I have been able to get a few things done that I am excited about. I have my bulletin boards covered in fabric and borders. I have my calendar and jobs board up. I have my management clip chart thingy ready as well as my hand signals... the only picture I took of my progress today... sorry. Also, I do have my 'You fit right in' bulletin board things ready to be laminated and hung up.
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| p.s. this is the font I got from Laura at Will Grade for Coffee |
I know I know, I should have be a little more prepared but I think the stress has hit me and made me forget everything I know or learned!
Also, blogger question: How should I respond to comments? When I reply on the blog to a person's comment does that person get an email? Should I continue doing that or should I respond to the email I get about their comment with an email response? What is proper etiquette? I love getting comments and want to know what you all and everyone prefers! I guess I hate when I have to search to see responses so I should probably send it over email right?!?
Ugh. so many things on my mind. For now (remember its night time here!) I am watching NCIS and hoping to relax and sleep! Tomorrow is grocery and school shopping, plus laminating... Have I mentioned that you cant get things laminated at school instantly. They have to send it out so it is almost better for me to take it to a shop to get it laminated :( boo but such is life!
I really like to set up my room with the kids in groups of 4-5. It does create a bit more talking since they're so close together, but it makes my room seem SO much bigger! I use the rest of the space to make group work areas, lots of rugs and pillows and lamps. Right now it's looking like I'm going to have about 8 different group areas in my room...which is kind of crazy...I really love rugs.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've recently started doing with comments is replying not only on my blog, but also to the email that I get. That way others can see how I replied, but the original poster gets an email with my comments. Hopefully that made sense. If it didn't, let me know! :)
Laura
Will Grade for Coffee
This makes wonderful sense. Thanks so much for your advice. I'm pretty sure everyone at my school groups kids in 4-5. I'm only have 15 ish kids this year so that means few groups but we will work it out. Arranging the desks will definitely make me feel better and see all the extra space! Thanks!!
DeleteHi Brittany! Take a deep breath and breathe!!!
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest part for me is planning the first two days of school (we start on a Thursday). It's so difficult to plan activities and make sure all of the procedures are also in place. Search online or Pinterest for a procedures checklist. That definitely helps!
In my room I have an area for student mailboxes, student cubbies (where they hang back packs), a reading corner, my guided reading corner, student computer corner, a math manipulative shelf, a supplies shelf, and my personal desk area. One thing that helps me is using cute baskets to organize everything. I also label EVERYTHING. There are some really great blogs out there with super cute labels! :) Check out Lady Bugs Teacher Files
As far as responding to comments, I always hit reply... I'm not entirely sure if they get an email though. Try it with me and we'll see if it works :)
Ashley @ Fierce in Fourth
Thanks so much for your help. I have been working on my breathing skills ;) Thanks for the suggestions of locations and stations. I have been trying to go through everything to even see what I have and what I still need. I will get there though! Thanks again.
DeleteBut what sorts of areas do you have in your room? ---I have a library area which can be attached to a meeting area (last year I didn't have my library and my meeting area together), a place for community supplies (especially for those kids who don't have any), a place for all your math manipulatives, a writing area (for lined paper, construction paper, draft paper, dictionaries, thesauruses, revising pens, books to help with writing), a word wall area, sections for math, social studies, and science vocab (possible bulletin boards or they can be portable)
ReplyDeleteWhat kinds of things do I need to make sure that I have for the first day? ---A list of all your procedures (so you can begin to teach them), what class jobs you plan to have (so can you teach the students what to do and then have some of them practice it), filler activities (maybe some surveys--about you, reading interest survey, math interest survey) so you can collect supplies, a list of student names and how they're going home the first few days of school, I also like to have them do some sort of art activity (my favorite is self-portraits, so I can mount them on black paper and hang up in the room.)
Also, what sorts of things do I put on my bulletin boards for the first week? ---just put the title of the board and "coming soon" because you want those boards to fill up with student work. (I have a math board where I put up their math projects and math writing. I also have a writing board where each student gets a folder (inside the folder goes their drafts and on the outside, I hang their published piece).
I hope this helps! Good luck :o)
This is wonderful. Thanks so much Jen! I love the idea of 'coming soon' board. I also love the writing board. I have heard that my students struggle with writing so I definitely want to hit that hard this year. Guess I need to start on a writing board. Thanks again for the ideas and encouragement!
DeleteYou know, I'm sorry you're stressed but I appreciate the honesty in your post. Your writing (I assume) sounds like you talk and that definitely makes you real. :)
ReplyDeleteAreas I have in my room that I think are invaluable are my library and my community supplies. Some of my kids don't have supplies, so it's a must. My library seems to make my students readers. There are books on hand all the time and I can make personal recommendations for my students. If you're struggling with setup I would do groups of 4-5 as well. Especially if you're not going to be dealing with behavior issues.
First day things, I just posted on this because I've been stressing about it too. I have a procedures checklist that I give to the students and we go over everything together. I then give them a "scavenger hunt" handout to make sure they understand everything I explained.
Hope this helps.
haha. Thanks for your encouragement. I'm glad you appreciated this. I try to be an honest person so I'm glad that came through. I definitely like the idea of a scavenger hunt. I will have to figure out how to incorporate that! Thanks again.
DeleteOkay, so you asked about replying to comments... I never got an alert that you replied to my comment above. So I guess just clicking reply doesn't work the way you wondering. :)
ReplyDeleteAshley @ Fierce in Fourth