Hi Dan,
I am writing this in a rush so excuse all the mistakes and possible
incoherence.. ;)
DT>2nd grade was the only place to move into.  That was until that teacher
  >decided to stick around for another year.  So for the first time in 8
  >years there are no changes in our staff positions.  I'm ok about it.  I
  >actually have a fun class of  27 and 23 kindergartners.  I'm so tired
  >though!  :)
I 'm not surprised you are tired. I've been going over to help out some
kindergarten teachers I know until my work schedule starts going again.
Was over there three days last week (first week of school) helping
settle in the new Juniors (what you would call Pre-K) - we have JK and
SK combined in most schools here. Back to the point, by lunch time we
are always STARVING. At the end of the day we always need a quick fix of
fruit juice etc. I know what it is like to have 27 kindergartners -
there are all too many like this lately. Thank goodness right now most
classes (friends') are around 19 - 22 --which means they will be up to
25 or 26 sooner or later. :(
Will you change grades next year if the opportunity comes up? What grade
would you like to go into?
  >RL>Exactly what do you do now that is different? Have you ever read
  >RL>Bobbi Fisher's book Joyful Learning?
DT>Yes and I'm doing a re-read this year.  In fact I began reading her book
  >plus a few others.
I keep meaning to ask my friend to loan me the book as our educational
library hasn't got it. If I drove I could pick up a copy from our
Language Centre - or if I was at a school for a while they would courier
it out to me but..... I'd love to read what it was all about.
  >I have a friend who swears by
  >RL>her philosophy, etc. She has her classroom set up into colour centres
  >RL>with each colour standing for a different area. Each day she
  >RL>introduces a different workjob for the children to do. The class
  >RL>rotates around the centres during the week so that by the end of the
  >RL>cycle they have worked in all the areas - that is the teacher
  >RL>directed part.
DT>I do this....but it's difficult to teach the kids this routine.  I have
  >a saying outside my room that teaching kindergarten is like trying to
  >hold a bathtub full of corks underwater all at once.
Well Angie has been doing it for a few years now with great success -
I'm not sure whether I could carry it off so well.
DT> She then has a period of time that they can have a
  >RL>free choice of what they do and where they go at the centres - is
  >RL>this more what you are after?
DT>I do all of this now but I want to design the room to run more
  >efficiently and avoid so many (necessary?) transitions.
I think this is hard in kindergarten and there are so many things we
have to do and so little time to do it in. It's easier to have less
transitions if you have a full day and children that are a little older.
I have been in some wonderful activity based classrooms. Children are
introduced to the activities and then have big blocks of time to work
in. I have another friend who does this. The kids have "musts" for the
day or for the week as well as musts that have to be worked on in a
specific period of time. She has a grade one/two split.
The best activity classes I ever worked in were grades two/three - one
was the above teacher (when she was my host teacher - student practicum)
and the other a teacher at another school. I love being in the latter's
room - unfortunately I don't go there very often - the kids are so
polite, work hard and are very autonomous and trustworthy ... it's a
real pleasure to work with them.
  >RL>I have mentioned that I recently went to a workshop put on by my
  >RL>Board on assessment and evaluation. I learned about rubrics and
  >RL>portfolios and more about learning outcomes/reports.
DT>Like many districts, kindergarten doesn't get much attention so I'm
  >pretty much on my own.
I'm very lucky to work for a board that does a lot of inservicing and
leads the way in curriculum development etc. They have specific
inservicing just for kindergarten in early literacy, math, reporting
outcomes, portfolios, etc. etc. Early literacy is very important here.
                        -Ruth
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