School Handbook

I was going to call this post the teacher handbook, but immediately decided against it. A handbook is meant to serve as a guide, on how to do many important things. A boy scout handbook explains how to make a fire, catch fish with just a sewing pin, or how to survive in an alpine environment. When I was first thinking I needed a School Handbook, it was because folks were doing crazy things, things that common sense tells us you shouldn’t do. Things that made me slap my forehead and say “Really?!?” But isn’t that how handbooks and employee expectations are created and evolve? For every rule or guideline in a handbook, there is a story or event that took place that warranted the need to have that in the book.

Things to avoid when teaching

Some issues that were coming up in my first year as a principal were things that I never even thought I would need to cover. Actions or behaviors that made me wonder why someone would ever think it would be appropriate. My leadership team consisted of people who had proven themselves successful in the classroom, capable of coaching or guiding others, and were often very accomplished. On the other hand, some of my teachers, introduce themselves as “Becky and I have five years left.” For the best teachers, teaching is about growing students and making a difference. For some teachers, teaching was supposed to be an easy job with summers off and a great retirement package. Below is a list of things that made me wonder, “What on earth were they thinking?” Followed with, “I guess I never told them they could not do that.”

Giving out bags of popcorn, the last twenty minutes every single day.
Leaving the classroom unattended to go to the bathroom.
Microwaving and preparing a full on meal in the middle of instruction.
Sitting in the car, for the entire planning period, smoking cigarettes.
Taking away recess for the entire class.
- because it was hot outside.
- because a few had acted up.
- because it was a little chilly.
- because they just don’t deserve it.
- because the teacher is allergic to grass.
Sending a student back to the classroom, to use the microwave, and then it caught on fire, so they closed the door because they didn’t want anyone to know there was smoke, and luckily the fire put itself out.
Leaving campus every day to shop, and smoke cigarettes.
Scheduling repeating doctor appointments to only fall on staff meetings.
Leaving food leftovers out on the desks overnight.
Putting students out into the hallway.
She couldn’t figure out how to share a google assignment with her class so she gave them her password to log on to her account and email it to themselves. Of course one of them changed her name to Mrs. Bitch.
A student moved, so the teacher marked them as present every day since she knew they were not really absent, they had moved.
A person came by and asked for the attendance record, and we just handed it over. The person requesting did not have any guardianship or custodian ties to the child.

What I need my handbook to cover

I have been keeping notes in the back of my daily journal anytime something comes up that I know needs to go into my handbook. When I worked at a strong school, in a strong district, with high expectations for everyone, I may add just one or two things per year to a staff handbook. This year, there was no handbook. I am starting from scratch on this thing.

I first thought I wanted my handbook to be a list of don’t do this, don’t do that, covering the stuff that was giving me headaches, that was never really taught or expressed as a no-no. The more I have thought about it though, I need it to cover expectations. The handbook needs to explain how things should be done. From arrival and parking, to dismissal, and requesting time off. I could make a big list of do nots, but I’d rather have a document that outlines the correct procedures, and explains what should be happening.

My handbook needs to cover the following:

Arriving and leaving school on time including staff meeting days
Instructional expectations
Requesting time off
What needs to be provided to the office in case of an emergency
Emergency procedures
Grading procedures and expectations
Progress reports and report card expectations
Guidelines around parent teacher conferences
Learning environment checklist
Classroom management and discipline expectations
The school mission and vision
No smoking policy
Attendance and the use of our data software
Importance of school schedule and being on time

The School Handbook

My school handbook will be an ever evolving handbook of how things should be done at my school. The purpose of the book is so that expectations are clear to everyone, and as long as they are followed, students and teachers will be successful. The handbook will not be a list of no-nos or requirements, but a document of our expectations. The handbook will be used to answer questions, to guide new and old employees alike, and to be a reference for when someone does something that anyone with common sense would refrain from. The purpose is to guide my people in the correct direction, but also be used to correct problem behaviors.

Header photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

April 6, 2018April 16, 2018

Dolch Sight Word List

Have you ever sat with your child and agonized over their struggle as they attempt to sound out every word they come across?

Sight words, or high frequency words, are the words that your child should be able to recognize just from looking at. Sight words are one of the foundation skills of reading that help emergent readers to fluently read a page without having to sound out every word they come across. The lists of sight words include the most commonly found words at each reading level. By learning these words your child will be set up for success to read.

