Summer and Interview Prep

Hello Internet! As summer begins to wind down (though I hear it's over in parts of the country) Mrs. Kelly is getting ready for the new school year and interview season.

 Things on my prep list are:

• STEM projects for students in varying grade levels
• Small group literacy attack plans (and lesson plans)
• Behavior management plans
• Examples of parent contact sheets
• Interview Shoes (my previous dress shoes are no longer useful )
• Took care of this! Yay for shoes in giant sizes :)

I have been scouring the web and previous materials I have to come up with a great interview plan. For STEM, I remembered a WebQuest that I created for third grade science, although I do have to go through and update it for new SOL material, and double check spelling and grammar.

I also have an online collection of kindergarten math resources. These line up with the Virginia Math Standards of Learning.  If nothing else, these resources will show that I'm not scared to put material out there and make it available to parents and students for their convenience.  

That leaves parent contact, behavior management, and small group literacy.  The good news is that the county in which I am applying has small group plans for all teachers to follow, so that part of the interview should go smoothly.  I've been working with their planning and format for a year and a half now, so it is familiar to me and I see many benefits to it.  I also feel confident in my beliefs and practices when it comes to classroom management.  

I prefer to work with students to foster an environment where students become responsible for themselves.  I don't like to single a student out for misbehavior, and I don't like to be taken off topic to deal with these situations.  What has worked the best for me is to allow opportunities for students to earn "free time" and to use non-verbal correction.  If students work well and complete their work efficiently (and correctly), I let them earn a quick round of SimonSays or a game of four corners at the end of the day.  You'd be surprised how the reminder of those five minute breaks can quickly turn a classroom around.  I also provide students with opportunities to be leaders in the classroom.  If I give everyone a job, then a simple reminder of how misbehavior can cause them to lose their jobs can turn them around.  My favorite tools, however, are some stop signs that I found online.  

They are great!  You don't have to say anything, and I am surprised at how quickly students get this concept.  If a student isn't displaying acceptable behavior, I simply place the stop sign on their desk and leave it there until I notice a change in their actions.  Since I circulate throughout the room as I teach, this is easy to do without all of the students noticing.  I have even stuck them to the board when I need to whole class to change what they are doing.  IT'S AMAZING! 

Parent contact is the last thing I have to talk about.  I need to find a cute template for a weekly newsletter.  Like the blog (which is a form of parent contact!), it will have what we are up to for the week, what the homework will be for the week, and I'd like some cool quotes on it.  Maybe a feature student or a parent shout out section.  If anyone finds anything awesome (with a green/blue theme) let me know.  I'm going to try and work on something and link it up here, but I'm not the most creative person.  We shall see.  

I also like Remind101 because parents can receive notification via text message from the teacher.  I have used it before for homework, field trip reminders, and just about anything you can think of.  You can create different contact groups and send different messages to each group.  So if ten sets of parents want to know the homework, but they all want an update on field trips, or other reminders then it can be customized.  It's pretty amazing.  I haven't had any complaints from parents yet.  

Well, I think that's it.  I'm going to get ready for my vacation next week, that may or may not be cut off for interviews and training.  If anyone thinks of something I may be missing leave me a note!  

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” 
― Dr. Seuss

*I do not own anything to which I have linked.  If you notice something has not been given proper credit, please let me know and I will link it in as well*