Friday, December 28, 2012
Teacher-Appropriate Work Wear: Maurice's
So Maurice's may not be the first store you think of when looking for pieces for your work wardrobe, but it's definitely worth a look. The pieces there can be fairly affordable as far as work wear goes, and they carry extended sizes. The clothes are good quality, and they have a lot of separates that can be mixed and matched.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Teacher-Appropriate Work Wear: Old Navy
Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to wear to work (it is for me too, because I don't have a lot of clothes, particularly work-appropriate ones). To help us all out (and help curb my shopping cravings), I'm going to spotlight outfits made from pieces from a different store each week.
This week I'm featuring my favorite store to buy clothes at -- Old Navy!
This week I'm featuring my favorite store to buy clothes at -- Old Navy!
Monday, December 10, 2012
It's Been Awhile
So I realize it's been almost three months since I've updated. Yikes.
Please know that neglecting this blog was never my intention; I've been involved in a lot of other projects (NaNoWriMo, trying to start a blogging network, starting a fitness blog with my bestie) in the past few months.
There is one thing, however, that has happened that actually has an effect on this blog: I (kind of) got a promotion!
I'm still in my old classroom on Monday mornings (with just M and N), but Tuesday-Thursday mornings, I am in the Preschool I classroom (which is M and N's main classroom), and Monday-Thursday afternoons, I am in the Pre-K class (4 and 5-year-olds).
All the classes except Play Time (my original class) have co-teachers. One of the co-teachers in the Preschool I classroom was offered a higher-paying job closer to home (at her son's school, nonetheless), and she decided to take it; the director offered me her vacant position, and I accepted. The Preschool I class is for 2-3 year olds, and is offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, with the option to send children two or three days of the week. We currently have 11 students: three Americans (2 girls, 1 boy -- N from Mondays), three Chinese girls, four Korean boys, and a Japanese girl (M from Mondays). We can have up to 12 children, and next semester, we will be gaining another American boy. One of our Chinese girls, D, will be going back to China next semester for Spring Festival, so O, who is in Play Time Tuesday-Thursday, will be taking her spot.
Adjusting to having a co-teacher was a lot easier than I expected to be. There's always an extra pair of eyes and hands and we switch off lead teaching every two weeks so we get a bit of a break. I love my co-teacher; she's kind and she's pretty hilarious, so that made the transition a lot easier than I expected it to.
Around the same time that I switched classrooms, the director asked me to help out in the afternoon Pre-K class as well. It's a lot smaller than the morning class (9 kids vs 17), but there are some special needs in the afternoon class. There were originally six kids, including two kids from a set of triplets, and a week or two before I started, the third triplet started as well. Two of the triplets have Autism Spectrum Disorder and celiac disease, and require some extra attention. When two more children joined the class, the director figured a second set of eyes and ears would be beneficial, so now I get to spend my afternoons in Pre-K :) I really enjoy it, because it's the age group I used to teach.
Here are some pictures of my new classroom (the Preschool I room). The theme is adventure/exploring.
P.S. Here's what I've been doing in Play Time the last couple of weeks :)
Please know that neglecting this blog was never my intention; I've been involved in a lot of other projects (NaNoWriMo, trying to start a blogging network, starting a fitness blog with my bestie) in the past few months.
There is one thing, however, that has happened that actually has an effect on this blog: I (kind of) got a promotion!
I'm still in my old classroom on Monday mornings (with just M and N), but Tuesday-Thursday mornings, I am in the Preschool I classroom (which is M and N's main classroom), and Monday-Thursday afternoons, I am in the Pre-K class (4 and 5-year-olds).