Click here for my guide on how to teach and practice sight words.

Pre-K / ECE Word List

a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you

Kindergarten Word List

all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes

1st Grade List

after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, going, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when

2nd Grade List

always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don’t, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your

3rd Grade List

about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm

April 4, 2018

Sight Words :: How to Teach

Sight Words to become a more fluent reader

Have you ever sat with your child and agonized over their struggle as they attempt to sound out every word they come across?

When do I start teaching sight words?

Your child is ready to start working on sight words around ages 4 – 5. If your child is in Kindergarten, then you should be working on sight words. Another way to tell if your child is ready to work on sight words is if they can name the lowercase letters of the alphabet.

How do I teach sight words? Your very first session.

The key to teaching sight words is only do a few at a time, for short ten minute sessions. Since this is your very first session I’ll lay everything out for you to follow in an easy script as if this were the very first time you were doing this with your child. This is a quick pace to keep your child interested and to move through three words in a short amount of time.

We are going to start working on reading words together! I am going to start by showing you a word, and then saying it, and then you are going to say it back to me. We will underline the word with our fingers each time we say it.

Ready? It’s my turn. This word is see. [underline the word with your finger] Again, see [underline the word with your finger]. Your turn, what word?

Child: See. [child should underline the word with their finger]

Yes! – I see a dog. See. [underline the word with your finger] Your turn, what word?

Child: See.

Again.

Child: See

Last time

Child: See

Now we are going to Spell the word. First we will say the word, then touch each letter as we say them, then say the word again. I underline the word with my finger when I say it.

This is my turn. See [underline]; S [tap] E [tap] E [tap] ; See [underline]

Again. See [underline]; S [tap] E [tap] E [tap] ; See [underline]

Now it’s your turn.

Child: See [underline]; S [tap] E [tap] E [tap] ; See [underline]

Yes! Do it again, get ready, go.

Child: See [underline]; S [tap] E [tap] E [tap] ; See [underline]

Yes! Last time.

Child: See [underline]; S [tap] E [tap] E [tap] ; See [underline]

Great job. You spelled the word.

Now we are going to do it again, but this time we are going to write the word after we say it. I will go first. I say the word, then I will say and write the letters with my finger in the air, and then say the word again. We underline the word with our finger each time we say it.

This is is my turn. See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

I will do it again.

See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Now it is your turn.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Yes! Again.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Yes! One more time.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Fantastic, you said the word and wrote the letters with your fingers.

Our last activity is to write it in on the table with our finger. We will sit at the table to do this activity.

This is my turn. See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

I will do it again.

See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Now it is your turn.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Yes! Again.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Yes! One more time.

Child: See [underline]; S [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] E [draw with a finger] ; See [underline]

Fantastic, you said the word and wrote the letters with your fingers.

Now you can repeat the whole process two more times. Maybe go and to?

Your future sight word sessions.

Now that you have introduced sight words it is time to get in the habit of doing sight word sessions. Again, these should take less than ten minutes total to do.

Begin by reviewing the words you have already done with your child. Show your child a card, such as go.

I am going to show you a card, I want you to say the word and underline it with your finger. Here is the word.

[show the card]

Child: Go

Yes! Again.

Child: Go

Now this one. [show a new card]

Child: See

Yes! Again.

Child: See

Now this one. [show another card]

Child: [pauses or says the incorrect word]

That word is to. What word?

Child: to

Yes, again, what word?

Child: to

Yes, to! We travel to the zoo. Again, what word?

Child: to

We will go through the learning activities for introducing the word to the child again in order to reinforce it. If there is only one word that needs to be reinforced with the whole set of activities, then absolutely introduce a new word as well. If we have to go through this process with more than one word, today is not the day to introduce additional new sight words.

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

February 26, 2018

Chutes and Ladders is Garbage – Best Games for Pre-School

Chutes and Ladders is Garbage

Back in 2015, FiveThirtyEight, wrote several articles about the worst board games and what to play instead. My son wasn’t even two yet, but I definitely took notes so I would be prepared when he was big enough to start playing games. The main point of the article was about how games based on luck are not fun and there are many better games out there to utilize strategy and skill that keep them entertaining. Some of the worst rated games on BoardGameGeek are Monopoly, Tic-Tac-Toe, Candy Land, Snakes and Ladders, War (card game), and The Game of Life.

