Skip to main content

Classroom readiness

As promised, a photo of my classroom with tables -


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Please note the broom handle... not only split in half in the photo, but desperately needed for the dust bunnies that seem to multiply like, well... bunnies. Please also note the clean desk. This is the last time it will appear like that until next summer.

Yes, that is a Yoda poster in the back. In my first year at my current school I was always saying "do or do not... there is no try" whenever a student told me they had tried to do something. Last year, it was changed to "do or do not... there is no like" in response to the incessant whine of "I don't like it". Apparently, if a book doesnt' have a dead body or other horrific scene within the first two pages, it's not worth reading.

The blank poster on the door is actually an event planner. I haven't put the titles on the boxes, but the upper portion is for announcements. The middle three boxes are where the jobs for the event are listed on little post-it notes with the name of the person responsible. The first box is "to-do", second is "doing" and third is "done." The bottom boxes are for supply lists and problems. It's a good visual reference for everyone involved.

Yesterday I finally got my computer back. However, I was only able to print a few pages before the printer went TU again... I mailed some attachments home for printing, but it doesn't look like they made it. I swear this nickle and dime crap is going to drive me nuts. I may have create a new sign for the door reading "don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish."

Today's agenda is re-working my first week's plan. I had it planned out several weeks ago, but now I'm thinking I need to jazz it up.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

“They Don’t Get It”

I hear that a lot these days. It used to be mostly from various teens trying to negotiate the drama unfolding in their lives as they wandered into that no-man’s land between adult and child. These days it’s from adults trying to navigate the education scene these days. So many people talking and no one listening. The other day I was reading a post by a blogger I’ve been following for several years. Before there was such a thing as “blogging.” We all know spring is IEP review season. This blogger wrote about his daughter’s. Among the various elements, there was the discussion about the state assessment tests. She did not pass. There was discussion about what this means… and why said student needed to pass this test. Would she be taking a modified test? While reading, all I could think about was what would happen to that child as she entered middle school and high school. A history of not passing the assessment test vs. teachers who will now be evaluated on how many students pass t...

Summer Notes

Books to Read: New Kelly Gallagher   Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions  by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana  Notes for Art: Group Project for the First Day Expectations from group project exit question

The Cruelest Month

I know T.S. Eliot favored April as the most cruel, but we teachers know that May is… even more so these days. Most importantly, it is the final testing month. National ‘assessments, state ‘assessments’, district ‘assessments’, school ‘assessments’… on and on. It’s impossible to actually get anything done. Toss in graduation activities, planning for the upcoming year and the 2011 bonus, lay-offs and transfers, and you have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to save money by simply shutting down school entirely except for a few test proctors. Meanwhile, there seems an air of hopelessness permeating the education world. Plans to lay-off thousands are coming to fruition. Schools are being closed, despite protests. Charters are increasing where they can whether they should not. Unions have lost a lot ground and teachers are trying to decide if it’s even worth it any more to continue talking about education . ( not that I blame anyone for that, we all have lives to live ) For myself, I...