New to Kindergarten? Try This!
Are you a new kindergarten teacher, or are you a veteran teacher transitioning to kindergarten for the first time? Kindergarten is unique in the sense that you are gaining students who have never done school before. Everything is new to them! This can be overwhelming, but I have some tried and true kindergarten tips that will help you sail through your year, instead of struggle.
Visual Cues
With Kindergarten, you have the extra challenging experience of teaching routines and procedures to a group of students who can’t quite read yet. An anchor chart with rules and expectations won’t serve you well if your students can’t re-read them anytime they need a reminder! This is why I highly recommend that Kindergarten teachers rely heavily on visual cues. Add pictures to all expectation posters, job charts, transition slides, and more! The added visuals help your students ‘read’ the rules and expectations around your room, well before they can actually read words! You can read more about using visuals in Kindergarten in THIS POST.
Explicit Directions
You can not be vague with kindergarteners! If you tell a group of kindergarteners to line up, you will be met with a stampede of racing feet and tripping over chairs. If what you meant was, ‘I want table one to push in their chairs and walk to line up’, then this is exactly what you must say! There is no room for skimming the surface with kindergarteners. You must say exactly what you mean. My Transitions Tango system is a great way to keep things explicit for your students, while also keeping it fun! You can read all about that here!
Prepare to Reteach
You wouldn’t expect any of your students to master an academic skill after only having seen it once, would you? For some reason, we often feel that this is the way it should be for behavior expectations. We spend a week teaching routines and procedures at the beginning of the year. Then, we feel frustrated when it’s November and it feels like our students have forgotten everything.
The truth is…they probably have! With all grades, but specifically Kindergarten, there are certain benchmarks during the year where you need to prepare to reteach the same procedures and routines you taught in the Fall. I think it’s wise to spend some time briefly reviewing expectations after an extended break, at the beginning of each new quarter, and anytime you see one area in your room become a little chaotic.
Want to learn more?
If this list resonated with you, I am hosting a FREE virtual mini-course via email! In this course we will talk all about getting yourself a Classroom Management Reboot, which is perfect for anyone who will be new to Kindergarten in the coming school year!
In the email series we will cover common classroom struggles such as blurting out, carpet time behavior, teaching procedures so they stick, and so much more!
Plus, freebies and strategies that you can take an apply immediately to your classroom…even before the school year ends! You can sign up for that course by clicking the button below!
