Setting up the Classroom!

There are only four days until the first day of school and that meant that I had to dedicate this week to setting up my classroom. See, I spent eight weeks this summer working for Autism Ontario Kids Camp (the best camp EVER), so I wasn’t able to come into school any earlier. Boy oh boy, I had my work cut out for me! I had spent my entire summer daydreaming about how I would organize my room. Then I got there…and sat and stared at the mess in front of me for probably 15 minutes. Suddenly, my daydreams didn’t seem so helpful. When I say mess, I mean all the desks stacked one on another and all my bins, books, and toys stored on the shelf. It shouldn’t even classify as a mess. You know what does? The stuff in cupboards and drawers that had been there for ages. In fact, I found a document dated 1985, despite the fact that the school was built in 2001. So as you can imagine, it took me the ENTIRE week to get my classroom ready in Molly standards. Without the help of my friends and family who lent a helping hand, I’m not sure I could have done it all in five days. So without further ado, please enjoy the many progress photos I took at the end of each day. What a transformation!

Monday

This was my hallway the morning I left. One might have thought I was moving to university all over again. There was a lot to take with me to my second home!

This is the sight that had me pondering for 15 minutes. Where to start?!

By the end of the day on Monday, this was what I had accomplished. Doesn’t look like much, but it was a start. Lots of cleaning too, which meant lots of sneezing!

Tuesday

Bright orange pylons are great to use for washroom passes because they’re easy to see from far away. You’ll always know who’s in the washroom. I added some cute pictures to make them a little less boring and plain.

Looking much cleaner! That group of desks in the far corner was coined “stuff I don’t want in here”. Watch the collection grow!

I’m lucky because I have a very large classroom; however at one point, it seemed like I had too much open space within the centres. The caretakers were wonderful and brought down an extra table for me to divide my math centre from the rest of the room.

Wednesday

 On Wednesday, my friend, Steph came to help me decorate. We work together at camp, and she too is a certified teacher. With one of the most creative minds out there, I asked her if she’d like to help. I’m so glad we were able to spend the day together making this classroom look warm and welcoming. Goodbye ugly bulletin boards; hello fun, yet calming colour scheme! We went to Dollarama and bought green and yellow plastic tablecloths. We doubled them up, stapled them on, cut them to size, and tah dah! A beautiful start to the new bulletin boards. Why aren’t they finished, you ask? Well we ended up buying round tablecloths by accident so we couldn’t do the rest that day.

We got the number line up, and the caretaker was ever so kind to make a new drill hole so I could hang the clock a little lower.

Tablecloths around the desks at the centres allow me to store the rest of the toys and manipulatives without it being an eye-sore. And to top it off, it goes along nicely with my colour scheme.

The “stuff I don’t want in here” finally made its way out of the room. Yay!

Steph made me a nice little nook so that all my stuff could be pinned in one location, away from resources for the kids. We added the ribbon to tie in with the other colours in the room. What are those yellow things in the corner, you ask? Scroll down to Thursday to find out...

Thursday

Learning is Fun in Grade One! A little message for the kiddies on the hallway window.

I went to Michael’s for some odds and ends and stumbled across the scrap booking section where they just happened to sell scrapbook paper the exact same size as the cork board in my nook. It looks much better than the ribbons.

I forgot to mention my other very special helper I had this week. My mom! My wonderful momma took the day off work to come help me set up my classroom. We had tons of fun and got lots done. We finished the bulletin boards (because I went and bought more tablecloths) and added the borders.

Alas! The mystery is revealed. For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE ducks. I’m obsessed. We found these at Dollarama and I just had to have them.

All my supplies arrived at the end of the day. I left the mess on the art table to tackle on Friday.

Fancy, colourful stars with all our names on them. Welcome to Grade One!

Friday

On Friday morning, I was feeling a little overwhelmed because there was still so much to do! My friend Tara came in and helped me out (I told you I had awesome helpers). She did the little odds and ends jobs and completely organized my storage closet while I did some of my paperwork and planning. We concluded that maybe she should be a professional organizer. The place looks great!

