Math: Valentine's Day Edition

Hello there!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I don't know your students, but my students love holidays, any holidays. Once they find out a holiday celebration is approaching, everything revolves around it!

I've created this fun, engaging, and hands-on math product to practice basic preschool, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten math skills.

With all the mini-erasers running around social media and most of the classrooms everywhere, this math product is perfect for it, as well with other holiday-related small manipulatives. 

These are just a few suggested ideas to use as manipulatives. 

10 great math skills to practice.      

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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Classroom Organization: Students' Portfolios

Hello there!

This is week#3 of the 2017 Classroom Organization Challenge Series. Once again, I've joined  Tami at Teaching and Learning with Preschoolers and Kate at Fun in ECSE in the students' portfolio organization challenge.

Teachers spend tons of resources, money, and time putting portfolios together, either for assessments or for end-of-year present for students. Students' portfolio are done in a variety of ways. Binders, folders, boxes, clipboards, and my favorite is........electronic!

I've been using Learning Genie electronic portfolio for several years now and I absolutely love it! I save photos as assessment evidence, those same photos are uploaded into the album feature and this is what you get! The best part, it's FREE, for classrooms of 30 students or less. Amazing!

Having all of your portfolio contents in an electronic form, gives teachers the freedom to work from anywhere. Everything you need for your students would be at your fingertips. Each student has an electronic file the can be access from anywhere. You would be able to upload, and label your collected data easily.

I also use this portfolio assessment. It allows you to track progress and development, three times per year.

This assessment can be done electronically or printed and share with parents during conferences. Click on the picture for more information.

Keep learning!

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January Readings

January Readings

Hello there!

New Year, New Plans! I’d like to introduce you to our curriculum. Our bilingual PreK curriculum is divided into 8 thematic units. These 8 thematic units help us, teachers, to be able to assess our students in multiple areas. Each unit focuses on specific weekly themes for our children to learn, play, and explore.

Each month, I will bring you our monthly readings. Please note, we read these books multiple times and each time is focuses on a specific topic, with a specific purpose. Although these are our main readings, we also supplement our thematic unit with other books.

This month, we will be mostly assessing students on Language and Literacy area. Which is very easy to do when you use Learning Genie to collect your students’ data and grade their developmental level on these specific areas.

In the math area, we will be assessing students on different areas such as rote counting, one-to-one correspondent, mathematical operations, and classification by specific characteristics.

My favorite book to teach this month is 10 Black Dots. There’s so much you can do with this book. I intend to do math operations using 10 black dots, as well, classification by varied sizes, and creative art activities based on what your imagination can do with 10 black dots.

Question for you: What can you do with 10 Black Dots?

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Classroom Organization: Computer

Hello there!

This is week#2 of the 2017 Classroom Organization Challenge Series. I've joined the wonderful Tami at Teaching and Learning with Preschoolers and Kate at Fun in ECSE in the computer organization challenge.

It wasn't until a few years ago I learned you can physically organize your computer desktop....and it has been a blessing!

I was able to create a desktop template in which I can physically create areas to house my many, many folders. It has been so much easier to find things and it's visually more appealing.

You can grab this FREE desktop organizer by clicking the picture.

Well, now the desktop has been taken care of. Now it's time to tackle a larger beast...my clipart folders! Although I own a small fortune of clipart, borders and digital papers, TpT products, and fonts......I can never find anything and always end up downloading it again from TpT.

Recently, I can across this wonderful product that has saved my sanity. The talented Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd created an organizer for all of your TpT purchases.

I simply added a preview of the product along with a code I created which the actual product is renamed under (in specific folders), and now I know where every product is. I have everything in a binder, accessible and ready for my next creation!

Did you know I own 50+ alphabet activities and over one hundred sets of digital paper?!?! I didn't either! 

Share with us how you organize your computer and your e-files.

Keep learning!

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ABCmouse News

Hello there!

Hope you're having a wonderful 3-day weekend! 

PreK partner has been working with great partners, but I'm elated to announce we're kicking off the new year with the wonderful partnership of ABCmouse.com. 
I can't wait to see what else the 2017 has in store for this little blog!

Just like PreK Partner, ABCmouse has great news to share with you....they just launched 2nd grade!

ABCmouse offers an expert-designed curriculum with more than 8,500 standards-based learning activities covering preschool – and now, 2nd! The best part about the curriculum is that is used by millions of children, embraced by parents, teachers, and librarians everywhere.
Also, ABCmouse is always free for teachers. Did you know that?!? I use the website in my classroom on a daily basis and my kiddos can't get enough of it.

I have a second grader myself and I can't wait to have her enjoy ABCMouse...again!

Click HERE to sign up for your 30 days free!

Keep learning,

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Classroom Organization: Teacher's Desk

Hello there!

I'm very excited to bring you today a the 2017 Classroom Organization Challenge Series. I've joined the wonderful Tami at Teaching and Learning with Preschoolers and Kate at Fun in ECSE in our first Teacher Desk Organization.

Teachers are notorious knows for being "pack rats" and save every little thing they can put their hands on - always for future use - even though we don't have a plan yet for it.....please note the word "yet". We will have a plan, eventually!

Our teacher's desk is not exempt of our planet-saving mission, right?! Well, my desk is strategically located by the classroom's main door, therefore that's the first thing you see when entering my classroom. I must keep it somewhat organized throughout the day.

I'd like to share some tips to keep your teacher's desk or workspace organized.

I just love baskets and color-coded containers! This is the one that has keep me sane throughout the school year. Every time a parent hands me something and I can't file or put away immediately I put it in a designated basket. Also with mail, notes, and other important things to be sent home with the students. At the end of the day, I sort through it and empty it for the next day.

Like I mentioned before, preferable I like to act immediately, whenever possible! Each piece f paper of other item that comes to you, deal with it as soon as you can. This will minimized clutter on your desk.

This is how my desk looks like on any given day. Tons of paper, kids' work, 

flowers they pick and give me, and some other random things. Not my proudest moment :/

Have systems in place (I just sounded like my boss!), but it truly helps! Everything has a home. Teach your students this concept as well, it will begin to develop a sense of organization and pride in everything they do.

One thing I do to really help me stay organized, is to wipe-clean my desk at the end of each day. It gives me a sense of organization and ready to take the day when I arrive the next morning.

This is at the end of the school day!

Clean desk and empty basket....the perfect way to start my day!

Keep learning!

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