DONORS CHOOSE

Last year I was introduced to the website of DonorsChoose.org.  Teachers can request items for their classrooms, and people (known and unknown!) will donate!  It's an incredible resource for teachers!  Last year my students were blessed with an iPod Touch with case, listening center with headphones, and a set of K-1 Math Centers.  This fall, my new class not only can use those items, but they also have access to my 2 year subscription to Raz-Kids.com, courtesy of the fantastic donors at DonorsChoose.  It's a truly wonderful Reading website.  Each student has their own log-in, and reads books at their assigned level.  They take quizzes on each book, and I am notified if there is a problem (such as  "______ failed the last 6 inferencing questions", very good information to know!)  The students love Raz-Kids because they accumulate points to spend for their virtual room (Raz Rocket).  I love watching their growth and seeing their excitement over Reading!

     This week I found out that KIA Motors is matching gifts at DonorsChoose, so I went ahead and requested Math Slams for my classroom.  They are an electronic flashcard game.  My students have to memorize their Math Facts (First grade had addition, Second grade reviews addition and then moves to subtraction).  Memorizing Math facts has long been a boring activity for my students, and flashcards are soon lost.  I hope this will help them master their facts quickly!  I know they will have a fun time learning them this way!

FINALLY AND MATH

Finally I found a desk configuration that meets my needs!  My first graders are in their groups of 5, and my second graders are in rows surrounding them.  Now everyone can see the board, and there is plenty of classroom space left over for the various centers!

Today I also received a great gift!  I have not received my First Grade Math consumable worksheets as of yet.  I had the first 2 units left over from last year, which came in very handy!  Unit 3 starts on Monday and I do not have the new materials yet.  However, I was given 3 boxes of partial worksheet sets left over from previous years (yay!), though not in any order (boo!).  I simply haven't found the time to organize those boxes.  Well, today, the District Math Specialist came by and asked if I needed any help.  I asked her, "How much time do you have?"  he-he!  She very graciously offered to help.  I only asked her to find Units 3 and 4 to get me by, but she went ahead and put everything in order!  Everything!  I was so thankful that I gave her a hug!  She saved me countless hours of work!  Talk about a great gift!

Hubby is coming by the classroom next week to organize my 2nd grade leveled readers.  6 boxes of books out of order.  That will be a great gift too!  :)

DESKS/COPY TIP

This week I rearranged my desks several times for different reasons- a new first grade student, first grade district Math assessment on one day, second grade district Math assessment on another day.  I didn't think much about it until a teacher friend stopped in and laughed about how every time she visits, the desks are different!  I still haven't found the "best" way to arrange my desks, to keep grade levels together, but apart from each other.... but I feel confident that first grade is finally perfect:

(well, almost perfect in the picture- the desks on the left have since been moved to be straight!)

  Second grade is farther from the board, and now that their testing is complete, they need to be moved into new groups on Monday, while still having a clear view of the board.  I had them in one large group before, but some students were too far from the board, which made Math more difficult.  I have two ideas to try out, so hopefully one of those will work and we won't need to keep moving!  (picture coming next week!)

On a random note, I discovered a new trick to keep myself sane with the two grade levels of copies!  I now write a small "1" or "2" or "all" in a corner of the original.  This way, once my copies are made, I don't need to waste time trying to remember what copy was for which grade!

SUB PLANS

Can a sub take on a dual grade class?  Sure!  I made THREE plans in case I am out!

PLAN A:

     I never leave for the day until the next day's work pile is 100% ready to go.  I had a college professor instill in me that you never know what's going to happen- you could get into a car accident on the way to work, or get sick during the night.  Always be prepared!  So, if I am out one day, the sub will do my Plan A sub lessons.  Basically just doing the work piled up on my desk, with detailed instructions on how to follow the schedule the best they can.  Hopefully by the time I need a sub, my students will really know the routines and can help the sub follow the plan.

PLAN B:

     If I have to be out a second day, I would be unable to make my wonderfully organized pile of work for a second day's absence.  So I created Plan B Sub lessons!  Instead of the regular reading lessons, there are instructions under the reading block to "Choose a book activity from the Sub Tub to do whole group", same message for all the subjects.  In my "Sub Tub", I will leave many different activities (almost all based around a children's book) for the sub to be able to pick up and use. 

PLAN C:

     Several times during the year, my district faces sub shortages and my class will have to be split up among the other first and second grade teachers if I am sick.  In my Plan C section of the Sub Tub, I will leave enough class copies of work for the students to do during the day (some of them will be sent into SPANISH SPEAKING classrooms, so they really must have their own work to do as they cannot participate much in those classrooms).  This is a great time for color, cut, and glue activities.  There is also a note to have the students take their Reading Books with them so they can continue to improve with the current story. 

Planning for subs takes extra work, but the smoother the day for the subs, the better the day for the students!