All the classes except Play Time (my original class) have co-teachers. One of the co-teachers in the Preschool I classroom was offered a higher-paying job closer to home (at her son's school, nonetheless), and she decided to take it; the director offered me her vacant position, and I accepted. The Preschool I class is for 2-3 year olds, and is offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, with the option to send children two or three days of the week. We currently have 11 students: three Americans (2 girls, 1 boy -- N from Mondays), three Chinese girls, four Korean boys, and a Japanese girl (M from Mondays). We can have up to 12 children, and next semester, we will be gaining another American boy. One of our Chinese girls, D, will be going back to China next semester for Spring Festival, so O, who is in Play Time Tuesday-Thursday, will be taking her spot.
Adjusting to having a co-teacher was a lot easier than I expected to be. There's always an extra pair of eyes and hands and we switch off lead teaching every two weeks so we get a bit of a break. I love my co-teacher; she's kind and she's pretty hilarious, so that made the transition a lot easier than I expected it to.
Around the same time that I switched classrooms, the director asked me to help out in the afternoon Pre-K class as well. It's a lot smaller than the morning class (9 kids vs 17), but there are some special needs in the afternoon class. There were originally six kids, including two kids from a set of triplets, and a week or two before I started, the third triplet started as well. Two of the triplets have Autism Spectrum Disorder and celiac disease, and require some extra attention. When two more children joined the class, the director figured a second set of eyes and ears would be beneficial, so now I get to spend my afternoons in Pre-K :) I really enjoy it, because it's the age group I used to teach.
Here are some pictures of my new classroom (the Preschool I room). The theme is adventure/exploring.
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| view from the door |
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| our teacher corner...all our supplies and files are here |
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| the north wall -- the cabinets have puzzles and games that all classes share |
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| tables. we have two of them. |
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| dramatic play area |
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| sensory table (and some awesome artwork!) |
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| cubbies (and my stuff) |
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| Christmas tree with ornaments the kids made |
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| each child has his/her own "picture"... |
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| ...which indicates where they sit on the rug! |
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| books :) |
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| calendar |
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| color jars |
P.S. Here's what I've been doing in Play Time the last couple of weeks :)
Monday, September 17, 2012
Spray Art
This week, our theme is Apples.
I'm always trying to come up with art projects my little ones can work do, because as fun as fingerpainting is, it gets boring if that's all you do.
This week, I decided we'd try some spray art, and it went really well.
I put some Colorations Liquid Watercolor in red, green, yellow, and pink (some apples are kind of pink -- like my favorite, Pink Lady apples -- and I have four Monday kids, and I wanted them to be able to each have a different color to encourage sharing) that I diluted with a little water (but just a little!) to make it go farther.
I put a paper towel on a tray for each child, and let them share colors to create multicolored works of art. They did have a little trouble figuring out how to use the trigger at first, but they caught on pretty quickly). The plan is to cut them out in apple shapes for a display. The colors blend together in a fun way, and they really did end up looking like some of the pinker apples!
All in all, I highly recommend this type of art for toddlers. Not only is it fun, but they get a sense of accomplishment when they spray by themselves (not to mention it's an EXCELLENT fine motor exercise!). They didn't want to stop for our outside time!
I'm always trying to come up with art projects my little ones can work do, because as fun as fingerpainting is, it gets boring if that's all you do.
This week, I decided we'd try some spray art, and it went really well.
I put some Colorations Liquid Watercolor in red, green, yellow, and pink (some apples are kind of pink -- like my favorite, Pink Lady apples -- and I have four Monday kids, and I wanted them to be able to each have a different color to encourage sharing) that I diluted with a little water (but just a little!) to make it go farther.
I put a paper towel on a tray for each child, and let them share colors to create multicolored works of art. They did have a little trouble figuring out how to use the trigger at first, but they caught on pretty quickly). The plan is to cut them out in apple shapes for a display. The colors blend together in a fun way, and they really did end up looking like some of the pinker apples!
All in all, I highly recommend this type of art for toddlers. Not only is it fun, but they get a sense of accomplishment when they spray by themselves (not to mention it's an EXCELLENT fine motor exercise!). They didn't want to stop for our outside time!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
So Here's What Happened on the First Day of Preschool
Today was the first day of class at my school. Overall, it went pretty well, but there were definitely some things that could have been better.
