. A child does not need to be able to print in order to write.

8. A child does not need to be able to walk in order to play.

9. Don't judge a child by their looks.  They can be deceiving.  You can't judge a child's potential by the package he came in.

10. Celebrate success, even the small ones, as they lead to bigger ones.

Thanks for letting me join.