Kindergarten Loves

Here goes my very first blog... I decided to begin my blogging career with a subject that is a passion of mine... teaching kindergarten.  I love, love, love teaching.  It is in my blood and my passion for it is sometimes overwelming to the other areas of my life that deserve as much or more attention.  I've been teaching kindergarten for the past ten years.  I feel like I am finally getting things organized the way that I want them and running a kindergarten program that I am truly proud of.  I decided that for this post I would post my most favorite kindergarten things.  So here goes, in no particular order:

*Debbie Diller's Literacy Work Stations
This book (along with her one on working with small groups)  has changed the way I look at teaching kindergarten.  Her approach to "centers" made so much sense to me that I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it sooner.

*DJ Inkers Clip Art Cds
I think I have almost all of these cds.  You can use them for everything from newsletters, to classroom signs, to station activities.  They are a must-have for elementary school teachers!

*PrintMaster software
This is another must-have product for teachers!  I bought my PrintMaster software during my first year of teaching and have used it constantly.  I make my own classroom signs, poetry posters, name tags, desk tags, snack calendars etc. with PrintMaster.

*a hot glue gun
Every teacher should have her trusty companion... the hot glue gun.  When nothing else will stick to a cinderblock wall, it's hot glue gun to the rescue!  The glue residue just peels off when you are done.  On
occasion I have had some stick especially hard, but it pops off with the help of a paint scraper.  Usually without chipping any paint.

*Jack Hartman Cds

This is one of my all-time favorite cds for kindergartners.  My kids love Hip Hop Tooty Ta , Workout to the Letter Sounds, and The Pirate Song among others.  This cd is a great investment.

*My SmartBoard

Okay, I'll admit it, kindergarten is not what it used to be.  I love, love, love my SmartBoard and LCD projector.  We use it for all sorts of activities from word building to simple addition and subtraction.  Our Parent Teacher club has been raising funds to buy SmartBoards for the last few years.  I was one of the first lucky recipients!  Yay me!

*My ELMO document camera

I also really love my ELMO document camera.  I was lucky enough to have received one from my school district through a technology grant that I wrote.  It is one of the most handy things ever.  I can project small books onto the SmartBoard and read them as a class (great for emergent readers).  I also use it for projecting manipulatives (like pattern blocks) to illustrate a teaching point.  The kids most favorite thing to use the ELMO for is to project their writing from writers workshop onto the SmartBoard and share.  My ELMO cost approximately $700, but recently I took my students to Art class and saw that our art teacher had made one using some wood and a web cam!  Since then the kindergarten teacher next door has made one using a web cam and an adjustable microphone stand.  She was just in the assembly stage last week, so hopefully I will take some pictures and post more about it later.

Well, that's all for now.  I wonder if anyone will actually read this?!?  If you do, let me know what you think.  If you are a teacher, link up with some of your kindergarten (or whatever grade) loves.
-Becky