The 100th Day, a No Excuses University Update

Back in July, we asked you, our readers, for donations for Trisha Glaub's Kindergarten class in Aurora, Indiana. Trisha's school participates in a program called "No Excuses University," which aims to both motivate and prepare students to attend college from the moment that they start their elementary education.

In Trisha's school, each classroom adopts a university to help create a sense of excitement about learning, college, and the future. Trisha wisely picked The University of Texas, and decided that she wanted to decorate her class with University of Texas posters, banners, and flags. Many of you sent generous donations to help this cause.

A few months ago, Trisha sent in an update from her classroom. Now she wants to check in again, and let everyone know how things are going.

Hi, Burnt Orange Nation! The future Longhorns have been so busy learning! We celebrated the 100^th day, which included the kindergarten students dressing up like they were 100 years old, making 100 day trail mix, crafts, and lots activities involving the number 100. It is hard to believe how quickly this school year is going!

Since my last update, the future Longhorns have made huge improvements in reading. The students are learning six new sight words each week and can sound out words. All of my students have started doing Accelerated Reader, a program where they check out a library book, read it independently or with an adult, and then take a comprehension test on it. They are doing such a great job! Having previously taught second and third grade, I can honestly say the progress that I see the students' making in kindergarten is nothing short of astonishing. Listening to them read is amazing and makes my job so rewarding.

March 2^nd is National Read Across America Day, in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. We read a lot of Dr. Seuss' books and completed activities to go along with his stories. My personal favorite is The Lorax, so of course, we made Lorax mustaches.

We also just received a generous donation of an iPad mini! In September, I created a project on Donors Choose (an amazing website for teachers!). It recently was funded and so now we are using it to help our math and literacy skills!

I can honestly say that this has been one of the best years of my life, for many reasons. Professionally, I am teaching at a school that I love, with wonderful coworkers, and I have the best students. I also never thought I would have the opportunity to write on this blog and to have so many people care about the students in my classroom.

So, thank you for your contributions to my class! My students are obsessed with the University of Texas.