Decluttering

I had completely planned on blogging last Sunday but ended up never having the time. I went in to work all day and got so much done—then came home and worked more! I managed to take some pictures for the the Clutter-Free Classroom Challenge (I'm about two weeks behind on the challenge now—how dare work get in the way! ha.) and it was perfect because my classroom was a complete MESS. Not only did I take some horrible pictures but I did manage to clean most of the mess that is seen in the pictures (but I did not take any after photos yet because I have some major changes brewing in my classroom layout—if I can get the help of friends/custodians soon). Here are some of the pictures that I took:

This is normally my guided reading area. As you can see, it's also the area where I do a lot of my work when I'm not meeting with kids. Oops.

The unused word wall (and below you can see how messy my computer area is as well)... I actually took all of this down on Sunday. I would love to put two types of fabric up and turn it in to a language arts focus wall. But that will only happen if I remain in this classroom next year.

The computer that I do all of my work on...

WHAT is going on here?

Cubbies that NEED cleaning.

My classroom library isn't too bad off... I just don't like it being located where it is in the room.

This counter actually looks MUCH better now--I used a lot of my time on Sunday on this area!


It stresses me out to even look at the pictures.... no wonder I am stressed out all the time!

The next step in the challenge is to make a plan to declutter. One of the (very few) benefits of being a first-year teacher is that I haven't had (too) much of a chance to acquire that much clutter but there are a few things that I have got to get rid of. There are a few areas in my room that are kind of scary because the teacher before me left a lot of things and when I was first moving in, I didn't know what I was allowed to throw away. Well, six months later, I have a much better idea of what I can use and most of that stuff is just taking up valuable storage space in my classroom.

Here are some of the areas in my classroom that I would like to focus on and what needs to be done to them:

1. I have these nice cabinets in the back of my room above my cubbies. Two of them are labeled as “I don't know what to do with this...” stuff from the previous teacher. I will be going through this stuff and either getting rid of it or finding a place for what I can use.
2. I have about 10 cubbies that don't get used by students and I use them for extra storage. A few of them are also full of things from the previous teacher and I need to do the same as I mentioned above.
3. Go through what's on top of the cabinets to get rid of things such as old textbooks and see if I can get rid of the overhead projector (???) that's up there as well.
4. Rearrange my classroom so that I can put my textbooks and guided reading materials where I would like them to go.
5. Find a place for every sheet of paper floating around my classroom.
6. Find a way to store all of my center activities for reading and math. While they are in use by students and when they are put away for the rest of the year.

That might be all I can handle for right now. If only I could have a workday where I could just be left alone in my room to do all this decluttering and not spend the whole day in meetings—now that would be amazing!

And as for the rest of this weekend, this is a picture of what I brought home to try to finish. That folder is FULL of all the things I need to grade (the marking period ended yesterday) this weekend. I also need to start on report cards. Siggggh.

Back to School Stress

What a week it has been! The kids, of course, acted like they haven't been in my class the whole year when they got back on Monday. After school, I had a two-hour-long committee meeting (omg) and a rough night personally. The rest of the week was a little bit of a roller coaster, with my kids finally getting back into the routine, lots of testing, and an unsuccessful doctor's visit. I also found out that I will be missing school on Tuesday (and four other days in the next few months) for some reading training. But, I've got some sub plans lined up and a pretty good sub coming in so hopefully it will be a pretty good review day for the kids!

Anyway, as our second nine weeks is wrapping up, I am noticing that very few of my students are going to make their AR goals. Not as many as I would have liked made it last nine weeks, but even fewer are making it this time around. I have been thinking and thinking of a way that I could possibly motivate the kids to do better and I realized that part of the problem is that the students have no true way of keeping track of their own progress. And then I had an epiphany this morning (when I work up at 6:30—what in the world, right?) and I think I found the solution to our problem! I have created a little chart to attach to each student's desk that will keep track of their progress. Each time a student passes an AR test, they will get a sticker to put in one of their boxes. When the chart is filled up, they may turn it in for a treat... and then they get a new chart to fill up! For my students that are taking tests on books with more points, they will get more stickers per passed test (0.5 points= one sticker). If you're familiar with AR, then you know what I'm talking about. If you would like to use or see the chart, here it is... I'm not sure why the top two charts look the way they do but that's how they came out in Google Docs!

AR Chart


This week, I am hoping to start on the Clutter Free Classroom Project! My room is driving me so crazy that I asked my principal if she would let a few of us come in to school tomorrow to work and she agreed! I will be taking my before pictures while I'm there and hopefully will have a chance to organize a few things. If I get some time tomorrow, I'll try to post those pics.

Happy New Year!

