Last week and the beginning of this week...

Last week, I learned so many cool things in my prekindergarten class!

Calenders: Collect old calenders so that the students can practice writing the numbers they see in the corner of each box.

Snowball fight: Have the students stand in a circle. Give each student a piece of paper with a shape, letter, or word on it. Let the students identify what is on their paper. Have the students crinkle up the pieces of paper like a snowball. On the count of three the students underhand toss their "snowball" into the middle of the circle. The students walk into the middle of the circle, pick up a new piece of paper, and uncrinkle it. Have the students identify the item on their paper.
The kids had so much fun doing this. It's important to note that you should practice walking into the circle and picking up a piece of paper, otherwise, you'll end up with a dog pile of children! =]

Straw Painting: We have been talking a lot about weather, especially wind. We had the students create paintings using their own wind. They blew through a straw into paint dots on their paper. They all turned out very fun. Just remind the students not to suck the paint up, only blow out their "wind" from their lungs.

We have read Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets several times in class. In part of the book, Gilberto watches the wind fill pillow cases on the line and dance through shirts and pants that are drying. This week in small groups, the students get to use their own wind to watch ribbons dance around. We also used a fan to fill pillow cases with wind, just like in the story. The students think that is so fun! =]

Looking back on my time in the classroom so far, I think there are a few things that I can be improving on. One thing that I can be doing is interacting with the students in a more meaningful way. I sometimes catch my mind drifting off during choice time, which is easy to do because the students are very good at having fun on their own. It's only my second week in the classroom, but I need to start remembering to do things to make the day easier on the other teachers. Like helping to set up the activities for the afternoon class. I'm getting better at remembering but I know there is more that I should still be doing.