FIRST WEEK

I survived the first week of school with my first graders!  I think the week went really well, overall!  I love my students already!  In just two years away from first grade, I had forgotten how much fun it can be!  My favorite part of the week was the Read Alouds!  I shared a few of my favorite books with the class, like Old Black Fly and Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type!  I had forgotten how much fun those books are to read aloud!

We have some challenges, but I think this is going to be a great year!  I was able to get through everyone's individual alphabet assessment, the first 25 sight word assessment, and make letter/word cards for the students who needed them to practice with at home.  I also started the Fountas and Pinnell initial word test on about 1/4 of the class.  Next week I will finish that up and start the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessments.  According to my district guidelines, beginning of the year First Graders should be reading at Level D.   If they are not, I'll need to plan some Reading interventions right away.  Since we won't start Small Group Guided Reading/Literacy Centers for a few more weeks, I have the extra time for this testing now.   It can be very time-consuming, so I am grateful for the lightened load right now!

I still don't have anything on my bulletin boards, so I'm pretty much just skipping my entire calendar routine for now.  I've thought about setting it up as best I can in various places about the room, but I feel that by the time I do all that work, my boards will be replaced.  So I'm waiting for the new boards.  The work order is in the hands of the right department now, and they will get to me when they can.  If I see visible mold/fungus on my boards again before they are exchanged, I can contact them to come out and treat the boards again until they can be replaced.  That makes it sound like it's going to be some time.... We'll see!  The joys of an old building!  At least I'll have brand new bulletin boards!  (hopefully soon!!)

In a few weeks, we're going to start Reading Buddies on Monday mornings.  My class has partnered up with a 5th grade class.  I am hoping the 5th graders will teach my students how to take A.R. tests!  That would be a great help!  I am excited!

This has been a very long, exhausting week!  I heard many, many teachers say the same thing about this week!  While I brought some work to do at home, I am planning on getting lots of down time this weekend so I am ready to roll on Monday morning!

CLASSROOM COMPLETE

It's the last Saturday before school starts and my classroom is as ready as it's going to be!  I am exhausted today, will be anxious tomorrow, and ready on Monday!  I'm looking forward to an awesome year!

This is my favorite new addition to my classroom!  The Oh-Snap Pockets by Thirty-One Gifts!  They are hung just behind my Reading table.  

My behavior management system is at the back of the room.  I have only made clothespins for the students who came to the Meet the Teacher Night.  I will make the rest quickly on Monday after all of the students arrive.  

This is the bulletin board where my calendar will go.... eventually!  All 7 of my small bulletin boards will be replaced due to mold (yes, mold!).  In the meantime, they have to stay clear.  They should be replaced any day now, and then I can finish decorating my room!

In the past, I have used these white stacking bins to stay organized by the day (Monday-Friday).  This year I am going to keep things together by subject.  We'll see how that goes.  I may change back later!

The students will be greeted with owls everywhere when they arrive!  The cup has an owl pencil, several different kinds of erasers, and a pencil sharpener.  Plus there is a little snack for later!  Our lunch is at 10:45am, so my students will need an afternoon snack on the first day of school!  Maybe next year I could figure out an owl-themed snack, but the goldfish are so cute (and tasty!)  The "You're o-FISH-ally in ____ grade!" cards can be found here.  The Owl Back to School Packet can be found here.

I have a new bin for my special Read Aloud Books!  I personalized the Your Way Junior Cube from Thirty-One Gifts.  I will keep my favorite hardback books that will be perfect for Read Alouds  in this cute cube.  I have several Laura Numeroff books (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, etc...), Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth (one of my favorite First Grade Read Aloud books!), Dr. Seuss books, and more!

My classroom has three school desktop computers and three donated laptops.  Having six computers, plus three tablets, and an iPad will give my students more individual instruction in Math and Reading.  (Please ignore the sad, empty bulletin boards and white boards.  Eventually my Reading Focus Wall and Center instructions will be on those boards once they are fixed.)

We are ready for Monday!  It's going to be a great year!  I am looking forward to this new year with my first graders!  Hope you all have a great year too!

CLASSROOM SET UP DAY 3

On Day 3 I concentrated on unpacking boxes. I'm in a classroom with very little storage, so I am going through my things and getting rid of items that I don't need. I'm also going through the things I inherited from a retired teacher and deciding what to keep.

I had to break down the boxes for the custodians to take.  I also had 5 large bags of trash!

This table is filled with plastic containers. I knew I had a lot, but I didn't realize how much I had until there was no place to store them!  On Monday I will go through the pile and keep only what I know I will use for the year, plus one tote of extras containers just in case, which I will store under a table. We always use my extra containers for Math Night, so I'll be sure to save what I think we'll need. What this also means is no more trips to Dollar Tree. It's just too tempting!  No more plastic containers! 

Things are looking neater overall. The class library is almost complete.  I'm still working on the back corner where the Reading table is located, and my desk area. (I'll spare you that mess!)

Once I get everything put away, I will get some things up on the wall!  One of my whiteboards is coming off the wall so I took a peek underneath it. There is a green chalkboard with black lines on it underneath the white boards.  Then I noticed this metal plate:

Instructions on how to take care of the chalkboard!  (Boy is my classroom old!)  I am grateful for the white boards!  

Next week starts the official Back to School schedule!  One and a half days to finish up my classroom and get ready for the first week with students, 3 days of Staff Development, and the week wraps up with District Convocation.  It will be a busy week!

