It is the currently the last day of September and I think I finally feel like things are going smoothly.
The first week of school is survival mode. The goal: get kids into the classroom, teach them expectations, attempt to learn all of their names, and get them home safely.
The second week of school is learning mode for the teacher. The goal: learn all the things about your students that will make your teaching effective. This may be assessments, observing them complete tasks, allowing them to explore and work together. Doing these things while attempting to begin teaching curriculum can be a lot mentally, but it is so important to make things go smoothly once you are really diving into curriculum.
The third week of school is trial and error mode. This was the week that I attempted to run writing, math, and reading blocks with all the things in motion. We did whole group and attempted to do small groups/centers. I learned what works and what didn't work for my students. I ditched things I thought were going to work and tried new things to find the methods, organization, and activities that were going to work for my students. It would be easy to just do the same things year after year, but as my principal says we work for children. What worked for last years students, might not work for this my class this year.
The fourth week of school is go time. This is the week that hopefully things are ready to go. You are four weeks into the curriculum. Whole group is going smoothly. After the trial and errors of the previous week, small groups should be good to go. Lots of planning involved to make sure all materials are set. Oh and by the way, after week four you are about halfway through the first quarter so make sure all of your grading is up to date because those progress reports will be due soon!
This serves as my reminder to give myself grace. The first month is BUSY. Keep doing all the things, but make sure to take time for yourself. Pick a night to leave your computer at school or in your bag. Attempt to pick a day to get your planning done for the week. Stay after school one day to get your copies made for the entire week.
Most importantly, breathe. If things don't go as planned just smile and pretend it was supposed to go that way!