My wife and I disagree on this, she loves candy land, but I cannot say that I have any fond memories of the game.

Best Games for Pre-School according to Data

Monopoly and The Game of Life may hold a special place in your heart, but the data says these are the games to enjoy with your 3 or 4 year old.

The Little Orchard (3)
Cartoona (3)
Richard Scarrey’s Busytown: Eye Found It! Game (3)
Loopin Louie (4)
Coconuts (4)
Animal upon Animal Balancing Bridge (4)

The above list is based just on data from BoardGameGeek. What are your thoughts on them? Leave a comment and tell me what you think of these games.

The Games We Play with our Four Year Old

Loopin’ Louie

First of all I love Loopin Louie. Anyone can win, it takes some skills and coordination, and we finish the games quickly. A motorized plane flies in circles while each player has a paddle to bounce the plane back into the air. Four people can play at a time and you are protecting your chickens from being knocked over by the plane. My boys are always left wanting to continue playing. We opted for the cheap Star Wars version called Loopin’ Chewie. It only has room for three players, and has been a great game for my four year old, myself, and even the 18 month old.

Ticket to Ride: First Journey

Ticket to Ride is one of the highest rated and beloved board games in the world. The junior version, First Journey, is a simplified version with all of the same strategies and systems. We modify it slightly to allow our four year old to play, we just leave his cards face up and help him with choosing routes. Each player gets a pair of train routes across the United States to complete and 20 colored trains to claim routes. We get to spend time counting and matching colors as we connect different cities across the US. Easy enough for non-readers to play since each city is identified by its name and a distinct picture. My son loves trains, so he especially enjoys playing this game. I especially enjoy it, since there is strategy involved and on any occasion either of us could win.

We play at the kitchen table and let the 18 month old play with the extra trains while he sits in a high chair.

Frida’s Fruit Fiesta Game

This game is fun for identifying letters and working on fine motor skills. Each player has a bingo card with 16 letters. You spin three spinners and choose which letter or activity you want to go with, and grab a letter fruit-bowl from the box using toucan squeezers. This game teaches turn-taking, fine motor skills, letter knowledge, and strategy.

Shelby’s Snack Shack Game

We enjoy this game to build up counting skills and fine motor skills. Similar to Frida’s Fruit Fiesta, you spin and then collect different numbers of bones with a puppy squeezer. Our four year old gets a lot of practice with counting and taking turns during this game. The 18 month old likes to use the squeezer to pick up bones and drop them in bowls while we play.

These are the games we play the most with our boys. With each of them we all have a fun time and I would be happy to sit down and play any of these games with him. I plan on getting Connect Four and maybe Coconuts as our next games to add to the game closet.

Heading photo by Park Troopers on Unsplash

November 27, 2017

Learn to Read :: Rhyme

Dish runs away with a spoon and cow jumps over the moon rhyme

Practice Rhyming with your Child

Learning to read is not simply about putting the written word in front of a child. The bedrock of early literacy is listening and speaking. A child that grows their vocabulary through speaking and listening is going to be set up to acquire reading and writing.

By practicing rhymes with your child, you will set them up to understand phonemic awareness and discern letter sounds audibly. The great thing about rhyming is it comes in many forms and can be done with zero preparation. Try the following activities with your child when you are on a walk, in the car, cleaning up the house, or in any situation where you want to integrate it into your daily life. Continue reading “Learn to Read :: Rhyme”

November 10, 2017

Read with your Kid!

Father reading with baby girl Read with your child

Read with your kid! No matter their age, you should read with your child.

If you don’t already read on a daily basis with your child, go read a book with them right now.

Read to be close

One of my favorite things to do as a father of two boys is to round them up and lay on the couch with them to read a book. We read all sorts of books. Silly books like Dragons Love Tacos and classic books such as anything by Dr. Seuss. If the baby isn’t in the mood to read a picture book, we grab a touch book that has different textures inside for him to feel and stay entertained. Any book will do.

I love to hold the boys and read to them. The window of time where they are happy to sit with me is fleeting. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to hold them both and share a great book. My four year old is absolutely interested in the books, while the baby just enjoys being part of the cuddle puddle. The best part of reading a book with them is that they are close to me and nothing is distracting us. This is a fantastic break from phones, television, and the chaos that is typically two boys running amok.

