A Day in the Life… in Photos

Good morning. I wanted to invite you into a day in the life of… me… in my classroom.

Well, the shortened version of it, anyway, without too many anecdotes or random tangents.

That’s my hope anyways. Otherwise, the post might get crazy long.

This is also a way to share the skeleton of our daily routine and schedule since many of you have asked for it since I’ve started blogging. To be honest, it changes every year and usually I will change it up mid-year just to see if I can improve on things.

Yes, that is how I operate. If you read this blog, you know that about me. Now, back to good morning.

I turn on a computer or two in my classroom with my arms full of stuff and I keep the lights off while I begin my day. The daylight often gives me enough to work with and I enjoy the quiet stillness of the darkened room.

I’m not a morning person.

Hence the reason I didn’t shout, “Good morning!” earlier in this post.

I head over to my teacher space and either work on my lesson plans in my lesson plan binder, answer emails or organize materials for the day as needed. I usually have a to-do list somewhere that helps me keep track from what was leftover from yesterday to get done or allows me to work ahead.

Or… I wheel around and use my large teacher table to plan out more of my guided reading plans or guided math plans. I don’t plan as far ahead in general for these since I use my notes and documentation to build on lessons.

It feels like no time at all before I pick up my kinders, the lights come on and we are at full steam. Don’t you love the enthusiasm they start every day with?

We follow our morning routine for putting items away and get started working.

The work varies by day but there are a few things I like to rotate in each week that include: buddy reading, read to self and author writing. We now do our actual calendar page independently now before coming together as a group.

Announcements.

Lunch Count.

Morning classroom jobs.

Moving on.

I use my computer to signal students to clean up with a song and they all grab their calendar math binders and pencil boxes {which they left out from earlier on a table or shelf} and meet on the floor.

We review the calendar page, date and then hit various Common Core math standards.

Calendar Math in Action

Right now we are getting in a variety of skill practice like finding the missing addend to make 10, exploring rekenreks to 20, solving for an unknown, solving two-step story problems, subitizing, counting {right now by tens…. starting at numbers other than 10… like 4 or 7}. Not all in one day mind you!

We wrap-up with a consistent weather graph activity and head off to our first literacy center.

Students get busy and I prep quickly for my first reading group. We’ve now grown as readers into 5 groups, plus 2 completely independent workshop readers… so I have to rotate when I meet with each of them. Some students I see 4-5 times a week, some groups only 2-3 times a week.

I’m working with students on reading strategies applied in little leveled books and/or using the time to work on skills in isolation that they need additional differentiated practice.

Usually a warm up activity or two, a main activity and then we close it out. All the rest of my kinders are working {without ever interrupting… yeah right… as hard as I try} until they hear the clean up song resound once again from a computer.

Their centers are open-ended so they just keep on working!

This really helps me have the flexibility to work with groups and give them the attention needed on any given day.

We pull together, let a few share their learning and thinking since not everyone gets to see what others are doing.

We begin a story discussion and read aloud.

I’m big into using classics, different versions and well-loved authors to teach students how to think/engage when reading… so we talk and read and talk and read… I mention how they can practice the skill in their centers.

What are we reading right now, for example?

We are enjoying comparing and contrasting different versions of Henny Penny this week. We also compare the story structure to other stories we’ve read and talk about the illustration style of Paul Galdone.

Last week we dissected The Little Red Hen and for two weeks prior to that we dug into non-fiction books and magazines on penguins.

Onto our second literacy center for the day and I pull another group of students. We work on the skills they need… sound familiar?

I’m not great at following a clock. {Really…}

But I am great at following a routine!

So, I use my strengths and use routine to help keep track of our day.

Sweet CVC Roll, Say Keep

Students who aren’t pulled by me continue working in their heterogeneous groups on their reading, writing and word work skills.

We have our specials scheduled at different times each day, so we just “push pause” on whatever we’re doing and resume when we return.

Sometimes I laugh at the amount of sheer “stuff” all over the place, but learning to read can take a lot of “stuff.” And it all gets cleaned up in 20-30 minutes again anyways.

ABC Literacy Center

We pull together again as a group.

A couple students share or I edify things I want to see other do, challenge themselves, or take a moment to re-teach something mechanical to keep centers running smoothly. My kinders have all brought a notebook and their pencil boxes to the floor.

