Welcome to Kindergarten!

Two days down. Today went much smoother than yesterday. I was more on my game as were the kids. Yesterday I had so many people coming and watching me - my principal, tribal officers, a newspaper person, parents. Much quieter today.

I have been having so much fun these last 2 days. I love Success For All - the new literacy program our district is using. The kindergarten program is fun with lots of activities. Byron did this program last year and I was amazed at how much he learned and grew especially in reading and writing. I'm excited to be able to watch the growth in my students this year.

Any teachers reading this - how is your year going so far?

Ready for Kindergarten!

I've been working hard in my empty classroom to fill it with lots of activity learning labs. I'm still waiting on furniture that has been ordered, but I'm making do. I'm super excited for the new reading program we are using, Success For All. The KinderCorner part is so fun and it really helps kids be able to read. I have one more day, Tuesday, to work on my classroom. Then I'll try and post some pics. Training on Monday, in my room on Tuesday, then school starts on Wednesday!

What a summer! Swimming lessons, soccer camp, moving, hanging with the kids, setting up house in our new house. I report back to school on the 14th - how time has flown. I still need to move my classroom stuff to my new classroom and set up. I've been assigned to be the kindergarten teacher in Towaoc ("toy-oc"), which is the town on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation. This is a "guinea pig" position as it's a trial year. There hasn't been a teacher on the reservation since 1963 and the district wants to bring school back to the tribal kids who are being bussed up to Cortez. So they are trying out a small kindergarten (it will be capped at 16 students) and they want me to be the teacher. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I've been thinking and getting my mind ready for kindergarten. It will be lots of fun!