So after an amazing two weeks out of the country, I walked into my classroom and this is what I saw:
So while I was away, my carpet was replaced with tile.... And everything was literally tossed back into the room. It was one of those moments where I was so overwhelmed by what I was looking at that I didn't even know where to start.
After putting in a few long days (and they had to be long; I only had a week until the first day!), the room finally felt close enough to ready. Here are a few before and after pictures:
Cute, right? I finally learned how to sew in a straight line, so the curtains that I bought five years ago were sewn and installed :)
Flash forward to today. The first day. Honestly, I had a lot planned and felt good about the day. But you're still nervous. This is Year 7 for me, and I'm still nervous on the first day. As a result, we always read First Day Jitters. If you haven't read it, it's a worthwhile first-day read. I won't give it away, but I encourage you to check it out.
One of my favorite first day activities is Saving Fred. I heard about Saving Fred somewhere online (okay, it was Pinterest), and found a picture of a great resource that Becky over at Fourth Grade Fanatic made (link here: http://4thgradefanatic.blogspot.com/2011/08/first-week-fun-saving-fred.html?m=1). The link to the resource didn't work for me, so I did make one of my own. Please know that this resource was not my idea! Credit goes to Becky!
Basically, Fred is a gummy worm whose boat capsized before he could put on his life vest. The goal is to use a paper clip (each student gets one) to get Fred out from underneath his cup and into his life vest.
It's such a fun activity and the kids have a really good time. After the activity, the kids complete a flow chart, description of events, and discuss the problems that they had. This is a good time to see what their writing skills look like, too.
ps- Sorry about the Groucho Marx "stickers" - I sent home the Internet/photo permissions today, so until those come in, it's Marx faces!
pps- I introduced Whole Brain Teaching procedures today, but I'll wait and do a more detailed post about that at the end of the week. But lets just say it's made for a very engaging first day!