I sent my calendar out to be laminated and it came back today. It really only fit nicely on this board so I rearranged the “carpet” area. I don’t actually have a carpet, but that’s what I call it anyways. I like this arrangement a lot better!

What’s with the pig? That’s how we will keep track of how many days we’ve been at school. Each day we will add a penny. When we get to 10 pennies, we will substitute it with a dime. This will help the kids understand place value, and it will also make them experts on money by the time I formally introduce it in January. And yes, I know…we don’t distribute pennies anymore, but they still need to know what they are.

Eventually, the middle board will be filled with their wonderful work.

The Guided Reading area is now complete. The rest of the board will be filled with reading strategies as I teach them. I know the bookcase is off-centre. I didn’t realize until I looked at this picture once I left. It will be fixed first thing Tuesday morning.

The finished product!

It’s a lot of time and money getting a classroom ready. Luckily for me, I work with a wonderful staff who I already know quite well from previous years. As they cleaned out and set up their rooms, they offered me a lot of furniture and resources to use in my classroom. Without them, I wouldn’t have half of the engaging activities in my room.

Just four more days until the first day of school, and although my classroom is ready, I still have a little bit of work to do at home this weekend. It never stops, but I love every second of it!

Great Beginnings

I’m a big lover of professional development, and last week I attended a three-day workshop called Great Beginnings. It is hosted by the York Region District School Board, and guess what? It’s free! You sign up for the grade you are teaching in the upcoming year, and a veteran teacher of that grade leads you through days of helpful hints while providing connections to professional resources.

     The workshop places a heavy focus on the literacy block; the modeled, shared, guided, and independent reading and writing tasks that take place every day. Our instructor, Bev was so wonderful and shared her 30 plus years of experience with us. Often times, teachers who have been in the profession as long as she has been tend to be out of date in their practice, but Bev was very knowledgeable about what the present day classroom should look like. She linked us to online resources, recommended tried, tested, and true books that help to implement good literacy practice, and made sure that we got the very most out of our days at Great Beginnings.

    On the last day of the workshop, a number of publishers and teaching supply businesses came and set up booths in the hallways to sell their items. I was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of beautiful books, and I felt like I was in heaven. There were some books that I had stumbled across before, so I made sure I spent my money on the books that I had never heard of; the books that caught my eye and set the ideas running wild in my head. A few hundred dollars later, I had added to my classroom library with some great new picture books.

    I found that when buying these books, it was helpful to have my long range plans finished so that I knew what sort of texts to keep an eye out for. There were so many books that caught my attention, but I had to say no to some because I knew they didn’t really fit in with any of the big ideas and themes I have planned for this year. That’s not to say I wouldn’t ever buy them in the future, but for that day, my money was better spent on books that I really need for this school year.

    Some people moan and groan when they think of professional development. Sure, some workshops and courses can be super boring. I’m lucky to have enjoyed almost all of the PD I have done so far and I think that’s why I kept taking AQ courses. Even when they were getting exhausting and I couldn’t wait to finish, I still really enjoyed everything I got out of it.

    I enjoyed teacher’s college but I found it actually did little to prepare me for what a real classroom is like. The real learning comes from doing; from being in the classroom and being an active educator and learner. Great Beginnings blew teacher’s college out of the water due to its grade-specific focus. As I keep getting further into my teaching career, my PD becomes more exclusive which helps me create a better classroom environment for my variety of learners. So if you too are a teacher in the York Region District School Board and you’d like to attend Great Beginnings (you don’t even have to be new to the grade), keep your eye on the BWW in July to look for the registration dates. It will definitely be worth your time.

