Teaching with New Kids {first day of student teaching}

Student Teaching Orientation is finally over and our first day in the classroom is Monday!

Luckily, I have had the chance to work with my cooperating teacher in the past, so I felt comfortable to ask about a few things that I wanted to do on my first day to introduce myself to students. These are simple ways to introduce yourself to students and parents whether you are a teacher or a student teacher like myself!

My intro to the students' families will be simple, a cute newsletter which introduces myself and briefly explains my role in the classroom. You will be able to find this in my TpT store soon!

To introduce myself to students, I will be using a Me Bag.

This is a fun way to tell students a little bit about yourself as a person and as a teacher. 

It is rather simple, you choose any bag and fill it with items that represent your favorite things, your personality, etc. Even the bag itself can have special meaning! For my Pre-k kids, I will use items that they will find exciting. Depending on your classroom, you may simply present the bag or you may present the item and have students guess what the item represents.

My Me Bag will include:

1. A stuffed dog to represent our little Yorkie and Pom-a-poo who are like our other children. {kids always love to hear about animals!} 

2. Always, and I mean always include a book at the students grade level and express your love to read EVEN IF YOU DON'T! {how can your students love reading if you don't model that love} 

3. I will also include a family photo so the children can see my daughter and my husband. {they love to know you are a person outside of teaching}

4. Paint to represent my love of crafting. {what 3/4 year old doesn't get excited about paint?!}

In the past I included more items, but I want to keep it at a minimum for my specific group of students. I suggest that you select items that relate to your students' age and typical interests. Some more examples of items to include is a football (sports), flower (gardening), food (favorite), colored item (favorite color), etc.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE, TEACHING IN THE A.M!

Teaching with Facebook {yes, I said Facebook}

Nerves are officially in full force as student teaching orientation is only four days away! I have been spending my last few days of freedom in my pajamas, but I've also been doing lots of productive "research!"

I have created a Pinterest board where I am pinning great advice that I have found from other student teachers and veteran teachers who blog advice for newbies. I have also found some great ideas for gifts and planning. If you are interested, follow my Pinterest board using the widget on the right side of the page labeled, "Connect with the A.M."

The best thing I have found in my browsing, or research as I like to call it, has been on Facebook!

It is a great Facebook group sponsored by the National Association of Special Education Teachers. The page is just a great place for networking with other Special Education teachers from across the globe. Members can ask questions, share experiences, post photos of resources and their classrooms, and tons more! It has been amazing as I am reading information from both new and old teachers which is current-- instant for that matter!

Check it out, NASET Facebook Group.

Stay tuned for more, Teaching in the A.M.

Teaching in Math Class {with reading}

While the importance of reading is always emphasized, it still seems as if it is only emphasized in the reading or English language arts classroom. The fabulous thing about reading is that it is great in any classroom and any subject area-- even MATH!

Because I am beginning my first student teaching placement in a lower elementary setting in two weeks, I have been browsing through different lower elementary articles. I {luckily} stumbled across this amazing math-related book list by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

The NAEYC created this amazing list of math-related children's books. Best of all- they organized the titles by content area so you can easily browse for a book related to your topic! The list also provides a brief summary/description so you can preview how the book will relate to mathematical concepts.

Go ahead, check it out! Follow the link to learn about some Math-Related Children's Literature. 

Stay tuned for more, Teaching in the A.M.