The Saturday Kindergarten Post: SPECIAL EDITION!

Wow, it is such a beautiful day here in Nashville! And guess what?  It’s a very special day for many reasons.  We’re two weeks from THE WEDDING!  Exactly 14 days.  It’s also my BIRTHDAY!  34 years ago my momma birthed me.  Then she asked (and this is a direct quote from my grandma!!!) “What am I going to do with him?”  From day one, people haven’t been able to figure me out and are still trying to figure out what to do with me!  It’s totally true.  My mom thought I was a kidney infection and was even on birth control.  And BAM!  She’s pregnant.  I am totally OK with being an accidental infection.  I have accepted and dealt with my lot in life!  Anyways, today I turn 34.  Mid 30s.  I might have a breakdown at some point!

Today is also a special day for my little manly blog!  It’s my 100th post!  Isn’t that CRAZY?  100 posts.  100 sarcastic comments.  100 humorous stories.  100 hilarious one liners.  100 great ideas.  100 posts that have made me a better teacher and a better man.  I want to say a huge thank you to each of you who reads my blog and especially those who leave me such amazing comments.  I also want to thank all of the people who have helped me navigate my way through blog-ville.  Becoming a blogger was always a little dream of mine and I can’t believe I get to live my little dream everyday in the company of such greatness.  Each of you is the ideal of what teaching is and should be.  If every classroom had teachers like each of you, we would rank at the top of the world in education.  I only wish that I could be half the teacher that you all are.  You have made me a better teacher without a doubt.  I am meeting the needs of my students more.  I am reflecting on my own teaching each day and improving each day.  Because of you and all of your talents and gifts I am better.  Thank you!

And now for the real reason you came today…The Saturday Kindergarten Post!  And sadly it’s a short and sweet edition because I was only with my kids for two days this week.  I just HAD to fly to Chicago to see Madonna in concert.  I mean,she’s an icon..a legend…so I HAD to go.  And I am glad I did.

This week we were not focusing on the letter T.  The kids made their famous T hats and spend a lot of time working on first sound fluency.  We started progress monitoring last week and I still have some (half?) kiddos who aren’t getting it at all.  My approach to this is to use picture sorts.  I LOVE picture sorts.  Hello, my name is Greg and I have a problem.  I think they’re fun and engaging and based on data from previous years, they work.  At least in my class with my students.  If you disagree, please don’t throw things.  Unless it’s birthday cake or gifts.  It is my birthday after all.

We also worked on our position words.  I am always happy when my students understand why we do what we do.  They really understand the importance of position words.  And it to put it into the brilliance of a kindergartner:  “We are learning position words so we can find our stuff!”  If they only knew how true that was as you get older.  Now, where did I put that drink?!  We read Rosie’s Walk and made a super cute craftivity to go with the story (I think my new title should be:  Mr. Greg King of the Craftivity and Picture Sort!).  When I asked the kids if they read the book, they said yes and it was about Rosie going over and under stuff!  Love those kids!  We also did a Smart Board activity which I followed up with pre-test.  I was very impressed with how well we did with this skill.  After a pre-test and our assessment on Friday, we can move on!