Nominated by Nowak

    Yesterday was an exciting day for me because I won an award! It’s pretty prestigious. You’ve probably heard of it. I won a Liebster Award! Tell all your friends! Actually, I had never heard of it before, so when my dear friend, Stupendous Sam nominated me, I referred to her blog to learn about it. It’s basically a way to share and connect with other bloggers and in turn, to get your own blog out there! It requires you to answer some questions and share a bit about yourself; sort of like a chain email, but not as juvenile. There really is a purpose here.

1. Answer questions from your nominator.

2. Share 11 facts about yourself.

Who nominated me? 

Sam from Fun with Firsties

Sam’s questions for me:

1) What do you use as your "teacher bag"? What's inside?

I always bring my laptop bag because my Mac comes to school with me every day. I also end up bringing anything extra in those free tote bags I get from various workshops and courses. And let’s not forget my lunch bag and purse. I’m pretty much a crazy bag lady!

2) What do you have for lunch at school?

I usually go for something light like a salad or a wrap. I always have some fruit and yogurt as well. Then I give myself a nice little treat with something with carbs or chocolate. I can’t help myself. Every Friday, the kids get pizza lunch and then I immediately detest my salad.

3) Where is your favourite place to travel?

I have travelled to many places, and loved them all. I have been to British Columbia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Florida, England, and Ireland. I think Venezuela was my favourite “fun in the sun” vacation because it was so beautiful and exotic. I also loved Ireland because the culture was amazing and I did so much sight seeing with my girlfriends. It’s hard to choose!

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Margarita Island, Venezuela

4) What is your favourite children's book {or author}?

I always loved the BFG by Roald Dahl. My Grade Three teacher read it out loud and I thought it was the funniest and sweetest story. The Harry Potter series is also a clear favourite. My mom and dad used to buy me books so that I would stop re-reading the series. It never worked.

5) What was the best Christmas present you ever got from Santa?

Hmmm, this is tough. Santa is always so good to me. I think I have to go with the Easy Bake Oven I got when I was seven.

6) What's your favourite kind of soup?

Broccoli cheddar is pretty delicious.

7) If being a teacher was not an option, what would you choose to do?

I really have no idea. Teaching is my life. But if I am forced to choose, I guess I would work at the Disney Store. That looks like a lot of fun!

8) If you could be in any movie, which movie would you be in? 

What About Bob, because it’s one of the funniest movies ever.

9) If you could live anywhere in the world {besides where you live now} where would you live?

I’d probably live somewhere where I could wear light clothing in the winter months. I do not like winter, and I do not like feeling cold. So….Florida?

10) What is your favourite "teacher store" {where you get all of your classroom goodies}?

I love Scholar’s Choice for the professionally made classroom resources. For the more specific, lesson based products, Teachers Pay Teachers is my go-to place.

 11) What's one of your pet peeves?

Leaving doors, drawers, and cupboards open drives me absolutely crazy!

11 facts about myself

1. When the series Friends ended, I was so devastated that my parents let me stay home from school the next day.

2. I am a big fan of What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. My iTunes playlist shows that I have listened to it 374 times.

3. I collect little toy ducks. It's getting out of control.

4. My mom is one of my biggest inspirations and my biggest supporter. I wouldn't be where I am without her.

5.  My favourite movie is Titanic. 

6. I absolutely, with every fibre of feeling in my soul DESPISE the movie The Never Ending Story. Worst. Movie. Ever. Agh!!

*I refuse to let a picture from this movie exist on my blog

7. One time, it looked like I was wide awake, but I was actually still asleep, and I was convinced I was a mailman who was late for a shift. So I stared at my best friend until she woke up so that I could leave and start delivering the mail.

8. I participate in Relay for Life every year (since I was 16). I run in memory of my dad.

9. I’m an auntie! Ella is 9, Mara is 7, and Leona is 5

10. My sister set me up with a teacher at her high school who used to supervise her in detention hall. He is a very patient man. He’s not as old as this fact makes him sound. He was never a teacher when I was at school. My sister still cannot call him by his first name.

11. I’m a crazy cat lady, and proud of it!