Today I had three children: a little girl, G, and two little boys, D and J, neither of whom understand much English.
G was great today. Her mom had mentioned that she has sharing issues (her older brothers spoil her rotten), and I saw a little bit of that today when she tried to take the green chalk from J; that was the only problem she really had today. She and J played very nicely throughout a lot of the day; the colored on the chalk easel together and played in the playhouse together when G was done swinging. She was very helpful; she picked up things the boys dropped and followed directions very well.
J had a pretty good day. He cried at first, but calmed down before his mom left. He and G played very nicely throughout the day (as I mentioned in the previous paragraph). He fell when we were getting ready to go outside, so I ended up carrying him to the playground (he would sit down in a fit of tears if I tried to get him to walk). He also wouldn't walk back in after we were done playing, but that was because he was having too much fun playing and didn't want to go in! He was very attentive when I read a book during snack, but he really did NOT want his diaper changed. At all. We have one of those wall changing tables like they have in stores, and I had to strap him in because he was flailing so much. So much, in fact, that he wiggled out at one point and I had to tighten the straps once I got him back in. Other than that, he had a really good day.
Today was D's first time away from his parents or grandparents ever, so considering that (and the fact that we speak different languages), he did fairly well. He jumped right into playing as soon as he got there, but about twenty minutes later, I guess he realized his family was gone, because he started WAILING. He didn't stop until we went outside (almost an hour later). He kept trying to get me to open the door so he could leave. I felt terrible that I couldn't comfort him better than I did, but I did the best I could. He was great on the playground though; he really enjoyed the swings, then went down the slide a few times. He did a super job walking back inside too. He didn't want to eat or drink anything during snack time, but he did sit there quietly while I read a couple of books (Oh, David! and Oops!, both by David Shannon). He also didn't want his diaper changed, though he didn't fight me. He ended up eating his snack when his family came, which was fine, and he told me goodbye when he left, which I'm taking as a good sign for tomorrow :)
On a much more embarrassing note, my skirt fell down today when D's family was waiting on the director. It was a bit too big, so I had tucked it into my leggings to help keep it up (I had a long shirt on, so nobody noticed). When I was cleaning up the sippy cups, it just fell. Awkward, right? Thankfully, I don't think they noticed; D's grandma was reading a book with him, and his dad and grandpa were talking. Luckily I was right by the bathroom, so I just popped in and fixed it, but it was definitely embarrassing.
I'm hoping for a great day tomorrow!
Today I had three children: a little girl, G, and two little boys, D and J, neither of whom understand much English.
G was great today. Her mom had mentioned that she has sharing issues (her older brothers spoil her rotten), and I saw a little bit of that today when she tried to take the green chalk from J; that was the only problem she really had today. She and J played very nicely throughout a lot of the day; the colored on the chalk easel together and played in the playhouse together when G was done swinging. She was very helpful; she picked up things the boys dropped and followed directions very well.
J had a pretty good day. He cried at first, but calmed down before his mom left. He and G played very nicely throughout the day (as I mentioned in the previous paragraph). He fell when we were getting ready to go outside, so I ended up carrying him to the playground (he would sit down in a fit of tears if I tried to get him to walk). He also wouldn't walk back in after we were done playing, but that was because he was having too much fun playing and didn't want to go in! He was very attentive when I read a book during snack, but he really did NOT want his diaper changed. At all. We have one of those wall changing tables like they have in stores, and I had to strap him in because he was flailing so much. So much, in fact, that he wiggled out at one point and I had to tighten the straps once I got him back in. Other than that, he had a really good day.
