Yellow Band: Coin, Weeks 1&2

Welcome back everyone! We've had a wonderful first few weeks in the Beehive. It's been so much fun to see all of our returning Red Banders (now in Yellow!) and welcome our newest members of the Brightworks family into the Red Band.I know this is going to sound out of character, but things have been moving super s-l-o-w. Nathan, Nicole and I have carefully and intentionally introduced routines, norms and materials in order to teach these kiddos simply how to be here at school with us. Things that I might otherwise squeeze into the first two weeks, we've spread way out. This way, we have plenty of time to practice each skill as we add them and revisit materials frequently before moving on.Over the summer, Nathan and Nicole attended a workshop on the Responsive Classroom model for social and emotional learning in elementary classrooms. I used this model in my previous school. so it's been great to work alongside them to make our classroom more cohesive in our approach to the flow of our day, how we introduce new materials, and how we handle misbehavior. We start our days with morning meeting, then move to centers. After park and lunch, each band usually reads a book together at quiet time. Then, our afternoons are choice time. Instead of moving through timed centers, Red and Yellow banders can go deeper into an activity they explored in the morning.Oh! And we went on our first field trip! Since it's the Coin arc and Daiso is only 3 blocks away, I decided I should let these lucky kiddos choose their own school supplies. I went in advance to scout out the options and prices, and decided on a budget of $6 for each kiddo to choose: 1 journal with lines, 1 journal with blank pages or grid, one pencil bag, and a pencil sharpener (if you can find it). This trip was such a blast! I would definitely do this again, why not?Finally, we finished up this week with a dance party, because why not?!