At the very beginning of the summer I blogged over at Who's Who about my plan for professional reading. I also had plans for lots of projects, road trips, etc. Let's check in and see how I'm doing.
Not so good.
Professional reading:
Notice and Note: This reads like a TEXTBOOK, people! I did start it, and I'm sure it is full of ideas. But Janet Evanovich was calling on my Kindle and I just had to see what Stephanie Plum was up to. (And if you have no idea what I'm talking about - check it out on Amazon. GREAT reads!)
Guided Math - nope. I decided I'm happy with what I do and even though I'm sure I'll pick up lots of tips from blogs and pinterest, I'm just not interested in reading the book right now. I'm good.
Teach Like a Pirate! - This one I DID read and I loved it! It really got me motivated to be even MORE creative and engaging with my teaching. I stuck Post-its everywhere in this book. Love!
Ok, I'm 1 for 3 in professional reading. Not good, but it's a start.
Projects:
Did you see my
BUT
I do have ideas for the rest of the summer. And, knowing my track record is not so good lately, I'm keeping those projects small. Here are my plans:
1. Move my word wall.
My word wall used to be here
and I have a bulletin board above my sink that I hate...(you can read about my love/hate relationship with displays here)
The plan is to move my word wall to the bulletin board over the sink. I hate that board. It's hard to get to and not really "user friendly." It is, however, perfect for my word wall because it can be seen from just about everywhere in my room.
To do list: buy fabric (I want the board to have a black background so the words stand out and the fabric I have from the old word wall is not big enough), staple it up, make boxes with ribbon... easy peasy.
2. Set up a space for anchor chart displays.
This is something I REALLY want to dot this year. I have used anchor charts a little, but they have always been projected on the Smartboard. Great for when we are using them, but not so great for later reference.
This one was going to be easy since I was just going to use the space from where the word wall was. EXCEPT
UH-OH!!!
when I took the fabric off the wall I was left with lines of tape - REALLY STICKY TAPE - that is hard to get off. Definitely need some elbow grease here... and some Goo-Gone... and some prayers.
To do list: buy Goo-Gone, get a scraper of some kind and get to work!
#3 Classroom library display
I have been reading everyone's posts about they organize their classroom libraries. Lots of colorful crates with ribbons and tags and stickers for book levels and systems for checking out books and putting them back... really, people, how DO you DO it?
I have lots of books out for kids to choose from everyday - they are usually related to a theme we are doing or a topic the kids are interested in, etc. But I want to put out a bigger variety. And let me tell you, I have a TON of books
Right now they are organized by theme, author, level.... just depends how I use them.
The plan is to have 4-6 baskets out of books of a variety of genres and themes at a time. NOT leveled. I know, shoot me. I'll talk more about why I made that choice later.
Until then, think of this as the "before" post. I'll be back later this summer (promise!) with the "after" post. And I'm telling you now... it is not going to be anything on a grand scale. But it will work for my students. And that's what's important.
So we have established that I have not gotten anything of great importance accomplished yet. I have spent time with the family, enjoyed being with friends and just relaxed. Which is probably what I needed most. Now it's time to keep enjoying summer... with an eye towards back to school!
And just in case you're in the shopping mood... a TpT friend of mine just uploaded her 100th product! She's celebrating with a sale this Sunday (July 20) and Monday (July 21). Check our her store and celebrate with her!
Skip the Goo-Gone and use plain old spray WD-40!
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