New skill learnt! Editable PDF's

I have often been in awe of people who create editable PDF's as I had no way of knowing what or how they did it. But we live in the age of 'google' and when I don't know how to do something I can 'google' it.

I had made these cute name tags for my new grade and was asked for a copy. In an effort to always protect the clip art, background papers etc of items I have paid a license fee for I needed to learn how to make editable fields in a PDF.

After playing with a free version and then a $19.95 download of  'PDFill PDF Editor' and my set of instructions from 'google' - here they are. I guess it is like a new toy - now I am off to play with and convert some other stuff I had made.

Mail to go

We have 84 Preps who will start school in a few short weeks. One of our transition tasks is to send out 'Welcome Letters' to our new students. These are addressed to our students and even though we have met them a few times when they visited for transition visits and we saw them at Kinder as well it is nice for them to get this letter.

Each of our four teachers makes sure that they are personal and outline our 'Assessment Interview' time. We will have each new Prep one on one for an hour to do the Mathematics Online Interview as well as the English Online Interview. We get such great data from these two tools and get immediate feedback and can start differentiating our program as soon as we have completed them.

'Me and My Family Unit' is done!

I have put the finishing touches on my new unit - 'Me and My Family'. It will form the basis of my work this term and will be supplemented by Valentine's Day, Pancake Day, ANZAC Day and Easter. I think our Labour Day falls in their somewhere as well. 

I used my pen and paper brainstorm as I shared in a previous post and worked through my suggestions editing as I went. In total it is 110 pages long and contains tasks for Getting to Know You, Discovery Learning, Maths, Word Work and Writing tasks. There is a combination of Learning Centre tasks, worksheets, ideas and suggestions. Some tasks I have already done and there are photos to support this and other tasks that will be new for me as well.

A shout out!

I would like to say thanks to all the people who are visiting my blog. I am amazed by where you all come from. As you scroll down the left side of my blog to my map you will see the red dots on a world map. Make sure you become a follower as I love to see where in the world my little blog is being seen and read.

Holiday Reflections

In Australia we have a lovely long summer break that begins just before Christmas and ends around Australia Day, 26th January.

We also say goodbye to our grade before Christmas and then we have a new grade when we return in late January.

This time gives us a chance to see family, go on holidays and get ready for the new year to come. As I waited in plane terminals, sat on planes, relaxed on the Gold Coast I was able to reflect about what worked and what might need tweaking for a new start this year. I will be working with children who are 5 and 6 years of age and are in the first year of schooling in Victoria. My '2 sisters' newsletter (of Cafe Literacy and Daily 5 fame) arrived digitally and mentioned that they now suggest we teach explicitly 'read to self' and then 'work on writing'. This sits really well with me as I have always insisted that all children need to write every day. I am looking forward to setting up a new classroom space, discussing a new program and above all else working with a new group of students and their parents. 

A holiday break

Christmas Day has been and gone and New Year's Eve is approaching. I will be on holidays with extended family until the 8th January. I would like to wish everyone a very safe New Year and I will be back blogging soon.

I am looking forward to seeing family, enjoying sun, seafood and bubbles! Here's to a great 2013!

New Year's Eve Unit

This link will take you to the item.

Even though school in Australia is done for the next five and a bit weeks- I thought I would post this unit I have been working on. It has Mathematics tasks and English Tasks, 10 in all. Your students can organise numbers 0-12, as they need to be able to do this to have a sense of number before they can tell time. Make a clock and draw a clock, put times in a sequence and then match them to digital times, plus sequence them and then record what you might do on New Year's Eve. English tasks include making some resolutions, compiling a shopping list, creating an invitation and then completing a recount. Here is the cover and a sneak preview of what is in the Unit. You can access it through Teachers Notebook and TpT.

Have a great Christmas everyone and a safe New Year. I will be enjoying being with family and doing some jobs around the house that have been neglected. I can't wait to see my own kids reaction to presents on Christmas morning.

Last hurrah....

The end of 2012 for the school year is here. Today was a day for celebration, saying goodbyes and handing over our files. We did a version of speed dating with our files and met with the teachers of our current students for next year. We had the opportunity to discuss each child one by one and share evidence, where to next and likes/dislikes. This was an amazing handover process and will enable each new teacher to already be familiar with their grade.
Have a great break everyone and keep an eye on what I am working on for next year. Units on New Year, Australia Day, Start of the School Year, My Family and more.....

Almost there

We have one more day with our current grade before we say goodbye and pass them on to another teacher to work with, care for, challenge, extend and enjoy! Our job is a joy, but this time of the year is tinged with joy and sadness. We are joyful that we have travelled together and made a mark, made an impact, made an impression. We are sad about saying goodbye, sad about not being the one to make an impact anymore. But you know what-  I will always be their first Prep teacher and what an honour that has been.
Thanks to Claire, our 44 students and their parents this has been amazing 2012!

Christmas Fair

Today we had our Annual Christmas Fair. Our students make and promote their goods for sale to sell to our students and families. The weather was great and in our double teaching space we made cards and stars at 20c each. We sold all our goods and had a great time selling and buying things from other stalls.