Mrs. Wishy Washy

When asked about my favorite children's book.  It is a very difficult decision.  I love so many books, but I have one author that I just adore for the age group of students that I teach.  Her name is Joy Cowley.  She is an amazing author.  I chose to post a picture of one my favorites to read to the students this time of year.  Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm.  The students just love this book.  They think it is hilarious that the animals run away and then come back ready to take their baths.  I love the language in this book as well.  I allows for lots of teachable moments in the area of vocabulary.  I find it leads to good discussions.  I hope that if you have never heard of Joy Cowley that you will check in your library and see if you can get your hands on some Joy Cowley and let your students and yourself enjoy the great literature she has to offer our students.

Images of my Students Writing

This is probably my favorite.  This student really showed just what they know.  They wrote I see a jelly fish.  I love how they were trying very hard to use sound spelling and the words we have learned in our shared readings. 

This student wrote about her favorite fruit.  He favorite fruit is an orange.  I think that she is really gaining understanding when it comes to the concept of directionality.  She is progressing with sound spelling.

This student chose to write about a snake.  You can see he is beginning to understand sound spelling.  I also love the snake.  We have been talking a lot about directionality and making your picture match the words.  He is truly starting to understand.

I was not able to choose just one drawing.  My students have been drawing and writing a lot at the beginning of the year this year.  I approached writer's workshop a little bit different and a lot more prepared this year.  I am a huge fan of Lucy Culkins.  My students are really beginning to understand writing.  They are progressing when it comes to directionality.  I am very glad to see that their pictures do match their words.  I am so impressed with how well they are doing so early in kindergarten.

Getting Started

I would like to start out by saying that I am a Kindergarten Teacher for a district that covers a rather large rural area.  I have been teaching for 7 years and I have spent all of those years in Kindergarten.  I can honestly say that I don't want to teach any other grade.  My passion is for the little ones.  Recently I have reached a place in my life where I am comfortable going back to get my Masters and then a Doctorate.  I have created this blog as a place to communicate the things that I have learned during this process of growth and discovery.  I hope for those who follow my blog this can give them a spring board into their own growth and discovery.  For me I hope to allow myself to push that growth and discovery even further by reflection and sharing.

I am pleased to say that I have found this process of setting up my blog to be less painful than I expected.  I was a little bit nervous about the idea of creating this venue for communicating.  It was much more scary in my mind than in actuality. I don't have a lot to post right now about what I have learned or profound insights into my philosophy of early childhood yet, but I am looking forward to getting started.  

I am also pleased to say that my experience so far with Walden University has been pleasant.  I am looking forward to diving right into learning more about Early Childhood and building on my own personal experiences. 

Much more to come in the near future.