I'm not sure where the month went, but it flew by! My last week of September was spent moving houses, at the doctors, out of town at a teachers conference, and purchasing a new vehicle. My poor kids are probably like - where has our teacher been and when is her brain coming back? To say I'm slightly exhausted might be the understatement of the century. I want a weekend! Ha.
Reflections in list form:
- Remembering to sing your kids happy birthday when it was on the weekend and you haven't seen them in a couple of days = best grin ever
- The kids who step up and in as leaders always need to be remembered and praised, those are the ones who will impact our world and the classroom for the better
- Sweating the small stuff isn't worth it, yes my desk is a mess. However, it is an organized mess.
- Getting in to work early actually makes me productive
- To do lists work
- Take the time to share stories about yourself, and let kids share stories. Relationships Matter & We know this.
View from slightly inside the door. Yes I have awesome and wonderful windows. I love them.
Lockers along the wall, these are the bane of my existence.
We have zero built in storage compared to our other classrooms, we are in portables.
What will hopefully be a small group table, or quiet space.
The white pieces stuck to the door will be moved to lockers for vertical space and group problem solving. While the lined piece stays where it is and is either a draft space when we get going with writing, or vertical space for math and other subjects. It is a huge magnet which is shaped like loose leaf. I use it to model organization and writing throughout the year.
The back of the classroom is for literacy. We have a in progress CAFE board along the top.
Writing VOICES, word wall, and under it will be content vocabulary words. The door eventually gets covered with prompts and cues for the writing process. 5-1 is for a anxiety/stress scale (we are big on self control and mental health in my room.) Then we have my bookshelf.
It's small! It is also more than I had last year! Books, stuffies, some pillows, I'm hoping to get awesome and make some bean bag chairs. We shall see. I have a sentsy, plant, and globe along the top. Ideally there will be more green living things (lavender) and a lamp in the future.
The posters are literary based and meaningful OR intended to support diversity and mental health.
Behind the shelf we have a listening station. We are a BYOD school, so I try and emphasize appropriate tech use whenever I can in my room. I have a single shared class computer next to the listening station.
This is my only full sized bulletin board, it is for displaying student work!
My teacher desk eats space!!!! As you can see from this photo, it honestly consumes an entire corner.
The start of it.
Middle portion
It's quite sincerely not that messy :)
The rest of the beast.
I do have storage, it is just either not functional, nor enough... I'm planning on organizing into tubs, I just haven't gotten there yet.
The students have magazine files to keep their desks slightly less full.
My small group table.
Front and centre in the room. I love reading from that school.
Yes I have a smart board, and a document camera! The wind chimes are for grabbing focus.
Today was to first day back with new students! I was totally prepared so when I walked in to parents and students already in my room. Well, I was ready to go.... And go I did.
The day FLEW by, I don't know where the time went. It was hilarious to think I was under planned with the 11 activities I had decided on doing today. When we didn't even get to finish four of them, tomorrow will be better I hope.
I have a good group of kids this year, a diverse group of learners, but they all seem awesome and keen on getting to know me and one another. They seem to be pretty funny and have a great sense of humour... I'm hoping tomorrow goes as well, and that the twenty two I had today doesn't magically grow into a bigger number.
By far the best and most unexpected part of the day was having all my old students who've now moved up to junior high come and seek me out to chat and hug. It was awesome that some interrupted my class to do so, I'm sure it planted positive seeds in my new students heads to see those relationships.
QOTD: When prompted to describe the qualities they like in a teacher one kid piped up and said, "I like them to be exciting, with a hint of mystery!" While I am not entirely sure what that might look like, I love that description for a teacher.
I feel like I might be tempted to jump into curriculum right away, but I'm going to make an effort to work through the activities I had planned... Even if they take some time, I need to remember relationships and community building are the vital supports needed for success at school.
I might have a few sweet dance moves that go along with it.
I feel bittersweet about this. I am looking forward to a new school year! I am however, entirely sad that my summer is drawing to a close. Being the first summer I've had off in years, well, I never quite realized the glory of rest and relaxation. I will miss it!!!
We start the week with a welcome breakfast - the best thing about working with the staff at this school... is our communal meals. We tend to do them fairly frequently, they tend to always be awesome. Often we have a potluck breakfast, sometimes a potluck lunch (on half days). We often do lunches out on PD days (of which we have a plethora), and we probably have a get together at very minimum once monthly. I like it, community is good, and we have fun.
So tomorrow we are to receive our class list and teaching schedule, both of which I am sure will change multiple times before the end of September actually arrives. After a get to know you, I am promised that we will get the rest of the day as 'classroom organization'. I have actually packed a lunch and have full intentions of being super productive. We shall see.
We then have two school based professional development days, which hopefully go smoothly and are semi productive. Followed by two district based professional development, and I can truthfully admit that I am registered for two sessions I am actually excited about.
As a district we are beginning to encompass the strategies and methodologies that are given in the book "Lost at School" by Ross Green. What is called collaborative problem solving "Plan B", is really about working with the kid to help them learn skills that they are missing. I love that I am lucky enough to find employment with a district that is rolling this out wide - I did an entire course based of this strategy and book in University, and it is really the productive and helpful way of strategizing and assisting children who display lagging skill sets.
Then I have part one of a three part workshop on anxiety in the classroom. I had some incredibly anxious children in my room last year, and felt incredibly unprepared to support them as they required. I am hopefully that this PD will at least build my confidence in my abilities to support them.
I am also hopeful that I am set up and prepared for when next Tuesday rolls around! Wish me luck!
I had these terrible 'used to be lime green' but had since faded to a 'puke type' color- pillows from IKEA which were years old. I was about to toss them this weekend, when I decided I could repurpose them into something much better.
So alas, I took some fabric and stitched a bit to create two new pillows for my reading nook in the classroom. My classroom is tight on space, and last year I did not have any area to read (or even a bookshelf) - it is my hope that these will get used this year!
I love the apples on the green fabric, the teacher in me bought the fabric just for the apple pattern. I won't lie. I paired the green apple fabric with a contrasting red and yellow chickadee pattern, I love how they both turned out!
I will post pictures of their home in the classroom when I get in there again.
Not as quick as a solid pillowcase, but I was using leftovers from quilting fabrics which meant thinking about how I was going to piece them together.
I have goals for the new year, they aren't so much reflective of things I want to do within the classroom, as they are more the way's for me to be within the classroom. These are area's I want to improve on, and know I can improve on.
Reflect daily, you bought yourself the Day One app to make reflection quick and easy, use it!
Treat my students with grace and kindness.
Remember to use positive reinforcement.
Praise, praise, and praise.
As much as these guys start to love sarcasm and joking, resist joining them in that temptation.
Stand at my door daily to greet them, even when the morning can take 20 minutes to settle in (from the warning bell to the start of day is about 15 minutes) - A lot of my kids make it in before that warning bell (this means I can spend 20 minutes greeting kids)... Sometimes I get distracted and leave my post. I'm going to put a stool there and enjoy my coffee as they enter. Time for chat and relationship building.
