Katie Shea

 I am an early childhood education major pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Canisius College and cannot wait to start teaching!  I value music, dance, and the arts. I took dance lessons for 10 years when I was growing up.  I grew up in Springville, NY and am the middle child out of 6.

 In our classroom, students will have the opportunity to grow and learn in a safe, positive learning environment that is welcoming of diversity and uniqueness. Our classroom will be a community where students bring out the best in one another through cooperation, creativity, encouragement, and respect.  I hope that parents can be actively involved with their child’s learning. I am open for communication with parents through a note system I have provided in your child’s folder. Please check this regularly and initial any notes I write to you and I will do the same for you! I am also more than willing to talk with parents through or

1. Do your best work 2. Use walking feet 3. Use an inside voice and listen while others are talking 4. Use kind words and actions 5. Follow all directions

 We use a color chart for measuring behavior in my class. All students begin on green each day and have the option to move up to blue and then purple for extra wonderful behavior. Any color change can always be moved up as well as down throughout the day. 1. Rule Review (reminder to the whole class) 2. Brief Time Out (Change to Yellow) 3. Loss of Privilege (Change to Orange) 4. Negative Phone Call (Change to Red) 5. Office Referral

 In my classroom, I use random positive reinforcement to support encourage internal motivation in students.  Examples: o Choice from prize box at the end of the day (for students on purple) o Praise o Extra Recess o Positive phone call home o Line Leader o Stars on papers during small group work for on task students

1. Opening Activities : Each morning while I check folders and attendance, students are given a picture or passage to “wonder about” while waiting for me. When I am finished, we discuss their thoughts about it and how it relates to our day. 2. Signals for Attention : In our classroom we use: “1,2” “Eyes on you.” “3,4” “Bottoms on the floor.” “5,6” “No talking lips.” “7,8” “Looking great.” “9,10” “Let’s begin.” I also clap rhythms for the student to repeat. 3. Providing Instructions : I use written instructions as well as oral instructions. Whenever I give instructions I say, “I’m going to tell you how to ___. When I am finished Sally will repeat what I say. If Sally makes a mistake Jack will repeat it.” This way I can check for understanding. 4. Student requests for help : Students know to ask 3, then me so that I can help those who really need it. When we are working on an activity that requires a silent classroom, students have signs to put on their desks requesting help. They keep working until I can help them. 5. When students finish early: For every task there is a must do activity that is required and then several may do activities that students can choose from. If they still finish early, they may read a book. This way, students never wonder about what to do.

 Noise Control : In our classroom, we measure voice levels on a scale of 0-5. I can check to make sure students are using the right voice level by asking them to, “show me what voice you should be using.” They can then use their hands to show me a number. o 0: silence, no one talks o 1: Spy Talk-a whisper voice that only your partner can hear o 2: Low Flow-small group voice, only your group can hear you o 3: Formal Normal-a normal conversation voice o 4: Loud Crowd- the voice you use when presenting so everyone can hear o 5: Playground voice- never use this voice inside  Storing Belongings : Students have hooks for their coats and backpacks, and cubbies/bins for other items. There are also chair bags where materials are stored at their desks.

 Attendance/Lunch Count : In our classroom, we use magnets for attendance and lunch count. Each student created their own magnet person that they move to “here” each day after hanging up coats and backpacks and giving me their folders. Similarly they move their “lunch box” magnet to show me whether they are bringing or buying. If they are buying, they choose what lunch they want that day.  Important Classroom Signals : We use sign language on a daily basis in our classroom as silent signals between the student and the teacher. These signals help me to know why each student is raising his/her hand and they help to reduce interruptions in valuable discussions. We have signals for: o Bathroom (sign language letter “b”) o Important points (pointer finger) o Questions (letter “I” for I have a question) o Me Too (sign for me too in sign language)-this is helpful when a student makes a good point and other students have a similar story. They can give me a “me too” so I can acknowledge that they agree. o Comments (letter “c”) o Answers (letter “a”)

 Pencil Sharpening : Near our pencil sharpener, I keep two buckets: one for sharpened pencils and one for pencils that need to be sharpened. Students are responsible for having several (2-3) sharpened pencils ready to go every morning. Our helper of the day sharpens the pencils that need to be sharpened each afternoon.  Parent/Teacher Communication : I value my interactions with parents, but know how difficult it can be to communicate through telephone. I have set up a system in each child’s take- home folder that has a space for notes from the teacher and a space for notes from the parent. In each space, there are lines for notes and lines for initials. This way we can be sure that the other person read the note even if they do not write back. Here, I will keep every parent informed of how their child is performing in the classroom. I am also open to communication through phone or at any time!