Borrowed Ideas

What a busy week! The Work Days that occur before a new year begins are always my favorite. I get so excited about setting up my classroom, adding new routines and procedures, and preparing for my new little ones. We were fortunate enough to have 6 Work Days this year. And the best part was that our principal allowed us to use almost ALL of that time in our own classrooms. From my previous experience at other schools, that is almost unheard of!

After our full-day staff meeting on Monday, we were able to spend all of Tuesday working in our classrooms. I was very productive on this day. My goal was to get as much done on Tuesday as I possibly could, to make the rest of the week a little easier. Of course I had a handy to-do list ready to go. Before going into work, I spent time going through all of my school-related Pinterest boards to figure out which new decorations, activities, and procedures I wanted to implement this year. This gave me an idea of what I would need to spend my time doing that day. So, here are some cute ideas that I found from others:

First - this idea is coming from First Grade Blue Skies. Obviously, data is really important! Sometimes it can be hard to manage the ability level of 20+ different children. This Question of the Day is a great way to keep up with which skills each student has (or has not) mastered. If you click on the link above, you can read about the way Mrs. White uses this in her room. I really love the Yes/No boards she created to record the data, but I just didn't have the room for that in my classroom. I also knew that I would need to create some of my own questions, since hers are designed for kindergarten. So, I adapted this idea to meet the needs of my classroom. I have posted the Questions outside of my room. This is the first thing the students will do when they arrive in the morning. Then, they will place their number (each child is given a number in my classroom - we use them in lots of different ways) into the correct category on my desk.

I knew that I was also going to be changing up the way I do math this year. Last year I established a great way of teaching a new lesson, allowing students to do independent work, and then sending them to centers. This worked well, except I didn't have a good grasp on the 'centers' part. I did a lot of research on this, and pinned a lot of ideas. One of the best ones I found was at Simply Skilled in Second. I used this blog, along with some other ideas, to create my own system. This is what I came up with! I will select which station the students go to - - based on their needs. Each week, there will be a list of what their options are, under the station I have selected. 

This next idea, from Mrs. Jones's Class, is so cute! My students really struggled with writing last year. Some had a difficult time with writing neatly, while others smashed words together all year long. This Writing Goals anchor chart will be really helpful!

Lessons with Laughter is one of my favs. She has so many great ideas on organization, which I LOVE! I did spend a lot of time organizing and labeling this year, but the idea I got from this blog is display in her heading. That cute little Pizza Pan labeled "Homework" gave me a great idea. Some of my students neglected homework quite often last year. At this age, it is hard to place too much responsibility on them, but I do want to teach them that it is important to practice skills outside of the classroom. I created my own Pizza Pan homework board this year. The students will place their number on the pan if they did their homework. These students will then get to move their clip up on our color chart. 

It was fun to add some new things to my classroom, and I am grateful that other teachers are so kind to share their ideas! I felt pretty accomplished when I walked out on Tuesday. Oh, and did I mention that my sweet husband met me for lunch! He knows that I get so excited about my classroom that sometimes I forget to stop for food breaks, hehe.

After a productive day on Tuesday, we returned on Wednesday for some RTI training. This was actually super informative. I have a good idea of what I need to do with my BOY data to make sure I service my class appropriately. The second half of the day was spent cleaning up my classroom and meeting with my team. For the first time, our school has decided to do universal screening (BOY testing) BEOFRE the school year actually starts. We invited all of our parents in (by appointment) to fill out paperwork, while the teachers assessed the students. This was scheduled for Thursday, so we had some last minute details to plan and organize. I stayed a little late on Wednesday to finalize my Week 1 lesson plans and organize all of the worksheets and handouts into files. When Thursday finally arrived, we were all ready to meet the new 1st graders. Unfortunately, I only had about 8 students from my class who were able to come in. I was hoping for more, but every little bit helps. With all teachers on deck, we were able to assess a LOT of students that day. This will make it a lot easier for all of us to get our BOY assessments out of the way quickly during week one. It will also allow us to start off the year knowing a little bit more about our students' needs.

Friday was an optional day, which means the building was calm and quiet. Because my room was pretty much set up and ready to go, and I was already prepared for my first week of teaching, I used the day to put on all of the final touches. I stuffed my Monday folders, put up a few more posters, placed name tags on desks, added the students' numbers to just about everything, and watch some videos that the county requires. It was a nice, relaxing day. My love even surprised me during lunch time with a big ol' sweet tea. I walked out of my school on Friday feeling prepared for a new school year. I am really excited for the challenges and new experiences. But, for now, I will continue my Saturday on the couch!