Phew!

It was the first day of school for my district today.  Being in a new building with different procedures that my last school, let's just say that I learned a lot today.

When the bell rings at 7:55 in the morning, my kiddos came in to class from the cafeteria where they all wait and some eat breakfast when they arrive, to drop off their book bags.  Not realizing what was going on, I had them all have a seat and began talking with them.  After about 5 minutes I happened to look out the window and saw that the rest of the school was at recess.  My poor kiddos!  I felt so bad, but like I told them, I won't make that mistake again.

One can't say that I over plan, especially today.  Although I was where I wanted to be for math, and the reading portion of the day, what I planned for science and social studies took less time than I expected, and covered the material for the next two days!  Oh well, that works well because we've got lots to do!

One more thing I learned today, is that the shoes I've been practically living in all summer are much more comfortable than the fancy shoes I chose to wear today.  So glad I brought my comfortable pair just in case, because I needed them.

All in all, it was a great first day.  I think we're going to have a great year together!

Ready or not....

Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.  Perhaps.  We had our 2 days of workshops yesterday and today, and tomorrow is our first day with our students.  I mentioned in an earlier post how I received several responses from parents and students on my letters that I sent them.  I also got to meet two of them today.  I feel better about tomorrow.  Although I just taught 3rd graders this past year, for some reason I was imagining my 4th graders as larger students.  I'm not sure why....

On Sunday night I definitely didn't feel ready mentally for school.  The idea seemed surreal.  Yesterday, before our district workshop in another building, I went to my classroom to drop off some items.  When I left, I felt more motivated and energized for school to start.  This morning, after a couple of meetings, I was able to work in my room.  I got pretty much everything I can imagine prepared.   Now I'm sitting on my couch waiting for laundry, patiently waiting for a decent time to get to bed, and I feel that I'm ready.

However, as ready as I feel right now, I certainly was dealing with the nerves this morning and afternoon.  Yeah, let's just say that I'm really looking forward to Thursday, because the first day of school jitters will be over.

Count Down Begins!

This is my last Friday before school begins, and I haven't been to my classroom all week!  Whohoo!  I'm actually impressed with myself, because I'm usually there at least once a week, so not having been there since last Friday is really good for me.  So, I wonder what's waiting for me there...

Our first workshop day is Monday, but it's district-wide, so I won't be spending any time in my building until Tuesday.  So, my plan is to head over there early Monday morning before I need to be at the district wide workshop and just make sure everything is all set.  I have a couple of things to drop off and I probably have some parent or student letters waiting for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent out an introductory letter to my parents and a separate one for my students.  I asked parents to tell me about their child.  It gives them a chance to brag.  In all the years I've been doing this at the start of the year, I only had 1 parent who 'warned' me about how annoying, talkative, and inattentive her child was.  As sad as I felt reading it, I strongly believe it was the best thing, because it gave me an idea of what this little gal went home to, so I was able to give her the positive attention she deserved at school.

As much as I enjoy sending and receiving these letters, I usually only receive a fraction of what I sent out.  For example, this year, I sent out 12 letters and have only heard from 4 families (which includes parent and child).  Like I said, I might still have some waiting for me at school, and last year I received one more on the first day of school.  Oh well, some is better than none.

As of last Friday all of my bulletin boards were finished and my areas were set up.

This is one of my bulletin boards behind where I'm going to have our small groups.  I have a small table with some station work (math & language arts), and the expectations on anchor charts.  My classroom will be loosely based on CAFE, using some of the concepts, but I found a structure that I found worked well last year.

This is how I'm planning to approach our social studies unit.  I have a drawing of our state (I have fixed the paper since this picture was taken so it looks neater), and we're going to spend the first couple of days talking about what we know about our state.  The capital, where we live, other places that we know of (national parks and state parks), then go from there.

This is where I'm keeping track of my classroom jobs.   I've decided to forego the student of the week, at least the way I did last year, and rotate responsibilities instead.

This is my help wall.  Some of what's up there has changed, but the green and blue poster boards are still there.  There are lots of masking tape and Command Strips behind those posters, but I couldn't see undoing them, and the different colors helps divide the subjects.

This is where our calendar is located, as well as our daily schedule.  As long as I can remember to make the appropriate changes each day, I can avoid the usual questions of what do we have today.  Next to the schedule are hanging pockets where I store my concept charts that I'll display on my document camera.

Here is where I've place my classroom management chart.  This is the first time I'm trying it, so  I hope it works out well.

       I thought I had a picture of our meeting/reading area, but couldn't find one finished.  I'll add that picture later on.  Cosmetically, it looks like I'm ready.  Curriculum wise, I feel like I'm ready.  Now I have to get back into the school/teaching zone.  I spent all summer in school mode, and this week I managed to take a break from it.  I just hope I'm there on Monday when we have our first workshop.

Evolution in the Classroom

As teachers we tend to go through a constant evolution, at least many of us do.  There are still some teachers who are comfortable and set in their methods that trying out new ideas is difficult.  Perhaps it's because of the direction my teaching career has taken, going from teaching pre-teens to teaching 8 and 9-year-olds, that haven't allowed me to remain stagnant.

Yesterday I went to my classroom to do some organizing and starting talking with one of my new colleagues.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been thinking of using developmental spelling with my students.  As we talked more, bouncing ideas around as to how to manage it in the classroom and track student progress, we got on the topic of math facts.

Just like I was raised with having a list of spelling words and being expected to spell them correctly at the end of the week, I was also raised with practicing my math facts and being expected to keep up with the rest of the class.  Well, my conversation with my fellow teacher enlightened me on the idea of developmental math as well.  I left school yesterday excited about a new tool I can use to help my students increase their math facts skills at their pace, rather than expecting them to keep up with the rest of the class.

Two new tools!  I felt hopeful with the idea that my new kiddos will have an opportunity to do some aspect of math and language arts at their pace, which is the direction I really wanted to take this year.

With one week left before school begins, I feel that I'm ready.  My plans are made, my room is organized, and I think I'm organized (maybe) and ready to go.