Today was D's first time away from his parents or grandparents ever, so considering that (and the fact that we speak different languages), he did fairly well. He jumped right into playing as soon as he got there, but about twenty minutes later, I guess he realized his family was gone, because he started WAILING. He didn't stop until we went outside (almost an hour later). He kept trying to get me to open the door so he could leave. I felt terrible that I couldn't comfort him better than I did, but I did the best I could. He was great on the playground though; he really enjoyed the swings, then went down the slide a few times. He did a super job walking back inside too. He didn't want to eat or drink anything during snack time, but he did sit there quietly while I read a couple of books (Oh, David! and Oops!, both by David Shannon). He also didn't want his diaper changed, though he didn't fight me. He ended up eating his snack when his family came, which was fine, and he told me goodbye when he left, which I'm taking as a good sign for tomorrow :)
On a much more embarrassing note, my skirt fell down today when D's family was waiting on the director. It was a bit too big, so I had tucked it into my leggings to help keep it up (I had a long shirt on, so nobody noticed). When I was cleaning up the sippy cups, it just fell. Awkward, right? Thankfully, I don't think they noticed; D's grandma was reading a book with him, and his dad and grandpa were talking. Luckily I was right by the bathroom, so I just popped in and fixed it, but it was definitely embarrassing.
I'm hoping for a great day tomorrow!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Classroom Sneak Peek
I really should have taken more pictures of my classroom some time over the past couple of days, because my room has been finished and decorated for Parent Orientation Night and Visitation Day, but I forgot to. Instead of showing you a bunch of half-finished pictures, I will show you one I took the other day of the first thing I completed in the classroom.
All of our classrooms are supposed to have a theme. The Pre-K class is owls (and puzzles), the Preschool II class is the ocean, and the Preschool I class is Adventuring/Exploring (pirates and the like). I wanted to do something cool, but a little unexpected. Last year, the teacher in my room did a jungle theme (So. Many. Monkeys.), but that's not really my style (I'm really not into monkeys). I decided to go with a space theme; it's cool, it's educational, and it doesn't automatically scream preschool (not that that's a bad thing).
I didn't want to go overboard with decorating, because I like to let the kids' artwork make up most of the decoration, but I wanted to use lots of stars. Not only do they look cool (a star is my favorite shape), but it reinforces the idea of a star as a shape for my group of mostly two-year-olds.
So anyway, here are some of my stars :)
All of our classrooms are supposed to have a theme. The Pre-K class is owls (and puzzles), the Preschool II class is the ocean, and the Preschool I class is Adventuring/Exploring (pirates and the like). I wanted to do something cool, but a little unexpected. Last year, the teacher in my room did a jungle theme (So. Many. Monkeys.), but that's not really my style (I'm really not into monkeys). I decided to go with a space theme; it's cool, it's educational, and it doesn't automatically scream preschool (not that that's a bad thing).
I didn't want to go overboard with decorating, because I like to let the kids' artwork make up most of the decoration, but I wanted to use lots of stars. Not only do they look cool (a star is my favorite shape), but it reinforces the idea of a star as a shape for my group of mostly two-year-olds.
So anyway, here are some of my stars :)
Monday, August 27, 2012
Sometimes You Just Need To Improvise
My classroom doesn't have a bulletin board, inside or in the hall. In order to have the kind of displays I want, I have to make them myself. Unfortunately, we were out of black bulletin board paper, so I had to improvise.
My first bulletin board is on a piece of black posterboard.
Now I realize this won't work for everyone (I lucked out because I only have a handful of kids), but it really works well in a pinch.
Since there was no cork to staple anything to, everything had to be attached with sticky tack and tape (as a result, it's not as awesome as I'd like, but it gets the job done).
I think my favorite part is the shiny holographic letters :)
How do you improvise in the classroom?
My first bulletin board is on a piece of black posterboard.
Now I realize this won't work for everyone (I lucked out because I only have a handful of kids), but it really works well in a pinch.
Since there was no cork to staple anything to, everything had to be attached with sticky tack and tape (as a result, it's not as awesome as I'd like, but it gets the job done).
