Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thought of the Day
Waking up at 5:20 to go learn and to teach beats waking up at 6 A.M. for chemo. I am going to have to remind myself of that every morning when I am exhausted, but it ought to make it a bit easier. :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Adopt My Classroom!!
Check it out!!!
http://adoptaclassroom.org/adoption/Locator_Adopt_Donate.aspx?ClassroomID=105983&schoolID=94737'
I have already started trying to find supplies for my classroom, but I know I have SO much to purchase to create the BEST atmosphere for my students and the BEST learning opportunities for them!
Some of the top items on my list to purchase include:
-a calendar
-a weather chart
-a classroom set of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and other readers
-school supplies for my students: crayons, pencils, scissors, paper, etc.
-posters of the alphabet, numbers, shapes
-maps
-stickers
-an easel and big sheets of paper
-BIG books for read-alouds
Since I have nothing except books so far, I appreciate any help to getting my supplies!
70% of the students at my school qualify for free or reduced lunches, and they DESERVE to have a wonderful classroom filled with only the BEST in school supplies!! I know already that they are winners--I want them to walk out of my classroom ready and prepared for 2nd grade, not 1st, and I need amazing supplies to help them get there!
Please know that your donation will be put to use--the supplies are only part of the equation to a successful classroom, and I am COMMITTED to making sure I do everything I can to give them the best of EVERYTHING!!
http://adoptaclassroom.org/adoption/Locator_Adopt_Donate.aspx?ClassroomID=105983&schoolID=94737'
I have already started trying to find supplies for my classroom, but I know I have SO much to purchase to create the BEST atmosphere for my students and the BEST learning opportunities for them!
Some of the top items on my list to purchase include:
-a calendar
-a weather chart
-a classroom set of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and other readers
-school supplies for my students: crayons, pencils, scissors, paper, etc.
-posters of the alphabet, numbers, shapes
-maps
-stickers
-an easel and big sheets of paper
-BIG books for read-alouds
Since I have nothing except books so far, I appreciate any help to getting my supplies!
70% of the students at my school qualify for free or reduced lunches, and they DESERVE to have a wonderful classroom filled with only the BEST in school supplies!! I know already that they are winners--I want them to walk out of my classroom ready and prepared for 2nd grade, not 1st, and I need amazing supplies to help them get there!
Please know that your donation will be put to use--the supplies are only part of the equation to a successful classroom, and I am COMMITTED to making sure I do everything I can to give them the best of EVERYTHING!!
Exciting news from the first day of Induction!!
1. My friend Alyssa already donated $35 to help me--she adopted my classroom!
2. A Tri Delta alumna wants to send me a care package with many of the items I put on my wish list on my adopt-a-classroom page, plus a medical/first-aid kit!
3. My principal emailed me back, and I get to meet her on Thursday! She also invited me to come to the school on Friday, and she said she would give me a tour.
4. My friend Caitlin told me about a way to apply for a donation from the company she works for, JAKKS Toy Company. (www.jakks.com)
5. I am already signed up for 3 professional development trainings over the next year! My principal sent them to me, and I am already confirmed for:
-SRA Imagine It! (which is the reading/literacy program for my district I think)
-Rick Smith’s Conscious Classroom Management
-Doug Fisher’s Better Learning Through Structured Teaching (A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility)
-->I hope that these will help me throughout the year to keep growing as a teacher and improving!!
6. I am going to be corresponding with my friend Brittany doing the Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa as part of the Peace Corps World Wise School Match! (www.peacecorps.gov/wws)
While I am still very nervous, I feel like I am taking steps in the right direction to easing my nerves!!
All in all a good first day!!!
2. A Tri Delta alumna wants to send me a care package with many of the items I put on my wish list on my adopt-a-classroom page, plus a medical/first-aid kit!
3. My principal emailed me back, and I get to meet her on Thursday! She also invited me to come to the school on Friday, and she said she would give me a tour.
