My classroom is complete!!!!! In my mind, it is never complete, but it is ready to go for my kiddos on Thursday.
Student Work Display Board: "Steps Toward Success"
Word Wall
Small Group Teaching/Teacher Work Space
Computer Station/SMART Board
Organizers for Guided Reading Groups
Span of the Room
I am laughing to myself now as I look at the class schedule my principal requested from us. The funny part is that she only asked for one, but I made THREE different versions of the schedule, which each one containing more specific details than the last one!! I am so detail oriented that my version must be very explicit in what I would like to be doing every minute of everyday. Even though I know it will almost never turn out that way, at least I have an idea of where we would be in a perfect world.
Today, we gathered as a school to discuss our Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). PLPs are a part of a district initiative to push teacher to set their own PD plan and to collaborate with others who have the same goals to make it more effective and ultimately result in increased levels of student achievement. I have teamed up with my other 2nd grade teachers and the 1st grade team to provide students with authentic literacy experiences to increase student reading achievement by using The Daily Five framework. After our group collab meeting on Sept.10, I will post more details about it. I am excited because I have the book, but have not been able to read it. It sounds like an incredible framework for use during the literacy block and I cannot wait to get the ball rolling with it!
I hope your preparation and/or initial days of teaching are going well!!
I've been lurking around your blog and just wanted to say that at our school we've all implemented The Daily Five. We began last year. It's amazing to see how even the little kids can read independently for 20-30 minutes by the end of the year!
ReplyDeleteThe book is very helpful in that it lays out for you all of the plans you need, day by day, to introduce each concept and implement them in the classroom.
I've found that the big key to making it work is to be as EXPLICIT as possible with your modeling, even if you feel a bit silly doing it. Get the kids involved in modeling expected behaviors, and use mini-lessons throughout the entire school year to make sure the kids know expectations haven't changed.
Good luck to you!
By the way, your room looks great!
I love your room!! I am now working with some teachers I had as teachers and it has taken me awhile to be able to address them by their names. One of my partners this year was my 6th grade science teacher...it took me forever to be able to call him "Dan".
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