I think my favorite part is the shiny holographic letters :)
How do you improvise in the classroom?
Friday, August 24, 2012
Any ESL Suggestions?
Several of the kids who attend our school are the children of local university students, and quite a few of them are immigrants here on student visas. Two-thirds of my class are non-native English speakers. I have two Korean boys, a Chinese girl and Japanese girl (yes, I only have six kids, but that's up from last week, when I only had five enrolled!). I know a few basic Japanese words (greetings, numbers, and the like), but I don't know any Korean or Chinese. I think since my kids are younger (they'll all be two on the first day except my youngest, who will be two in November), it might be easier than i they were older, but I'm still a little overwhelmed trying to overcome the language barrier.
For those of you who have experience with ESL students, do you have any tips?
For those of you who have experience with ESL students, do you have any tips?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
School is Now in Session
Welcome to Pre-K Prep School!
My name is Alex. I teach a mixed-age class (mostly toddlers) at an academic ministry preschool. This is my first teaching job in a couple of years.
I began my early childhood education career in 2008. I had just left college in the middle of my second year, and was feeling a little lost. My aunt is the Head Start teacher in the town I lived in, so I decided to volunteer to help with their circus day. I had so much fun that I came back every single day for the rest of the school year (and was even honored at the county Head Start banquet).
After the school year ended, I set off in search of my first full-time job, hoping to get on at a preschool or daycare. I got a job a month or so later at a faith-based daycare and preschool in my hometown; it was part-time at first, and I was mainly a floater to help out the two teachers (at the time, there was only a 3-year-old class and a 4-and-5 year old class). That fall, we added a two-year-old class, and after the teacher left on her lunch break and never came back, I was put in charge of the class until a replacement teacher could be hired. A couple of months later, a teacher was hired, and I was moved to be the assistant in the 4-and-5s room (though it ended up being more of a co-teacher/lead teacher role -- that position really helped me understand the responsibility and work needed to run a classroom).
I continued on in this role until summer, when I left. I had several weeks I would need off that summer (I went on a mission trip to Haiti and spent three weeks as a church camp counselor), and I couldn't get that much time off. I don't regret my decision; I grew so much that summer and learned so much about myself. When I returned at the beginning of August, I searched for another teaching job, but had difficulty. I humbly asked my former boss for my job back, and she was kind enough to give it to me. On my first day back, she told me the lead teacher had called that morning to say she was quitting; I was now the lead teacher. From August to July, I taught the 4 & 5-year-old class and absolutely loved it. I had amazing kids, great coworkers, and a lot of ideas.
I spent July and August 2010 supervising the school-aged kids, because I was moving at the end of August. I spent the time leading up to my move trying to find a teaching job in my new city to no avail. I continued to look after the move, but still had no luck.
My husband and I started trying for a baby in spring 2011 (which is when we got married as well). We never expected to have fertility issues. After I had a hysterical pregnancy that fall, it became unbearable for me to be around kids, even my own nieces and nephews, so I stopped looking for a teaching job. At that time, I wasn't sure I would even want to teach again.
Over time, I've been slowly healing emotionally. A couple of months ago, I decided I was ready to try to get back into teaching, so I started looking for openings. I was blessed to find a position pretty quickly, and that's what brings us to the present. I started on Monday (TB tests, staff meetings, and classroom prep), and the rest of this week (and most of next week) will be all about classroom prep, before Parent Orientation Night and Visitation Day next week. Our first day of classes is September 4th.
I hope to eventually return to school and get my Early Childhood Education degree.
I decided to begin this blog to help share my ideas and connect with other teachers. I also didn't want to clog up my personal blog, Good Girl Gone Wife, with a bunch of school-related stuff. With some encouragement from my readers, I decided to go for it.
