I teach K! National Kindergarten Teacher Conference

Start your conference experience with 'a-mews-ing tails' from the NY Times #1 Best Selling author/illustrator, Judy Schachner. Hear hair-raising and heartwarming stories about her life as an author and cat lover, including some real-life adventures of her famous cat, Skippyjon Jones. The 'purr-fect' way to start your day!

Stimulate your kindergartners' brains with creative mapping skills that will teach them how to describe, compare and contrast, sequence, and classify a variety of topics across all curricular areas. Kim demonstrates how children can also use these techniques to help them plan out their writing.

At-risk children often do not officially qualify for special programs and services—and can quickly fall behind. In this idea-packed session, you'll learn to identify at-risk factors, and explore how to spot students' strengths and encourage acceptable behavior.

Join Julie in this behind-the-scenes look at guided reading in kindergarten. You'll learn how to use a lesson planner, how to level texts, and how to get the most from tools and materials. And, you'll discover how to continuously support your emergent readers with mini-lessons, questioning strategies, and more.

Join Cristine to learn strategies that will not only help you effectively manage your classroom, but will also guide you in creating a positive environment for learning. You'll discover ten ways to boost achievement and improve behavior by building a community of 'friends learning together.'

Create math and science activities, games, and centers that engage all your students! In this hands-on session, Laureen provides samples you can use to help your kindergartners practice math and science concepts and build skills in fun new ways. Please bring scissors, markers & a glue stick.

Explore the many different tools that Google.com offers teachers, all for free! Join Google certified teacher, Kurt Schwengel, to learn how Google is much more than a search engine. You'll get hands-on experience with Google's free products and other technologies. You'll discover innovative instructional strategies. Plus, you'll gain valuable resources to share with your colleagues.

Are higher literacy standards getting you down? Join Vanessa to learn fun, interactive ways to teach literacy skills that will help your kindergartners meet the higher standards—and even go beyond. Your students will love literacy learning, and parents and administrators will be impressed by their success!

As 21st century teachers, we must prepare our children to be successful in a global society. Carlton shares strategies for fostering a learning-centered classroom climate, creating mental models, developing the whole child, teaching more about the world, helping kindergartners think outside the box, and developing strong human relations skills.

Start your kindergartners thinking outside the box right from the start. Author/illustrator Judy Schachner shares how she fires up her imagination with a suitcase full of treasures. This workshop is sure to encourage and inspire the storyteller in all of us.

See how an interactive whiteboard, electronic books, video, audio, and other technology tools can enliven standards-based instruction across the curriculum. Larry shows you how to view books via the e-book format, use audio recordings to teach learning songs, conduct developmentally appropriate whiteboard activities, and much more.

It's a snap! Put technology in the hands of your kindergartners—with digital cameras. Jeffrey explains how to teach your little ones to use them. You'll learn exciting, hands-on activities that teach math, reading, science, and social studies concepts. And, you'll discover how to easily and inexpensively acquire cameras for your students.

Children from poverty come to us from difficult and often disheartening environs. Create hope for these at-risk little ones! Join Lauralee to learn how to use the latest brain research to take these kindergartners to a place of pride and promise. Please bring scissors, markers, and a glue stick.

Virtually every child loves music. And music and rhymes are powerful hooks to long-term memory. Join Cathy and Julie to learn how to include music and songs across your curriculum. You'll discover fun, powerful ways to engage children and their brains to make learning last a lifetime. Please bring scissors, markers, and a glue stick.

Offer your kindergartners delicious ideas and activities to build sight word recognition and fluency. You'll return to your classroom with engaging word games, class books, word walls, and take home activities designed to leave your children hungry for more!

Musical talent not required! Laugh a little and learn a lot as you explore using rhythm, songs, chants, and raps for building memory, improving mood, and easing management. Let Cindy alleviate your music phobia and teach you how to create your own songs, use traditional children's music, and tap into today's popular artists to unleash the power of music in your classroom.

Boost learning in your classroom with wall stories. Julie shows you how to weave together reading, writing, and art while expanding on popular themes. You'll learn how to use wall stories to reinforce literacy skills. And, you'll make a wall story to use immediately in your classroom. Please bring scissors, markers & a glue stick.