We use this whole group phonics and word work time to practice reading skills. We start with a warm-up. Sometimes they get to be the teacher…

But most often they are following along in their notebooks and I am doing my best to keep everyone engaged.

With students at all levels, giving them materials in front of them has been helpful to me in pulling them together. We use an alphabet chart, name chant, bits chart, two sight word charts and a vowel patterns chart as we grow through the year.

We also use this time often to work through a nursery rhyme to build reading fluency and do more phonics or word work.

You can see above we were talking about using repeated words, sight words and bits we know to help us improve our accuracy. We dismiss with a reminder to try using such strategies at centers and dismiss to our third literacy center.

I pull a group, the rest all continue working… see the pattern?

Snapshot of Literacy Centers and Guided Reading Group

Big Book and Detective Center in Action

Non-fiction Literacy Center in Action

And a huge chunk of our day is complete!

We move into ‘writing together’ on most days, where we are doing shared writing, a mini-lesson or interactive writing (earlier on in the year)… and some days we just start writing in our own books.

We call it author writing.

We break for lunch, recess and I take a few minutes to have adult conversation with my favorite teacher down the hall.

Most often we work more on writing once we return from recess since I’m not great at sticking to a time-schedule.

We move onto getting our folders ready and backpacks packed up using our end of day procedures.

If a student successfully follows through with the steps and the alarm for math hasn’t gone off on my cell phone yet then they have a few precious moments to have choice time.

I stash a set of 4-5 choice activities behind the folder icon on our agenda that are like a surprise each day. They can choose from things like Legos, blocks, house, games, dress-up, and the rest of the goodies I have stashed away.

I like to use this as a whole class incentive to keep our transitions quick throughout the day (to earn more time to play) and to help students follow the multi-step end of day procedures efficiently.

We move into guided math and this year my favorite teacher and I switch some students to better differentiate our groups. I taught math in the morning last year and loved it. Afternoons works out the best for us this year since it’s uninterrupted time we both have.

See – every year it’s different!

I explain our math prompt, highlight great examples of work, go over a practice zone game or review a skill once our newly combined group is ready. We break into math zones and work commences.

Students are utilizing 2 zones each day.

If you’re unfamiliar, they are called the practice zone, the technology zone, the recording zone and the teacher zone. Above you see kinders working on a game from the practice zone and below two students buddy up (due to lack of computers and a larger group) to play a missing addends math game in the technology zone.

We turn on the clean up song and switch without meeting whole group {different from our literacy centers} to our second zone.

Then well pull together during the last moments of our day to share a couple of work examples or student learning stories. I will also often grade math journals during this time. Students get returned to their rightful classroom and we line up with our belongings to go home.

I wish students a good afternoon by reminding them that…

They are loved.

They are special.

And that they are made for more.

Lights off. I follow them out and return to my classroom.

Student-Teacher Message to Live By

And then I often find that my lights stay off while I pick up large debris off the floor, stack items to do on my teacher table and review my to-do list. I add to it, cross things off, see what I did or didn’t do during my prep period and what is a must before tomorrow comes.

I spend time printing, reflecting, emailing and looking to the day {and days} ahead ensuring that what we’ve got planned doesn’t need a major adjustment.

I try to return my teacher space to as neat as I can to make the next day start out on a calm note for myself.

Wait a minute… Where is the science and social studies?

I try to use our reading discussions to hit a few non-fiction themes throughout the year that help get it all in.

Where is the arts or crafts of it all {this is kindergarten, Leslie!}?

Well, I’m not super big on crafts… but we incorporate guided drawing and/or art into a more involved  project once a week. We do this on the day that we do not have guided math scheduled.

Like I mentioned we were learning about penguins… well, we make time to read about them, write about them, check on a zoo’s live streaming cam to observe them (during a transition) and make a kinder-gorgeous hallway display with our learning using artwork and writing. We just make it work.

Phew! That turned out to be crazy long with all of the photos. Thanks for sticking in there with me.

Perhaps we should grab a cup of tea and check out your day next?! Any takers? Maybe after a nap…

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

More on What I Do

• how to create smart literacy centers that last all year
• guided math details
• How to Organize Kindergarten Math Teaching Materials
• Kindergarten Common Core Reading and Math: Data Tracking and Assessments