Ready or not–here they come!

I spent the morning at school trying to finish up last minute details before heading into the weekend, and arrived at school only to find out that I got another new student.  Isn’t that always the case?  So–new line order list.  New locker list.  New name tags.  New bulletin board labels.  I guess I’m glad I went in today or I would be frantically doing it Tuesday morning!

I put away all the tissue boxes and reams of looseleaf paper and all the other community supplies and then stepped back and took a few pictures–a permanent record that–for a few days–my room was sort of clean.  NOTE:  I did not take photos behind my desk or in the storage room.  There is a reason.

Perhaps I will enlarge these and print them off to remind myself of what the room SHOULD look like.  I keep reciting my mantra–“You can’t be good at everything.  You can’t be good at everything.”

I need to spend some quality time this weekend thinking about this new batch of students I am getting.  I have more below-grade level readers than I have ever had, and I need to do some reflecting on how to best meet their needs.  I spent some time last week checking over my classroom library (MAN I have a lot of books!) and really did not find nearly enough books at the level these students are reading at, so I spent some time shopping on ebay and found a few sets of books to order.  The first 3 of the 4 sets have arrived!

I am really hoping there are some books that will really capture their attention!  The last set I am waiting for is probably the best–all cool science nonfiction stuff about carnivorous plants and other “awesome” topics. Hopefully they arrive tomorrow so I can finish reading and labeling them all!

I finally printed off my yearly plan and my list of “teaching ideas” is well underway.  Here is a photo of page ONE!  I like to do my planning for the first week or two of school in list format–I try to map out what I want to do and temporarily assign each to a day.  I have done this teaching thing long enough, however, to know that sometimes your plans and the students’ reality are not the same, so I like to be flexible with my plans.  Having a list like this makes sure I get my stuff done but can adjust times and days easily.

We have a definite resource shortage, so my teammates and I do a yearly plan so we know who is teaching what and when.  That way we make sure that we don’t ALL need the electricity resources at the same time!  We do teach our math and literacy units at the same time so we are always working to share books and ideas whenever possible.

So–off to work on adding to my plans, reading over the information I have on my students, and seeing how many pair of “school pants” I can still squeeze myself into.  Starting Tuesday I am going to try to watch my food intake and get my body moving–my scale “tens place” went up AGAIN, and I need it to drop by 3 digits.  My goal is to drop it 2 places by Halloween–so that’s 11 pounds.  Send me your positive energy.

Monday is my next post on All Things Upper Elementary and Wednesday is another “Real Life” math link up–so don’t forget to be blogging about all the cool math things you are doing so you can link up!  So. . . I’m thinking it’s going to be a quiet weekend at home working on plans, making some meals for the freezer, and psyching myself up for next week!  Hope all of you have a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Meg