Hooray, First Day!

After much preparation and anticipation, we were so excited to have our new class of Monkeys arrive!

It was a great day in KA. We spent the morning practicing our classroom routines and jobs and greeting one another at morning meeting. We also took a tour of the Lower School and met lots of people along the way. One of our favorite activities of the day was reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and making a special "heart handprint" with paint! We also had a Hershey Kiss taste test and voted whether we liked the kisses or not. Then, we graphed the results with our name magnets. Here we are, ready to go after a fun-filled day:

And one more of our "Monkeys"...

Responsive Classroom

I have been attending the Responsive Classroom I workshop this week. It has been wonderful to have such engaging discussions with other teachers. We have been sharing lots of ideas, as well as discussing the importance of establishing a secure and inclusive classroom community. I am more excited than ever about the new school year! I am especially looking forward to incorporating some of the new activities I have learned during our morning meetings.

Responsive Classroom I also has me thinking about The First Six Weeks of School (Denton & Kreite, 2000). I am really looking forward to starting the year off with this approach again. Taking the time to establish routines and procedures really sets the tone for the year and makes the children feel more comfortable with their teachers and each other. I'm looking forward to getting off to a great start and greeting our new students :)

Here's the link to the Responsive Classroom website: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org