One week down!

Week one went great, minus Monday.  I couldn't wait to jump right into  my curriculum and teach. I typically wish I could bypass the first few days due to the lack of structure and covering the code of conduct.  Luckily, that day turned into one day, Monday, which was my least favorite day.  I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy my new group of kiddos because I was having withdrawals from my last group.  Fortunately, by Tuesday I loved them! 

I have one student in particular that I have vowed to take under my wing and invest a lot of time into.  Not that I don't do this with all of my students, but this student is ESE and amazingly sweet.  He's very low and has a severe speech impediment, but he's so willing to learn, even though it's really difficult for him.  This is where I'm going to see how good I am at differentiating (which I don't even know where to start, but I'm ready to).

We've implemented many new things to our class this school  year.  The day starts off with students picking out a Popsicle stick from our twitter  box for their daily class job.  I wasn't sure how well this was going to work, but I have to say I LOVE IT!!!!  My classroom look almost immaculate at the end of every day.  Our class jobs include a desk swabber, who cleans the desks with soap and water daily.  And for those of you that spend any amount of time with me, you know what a germaphobe I am, so this is awesome!  I also have a filer, rug doctor and sweeper. We also have the Welcoming committee, who write the morning message and the Research Reporter, who looks for a current event and shares it with the class.  I found out this week, I'll have to browse the articles before they share.  One of my students chose to read about Elections 2012, which is great but it included discussions about same-sex marriage and abortion.  Oh boy!  I just focused on the election aspect when she finished. lol!  I'm sure I blushed a little.   There are many more jobs, but these are definitely my favorites. 

Nothing Ever Happens at Groveland Elementary

 

My favorite start of the year writing assignment has begun!  We start this writing assignment off by talking about ideas and details.  We take a tour of our school and the students ask themselves 'what if' statements.  They have to be really creative.  By the end of our walk, their juices are flowing which create an amazing book for them to take home. 

 

My favorite 'what if' statement this year was: 'What if Mr. Meyers was a three headed, fire breathing dragon, and had a lair where he'd take students and eat them for breakfast?"  What if? lol!  Mr. Meyers is our wonderful assistant principal.  The kid must have been afraid of him to come up with that statement, but it'll be so great when he writes and illustrates it into his book!

 

There were many other 'what if' statements.  Some included portals to another world, books growing legs and walking away, and sharks taking over the school.  Like I said before, it's a great way to start writing.  It's exciting and includes illustrations.

 

Final Notes

 

I took a differentiated instruction(DI) course at the beginning of the summer.  My hope is to start off by implementing it in reading.  Hopefully I can branch out from there.  Due to having the ESE students this year, which I'm so excited about, I have the opportunity to really use what I've learned.  DI in addition to Kagan and Whole Brain Teaching is going to make for a wonderful year.  I have a great group of students and I can't wait to get to know them individually!