I picked the name Pre-K Prep School for a couple of reasons. First of all, I'm in love with the preppy color pallette (which is pretty recognizable, if you're a Good Girl Gone Wife reader!), which I fell in love with on prep style staple Lilly Pulitzer's website awhile ago. Secondly, I'm mostly teaching toddlers (who aren't quite old enough for Pre-K, obviously), so I'm prepping them for Pre-K (get it? Wocka wocka). I know the blog is fairly...simple...now, but as it grows there will be more features.
So there you have it. I'm excited to begin this blog journey with you!
My name is Alex. I teach a mixed-age class (mostly toddlers) at an academic ministry preschool. This is my first teaching job in a couple of years.
I began my early childhood education career in 2008. I had just left college in the middle of my second year, and was feeling a little lost. My aunt is the Head Start teacher in the town I lived in, so I decided to volunteer to help with their circus day. I had so much fun that I came back every single day for the rest of the school year (and was even honored at the county Head Start banquet).
After the school year ended, I set off in search of my first full-time job, hoping to get on at a preschool or daycare. I got a job a month or so later at a faith-based daycare and preschool in my hometown; it was part-time at first, and I was mainly a floater to help out the two teachers (at the time, there was only a 3-year-old class and a 4-and-5 year old class). That fall, we added a two-year-old class, and after the teacher left on her lunch break and never came back, I was put in charge of the class until a replacement teacher could be hired. A couple of months later, a teacher was hired, and I was moved to be the assistant in the 4-and-5s room (though it ended up being more of a co-teacher/lead teacher role -- that position really helped me understand the responsibility and work needed to run a classroom).
I continued on in this role until summer, when I left. I had several weeks I would need off that summer (I went on a mission trip to Haiti and spent three weeks as a church camp counselor), and I couldn't get that much time off. I don't regret my decision; I grew so much that summer and learned so much about myself. When I returned at the beginning of August, I searched for another teaching job, but had difficulty. I humbly asked my former boss for my job back, and she was kind enough to give it to me. On my first day back, she told me the lead teacher had called that morning to say she was quitting; I was now the lead teacher. From August to July, I taught the 4 & 5-year-old class and absolutely loved it. I had amazing kids, great coworkers, and a lot of ideas.
I spent July and August 2010 supervising the school-aged kids, because I was moving at the end of August. I spent the time leading up to my move trying to find a teaching job in my new city to no avail. I continued to look after the move, but still had no luck.
My husband and I started trying for a baby in spring 2011 (which is when we got married as well). We never expected to have fertility issues. After I had a hysterical pregnancy that fall, it became unbearable for me to be around kids, even my own nieces and nephews, so I stopped looking for a teaching job. At that time, I wasn't sure I would even want to teach again.
Over time, I've been slowly healing emotionally. A couple of months ago, I decided I was ready to try to get back into teaching, so I started looking for openings. I was blessed to find a position pretty quickly, and that's what brings us to the present. I started on Monday (TB tests, staff meetings, and classroom prep), and the rest of this week (and most of next week) will be all about classroom prep, before Parent Orientation Night and Visitation Day next week. Our first day of classes is September 4th.
I hope to eventually return to school and get my Early Childhood Education degree.
I decided to begin this blog to help share my ideas and connect with other teachers. I also didn't want to clog up my personal blog, Good Girl Gone Wife, with a bunch of school-related stuff. With some encouragement from my readers, I decided to go for it.
I picked the name Pre-K Prep School for a couple of reasons. First of all, I'm in love with the preppy color pallette (which is pretty recognizable, if you're a Good Girl Gone Wife reader!), which I fell in love with on prep style staple Lilly Pulitzer's website awhile ago. Secondly, I'm mostly teaching toddlers (who aren't quite old enough for Pre-K, obviously), so I'm prepping them for Pre-K (get it? Wocka wocka). I know the blog is fairly...simple...now, but as it grows there will be more features.
So there you have it. I'm excited to begin this blog journey with you!
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