I know that by sitting down with my boys to read is building lasting memories. I am closer to my children because of our special time built in to read together. Often times I initiate the reading time, but few things beat out having your child come up and say “Will you read to me?”

Read to build good habits

Building a habit of reading makes for a lifetime of learning. Children and adults that read early and often have a wider vocabulary and knowledge of more things. Reading improves focus and concentration and sets your child up to be a better learner for the rest of their life. It is also a fantastic bedtime to routine that no only leads to reading more, but also puts you and your child in a more tranquil state to get a good nights rest. Sleep habits are improved by reducing time in front of an electronic screen when you are preparing your child for bed. Get rid of that iPad and YouTube bedtime ritual and replace it with reading to your child, you will both sleep better.

Read because it is the most important thing you can do to prepare them for success.

There is no secrets technique, craft, or toy that will make your child be successful in the long run. You don’t need to pinterest crafts or games to make your child smarter. Just read with them. Reading with your child is the best, the BEST, way to set your child up for success.

Read with your child every day.

May 15, 2017

Learn to Read :: Rhyming

Practice Rhyming with your Child

November 28, 2016

Learn to Read :: Letters in Name

Teach your child to write and spell their first name.

Your child’s name is extremely meaningful to them. Introduce them to letters and writing by utilizing a word they need to know and want to know, their own name.

Play with Letters

Gather up magnetic letters, bathtub letters, or letter blocks that spell out your child’s name. Show them the letters and let them play with the toy letters. Throughout play, tell them the name of each letter. By limiting the letters to only those in their name, there are fewer options to trip them up.

Write the Letters

Giving your child the opportunity to trace or draw over their name will help accelerate their ability to write common letters. In the simplest form, write your child’s name using large letters on a piece of paper. Give them a favorite color marker or crayon and have them write over the letters.

I will be posting some more fun ways to write the name soon, but until then, just get them tracing their name.

Find the Letters (Visually)

Once your child is able to say the letters in their name play some games with them. Have your child find the letters from their name on the page of a book or in a large printed word. Lay out your toy letters and have your child find the letters that make up their name. Continue reading “Learn to Read :: Letters in Name”

November 14, 2016

Learn to Read :: Set the Stage

Build the habit of reading daily

You know how important it is to read every day with your child. But are you running in to obstacles that get in the way of this joyful routine? Have you had success in the past with reading one, two, maybe three days in a row, but then real life gets in the way? In this post we will set the right goals to motivate you to read with your child daily. Next, we will create a system that will make reading daily effortless. Finally, we will make the habit stick by moving past just staying motivated.

Set the Goal

The fact that you are on this webpage right now means you are ready to start reading to your child every day from here on out.

Tip #1 – Ride the Wave

You are motivated to read with your child, that is why you are here right now. Go ahead and get your supplies in order this very moment. Right now find one book to read with your child. Maybe you need to hop over to Amazon or the bookstore, possibly your library, maybe you just need to step in to the next room. Go ahead and get that one book RIGHT NOW! If you don’t have a single book, add one to your grocery list. Maybe now is the time to text a neighbor or call the school, and ask for just one book. Get your one book now! Continue reading “Learn to Read :: Set the Stage”

June 17, 2015

Plan for your Learning Environment by the Pool

A Checklist for an Effective Classroom

Your classroom is where you and your students will spend the majority of your time. Make it the most effective use of space right from the start by planning it out using the checklist. The best designed classrooms end up saving nearly a week worth of time over the course of the year by maximizing transitions and information in the classroom.

Learning Environment Checklist

[ ] Classroom Big Goal for the Year
[ ] Interactive Word Wall visible at student level
[ ] Small Group Area
[ ] Whole Group Meeting Area
[ ] Behavior Chart
[ ] Student Refocus Spot
[ ] Daily Schedule
[ ] Daily Learning Objective Area
[ ] Number Line
[ ] College Bound Culture
[ ] Data Wall for Class and Individual
[ ] Character Traits
[ ] Student Behavior Expectations
[ ] Evidence of High Order Questions
[ ] Sentence Stems for Discussion

Learning Environment Inspirations

The photographs below come from across the web. By clicking on each picture it will take you to the website where the photograph can be found.