The Most Crucial Days Have Come and Gone

The past few days have flown by. It's been very hectic, as they always are the first few days. Getting back into the swing of things has probably taken the longest to get used to. Being off and not having much of a routine has made the last few days very tough. I've had a very hard time getting up so early! 

On Wednesday I officially started the coffee IV. This year was so different than last, I at least was more prepared and felt like I was as organized as I was going to be for the students. My homeroom is eighth graders so we got them in, took attendance, gave them their schedules and they went to their lockers. It went very smoothly, since most of them were here last year. We waited on the two homerooms with seventh graders and then took the whole Goonies team to the cafeteria to go over the rules and expectations. This is slightly different than what we did at the beginning of the year last year. I think it worked well. Students seem to understand what our expectations were and did well the rest of the day in classes. 

I started out the day with 7th graders. They're adorable and don't talk hardly at all. For now, they are definitely teacher pleasers, which I am perfectly okay with. After having two classes of 7th graders our team has our individual plan, then team plan and lunch. So we have about 2 1/2 hours of no kids in the middle of the day to get things done and prepare for the second half of our day. In the afternoon I have 8th graders. It's quite nice to have a split especially when we start doing different things and I have time to change the room around if need be. 

It's now day nine and things are in full swing. Last week we had our first full week. It was quite challenging getting to the end of the week. But, we made it and the kids had the chance to enjoy the movie "The Goonies" Friday afternoon. 

Most of the week we focused on getting into a routine and building up their writing skills. The kids seem to really like the set up of the class, warmup, writing prompt and then activity at the end. It makes the class go by a lot faster and the students seem more engaged. Our activity last week was getting them used to their Aritlce of the Week. I have non fiction reading strategies that we work through and it helps to understand the article, even if the article is harder for them to read. 

Some of the students seem to really enjoy the writing prompts. I started them half way through the year last year, but they didn't really take off the way I wanted it to. So, this year, I decided to start the year with them. I wanted them in a writing routine and I thought by using creative writing prompts the students would start to maybe enjoy writing. This will be helpful when they have to write some of the not so fun topics. 

This is a long post, as you can see I started writing it with the intention of posting the third or fourth day. Then, life happened. Hopefully I can keep up with what I'm doing in my class more frequently, like once a week. For now though, this teacher is off to bed. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of teaching and being ready for bed by 8:30. 

Another Year is About to Start

As I sit in my classroom getting ready for the for the students to arrive, I reflect on this past year. My first year as a teacher has come and gone, there are new teachers filling those shoes now. Last year was one heck of year. Many ups and downs, struggles, triumphs and firsts. I'm looking forward to all that this year has to over. 

First, I will be starting my new position as the 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts teacher and will be joining the Goonies team. It's a little overwhelming changing my brain to think for both subjects and not just 8th. My planning is going to be changed to thinking about 7th and 8th grade things. But, I know I can handle it, especially with all the support I have from people at school. 

I'm excited to get started with the two new ELA teachers that have joined our Schaefer staff. They both want to work together and I think the three of us make a good team. Being able to be on similar  pages and reading similar things will help all of the students, especially if they end up changing teams for whatever reason. Looking forward to what they bring to the table. 

This year, I'm priding myself on my organization. Or, at least my attempt at it. If I start out strong, I should keep at it, yes? Well, either way I'm already more organized than I was last year. I'm ready, let's get this thing started. Bring it on, 8:45. 

Love the over eager teacher, ready to get the ball rolling.