This is a distressing time of year. Officially, we don't have to go back to work. But we all know that teachers really only leave work behind for the summer for a short time.
I went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on all the things I could think of that I needed. Black material, to cover bulletin boards. A new stapler. Plastic folders in green, orange and purple for our B.E.E. folders. More money pouches for B.E.E. folders. File folders. Composition notebooks for poetry. Cute paper, envelopes and labels to send out a welcome letter to my students and their parents. Shopping for school is fun. It makes me feel like a kid again, checking off my list of "school supplies".
Then, since my girls were playing at a friend's house, I decided to go work on my room for a bit. I walked in, dumped the pile of new stuff on a table, and looked around. I nearly hyperventilated. I had forgotten how hard it is to decide what goes where. So much furniture. So little space. So many good ideas that want to come to life.
After a half hour of shuffling things around, I gave up on that and started working on the built-ins behind my desk, which were full of crap I didn't know what to do with last year. After getting frustrated with that, I started cleaning out a cabinet, also full of random crap -- not just from last year but also inherited from the previous teacher. I cleared and organized three shelves, but I didn't want to put anything back on them! I just wanted them to look nice and clear, unburdened by things I don't know what to do with. But eventually I'm going to have to make some decisions about the pile I pulled out of there.
Then, because I can't focus when I'm overwhelmed, I started covering a couple of bulletin boards in my room with fabric. I stuck the bee border up around it, and it looks very finished. I'm glad that I have that one little success to look at.
I have my CAFE menu ready to be laminated and put up. That will be the next thing I get done, as it will help remind me of what my ultimate goal is this year.
And now I need to finish packing for Las Vegas; I am going with my mom and sister for my mom's birthday. I am hoping I can leave my thoughts about school behind.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Get by with some help from my friends
Thank god for the Beatles and lyrics that make such great, if not cliche and overused, headings for blogs. I would also like to send a shout out to Sonny and Cher (United we stand, divided we fall) and salute Stevie Wonder (Ebony and Ivory, go together in perfect harmony...err, that one doesn't fit).
The point is, it is through talking to other teachers, albeit ones that are always striving for, finding and practicing the best teaching they can, that we are able to catch, hold down and commit to our ideas about how we want things to go in our classrooms. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a friend from Augsburg, my Alma Mater. (It's so cool to say "my Alma Mater", because I never really ever thought I'd get a degree; I'd more or less given up on it in my 20's.) Sorry, tangent. I met with a friend that I went through the education program together with. She is also all growed up, with a family and a different career behind her, and spent the last year teaching for the first time. She was bumped this summer from third to first, a harrowing and terrifying tale of budgets and cutbacks and pinkslips for all probationary teachers, but a tale for a different day. So we spent yesterday afternoon talking about our first year, and what the next year will look like. She is all over D5 (all over like chicks on Twilight, not all over like scrunchies or banana clips) and is now reading CAFE, so I asked her about the dilemma I am having starting D5 and CAFE on the first day. We talked and talked and talked, and what my good friend Jennifer did was help me sort out the conflicting thoughts I had.
As I talked, I realized that my goals seemed different but were actually one and the same. I want to establish expectations and routines on day 1. I want to set the tone for the year. So why wouldn't I want to do that for reading? Why would I not want to establish, from day one, that reading is one of the important things we do in our room, and there are things we need to do to be successful. It doesn't mean I can't read The Kissing Hand, or Junie B. First Grader. In fact, why not double dip and actually teach something while I read?
And Jennifer had more wisdom to share. She also started Everyday Math on the first day. Yes!! It is all about establishing routines, so let's start by establishing the routines that will happen each and every day.
Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, PT friends. Thank you, Paul McCartney. I am determined to do it right this year, and I'm getting by with a little help from my friends.
The point is, it is through talking to other teachers, albeit ones that are always striving for, finding and practicing the best teaching they can, that we are able to catch, hold down and commit to our ideas about how we want things to go in our classrooms. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a friend from Augsburg, my Alma Mater. (It's so cool to say "my Alma Mater", because I never really ever thought I'd get a degree; I'd more or less given up on it in my 20's.) Sorry, tangent. I met with a friend that I went through the education program together with. She is also all growed up, with a family and a different career behind her, and spent the last year teaching for the first time. She was bumped this summer from third to first, a harrowing and terrifying tale of budgets and cutbacks and pinkslips for all probationary teachers, but a tale for a different day. So we spent yesterday afternoon talking about our first year, and what the next year will look like. She is all over D5 (all over like chicks on Twilight, not all over like scrunchies or banana clips) and is now reading CAFE, so I asked her about the dilemma I am having starting D5 and CAFE on the first day. We talked and talked and talked, and what my good friend Jennifer did was help me sort out the conflicting thoughts I had.