4. My friend Caitlin told me about a way to apply for a donation from the company she works for, JAKKS Toy Company. (www.jakks.com)
5. I am already signed up for 3 professional development trainings over the next year! My principal sent them to me, and I am already confirmed for:
-SRA Imagine It! (which is the reading/literacy program for my district I think)
-Rick Smith’s Conscious Classroom Management
-Doug Fisher’s Better Learning Through Structured Teaching (A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility)
-->I hope that these will help me throughout the year to keep growing as a teacher and improving!!
6. I am going to be corresponding with my friend Brittany doing the Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa as part of the Peace Corps World Wise School Match! (www.peacecorps.gov/wws)
While I am still very nervous, I feel like I am taking steps in the right direction to easing my nerves!!
All in all a good first day!!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...Will there be enough room?
Panic and anxiety has officially hit me--not necessarily in a bad way, but once I calmed down after the EXTREME excitement that followed my classroom assignment, I began to realize all that I have to do before the first day of school, which by the way is August 26th.
There are so many wonderful ideas that I have (or ideas that I have that I *hope* are wonderful!) and so many amazing things I have seen teachers do that I would like to incorporate into my classroom--but those ideas can't just be floating around my head anymore. Instead, I really need to start planning.
As of August 26th, I will have a class of five and six year olds--and not just for an hour or two a couple times a week but every day. That is a HUGE responsibility.
While I am so excited, I also know that I have so much work ahead of me, and even if my experience with teaching, my time in the classroom, and my working with kids all give me an "edge up" on other TFA-ers, I still am going to walk into that class as a first-year teacher.
I think because I take it (the responsibility and the privilege of getting to teach these students) so seriously--because I feel that every student I have can be prepared for first grade if not second grade upon leaving my class so long as I do my job--I feel a lot of pressure. My greatest fear is that I will fail these children--and I do not mean that I will fail them and hold them back, but that I will fail to find a way to excite them about school and to love learning.
Will I have enough time the next two months to plan and prepare adequately for next year? I feel as though my to do list is constantly increasing:
-I need to find out what kind of reading program my school follows
-I need to meet my principal!
-I need to figure out how I am going to set up a classroom I have yet to see.
-I need to learn everything about not only kindergarten but preschool standards and what my children should be able to do.
-I need to figure out what diagnostics are best to see where my children are when they walk into my class.
-I need to get these families and students to trust me...because I cannot succeed next year without my students and their families on my side, but in order to gain that trust, I need to show them that I am worthy of it.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...Will I have enough time? Check back with me in August.
P.S. If you'd like to see my school go to www.arusd.org. The school is Linda Vista--and it is beautiful!
There are so many wonderful ideas that I have (or ideas that I have that I *hope* are wonderful!) and so many amazing things I have seen teachers do that I would like to incorporate into my classroom--but those ideas can't just be floating around my head anymore. Instead, I really need to start planning.
As of August 26th, I will have a class of five and six year olds--and not just for an hour or two a couple times a week but every day. That is a HUGE responsibility.
While I am so excited, I also know that I have so much work ahead of me, and even if my experience with teaching, my time in the classroom, and my working with kids all give me an "edge up" on other TFA-ers, I still am going to walk into that class as a first-year teacher.
I think because I take it (the responsibility and the privilege of getting to teach these students) so seriously--because I feel that every student I have can be prepared for first grade if not second grade upon leaving my class so long as I do my job--I feel a lot of pressure. My greatest fear is that I will fail these children--and I do not mean that I will fail them and hold them back, but that I will fail to find a way to excite them about school and to love learning.
Will I have enough time the next two months to plan and prepare adequately for next year? I feel as though my to do list is constantly increasing:
-I need to find out what kind of reading program my school follows
-I need to meet my principal!
-I need to figure out how I am going to set up a classroom I have yet to see.
-I need to learn everything about not only kindergarten but preschool standards and what my children should be able to do.
-I need to figure out what diagnostics are best to see where my children are when they walk into my class.
-I need to get these families and students to trust me...because I cannot succeed next year without my students and their families on my side, but in order to gain that trust, I need to show them that I am worthy of it.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...Will I have enough time? Check back with me in August.
P.S. If you'd like to see my school go to www.arusd.org. The school is Linda Vista--and it is beautiful!
