It Takes a Village

I know you've heard me say it before but I have to say it again - I love my job!  There is nothing better than seeing bright-eyed eager learners that love coming to school walk into your classroom.  And of course - the hugs!  But I have a confession to make, I don't do my job by myself.  From time to time you may hear your son or daughter mention some of these individuals and I thought you might like to know who the unsung heroes are.  After all it takes a village to teach a Kindergartner.

First and foremost there is Miss Topp.  She is my right hand gal.  She works with many of the boys and girls in the classroom.  We work very closely together planning out learning activities that help boys and girls learn in their best way. Miss Topp is in our classroom all day everyday.

 Miss Angie is the occupational therapist.  She comes to our school twice a month from the Educational Service Unit.  She is there to give me advice on how to strenghten fine motor skills for our kiddos.  She gives me ideas for activities to strengthen muscles to help with better gripping their pencils  or crossing the mid-line.  There is also Miss Kim, our Speech and Language pathologist, also coming to us from the ESU.  She helps me out with the boys and girls who are having troubles with some of their sounds and gives me ideas and activities we can do in the classroom to help them speak more clearly.  She is at our school twice a week.

Now there are my "other" little helpers.  There are many who are not physically present in our classroom but share their talents via the Internet or DVD or CD.  First there is Miss Heidi, a Kindergarten teacher who has developed a series of movement based videos put to music to help young children learn basic skills.  We have been doing our Alphabet Actions along with Miss Heidi and her DVD.  Later in the year, we will be doing some counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's  with Miss Heidi.  Dr. Jean is also an educator and she has put a series of CD's together also using movement and music.  We have learned her Days of the Week song.  We will learn the months to the Macarena with Dr. Jean.  And of course the kids LOVE Dr. Jean's "Tooty Ta'.  Research show that children retain more information when it is learned by/through song. 

The Internet is always a great source as there are so many wonderful teachers who are willing to share their ideas with others.  From them I have implemented our B.E.E books, Brownie Points, Zero the Hero, our Birthday bags, and a few other surprises for the class.

My job is always exciting and certainly rewarding.  With all of us working together, we can help your boys and girls be the best they can be - and I want you to know - I don't do it by myself - it really does take a village.  I must say our village is pretty great!

Your child's teacher and village coordinator,
Mrs. Straight