Thank you to all the readers (and lurkers) for taking the time to visit The Self-Regulated Teacher this term. We really appreciate the invaluable feedback we’ve received from so many of you, classroom parents, friends and colleagues.  Thanks to everyone for the retweets, the comments, the “likes,” and for following us on our website and twitter (@selfregteacher).

We want to give a special thank you to our own West Vancouver School Superintendent, Chris Kennedy (cultureofyes.ca @chrkennedy) for his continued support in faithfully reading our blog and retweeting many of our posts which brings traffic to our site from educators near and far.  Thank you, Chris!  We very much appreciate the time you spend in reading our stories.

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The Spring Break holiday has officially begun and we’re dreaming about blue skies and sunshine.   Looking for some good reading?

In case you missed them, here are the top five most read posts from The Self-Regulated Teacher during our second term in school.  We’re giving you the SparkNotes version.  Click on the link for the original post.

Your Kindergarten Child’s Good Health

You Kindergarten Child’s good health affects us all.  When your children are feeling healthy they are better able to self-regulate their emotions and behaviour, making it easier for them to focus on playing and learning in the classroom.  When your children are feeling sick, they find it difficult to cope at school.  As adults, we can manage a runny nose, a cough and a general feeling of malaise at work; your children cannot manage these symptoms at school.  When your children are feeling poorly, they need to stay at home with their parents, and get better.  (Full Version)

About Us

Christy and I are Kindergarten teachers in the West Vancouver School District.  We’ve been friends, colleagues and teaching partners for over 20 years.  We have both taught everything from Kindergarten up to and including Grade 4, and Learning Assistance.  We also lead full and busy lives with our husbands and families.  We each have two teenagers still in school.  We’ve been asked how we find the time to write for our website and here’s the thing:  with our kids being older and more independent, we find that we have more time to pursue our professional passions:  teaching Kindergarten children and parent education. (Full version)

Let’s Get to School on Time

One of the most important ways to be involved in your child’s education is to bring your child to school on time.  Arriving on time allows your children to be present for all the morning routines your child’s teacher has established to help set the tone for the day.

Being on time is a life skill that affects all of us, whether we’re in school or reporting for work.  It shows respect for your child’s teacher and the other students who arrive on time, ready to learn; and demonstrates to your child that you, too, value punctuality and reliability as important character traits. (Full Version)

A Typical Day in Kindergarten

Our Kindergarten day officially starts at 8:50 am.  Our students line-up to wait quietly and patiently, under parent supervision, for the teacher to open the classroom door.  Following the second bell we join the rest of school in singing “O Canada”; the daily announcements and attendance follow and then we can proceed to Activity Time, our first playtime of the day, with our friends.  (Full Version)

Digital Literacy in Kindergarten

Our Penguin Digital Literacy Projects was our first foray into technology with the Kindergarten this year.  Supported by our Grade 7 Big Buddies, we researched a variety of topics about Penguins and created a page for each one using the app “Book Creator” on the iPad.  Each lesson was introduced with a Mystery Box Inquiry and we represented our learning through our e-book creations.  (Full Version)