Vicky is one of Jan's best friends here in Serbia. She is really great and I love being with her in her classroom. I have been volunteering in Vicky's classroom for a few weeks now and I am learning a lot!
Vicky's room is very similar to a regular kindergarten classroom in Maine, but this year her class is smaller (16 students). When the students get in there in the mornings, the first things they do is start writing in their journals. They do a really good job writing in their journals because of their Jolly Phonics Program. I am absolutely impressed with "The Jolly Phonics program." It is an early systematic phonics program where students learn the sounds of letters and letter blends using multi-sensory movements. In it there are 42 sounds and during the first 8-9 weeks of school the students do a letter and sound a day and this continues throughout the school year, much like the Scott Foresman Reading Program; but with the added movements and sounds, it makes it sooo much better! :) I am really happy Vicky showed me all of the things she uses.
Another thing I love is the amount of technology the school and even the kindergarten classrooms use. It is amazing the things the Middle School Kids are doing. If you haven't you should check out Jan's Blog on my Blog page and you can see some of the Science Blogs the students are doing...let me tell you: it is amazing!
In the Kindergarten classroom, each day one of the students gets to go on the computer and type up a sentence from an old journal entry or type up a new sentence. Vicky's Teacher Assistant prints off their paper and then they draw a picture to go with their sentence and then they are put into their computer books. It is a wonderful way to get students used to using the computers and also they get some really great books out of it as well.
With the technology, Vicky can show students a clip on a projector of how to make Eric Carle characters, so she is not the only one giving them directions and also she doesn't have to make a mess, she just shows the students the clip and then they are ready to start.By the way she got the clip off his website http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html. Another thing they do is a blog for the kindergarten class (both classes). On it there are things about what the students are doing in school and they also post the student's work on there with their sentences. I will add Vicky's Blog soon, so you can enjoy it as much as I have!
Upon talking with Vicky I have found out a lot about the PYP Program, which is called the Pre Years Program or Primary Years Program. It is a program where the children come up with things on their own: classroom rules, jobs on the job charts, their writing journals. They have very little help from the teachers when making these things, which makes them much more interested in their learning. The PYP program goes from Pre-K all the way through middle school and it is based on what the students want to learn about. I have found that with the older kids (2nd to 3rd grade on) it is easier for the teachers to teach what they want to know; like if you are teaching about water and the students are asking a lot of questions about waterfalls, then the teacher will start teaching about waterfalls and motion etc.
One of my favorite things I found was the portfolios that Vicky made. The kids draw their faces on a big sheet of paper, and then Vicky makes a portfolio out of two big construction papers and staple only two sides, so all the students work could be put into the portfolio no matter what size they are! It is a great idea especially for us Pre-K through first grade teachers.
When working in Vicky's class, I also have been working on my masters. I had to research and make a Literate Learning Environment. This was my first time using PREZI. It is a really cool website, where you can make interesting presentation. In my prezi, it shows the different things I have learned in the past and now. You should check it out. I am really proud of it!!
The Beginning Reader Presentation. OR http://prezi.com/zjzo0emmppc3/the-beginning-reader-presentation/
Vicky's room is very similar to a regular kindergarten classroom in Maine, but this year her class is smaller (16 students). When the students get in there in the mornings, the first things they do is start writing in their journals. They do a really good job writing in their journals because of their Jolly Phonics Program. I am absolutely impressed with "The Jolly Phonics program." It is an early systematic phonics program where students learn the sounds of letters and letter blends using multi-sensory movements. In it there are 42 sounds and during the first 8-9 weeks of school the students do a letter and sound a day and this continues throughout the school year, much like the Scott Foresman Reading Program; but with the added movements and sounds, it makes it sooo much better! :) I am really happy Vicky showed me all of the things she uses.
Another thing I love is the amount of technology the school and even the kindergarten classrooms use. It is amazing the things the Middle School Kids are doing. If you haven't you should check out Jan's Blog on my Blog page and you can see some of the Science Blogs the students are doing...let me tell you: it is amazing!
In the Kindergarten classroom, each day one of the students gets to go on the computer and type up a sentence from an old journal entry or type up a new sentence. Vicky's Teacher Assistant prints off their paper and then they draw a picture to go with their sentence and then they are put into their computer books. It is a wonderful way to get students used to using the computers and also they get some really great books out of it as well.
With the technology, Vicky can show students a clip on a projector of how to make Eric Carle characters, so she is not the only one giving them directions and also she doesn't have to make a mess, she just shows the students the clip and then they are ready to start.By the way she got the clip off his website http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html. Another thing they do is a blog for the kindergarten class (both classes). On it there are things about what the students are doing in school and they also post the student's work on there with their sentences. I will add Vicky's Blog soon, so you can enjoy it as much as I have!
Upon talking with Vicky I have found out a lot about the PYP Program, which is called the Pre Years Program or Primary Years Program. It is a program where the children come up with things on their own: classroom rules, jobs on the job charts, their writing journals. They have very little help from the teachers when making these things, which makes them much more interested in their learning. The PYP program goes from Pre-K all the way through middle school and it is based on what the students want to learn about. I have found that with the older kids (2nd to 3rd grade on) it is easier for the teachers to teach what they want to know; like if you are teaching about water and the students are asking a lot of questions about waterfalls, then the teacher will start teaching about waterfalls and motion etc.
One of my favorite things I found was the portfolios that Vicky made. The kids draw their faces on a big sheet of paper, and then Vicky makes a portfolio out of two big construction papers and staple only two sides, so all the students work could be put into the portfolio no matter what size they are! It is a great idea especially for us Pre-K through first grade teachers.
When working in Vicky's class, I also have been working on my masters. I had to research and make a Literate Learning Environment. This was my first time using PREZI. It is a really cool website, where you can make interesting presentation. In my prezi, it shows the different things I have learned in the past and now. You should check it out. I am really proud of it!!
The Beginning Reader Presentation. OR http://prezi.com/zjzo0emmppc3/the-beginning-reader-presentation/
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