Building Relationships, Part 1

Hi Friends!  In just 2 weeks, my students will arrive for full-time learning!  Here in Georgia, teachers will return for pre-planning in a week.

One of my passions is behavior, and building relationships is the backbone to well-behaved students.  I started bonding with my students (& their families) this past week.  I encourage everyone to just THINK about this option.

I blogged about my 2nd grade pre-conferences here.  In Kindergarten my conferences are run a little differently.  Here are my topics:

1.  I smile, shake hands, and try to warm the newbie up to having an outgoing teacher.

2.  I sit down with my new friend and the parents.  I use this time to make sure they received my school supply list (enclosed in my back-to-school letter sent the previous week).  I also discuss our class snack, sight words, etc.

3.  While the parents are filling out a survey, I do a little bit of testing using the ESGI program.

This program does require a subscription, but I highly recommend it.  Our school purchases this subscription for all the Kindergarten teachers.  If you do not have this subscription, I created a little screening packet that goes over basics upon meeting a child.  You can grab it HERE, or click on the picture:

When using the ESGI program, I do a follow-up of our May registration assessment:  upper/lowercase letter identification, counting, identifying numerals and shapes.  If a student knows all his letters, I'll ask letter sounds.  If a student masters these, I move on to sight words and then a Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment.  Two of my babies will be ready to start Guided Reading in August. =)

4.  I use this time to verify parents' email address and have them sign up for Remind.  I've said it before, "Go sign up NOW if you don't already use Remind."  I love sending blanket text reminders to all of my parents in one message.

5.  Finally, parents may tell me ANYTHING they want me to know about their child.

At this time of year, we still anticipate several more Kindergarteners to enroll.  But I did get a head start on building relationships.  I schedule the conferences in 30 min. blocks (most take 15-20 mins.), and I work on setting up my classroom in between.  I only spend a couple of days doing this, so it doesn't take a chunk out of my "off-time."

I certainly hope this will be something you consider; you will not regret it!! Happy Building!  =)