Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

This week we had a special surprise at our school during a faculty meeting.  Our superintendent came to our school to award us medals for "Raising the Bar".  We were recognized for increasing student performance in 5 out of 7 proficiency/growth categories during the 2017-2018 school year. Our school was one of 11 schools to meet this criteria in our district!  It was a GREAT day to be a GATOR!!  We are so proud of all of the hard work and dedication of every single staff member and student!  It was a great reminder of why we do what we do and the difference we make every day!

Hoot #2

At this same faculty meeting, something else happened that has NEVER happened in all of our years of teaching!  We all entered the room knowing we were going to have to do some type of group activity...and let's face it, we all are tired after school and don't want to go to a meeting, much less be forced to do a group activity!  If you are a teacher, we know you totally get what we are saying!  Instead, our principals announce here is your Selfie Scavenger Hunt checklist, you have 15 minutes to find your partner and GO!  Teachers were running, making a mad dash to find their partners and were going in all directions!  You could hear running feet and laughter all through the halls of the school.  Some students were at school for play practice, and they kept watching teachers in awe as we ran by laughing and having a good time.  It was PRICELESS!  We get so bogged down with the hustle and bustle of everything that has to be done, that we only have time to say "Good Morning" to each other and we keep going.    We got to know and to hang out with another teacher that we normally wouldn't get the chance to hang with...and it was a great time had by all!! 

 BEST. FACULTY. MEETING. EVER!

 

 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Tara West over at Little Minds at Work.  We began using some of her reading, writing, and phonics units this year.  We absolutely LOVE them! Her units are so easy to follow, and they are age appropriate!  It is exactly what our students need!  If you haven't ever used any of her things, go check out her blog and TPT store!  We guarantee you will find something you cannot live without! 

https://littlemindsatwork.org/

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

Our first hoot all about the letter P. We had an awesome party to celebrate the letter Pp!  Thanks to our wonderful parents, we were able to eat pizza, pickles, popcorn, pretzels, Pringles, pixie sticks, pop tarts, purple juice and so much more. We got to even wear our pajamas to school!!  We also had popsicles at recess and made pirate hats.  We topped off the afternoon with a real princess coming to read to our classes! We just love days like these!
Jitterbugs & Rockstars love princesses!

Hoot #2

Our second hoot is something that has helped us show a lot of growth already! If you have not heard about the "Blue Book," we highly recommend that you look into it. Over the past few years, it seemed that our students really struggled in the area of phonemic awareness. We have also struggled with trying to find the right combination that would work with our littles. We do believe that we may have found it!  It is perfect because it is quick and covers all of the areas of phonemic awareness. It takes about 15 minutes (max) to do it. It We do it daily, every morning during large group time. We do hand motions to help the students retain the information. We love it, and the students do too!!  We would love to answer any questions that you may have about this. 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to a beloved coworker who has began a new chapter in her life.  She has worked at our school for 15 years, so we have had lots of laughs with this special lady!  Bonnie, we are so very blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know you and call you a friend!  Good luck on your new adventure!  
We love you!  It is not "goodbye"... it is "see ya later!"

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

Our first hoot is all about DATA!  This year our students have 2 computerized tests that they will have to take.  One is mandated by the state, and the other gives teachers a plethora of information about their students' strengths and areas of concern.  Our goal this year is to GROW, GROW, GROW!  In order to help us stay on track, our wonderful principals have created a "data room" that displays every teacher's data.  This is a great visual for teachers to see how their students are growing.  This forces us to look at our data and allow our data to drive our instruction; therefore, we are tailoring our instruction to meet our students EXACTLY where they are.  We love looking at our data, and we definitely can't wait to see how much these Jitterbugs and Rockstars will grow!

 

Hoot #2

Speaking of growing our students and data, we are only 2 months into school and have seen our students begin to SOAR!  We use ESGI in our classrooms to help with assessments that we give our students.  A huge focus is on letters and sounds at the beginning of the year.  We set a personal goal for ourselves and our students...we want all of our students to know all of their letters by Halloween.  And with the help many Jack Hartmann videos, Leap Frog's Letter Factory, perseverance, and a few tears, we are almost there!  Look at all of this growth!  In August I had 7 students who knew all 52 letters, now I have 18 that know all 52!!!!  I was super excited to see all of their growth, and  I am proud of my kiddos for all of their hard work! 