CLASSROOM SET UP DAY 2

Yesterday I set up my classroom furniture.   I sat in the middle of the room to get my bearings, drew a map, set it up, thought about it overnight, and went back today feeling like it just wasn't right.  Two teacher friends stopped by to chat and I asked them what was wrong with the set up, and they helped me change some things around!

I moved my classroom Library closer to the front, and moved my Reading Table to the back.  It's buried under a pile of boxes, but it is back there! I also replaced the Dual Language rug with a very large map of the states.  There is still lots of clutter around the room to be dealt with.  I only had time to unpack 2 boxes today.  I still have a lot of work ahead of me!

When I arrived to school today, I was just in time to meet The Mold Guy.  I'm sure he has a fancy title from the district about the environment or something, but I didn't think to ask.  I was just so grateful someone came out right away!  The district will replace all of my bulletin boards.  Mold was found on 3 of them.  They will also give me an air purifier to get rid of the mold spores in the air.  I'm glad they came quickly to assess the situation.  I reminded him about school starting in just over a week, and he seemed to think it would be ready on time.  We'll see!

When I got home, I started my annual clothespin dying event!  This year I only need to dye one color.  I still have plenty of yellow clothespins left over from last year.  Aquamarine is my favorite color. (March is my birth month!)  They end up more of a turquoise color, which looks really nice!  This is a quick and easy way to add color to the classroom!  I use colored clothespins for my behavior chart, and more!

CLASSROOM SET UP DAY 1

I was able to get into my classroom today for a few hours.  My favorite part of the first day back to school is seeing all the great people!  Aside from that, I basically just moved furniture around.  I didn't unpack anything today, but still feel like I accomplished a lot!

BEFORE

AFTER a few hours

When I go back, I may still move the furniture around.  I had a vision in my head of the desks vs the poles that didn't quite work out.  I also need to work out where my centers will be: Word Work, Writing, Computer, Listening, and Reading.  Once my centers are set, I will arrange the desks a little differently.

Looking at the picture, I just realized that I laid out the wrong rug!  That one belongs to a Dual Language Classroom and the other one must be mine.  There were two rolled up and I didn't think anything of it until just now!  That's funny!  I'll be sure to swap them out the next time I'm there!

I had to stop working today after only a few hours because I discovered mold in the classroom on three bulletin boards.  The custodial staff will try to bleach them, but if that doesn't work to kill the mold, they will have to replace the bulletin boards.  I did make sure to plug in my fridge so I can bring my Diet Coke next time!

BACK TO SCHOOL?

Most people do not realize that while teachers start on a certain date, we actually have to go in earlier to prepare our classrooms.  We are usually given one day for prep during our first week back, but I use that day for lesson planning and first day/first week prep.  I really count on having a week of working in my classroom before I officially start working.  Some teachers can do it in two days, but I like to take 4-5 partial days to take my time and ease back in.  This year I really need to have extra time in my classroom because most of the teachers in my building have changed classrooms, including me.   It will take us extra time to unpack, setup, and decorate!

However, with my school being under construction and the custodial staff behind a bit, I won't have as many days as I would like to set up my classroom.  My school friends and I are trying not to get overly stressed about this, but as our start date approaches that gets harder and harder!

I have a Back to School tradition when I change classrooms.  I put one student desk in the center of the room and I sit on top of it.  I visualize my classroom and the possibilities of where everything should go.  I move around to sit on each side of the desktop.  Sometimes I play music, sometimes I just sit in silence.  It's a peaceful moment, probably the most peaceful moment of the entire school year.  Sitting in a packed up room, imagining the possibilities of the coming year, it's an exciting time!  I am looking forward to that moment in my new classroom.  I need that moment.  My new classroom has far less storage than my previous room, and it has four poles in the middle of the room from ceiling to floor.  My room used to be a computer lab, so the four poles have electrical outlets at the bottom.

I think it's important to show parents and students that you are ready for the new school year at the Meet the Teacher Night.  If the classroom is unpacked and decorated, then it's a welcoming and friendly environment.  If my room is decorated and ready, I feel like the year will start off right!

 A teacher friend suggested that if we don't have time to unpack, then we could cover the pile of boxes in the back.  Maybe I'll get a colorful plastic tablecloth (or several!) just in case.  If I don't have time to unpack everything, I can hide it!  "What's that mountain under the tablecloth?"  "Why, it's a surprise for later!"  It will be a surprise when everything's unpacked!  LOL!

I have helpers lined up to come in once we get the ok to enter the building.  My husband will put paper and border on all the bulletin boards, and he and my kids can help put my classroom library together.  I have a massive classroom library that is great for first graders!  Between my own large collection of books, I have also inherited two retiring teachers' class libraries!  I will probably have too many books (*sharp intake of breath*, too many books? Is there such a thing in a first grade classroom?)  Maybe I will share some, but I need to unpack first and see what I have!  :)

Here's hoping I can get into my classroom soon, before school starts!  :)

REMODEL COMPLETE

The Master Bathroom and Bedroom remodel is officially complete!  To look back at the "before" pictures, check out the Remodel Day 1 post!


Master Bathroom:

Master Bedroom had new paint, carpet, blinds, furniture, and fireplace!  Just need to put up the window treatments!

It turned out beautifully!!  If you're looking for a fabulous Master Carpenter in the DFW, Texas area, let me know!