Discover how to put the essential element of PLAY back into the kindergarten day! Join Cristine to explore new ideas for using organized play centers to foster a love of learning. You'll learn developmentally appropriate strategies, center activities, and lesson ideas for making learning fun and playful for both you and your students.

Stock up on classroom tested quick tips for differentiating! In this fast paced, idea packed session, Laureen shows you how to enrich your instruction and guide your kindergartners to success with "doable," ready to use strategies for differentiating reading, writing, and much more.

Discover a wide array of new and engaging activities to make learning the ABCs and 123s meaningful and fun. Vanessa shares creative, low-prep, hands-on ideas you can implement in your classroom now to help your students recognize and identify letters and numbers fluently.

Educators teach subject matter. EdyouCarers teach children. There is a big difference. Carlton offers effective strategies for developing positive, meaningful, and genuine relationships with children—and parents, too. Remember, children don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Today's kids are born into the technology age while many teachers are playing catch up. Join other digital immigrants in this mini-fair environment to be introduced to interactive whiteboards, classroom performance systems, Mobis, e-texts, and more. Watch an overview, ask those beginning questions, and get a grip on 21st century technology!

Many times we gather data and then wonder, "What do I do now?" Come learn how to use data to structure your small group instruction and to develop learning objectives for each student. You'll discover some terrific small group activities and some tips for utilizing school resources in your groups.

All kindergartners love music, but are they truly learning what educational songs set out to teach? Join Deby to learn how to build your own classroom jukebox—perfect for centers—that will teach and assess student knowledge through favorite songs!

Introduce your kindergartners to a variety of writing styles through exciting journals. You'll save time by integrating the curriculum with learning journals. You'll discover how easily journals can make the learning connections across the curriculum. And, you'll be incorporating learning concepts from your state standards.

Parents of children entering kindergarten in the fall welcome the opportunity to meet with teachers in a relaxed atmosphere! Discover how inviting children and parents to an evening of enjoyable literacy activities makes school less threatening, encourages parents to become involved in their child's education, and opens the doors of communication!

Discover fun, hands-on, and simple ideas to enhance your center time. Vikki shares developmentally appropriate center activities to build skills in word work, phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding and fluency. You'll take away great ideas you can put to work right away.

Get children writing from the first day of school! Learn how to set up and manage a writers' workshop for kindergartners. And gain tools, techniques, ideas, and mini-lessons for helping your beginning writers put their thoughts to paper—whatever their skill level.

Challenge your high achievers while providing engaging activities for every student in your classroom. Create centers that appeal to your visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. And, ensure that your students get crucial hands-on experience while building skills to meet standards.

Discover how to create a successful thematic unit! Kim shares thematic ideas for creating a fantastic undersea adventure for your students. You'll learn how to incorporate science, math, reading, and writing into one theme, and to generate excitement about creating everything from killer whales to miniature seahorse books.

Learn new ideas and strategies for helping your kindergarten students gain a better understanding of number concepts. In this fun session, Cristine shows you how to build your kindergartners' number sense using children's literature, music, poetry, cooperative games, and more. You can count on a good time!

Make the first thirty days fun and fruitful! Join Laureen to find out how to build student independence, encourage ownership of classroom spaces, and make the most of introductions to materials and routines. Plus, explore timesaving management tips, awesome art projects, interactive bulletin boards, and delightful children's literature that will make your first thirty days smooth and easy.

Get an exact read on the needs of your at-risk or struggling kindergartners. Come explore an assessment tool that not only scores the children's reading ability but also pinpoints their weaknesses and suggests interventions for improvement. And, discover a simple solution to maintaining a record of each student's progress.

Meeting needs can be challenging when kindergartners don't speak English. Vanessa offers tips for guiding second language learners to success. You'll discover how to build relationships with your ELL students and their parents. And, you'll take home fun, new activities that will encourage your students to start speaking now.

Teach your kindergartners skills in leadership, decision-making, and good citizenship. Carlton discusses strategies and ideas from Sean Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids and Dr. Stephen Covey's book, The Leader in Me. You'll practice these strategies using motivational speaking, role-playing, and hands-on activities.

