One of the great things about our combined classroom is how easy it makes collaborations between the two classes.  Recently, kindergarten and first grade paired together to plan and execute this year's PNA Iditarod.  While kindergarten prepared for the race, first...

As we prepared for conferences this week, each student chose something of which they were proud, something at which they wanted to get better, and something at which they had already gotten better.  I refer to these as a smile and a wish when I first introduce them. ...

This week, we challenged the PNA community to articulate what they love about PNA.  I became a teacher because I value learning for learning's sake, because reading opens up entire worlds to us, because our world is full of interesting things to be explored and...

As you know, we celebrated our 100th day of school this week.  As students pretended to be 100 and shared about what they picture themselves doing at 100 years old, I was struck by a few things, the first being their sense of humor and love of fun.  ​ Students had us...

This week in math, the first graders and I embarked on a pretend expedition to Antarctica.  We encountered penguins, learning number stories about them (which included their height, weight, and the number of eggs they lay) and comparing our heights to theirs. It was a...

After seeing our students perform in front of the entire school all week, I heard many adults confess to them, "You were so brave! I couldn't do that."  We had a similar discussion in our classroom as we unpacked the school's mission statement and defined some of the...

In this classroom, we will try to learn and have fun and help others learn and have fun. First grade's school guidelines project has provided an authentic context in which to frame the necessary conversations we have had as a combined class about why we are in school...

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Richard Branson says, "Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change."  I am sure that a combined kindergarten first grade classroom midyear is not what you had envisioned for your child's school year. ...

What a delightful group of first grade students we have here! Always hard at work and curious for more knowledge. Please enjoy the shots above. 

Another great week of learning for the books!  In Bridges Math, we practiced doubling numbers and adding/subtracting on a number line.  Students were jumping by 5s and 10s on an open number line to represent the expression given.  The doubling activities allowed...