Week Two

It got to the point where I had to email myself a reminder to reflect today. 

This is going to be quick as I am so exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open. 

1. Our staff mtgs have taken a constructivist, group work, less listening form. They are awesome. 

2. Student made the decision last week, and reinforced it today by asking for gum to chew instead of paper. (Small successes are huge)

3. Zumba zumba zumba = oh my gosh, I am exhausted

4. My schedule actually seems to make time fly. 

5. I'm sill liking all kids. 

6. I'm remembering to reflect with kids about their learning and discuss positive and negatives at the end of lessons!

7. Short week!

8. This awesome hot weather we've been having. 

9. I remembered to reflect. 

10. I'm going to sleep well tonight!

Classroom Digs

The front entrance & only entrance in. 

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. 

Last space. Calendar, outcomes and exit slips!

New Students!

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.