Mystery Readers

One of my favorite things to do to end the year is start Mystery Readers!  Long story short: family members sign up to read to the class and no one can know who it is, especially the child of the mystery reader.  In mid April, I send out a sign up sheet with one mystery reader per day.  If parents need flexible hours, I try and be very accomodating with their times.  It is a huge success and the kids absolutely love it!  Helpful hints:

• Send an email reminder the day before with directions/reminders. 
• If you have a window on the door, put a sign on the door reminding the mystery reader to knock and don't look in the window. (Some surprises have been spoiled by my little spies).
• Ask parents to sign up with the book title ahead of time.  Unfortunately, there are "controversial" books that could cause problems, or some parents sign up with books that are way too long for the time block (i.e Yertle the Turtle).
• Some of my colleagues encourage parents to do a craft or bring a treat that goes along with the book.  I don't do that, but they have success with it.
• Have the child introduce their mystery reader to the class and show the reader to his/her seat. At the end, the child can call on kids to share their favorite part, and of course the child and the Mystery Reader share their favorite parts.
• Take a photo and send it to the Mystery Reader.  I have seen many of my photos show up on parents' social media pages.  It is a special memory.

Happy Reading!!!

All things Class Dojo

For years I was told, "Try Class Dojo!" But I didn't do it and I wish I did the first time I heard about it.

I love Dojo for two main reasons:

1. It is motivating for kids and so fun for them.  

2. It is an amazing parent communication tool.

What do I do with Dojo in my kindergarten class?

Kids get points for all sorts of things like working hard, kindness, and initiative.  Every Friday they can shop at the Dojo Store or save their points. (My Dojo store menu is below).  My Dojo store changes throughout the year to keep it exciting!  For example, I might grab a box of popsicles then add them to the store as a "flash sale." 

I do the Dojo store for my morning meeting activity.  Toward the end of the year, my students see how many points they have and determine what they can buy.  Awesome for number sense.

I DO take points away because I think it's important to be transparent with parents: it's not always positive in class.  I do this in private.  I add a note to it when possible, but not always.

I use random Dojo ALL THE TIME.  It is a great management tool. If you aren't familiar with it, it picks a kid at random.  If that kid is on task, ready, etc, I give them a point. I pick my student of the week with random Dojo.

I assign groups through the group maker.  Takes ten seconds.  You can pick how many kids per group and it automatically assigns them.

There are tons of other resources, but those are what I primarily use. 

How do I use it with parents?

I post a ton of pictures and videos on Dojo. It is easy and not time consuming at all. Parents love seeing glimpses into their child's classroom.  It builds stronger teacher-parent relationships.

I post a weekly parent video (I try to keep it under three minutes) with important things for parents. I pick very important topics or things that are easier to explain on a video.  Parents are very receptive to this and I get really positive feedback. For example, ahead of conferences I sent home their conference forms.  My video went over what each item was so I don't have to spend time at conferences explaining it, thus having more time to talk about the child specifically or the parent concerns. 

I print point reports periodically for parents to see how their child is doing with behavior.  This can also be a huge help to your school's MTSS/RtI process.