I made the trek to school today, a wonderful 25 minute jaunt because it wasn't rush hour. When I arrived I nearly had a heart attack. The floors were being waxed, common for this time of year in schools across the country. What in the world was I going to do? Thankfully my room opens to the outside, and the door was unlocked (courtesy of our janitor! so great!).
I was able to get quite a bit done today. When I left last week they were getting set to re-wax the tile area in my room, which needed to cure before I could move anything. That was all set, so I was able to scoot desks, tables and computers around. I moved our computers back to where they were, taping their Ethernet cords to the wall so that they are mildly inconspicuous. I unflipped the desks that were in a giant cluster, putting them into some approximation of what my classroom will look like. I was also able to return some of my instructional materials (teaching guides) that I won't need to look at in the next two weeks (at least not at home, as some of those are still in the home office). Novels were also moved on top of one of the bookcases, creating another shelf since a majority of them will sit there until used for my various novel studies.
What are the next steps? Getting the physical space looking good is a great start. Next is making notes about what content I will teach, and how I want to teach it. I also need to look at the sequence so that I am sure it makes sense. I'll make other adjustments once the year gets rolling, but you need to start somewhere.
I am using the tool which I am using for my novel study summaries, OneNote, for my curriculum planning. Instead of oodles of notebook paper that I won't refer back to, I have a document that I am excited to add and revise to. I am using a new OneNote document for each curricular area that I teach (Reading, Writing, Social Studies), with different tabs for expectations and units. Thus far I couldn't be happier.
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Less Waiting, More Doing
I was placed yesterday. I'll be teaching 5th grade, and couldn't be more excited. While I student taught in a 1st-2nd split, I have experience with all grade levels and quite a bit with the 4th and 5th graders. Experience doesn't necessarily translate into teaching ability, but I believe I'll be successful. What I don't know, I'll need to pick up. But I also need to be confident that what I was able to do while student teaching, not to mention what I learned in college courses, will serve me well going forward (i.e. don't turn your back on that experience).
SPACE
The only oddity is the space I'll be teaching in. It was a shared space between two 5th grade classrooms. Now it will be used as my classroom, which is fine by me. To get to the space you can take one of three routes... 1&2) through either classroom, as each have a door into the space, or 3) via the door to the outside.
(Note: image not to scale, and based on short stay in the room) It is a relatively large space, although not as large as classrooms built in the 60's or 70's (like my wife's, which is giant). The classroom has high ceilings, which seemed to echo, but we'll have to see how that works. Currently there are 5-10 computers in the space, which I hope I get to keep. There is a ton of other stuff in there, but I'll start cleaning it up Monday. As far as getting in... well I need to go through the 2 other classrooms, or outside. The kids will line-up outside, so that works great, but we'll see from there. I'm definitely psyched to be right next to the other two 5th grade classrooms. Rotating kids should be easy (rotating kids you say... read on).
WHO/WHAT
The cohort of 5th graders is 60-64 kids. I heard 62 and then 64, so we'll say 60-64 for good measure. They were able to get another 5th grade teacher (me) because of the size, which means class size of 20-22ish. Hoooray! Additionally the teachers team, and have (or are open to) rotating kids. That would essentially create content area specialists, which I'm excited about. Instead of teaching a lesson once, you teach it multiple times, and have the ability to make adjustments each time (and hopefully improve your practice!). I'm not sure how this will work, or what content area, but I should know early in the week.
As a whole I am psyched. Kids are kids are kids, some just different sizes (and further along cognitively). I'll post more next week once I know more about the nuts of bolts. Until then...
SPACE
The only oddity is the space I'll be teaching in. It was a shared space between two 5th grade classrooms. Now it will be used as my classroom, which is fine by me. To get to the space you can take one of three routes... 1&2) through either classroom, as each have a door into the space, or 3) via the door to the outside.
(Note: image not to scale, and based on short stay in the room) It is a relatively large space, although not as large as classrooms built in the 60's or 70's (like my wife's, which is giant). The classroom has high ceilings, which seemed to echo, but we'll have to see how that works. Currently there are 5-10 computers in the space, which I hope I get to keep. There is a ton of other stuff in there, but I'll start cleaning it up Monday. As far as getting in... well I need to go through the 2 other classrooms, or outside. The kids will line-up outside, so that works great, but we'll see from there. I'm definitely psyched to be right next to the other two 5th grade classrooms. Rotating kids should be easy (rotating kids you say... read on).
WHO/WHAT
The cohort of 5th graders is 60-64 kids. I heard 62 and then 64, so we'll say 60-64 for good measure. They were able to get another 5th grade teacher (me) because of the size, which means class size of 20-22ish. Hoooray! Additionally the teachers team, and have (or are open to) rotating kids. That would essentially create content area specialists, which I'm excited about. Instead of teaching a lesson once, you teach it multiple times, and have the ability to make adjustments each time (and hopefully improve your practice!). I'm not sure how this will work, or what content area, but I should know early in the week.
As a whole I am psyched. Kids are kids are kids, some just different sizes (and further along cognitively). I'll post more next week once I know more about the nuts of bolts. Until then...
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