The First Days

When I taught in California (and when I was a student as well), school began when it was proper, a couple of days after Labor Day.  You know, when summer was actually coming to a close.  Here in Arizona?  We start in the middle of summer.  It's crazy I tell you.  Pure crazy.  To make matters worse, this is a week of record heat, 113 to 117 degrees.  Frankly, anything over 110 is just miserable.  Especially now, because we are still in monsoon season and the humidity is up making it feel even hotter.  If we could just stay in my cozy air conditioned classroom all day without leaving it might not be so bad.  However, we have to leave, to walk outside, all the way across campus, a few times a day.  Fire drill tour?  Yup.  To specials?  Yup.  To lunch?  Yup.  After school parent pick up duty?  Yup.  And really, it's more than just turning into a sweaty puddle of a mess several times a day.  The heat just sucks the energy and life right out of you.  OK, I'm done now. 

We are three days into school now, and things are going really, really, super well.  I have a fairly large class, 31 students.  I ended last year with 24 so this is a little bit of an adjustment.  Every little thing takes forever long to do because my students need to be trained how to do everything if anything is going to be automatic later.  We haven't gotten into much curriculum yet as we've been focusing on rules, procedures, and community building with just dabbles of actual work.  My little friends need to be eased in to work too, just like the teachers.

This week is also a little crazy because I have meetings every afternoon this week.  It really cuts down on planning time in the afternoon.  I haven't been able to carve out a large chunk of time to really focus and figure out our new Common Core standards.  That part is a little, ok a lot, stressful.  Makes me feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm trying to give myself some grace, and time, to get everything figured out and up and running.  The level of pure exhaustion that comes along with this time of year is truly amazing.  Teachers will totally get this.  We've had some time over summer to let down our guard and only do one or two or three things at a time.  Now?  Completely different!  In the classroom so many things are being juggled at one time, plus you are working things through in the back of your mind, and trying to keep one step ahead of where you are.  The mental and physical juggling is like nothing else.  It also takes a toll.  Combine it with the heat, and it's the perfect storm.

I'm thinking it would be a great idea if the first week of school were all early release days, with no meetings aloud.  Sounds like pure heaven.

All Systems Go for the First Day

After nearly two weeks of preparation in my classroom, I'm finally ready for the first day of school.  My classroom is organized and inviting (at least I think so), though by no means "finished".  I need my new friends for that.  Their creativity and critical thinking will fill in all of the blank spaces in the room, and that is the really exciting part.

I spent a couple of hours on Saturday doing the final clean up and preparation of plans and materials for the week.  Here's how my room looked when I was finally ready to leave:

There you have it!  All set for my new little friends to walk in the door.  I'm sure it'll never be this clean again, but that's ok.  A lot of work will be happening in the room over the next 180 school days.  Wish me luck as I attempt to get my new students to think and grow more than they think possible.

Meet the Teacher Night

My last district in California didn't have a Meet the Teacher Night, and I must say, it has become one of my favorite traditions in Arizona.  That says a lot, because not too many Arizona things have become my favorite.

I love the night!  It's just an hour and a half, but it is so much fun to meet my incoming students and their families.  The kids are so excited, though some are a little nervous.  I especially love when my new students are from previous families that I've had.  I've found that the night really sets the tone for the year.

Let me show you the goodies I have for my families this year . . .

The first lovely item I have is a package of microwave popcorn with a tag that says, "Welcome, Thank you for popping in!"  I totally stole borrowed this idea from Pinterest.  Next, I have a brochure from our entire grade level sharing with families how we work together and some of our routines and policies.  I also have my business card magnet for each family.  It includes my phone, school email, and school webpage.  I made the business cards at Vista Print last year, then just stuck them on business card sized magnets.  Finally, I have bookmarks for my new friends reminding them to bring in one of their favorite books on the first day of school.

Now you know why I just can't wait!  To those of you hosting Meet the Teacher Night, I hope you have a wonderful turn out.  To those of you attending Meet the Teacher Night, I hope you fall in love with your child's new teacher.  And to my fellow teachers, leave me a comment telling me something special that you like to do for Meet the Teacher Night.

And So a New Year Begins

I know, completely crazy, a New Year beginning in July!  Yup, here in Arizona our school year starts crazy early.  Our kids return to school on August 6th.  As a Mentor Teacher my report date is July 27th.  This means that I'm spending my last days of summer freedom preparing my room for the coming school year.  And I'm in good company, as most teachers I know follow the same ritual.

Last year I switched grade levels and therefore classrooms.  Everything was so rushed that I simply couldn't handle setting everything up exactly as I wanted.  This year I'm staying put, so I have more time for set up and don't need to worry about putting away and organizing.  Go me!  I was also lucky enough to have the district paint my room this summer.  I'd inherited a really gross, pukey green color and hated it every day.

Yesterday when I walked in this is what welcomed me:

As you can see, I had my work cut out for me.  Those bookshelves are all full of books.  And super heavy.  The file cabinet too.  And guess what?  Where they are in the pictures?  That's not where I wanted them.  Ever.  Yesterday I moved all that furniture around.  It took forever, and every bit of strength I had.  I also rewired and connected all of my electronics . . . . laptop, document camera, printer, SmartBoard, and projector, and made sure it was all working properly.  Today I worked on bulletin board backings and borders and some organizing and lots of planning where to put things.   As any teacher can tell you, the amount of thought that goes into each decision is amazing. 

This year I've decided to have a camping theme in my classroom.  I'm really excited as it is starting to unfold.  I think my students are really going to enjoy this.  I've also done a lot of reading and have lots of new things to try this year, some of which are quite radical for me.  I'll be back at it tomorrow, and I'll be sure to take pictures to share of my progress.