Name Plates/Tags

     Before school started this year, I was trying to decide what to do for name tags on the students' desks. I don't like them being taped on unless they contain tools like the alphabet and a number line. I also only had access to premade ones that were very childish for fourth and fifth grade. Another thought was that I don't like my sloppy handwriting and didn't want to look at it all year. Finally, I decided it would be easiest to type them, back them, and laminate them. I still wanted them to be colorful though. Then it occurred to me: that would be a perfect first day activity!

 

     In the end, I printed off the students' names and put a rounded box around them. I made sure to print two for every student in case they messed up on their first, which ended up being a good idea. I then cut them apart and set them on students' desks to find. During the first day, I gave them time to decorate them. The rules were they couldn't color inside of the box and couldn't use crayons (I didn't want any problems with laminating). I also set out fun scissors that they could use to trim the sides. The students also chose which color they wanted it backed on during this time. This project ended up being a great assessment for attention span, care, how hard they work, and artistic ability. After school, I cut the construction paper and laminated the name tags on top of the construction paper. I also put magnets on them to stick them to the desks. I love how they turned out! The students love them too and were proud to show them to people who came into our room. They can't wait to take them home at the end of the year.

 

Currently

     I linked up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade's August Currently. If you are visiting my blog from there, welcome! I am a first year teacher and have a combined class with forth and fifth graders at an international school in Venezuela. School starts in one week, and I have been busily preparing for it. 

 

 

      My currently definitely reflects that I'm a first year teacher in a new country. Things have been going better than I expected. My classroom does have a lot of resources compared to what I thought. Now, I just need a place to put everything. I have a filing cabinet for some of my stuff, but it smells terrible, so I need to figure out if I can get it to be better. My biggest problem in I don't have containers like I would in the states to put things in. Hopefully, I can get it mostly organized for the beginning of the school year. It might not be pretty at the start, but maybe I can still get it to feel homey.

 

     For the back to school must haves, I stuck with some basic ones since I've never started a school year before as a teacher (except student teaching). New pencils, pens, and other things are critical for me. I want my students to feel like the classroom is new, fresh, clean, and exciting. This might be a challenge in my classroom here. As I sorted through it yesterday, I found layers of dust, broken bits of materials, and a classroom library full of many great but old and smelly books. Second, I must have a plan for how I will run my classroom. This is what I am busily trying to work on. I know generally some procedures and routines, but still need my schedule to finalize some thoughts. I'm also having to rework some as my original plan just doesn't work. For example, my classroom only has a door to the outside, so for my students to use the restroom, I have to unlock our door and then unlock the door to the rest of the school. Then, I would need to unlock it to let the students back in. What a pain! I can tell you that I am going to have a very strict policy about when they can use the restroom because it will waste so much on task time. My third back to school must have was books. Books were the one of the few teaching supplies I found room for. I love using books in all subjects, and they will be essential for my ELLs.

 

     Here are some pictures of my classroom in progress! My board was hung yesterday, and I moved the desks into groups. Some students may look far away, but they will actually be able to see around the pole and will mainly be at their desks when they work independently or in small groups anyways.

 

 

 

     In the back right of this picture, you can see my trapezoid table that I will use for small groups. I kept it near the board and books so those are easily accessible. I plan to teach most of reading and math in small groups, so having that as the focus should work for me. There will also be a carpet on the floor where the green chairs are that I will use for whole group.

 

     That's all I have today! Let me know what you think about my classroom and if you have any suggestions that would be helpful, I would love to hear them!

My First Classroom

     If you've been following me for a while, you know that this year, my first year teaching, I will be teaching at an international school in Venezuela. I arrived here earlier this week and have been doing new teacher orientation since then. School starts in a week and a half!

     Can I just say that packing to teach in another country when you aren't sure what resources you have (I did ask, but there wasn't not much of an answer)? Since I love books so much and use them in all of my subjects, I decided to pack my carry-on full of books. I even looked up the standards (AERO) and tried to find books that aligned with contents other than reading. My books (at least the ones I really wanted) all fit! I did get stopped due to these books when I went through security though. They had to be wiped with a small piece of paper to see if they contained something harmful. Also, I did not think about the weight implications when I packed this bag. I knew there wasn't a weight restriction, but I forgot that I should be able to lift my bag into the overhead compartment. Thankfully, two men (yes, it took two plus myself) were able to help me on both legs of my flight. One even took it down for me afterwards. I'm so thankfully to have books that I know, but I did find that the school has a few more books than I expected even if they are old and falling apart.



     Here are the pictures of my first classroom. When I came in, all of the furniture was in the middle and covered because they have to repaint the walls every summer. My goal the past few days is to figure out how to arrange my room. I'm still working on it, but I decided to post these pictures anyways.






     Since I have both forth and fifth grade, I wanted an area to have small group instruction, places for them to work independently or in small groups, and a whole group area. I also had to decide where I wanted my white board.








     My first step was to uncover everything. I found my curriculum! There is a lot of it since I have both grades.

     Then I found two bookshelves overflowing with books! We piled the books in this corner to move the somewhat ugly shelves (they're a burnt orange).









      Next, I decided it would be nice to have my small group area on this side of the room. With a lot of help (including from a student of mine), we unloaded the textbooks and moved the shelf to that area right next to the projector. I also decided to put the white board on that wall so that I can use it for whole group or small group. I'm hoping to use a carpet there for whole group.





     This picture shows the other side of my room. You can see my burnt orange bookshelves against the wall. I'm planning on scattering groups of desks throughout this side of the room. I don't plan on the students receiving instruction while at their desks often, so having them spread out more should be fine.




     I have already have met four of my fourteen students! I'm excited to begin but feel that there is no way that I will be ready. Teaching is overwhelming! I'm working on my room now and need to work on the first week of lessons soon. I will post more pictures as I am further along in organizing my room. If you have any tips or suggestions, I would love to hear your thoughts.


Which Special is Today? - Fish Bowl Schedule

    After a few meetings this morning, the teachers had a chance to finish working on their rooms and preparing for the first day of school on Monday. My teacher, Mrs. D., was mostly finished with her room, but I helped her with a few last minute things like making sure the books were still in order and ensuring that we know how the schedule will work.

     The school just switched to having specials on a rotating schedule, where the same grade has it at the same time every day, but the special each classroom has changes every day. Due to this, we decided having a place to say which one was that day would be necessary, not only for the students but for us as well. I quickly noticed that her room had a fish theme. When she asked me to make a place where we can say the special of the day, I knew that I wanted to make a fish bowl. Here is the finished product! The fish with the names of the specials have Velcro on them and will be changed every day.