Since my life has become absorbed with teaching, I'm not bothering with any New Year's resolutions that pertain to my personal life (I wouldn't even know where to begin there anyway—ugh)... but I WILL put my energy into bettering my teaching since it directly affects not just me but 20 (oops, 21 starting Monday) little people. Look at me, thinking of others! :)

So here are my teaching resolutions for 2012:

1. Differentiate my math groups a little more. Using math groups is a really great method but I think I need to take things a step further.
2. Really focusing on improving my guided reading.
3. Putting less time into making my lesson plans look beautiful and more time into actually preparing the materials (oops).
4. ORGANIZE and rearrange my classroom!

I can't wait to find out what my kiddos' resolutions are! :)

Ready for "Break" to End?

I was stressing out about the new student I'm getting before I went to bed last night and ended up having a bad dream because of it. Not only did I get one new student, but four on the same day and they were all huge behavior problems, their (disruptive) families stayed the whole day, and I got observed by my assistant principal during all the chaos. The worst part about it was that my class size didn't go up or anything—these students all replaced some of the students that I already have and part of my stress was that I didn't want them taking over their desks because I really wanted my kids to come back. Separation anxiety? I am officially emotionally attached.

Anyway, I wanted to share two things that I created the other day in case anyone would like to use them. One is the reading response project that I am doing with the kids when we go back and the other is the new spelling menu the kids will get for homework once we get back. I've been using another spelling menu for most of the year, but I wanted to change the activities because they were getting a little stale. :)

Click here to download Scrapbook.

Click here to download Spelling Menu.

Procrastinating...

It sure is amazing how much work I can get done when I am trying to avoid studying for the GRE! I didn't get too much done today because of how sick I am and because I was crazy enough to go shopping earlier.

Last night I managed to get a day of sub plans done and all the materials that go with it. My goal when I get back from break is to create a “Sub Tub,” full of all the materials a sub would need for multiple days. I had to miss a day last week and it really stunk to have to spend an hour at 6:00 in the morning trying to get plans together for the sub.... so I want to be more prepared next time!

I also wanted to share some of the things that I made for the weather unit that we are getting ready to finish up when we get back from break, in case anyone wants to steal them!

Weather Study Guide
Weather Test

My goal for tomorrow (other than to actually spend some time studying) is to cut out stuff for our New Year's resolution activity that the kids will be doing when we get back. Here's a picture from Pinterest of something similar to what we'll be making.

Winter Break Work.....

I really need to get back into using this thing! I've just been having trouble finding the time or the inspiration lately. Thanks to Pintrest (could there be a better website? I think not), I haven't had to think for myself much lately so I haven't had anything to write about really!

Something that I do want to tell you is how much work I plan on getting done over break. I don't really do relaxation—I lay around for an hour or two and then I'm over it. I can relax better thinking about how efficient I'm being. :) Unfortunately, I accidentally left A LOT of the stuff I was going to try to get done at school so I can't actually work on it until after break. I'll just have to find other things to do to get ready for the next few weeks. My goal is to get as much done as I can over break so that I can revamp my classroom when I get back... it is driving me bonkers. The feng shui or whatever. Or however you spell it.

Another thing I am doing over break is studying (eek) for the GRE. I hope to take it within a week or two of the new year and I want to get a fabulous score. I thought I had finally decided what I wanted to go back to school for—(masters of ed in...) Elementary Education with a concentration in gifted education. However, my newfound student loan bill from undergrad has me a little freaked out about the possibility of going back so soon. But, alas, my GRE score will be good for five years so I am taking it now regardless.

What I really wanted to share with you is something I made last week for the next nine weeks....

During the past two nine weeks I have been getting a little frustrated trying to figure out what to teach from week to week and finding myself in a panic at the end of the nine weeks because I haven't managed to fit everything in. I also have been disappointed in the lack of creative things I have been doing with the kids. In order to combat this, I have made my own pacing guide for the next nine weeks! If it seems to work better for me this way, I will make one for the fourth nine weeks as well. I didn't do much with the science section yet because, honestly, I need to study up on the objectives a little bit more before I commit to a plan. Here's the guide if you would like to take a look at it, click here.


Happy Holidays!

Reading Tips for Parents

My first parent-teacher conference night was a success! I did have a no-show and two that showed up an hour late wanting to meet while I was meeting with other parents, but other than that, everything went smoothly! The more I see the parents and know how much they are actually willing to help, the more I appreciate them.

One thing I did notice was that many of my parents are eager to learn ways that they can help their child at home in areas that they are struggling in (mainly reading for my students). I was asked for a sort of “cheat sheet” by a couple of parents and decided to look and see if there were any online before I actually sat down to make one from scratch.

I managed to find two that I liked enough to use—one for comprehension for both my higher and lower readers and one on phonemic awareness for my lower readers. They both have great tips to help children read better and I wanted to share them with anyone else that needs something similar!

Here they are:

Comprehension Parent

Phonemic Awareness Parent