As I talked, I realized that my goals seemed different but were actually one and the same. I want to establish expectations and routines on day 1. I want to set the tone for the year. So why wouldn't I want to do that for reading? Why would I not want to establish, from day one, that reading is one of the important things we do in our room, and there are things we need to do to be successful. It doesn't mean I can't read The Kissing Hand, or Junie B. First Grader. In fact, why not double dip and actually teach something while I read?
And Jennifer had more wisdom to share. She also started Everyday Math on the first day. Yes!! It is all about establishing routines, so let's start by establishing the routines that will happen each and every day.
Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, PT friends. Thank you, Paul McCartney. I am determined to do it right this year, and I'm getting by with a little help from my friends.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
OCD? Who's OCD? I'm not OCD.....
It's 5:50, and I spent the day sitting in front of my laptop with D5 and CAFE spread open, along with my spiral bound calendar, a pile of post-its, 5 different colored pens, and 3 empty cans of soda. Well, at least they were empty by 4:00.
I am feeling good! I typed up my daily schedule, broken into 15 minute chunks just as my principal so thoughtfully gave to us. And then I sat there. And sat there. And sat there. The first steps are always the hardest, right?
The dilemma is this: do I jump right into the D5 and CAFE on the first day, just as the sisters do? Or do I follow a more RC method and teach the kids expectations and do explorations with crayons and scissors? Or can I accomplish laying out expectations and setting the tone for the year going the D5/CAFE route?
I'm trying my darnedest to Feel The Force, but I feel like I'm stretching my bare toes over unknown territory.
So I just did it. I mean, the hell with it. Why wouldn't jumping into D5 on the first day work? So I decided to not run scared and just plan how I really wanted to plan. And now I have re-written out the first 5 lessons I plan to teach, straight out of the books, and a nicely roughed in first two entire days.
And it only took 6 hours!!
I am feeling good! I typed up my daily schedule, broken into 15 minute chunks just as my principal so thoughtfully gave to us. And then I sat there. And sat there. And sat there. The first steps are always the hardest, right?
The dilemma is this: do I jump right into the D5 and CAFE on the first day, just as the sisters do? Or do I follow a more RC method and teach the kids expectations and do explorations with crayons and scissors? Or can I accomplish laying out expectations and setting the tone for the year going the D5/CAFE route?
I'm trying my darnedest to Feel The Force, but I feel like I'm stretching my bare toes over unknown territory.
So I just did it. I mean, the hell with it. Why wouldn't jumping into D5 on the first day work? So I decided to not run scared and just plan how I really wanted to plan. And now I have re-written out the first 5 lessons I plan to teach, straight out of the books, and a nicely roughed in first two entire days.
And it only took 6 hours!!
Flying Feet First...
instead of by the seat of my pants. And, just to give some perspective, I got very good at flying by the seat of my pants last year. It was my first year teaching.
I'm fresh out of college, but I'm not 22. I'm 36. I have a family and a fabulous dog, and had another career before staying home with my daughters when my first was born. I never finished college (in fact, I didn't even start it very well), so I thought and thought and thought about what I could do; something meaningful. I was looking for a vocation. I kept circling back to teaching, and it stuck. So I went to school and graduated in June of 2008. I got hired two weeks before school started last fall.
I love my job.
I took a few weeks off after starting summer break; a little time away from thinking about teaching, reflecting on last year and considering what needs to be done differently. But now it's July, and I am giving myself permission to plan and dream again. And I am doing so obsessively.
Without getting into too many details and overwhelming myself (and you), I am going to state one goal and a statement or two about how I'm going to get there. Here goes:
Goal:
Fully implement Daily 5 and CAFE (Google it if you don't know what it is)
How:
Start writing out lesson plans for first two weeks of school.
I figure if I have a goal and plan to get there, then I won't flounder about with doing things that aren't critical to my year. Maybe my goal should have been "Make A List And Stick To It."
I'm fresh out of college, but I'm not 22. I'm 36. I have a family and a fabulous dog, and had another career before staying home with my daughters when my first was born. I never finished college (in fact, I didn't even start it very well), so I thought and thought and thought about what I could do; something meaningful. I was looking for a vocation. I kept circling back to teaching, and it stuck. So I went to school and graduated in June of 2008. I got hired two weeks before school started last fall.
I love my job.
I took a few weeks off after starting summer break; a little time away from thinking about teaching, reflecting on last year and considering what needs to be done differently. But now it's July, and I am giving myself permission to plan and dream again. And I am doing so obsessively.
Without getting into too many details and overwhelming myself (and you), I am going to state one goal and a statement or two about how I'm going to get there. Here goes:
Goal:
Fully implement Daily 5 and CAFE (Google it if you don't know what it is)
How:
Start writing out lesson plans for first two weeks of school.
I figure if I have a goal and plan to get there, then I won't flounder about with doing things that aren't critical to my year. Maybe my goal should have been "Make A List And Stick To It."
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