They teach themselves

I love Fridays! And not because it is the last day for the week but because my Friday class is smaller and they seem to play together better. All of these kids are in class together on other days, but for some reason the mix on Friday is just right. Several times the students have had the idea to move the chairs over into this section by the cubby room door, but on Friday most of them joined together.

When I asked what they were doing, several informed me that they were at the movies, so I helped them out by hanging our curtains that we use at nap time to block the light from the outside doors, over the shelves and cots to give them their screen.

I asked what movie they were watching and got several responses. Some named off their favorite Disney movie, but one of them also said Alice in Wonderland. Then 3 students decided they would act out the story for everyone. If you couldn't tell the girl in the yellow is hopping around like the white rabbit. The Mad Hatter is helping talking to Alice.

Then I said, "You know when I go to the movies I like to have a snack and soda." Quickly one of the girls jumped up and decided that she would take care of that. She went over to dramatic play and found a costume that would fit a typical movie theater soda jerk. She filled her basket with the supplies she would need to feed the hungry theater.

I was so proud and excited. I had lots of plans for the day. We are getting ready to have a class election next week so we were working on painting American flags to decorate our classroom, we also did some painting explorations that we used to make Valentine artwork, and we read the book Grace for President about a class election. My plans for the day were not as valuable as the learning experience that my students developed on their own. They worked together, they figured out how to make their ideas known to those around them, and they had fun.

This is why I love preschool!

From PC to Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

It has been a while since I have posted. I guess I haven't had anything worthwhile to write about. This post has been influenced by my wonderful sister.

I have been using a Mac computer now for 5 years. I first started using an eMac when I started teaching. Now I am lost without my (my school's) MacBook.


My little sister has made fun of me for a few years about my computer and obsession with Mac computers. After a lot of frustration with a new Dell laptop, she got her money back and purchased a MacBook Air. She asked me for some tips and things she needs to know in switching from PC to Mac.

Picture: "Macbook Air (wood background)" Renato Mitra. 4 Feb 2009. Creative Commons License

Keyboard Shortcuts
command+tab (switch between all open applications)
control+click (right click)
command+Q (quit open program)
command+C (copy)
command+X (cut)
command+V (paste)
command+P (print)
command+control+shift+4 (screen capture)
command+control+shift+4, spacebar (window capture)

I also have "Spaces" set up so that I can use command+arrows to move through the spaces

If you have any suggestions for my sister as she adjusts to Mac please make a comment

More to come