I started off with a session by Renee Cooley about using theme days in the classroom. She had so many fun ideas for using the novelty of theme learning to engage kids. She talked about using theme days to either kick off or wrap up a unit of study. I'm looking forward to giving a few things a try next year. One of them that i really want to try is the school-wide post office she does. I'm not sure that I can do school-wide, but I'm thinking possibly my floor.
My second session was with Brittany Banister about research with kindergarten kids. She talked about different sources kids can access for research and some project-based things she has done with her students. We worked in small groups to do a project of creating a habitat for the ducks from the story Make Way for Ducklings. I loved the idea of connecting literature and a project and will give those a try this year.
The last session I attended today was with Dr. Bill DeMeo about reaching traumatized students. Students with trauma are becoming more and more prevalent in our classrooms, and this session shared some strategies for building trust with students and reducing their stress. We talked about deep breathing. A couple activities I thought would be helpful in my classroom were blowing the biggest bubble (takes slow breathing) and practicing blowing out candles as it encourages deep breathing.
I presented on high-ability during the last session of the day. I had a great little group of attendees. Thanks for letting me share with you!
Last night was the blogger meet up. No pictures, but lots of fun and met some new people! Off to day 3 I go!
I like that idea of theme! We use that a lot in math to kick off a new unit and the kids get so into it!! But I want to know more about the post office and how you would do this! It sounds like a cool idea.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to share my notes with you. :)
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