Join the author/illustrator of the NY Times Best-Selling Skippyjon Jones series as she shares a closet full of art and a bag full of activities for kindergartners. Come learn—and share—art-related ideas and activities that will keep your kindergartners busy and happy for months to come.

Take the bully by the horns and learn how to quell the anger. Come discuss the implications of anger and bullying for education, the family, and society at large. You'll examine the effects of anger on self-concept and self-esteem. You'll take part in experiential activities. And, you'll learn strategies and techniques for dealing with anger and bullying.

Extend and enhance your reading and math centers with storytelling! Peggy shows you how to use props, puppets, illustrations, and more to boost your students' comprehension and interpretation of literature. You'll learn how to create classroom-tested, hands-on activities for both large and small group instruction, using inexpensive, everyday items.

Teaching letters and sounds to kindergartners is a slow and steady process that sometimes feels like an uphill climb. Make this adventure more meaningful and engaging by using differentiated instruction and activities. Come learn how to tailor your instruction and activities to your students' readiness, interests, learning styles, and/or multiple intelligences. Please bring scissors, markers, and a glue stick.

Start your students' reading engines! Take advantage of Cindy's classroom tested models, coaching strategies, and fun filled activities designed to energize, motivate, and inspire a lifelong love of reading. Plus, learn how to differentiate your reading instruction to help all your young readers gain the confidence they need to succeed.

Take advantage of exciting, interactive, and motivating ideas for building phonemic awareness skills. Kim shares her treasure chest of strategies including alphabet activities, phonemic awareness activities, songs, rhymes, and much more. Don't forget to bring your camera for this idea-a-minute session!

Join Cristine as she shares a hero-based thematic approach to helping kindergartners become good citizens. You'll learn how to design a meaningful curriculum for teaching basic manners and respect as kindergartners meet the heroes of their communities. And, you'll discover many great books about everyday heroes to celebrate the hero within each child.

Do you have a super idea that works with your kids every time? In this innovative session, you'll share your idea with other kindergarten teachers AND they will each share their ideas with you. Topics may include learning strategies, fun activities, time saving tips, inexpensive resources and anything else that would be helpful to a fellow kindergarten teacher. Simply bring to the session at least 20 copies of your idea and how to orchestrate it—and you'll go home with many super new ideas. Add your name and e-mail address if you'd like to network with your I teach K! colleagues after the conference.

Wish you could be in two places at once in your classroom? You can—with listening centers! In this engaging session, Kurt shows you how to set up and use your listening centers to save time and optimize learning! Come discover a wealth of easy to remember, ready to use strategies that will excite your kindergartners' ears and make learning fun.

Discover simple steps for overcoming clutter and organizing your materials. You'll learn how to manage centers using a simple, organized system. And, you'll receive a blank floor-plan template and instructions for how to create a classroom space that facilitates teacher and student success.

Discover instructional strategies for effectively meeting the learning needs of inner city African-American kindergarten boys. Carlton shares the importance of developing relationships, understanding the child's community, and motivational speaking in the classroom.

Join one of this nation's leading Singapore Math experts for a fascinating and highly interactive math session. You'll learn to use a proven, language-based approach from Singapore to teach young children math concepts and skills through illustrations and stories!

Clickers are a fail-safe way to get students excited about learning. Discover the many features of the remote clickers, from engaging games to an instant comprehension feedback tool, and more. You'll leave knowing how to engage your kindergartners while assessing and capturing data for re-teaching.

Come join in meaningful, hands-on activities that will facilitate your students' discovery of concepts and skills in science. Learn innovative games that will help expand your students' scientific knowledge. And, enjoy creating ideas of your own that you can take back and apply in your classroom.

How do you deliver the message to kindergarten children that reading is fun, challenging, exciting, and fulfilling? Find out by joining Diane to learn how to establish reading workshop, an independent reading program for kindergartners.

Research has proven the many benefits of signing with children. Come join this fun, interactive workshop on incorporating sign language into your daily routines. You'll learn signs and activities for circle time, stories, music, classroom management, and playtime. And, you'll leave with loads of tips and resources.

Integrate content knowledge, language learning, and literacy development—with thematic instruction. Kassie and Charles share their "menu" for thematic instruction. You'll learn how to create developmentally appropriate thematic units that encompass all components of an effective balanced literacy instruction.