  

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes to ESGI! Thank you ESGI for your continued support of teachers and saving us HUNDREDS of hours of assessments!  If you do not use this tool, then you are wasting a lot a valuable time assessing your students. Did I mention that it is paperless???!!! At a glance, I can look at my standards that I am targeting to see if whole class review is necessary. 

 When I click on a students name, if gives me an overview of the student's knowledge. If I press "details," then it will give me the exact question that the student doesn't know. My students have so much fun with this! It is not uncommon to hear them say, "Look how much my brain has grown!"

You can click any of the icons on the right and with no effort at all, you can have a detailed parent letter explaining their child's knowledge. We have heard of some teachers that even use these as the report cards that they send home! Every primary teacher needs this in their life!

Click on the ESGI button at the top of our blog home page to receive a code for a free trial and a discounted price!!!

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

WE HAVE CHICKS!! This has been a wonderful experience for the children (and us too)! This week the students have ran to the incubator every time they hear a noise. The first chick that hatched was honored by the name Rockstar Jitterbug. He is spunky and loves to jump right in your hand to cuddle.

The students reaction to our new friend was priceless!

Derek was so excited, he made his very own chick at home and brought it to schoool! JaVaughn loved it so much that he begged me to take a picture of him standing next to Derek's chick!

Hoot #2
The end of the year is near, and testing season has begun!  Kindergarten students have already taken their state test, and we are SO proud of how much each student has grown this year!  In order to keep things as normal as possible during this busy time of year, we have to get creative!  Students love technology, so we use that as a reward daily for growth and behavior.  They have worked so hard this year, and they deserve a little break from the norm.  They are allowed to have free time on the computers and tablets, which means they do not have to do a certain program picked by the teacher.  This has been the best reward EVER! They share and work together so well!

 

This Week's Holler...
Hop on over to check out The Kindergarten Connection!  This blog has a team of wonderful people, each with their own specific job to help make this blog full of creative and fun learning activities!  One of our favorite reads from this blog was the Mother's Day activities since Mother's Day is just right around the corner.  They also have lots of items for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Several have already been put on our wish list!  Be sure to check them out and follow them!  You will be glad you did! 

Two Hoots and A Holler: Growing Gators

Hoot #1

We have been in school for 6 weeks now.  This year seems to be going by super fast!  We have seen so much growth from our kiddos in the past 6 weeks.  Thanks to ESGI, we have data to show that our class is growing and learning!  I know we have said it before, but if you do not have ESGI...What are you waiting for?!?!  It is the best thing that we have ever discovered, and we will never teach another year without it!  It gives you SO MUCH data to use to show parents, administrators, support staff, etc. to show how each individual child is progressing.  We did a letter screener in August.  With ESGI, it took us no time at all to get this done!  We want our students to know all letter names by Halloween, so we have been working really hard to meet our goal.  We reassess our students every other week with ESGI. We started off in August with our uppercase percentage at 63% and our lowercase percentage at 52%.  

Just look at the growth they showed and look at the awesome pie charts from ESGI!! We grew at least 20% in upper and lowercase areas in less than a month!  I am so proud of these kiddos!

Hoot #2

We have a new phonics program we are using this year in kindergarten.  We will begin using SIPPS this year.  We have been nervous to start a new program because we didn't know much about it.  Last week we were lucky enough to attend a training geared towards our grade level.  This training was very informative and helpful.  After sitting in this training, the nervousness has passed some, and the excitement is starting to set in!  This program has shown phenomenal growth in student's reading abilities.  Students must know at least 20 lowercase letters before beginning, so we have been working really hard to learn as many letters as we can.  
How many of you have used SIPPS in kindergarten?  Have any tips for us before we begin?  We would LOVE to hear from other teachers who have used this program.  Leave your comments below!!   

 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Karen Jones at Mrs. Jones's Kindergarten.  We are in LOVE with her new curriculum creations for kinders called "Little Thinkers".  It is a social studies curriculum designed just for kindergarten!  It is in her TPT store, and now that we have discovered her...a lot of her items are now on our TPT Wish List!  Go read and check out her blog to read more about all of the awesome ideas this lady has!