Day 1 Classroom Project

Well I went back into my classroom today all ready to get the furniture set up and start on bulletin boards and what did I find ... much to my dismay all of my furniture was still in the hall and our floors hadn't been waxed. So I moved on to plan B... and at least started on my bulletin boards. I actually think it might be easier in the future to do all my boards first, before moving furniture in the way of them. Here is my new word wall. I used painter's tape this year to make boxes and hopefully provide a little more structure for my first graders when they use the word wall. It only took me 3 tries to get the painter's tape even!

 

I didn't get a chance to finish the left side of the board, but I plan on continuing the paper onto the white board to make that side bulletin board larger. Then I will use that space for my calendar wall...

 

I'm thinking of going with something like this...

From The Lesson Plan Diva

So when I got home I finished up some other projects that I didn't need to be at school for. I loved how Mrs. Wills tried to embed learning everywhere, even in how you label your tables. Here are my work collection containers, labeled for each table. Grab her freebie here. 

I am almost done with the birthday board, and also cut the felt pieces that I will secure to the bottom of the chairs with rubber bands to cut down on noise. I am starting to think there is not enough time to get everything done on my list! But I'm also getting to the point where I can't plan out any more details or I'll drive myself insane. I can't think about color combos or borders or colorful baskets any longer. Guess it's time for school to start!

Illustrating Class Rules through Read Alouds

I recently finished The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey. It was a great summer read for several reasons, but most of all I was reminded of the importance of explicitly teaching students how to be their own leaders. Isn't this the purpose of classroom rules when it really comes down to it? One of my favorite phrases is "Do the right thing!" My students need to be constantly reminded of this; however, it has taken me a few years to realize that you have to very carefully teach and model the "right" thing to do in various situations. The 7 habits provide a great framework for teaching students how to be responsible and effective leaders in their own classrooms and hopefully in life.

I really liked my rules this past year; but I came up with them and they were posted before the first day of school. This year I want my students to have some ownership, so I think I will have a brainstorming session with them and then fit their ideas into my 5 pre-established rules. (I also would like to come up with a mission statement together with my class this year, as suggested by Covey).  Here are the rules I used last year:

1. Be kind
2. Be respectful
3. Be a good listener
4. Be a hard worker
5. Be safe (This year I'm changing this to "Be responsible.")

I was inspired by The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. I decided to take the language of the 7 habits and see how they aligned with my 5 rules. I'm not ready to fully jump on the 7 habits leadership boat because I think it would be hard to 100% implement it without the whole school participating. But there are cetainly parts of the 7 habits that any teacher can use within his or her classroom. What I found was that looking at the language of the 7 habits helped me define my rules and what I mean by them. I  matched each habit (except Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw) with one of my rules and then used the explanation of that habit to help define my rule. I liked the simple language of my rules and didn't want to fully adopt the 7 habits yet. Hopefully this reflective work will help me explain and model each rule to my class this year. If you are interested in how my rules fit with the 7 habits check it out below.

The other thing that I did while thinking about my class rules and how to teach them was to make a list of read alouds to illustrate each rule. I did this last year, but needed to find a few more to beef up the list. I figure the more exposure to each rule the better. Here are the read alouds I am planning on covering throughout the first 6 weeks.

I hope you find this useful. My vision is to incorporate these read alouds into my reading block as well as throughout the day, especially during that first week when they schedule is still being taught. My next project is revamp my literacy work stations using elements from the Daily 5. I am almost done with "The Sisters" book and can't wait to strengthen my work station time.

Things That Are Working...(End of the Year Edition)

It is truly humbling to think about how far I've come since my first year of teaching first grade at this school. A "wise owl" (veteran teacher) once told me the best thing I could do the last weeks of school was to keep to my schedule. That seems like simple advice, but it is not as easy as it sounds. Of course there are all those pop-up assemblies and special activities that are out of your control...but for the most part it is completely up to the classroom teacher to maintain control and expectations in his or her classroom. As much as I would like to stay out and play for an hour, it sends a message to my students that I am relinquishing control, and with this group of students that can be a dangerous signal to send.

Last week we had a few terrible days. By Thursday I couldn't take another negative report upon picking up my children from resource. A light bulb literally went off in my head. I bounded across the room and rummaged through my sticker box until I found a pack of reward cards I had been hanging onto since my first year of teaching. I waved them in front of my kids, who are now looking at me like I'm crazy. I explained that if they wanted to attend the First Grade Parent Appreciation Ice Cream Social then they would have to earn their way...and so became the ICE CREAM TICKET. The greatest invention I've come up with for the end of the year, yet so simple. Every time I say, "take out your ice cream ticket" it instantly calms and quiets my class, even my most challenging students. It's funny how sometimes the most effective solutions are actually quite simple, it just takes commitment and effort to follow through.

Our best friend right now!