Everything I learned, I learned with Kindergarten...

By Anonymous -
This week is Spring Break for my school system. Before my thoughts get too far away from school and toward a honey-do list and fishing, I shall discuss my first true teaching experience with Kindergartners.  

 As a former high school teacher for 16 years, I have no preparation for Kindergarten. But, as an instructional technology resource teacher, I am assigned several different schools including Moneta Elementary in Moneta VA about once a week, every week. And, I have to be honest, I could've avoided Kindergarten if I wanted to. Fortunately for me, I met Mrs. Haywood early in the year and we hit it off. 

Due to the willingness to have me in her classroom, Mrs. Terri Haywood and I have formed a wonderful team the one day per week I get to interact with her students. Due to her openness, I have had the pleasure of getting to know her class of Kindergartners this year like I have no other. We have created "This week with Mrs. Haywood" weekly videos of the students modeling the latest curriculum, She posts them on Facebook and the parental feedback has been phenomenal. 
During stations, we have introduced mini BreakouEdu lessons, QR codes that lead to activities, Nearpod and Quizlet. 

 Our latest endeavor included making Flipgrid videos of Word families. Each student created a grid of one word family. We then played the list of 20+ videos during snack time. The children responded to each others Flipgrid with applause. I have never experienced anything quite like it. I'm not saying I'm going out to get my elementary certification - Are you crazy?! But, I am feeling pretty proud. It confirms that I am in the right field and that children - no matter what age - are the reason I'm still in it. Thanks, Mrs. Haywood and all kindergarten teachers out there willing to infuse & introduce technology to our future! 



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