The Shift from Organizing to Preparation (Days 15 and 16)

I got behind on these posts because I've been working day and night to set up my first grade classroom.  It's been a big adjustment from fourth, but I've been really trying to get into the "little kid" mindset.

I've brought home a pile of books to sort and label by genre each night for the past week.  I'm happy with how the new book bin labels look.  The shelves are cohesive and organized except for a remaining pile on the top.  Once I finish with those, my plan is to put seasonal books on display up there.

The blue bins near the library are now labeled with group numbers, and I think they look neat and accessible.  They were more of an "inheritance" than a plan, but I think I'll use them to hold math/other center materials.  

In the evenings I have been printing more bulletin board headings using Amber Thomas's End Dots Font for the calendar and other areas of the room.  I feel like it's showy without being hard to read.  My calendar board is coming along.  I like the colors and defined areas, but the layout will be off balance until I get a firmer handle on which components I need to focus most on.  I'm prepared to move things around if I learn later that I need to add or get rid of parts. 

My husband helped me lay out books, folders, and notebooks for each child.  I still need to number them, but I'm holding off for now.  We always get new students the week before school starts.  Class lists will go up on the door on Wednesday, so they are final at that point.  I'll finalize my names/number labels as well that day and not before.  A colleague actually came to me in a tizzy today to tell me that kids were switched around.  I told her, "Wait next year, and make lots of extras."  Live and learn!

My big accomplishments on these days were to really start bringing the curriculum into my preparation.  Pretty much everything I've done in the room up until this point has been decorative.  One might say it's irresponsible to start there.  Then again one might say it was good of me to spend most of my summer volunteering my time at work instead of enjoying my vacation.  I think you know who I would agree with.  ;)  But back to my point; it does feel good to have the room feel like MY room:  soothing, fresh, and cohesive, and now I feel like I'm also getting down to business.  It's time to start thinking about what content is being delivered at the start of the year and how I'm going to help those struggling learners.

It's been a long process, but I think I've done a good job figuring out how to make this the best learning environment I can. This was my last day with my husband's help; from here on in, I have my colleagues around to ask because we (teachers only) are back to work next week!  That's right, the classroom setup is pretty much at an end (well, technically it doesn't end until June, and then we start over again).  I have Monday "off" (in other words, going in to continue setting up) and then meetings Tuesday through Thursday; some at my school, some not.  The building will continue to close at 3 pm every day, which means limited time in the room.  It's not done (there's a table and shelf near my desk that is a complete dump of papers) but it feels nearly ready for the children.






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