Posting your rules is important.  So is keeping them clear, specific, and positive.  But remember...posting rules your kids can't even read yet is just the beginning.  Enforcing them swiftly, justly, consistently, and lovingly is another thing altogether.

1.  Know how you want your kids to behave in your classroom and train them to behave that way from Day 1 on.  Model, model, model what you expect.  And don't forget to PRAISE the behaviors that you like and quickly SQUELCH those you don't.  Letting small misbehaviors slide will only make them multiply.

2. Be consistent.  Enforce your rules.  Every day.  If the rule is to "raise your hand," make sure students raise their hands.  If the rule is to "come in quietly," make sure your students come in quietly.  Don't say those are rules but then allow kids to do the opposite.  Kids are very perceptive.  They will quickly figure out which ones you are "serious" about and which ones you aren't.  Be prepared for them to break the ones you don't follow through on!

3.  Be fair!  Don't punish one kid for talking in the hall but not another.  Don't come down harder on one kid for breaking a rule than another.  Treat all of your kids the same.  Kids respect fairness. 

4.  Don't hold a grudge!  Start each new day as if it were the first.  Let bygones be bygones, no matter how irritating the behavior of one of your students might be.  You will both feel better by wiping the slate clean!

5.  Be a good role model!  Your kids will be watching everything you do!  They'll be listening, too!  Inspire them with your words and actions.  Make them want to do better through your praise and enthusiasm.  Model calmness, forgiveness, love, and strength.  Be an adult they can look up to in all ways.

Remember, posting rules is important, but enforcing them is crucial.  Take the time to train your kids to behave the way you want them to behave by being clear, swift, just, consistent, and loving.  Your year is bound to be much more pleasant if you do so!

All the best and much success,
Katy Huller

For more tips on how to make this a great year, read Kinders Can! READ and WRITE! by Katy Huller. Available at www.KindersCanReadandWrite.com.

On my first day teaching in my very own kindergarten classroom (almost 20 years ago), I smiled at the 24 five-year-old faces looking up at me with eager, hopeful eyes.  I couldn't wait to get the year started.  It was just as I'd imagined it.  They were so cute...and sweet...and well-behaved.  Everything was going according to my plans.  Then, a late arrival came. 

Just after being dropped off in my care, the "late arrival" stood up, walked toward the bathroom, and began pulling down one carefully hung center sign after another, ripping them at will.  As we all stared in horror, she then began to take her shoes off and scream out, "My feet STINK!"  Before I could fully wrap my head around what was happening in my "perfect" classroom, she bolted for the door and began running down the hallway.

None of my teachers, friends, textbooks, or new colleagues had prepared me for this.  And there was no one around to help.  No aide.  No administrator.  NO ONE.

Unsure of whether to run after her or stay with the kids looking as upset and baffled as I was, I was forced to make a rash decision.  I hadn't planned for this little contingency.  And everyone knew it.  And because I hadn't, I pretty much lost control of my class on that very first day.  And I certainly questioned whether or not to come back for my second.

Thankfully, not every new teacher gets a kid who is brash enough to come in late, rip down signs, take her shoes off, scream strange personal statements, and make a beeline for the classroom door...all in a matter of minutes. 

But it helps to be ready for such a student.  After all, you really only get one chance to start the year out right.  Blow it, and you'll have to work extra hard to gain back the respect of your kids and return the classroom to a place of learning and order.  Trust me, I know.

While I would have preferred an easier welcome to the teaching profession, my crazy first day taught me an invaluable lesson I have NEVER forgotten -- Be PREPARED...for ANYTHING!!!!!

So here's my "first day" advice for you:

Getting kindergartners reading and writing by the end of the school year is really a very simple task -- if you teach them in a way they can easily understand and follow.  Of course, those with significant learning disabilities are bound to struggle and may take a bit longer.  But your average kids, and even your below average kids, should be able to learn to read and write in kindergarten with relative ease.  And your above average and highly gifted kids should catch on in a snap!

When I say your kids should be able to read and write by the end of kindergarten, I mean that they should be able to pick up any little trade book they want to read and begin figuring out what it says.  Think:  The Little Engine That Could, Are You My Mother, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Curious George, etc.  And they should be able to write whatever comes to mind so that others can read it.

Yes, some of your kids are bound to be more fluent when reading whatever trade book they pick up than others, but ALL of your kids (except for those with significant learning issues) should be able to figure out the words on the page and understand the message behind them.  And, yes, some of your kids will have better spelling, spacing, and punctuation habits than others, but ALL of them (except for those with significant learning issues) should be able to express themselves through words and sentences -- without having to copy words off of a word wall or ask for help to write what they want to say.  In fact, most of my kindergarten students wrote full-page stories each day for the last few months of school.  And they did so ALL BY THEMSELVES!  You can get your kids to do this on their own as well!

The key is to use your time wisely and to teach everyone what they need to know to read and write new and/or unfamiliar words.  Making them learn lists of "sight words" won't do it.  Either will having them copy sentences off the board or word wall.  Busywork won't either.  Nor will coloring sheets. Or cute t.v. programs.

Instead, you'll have to use your precious time to teach them what they really need to know -- letters, sounds, blending and segmenting techniques, phonetic "tricks," and some of the most common "outlaw" words.  And you'll need to show them how to use all this knowledge to read and write real text.  While doing so, you'll need to work on improving their background knowledge and vocabulary.  And, no doubt, you'll have to work on their comprehension skills as well.  But when done in a systematic, methodical way, you can do all this AND have fun with your kids at the same time.

You can talk with them.  Read to them.  Teach new songs and cheers to them. 

You can get them writing fun stories, and can enjoy listening to them read them aloud to you afterward.

You can create with them, make food with them, solve problems with them.

You can do science experiments and discover all sorts of new facts about the world we live in with them.

And, if you've really used your time wisely, you can send them on to their first grade teachers fully capable of reading and writing just about anything they can get their hands on or think up!  What's more, you can send them on with lots of real world knowledge and problem solving skills as well.

Interested?  Read the new, fully updated edition of Kinders Can!  READ and WRITE!   It will walk you through exactly what you need to do to get your kindergarten students reading and writing this year.  Go to www.KindersCanReadandWrite.com to get your digital copy TODAY!

Wishing you all the best and much success,
Katy Huller

www.KindersCanReadandWrite.com