I got home last week after an absolutely fabulous 7 weeks in Scotland with my parents - I was very sad to leave :( - and headed straight into school the following day.
It always astonishes me that it takes so long to set up again after the holidays. No matter how much clearing out I've done previously, no matter how carefully I've packed everything away, no matter how organized I think I am... I can guarantee it will take at least 3 full days to set up the classroom the way I (sort of) want it to be.
So here are some photos of my hard work this last week. I don't do themes in my classroom because the "theme" will be whatever our topic is for the term. This term we'll be looking at Invaders and Settlers - the Ancient Romans and Celts in Britain - so the classroom will reflect that but I did decide to do all the bulletin boards in blue and keep the classroom as minimalist as possible.
I have to say I love it so far. It feels really spacious and light and I love my white lanterns. :)
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| So far I have 16 ( possibly 17) students which means lots of space for desks :) |
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| There was a thunder shower passing through as I took these photos so the light is a little dubious. |
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| I'm trying the round table in a different location this year. We'll see how it goes... |
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| I wish I could have got a blue carpet but no luck so I'll have to manage with this again :) |
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| Lots of Roman books!! It's a lot harder to find books about the Celts that are age appropriate!! |
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| You can see my desk!! Still looking somewhat clean and empty. Long may it last!! |
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| I hope we'll live up to these ideals :) |
I'm now in the throes of planning. We're moving to a 6-day cycle this year and it means revamping all my planning sheets, timetables etc. I'm a little worried that I won't remember what day it is and will be sending my class to all the wrong lessons at the wrong times!! People say you get used to it very quickly - I hope they're right!! Even our duties are tied to the new cycle so instead of having duty on Wednesday and Friday, say, I now have to remember to do them on days 4 and 6 (which will be a different day of the week every week! Oh, help!!)
It'll definitely be different this year :) I'll have to read my own bulletin board and remember that I can "challenge myself", "am efficient", "am responsible" and that, above all, I am a learner. (I hope I'm a quick learner!! :) )
On Tuesday we head in for our PD week and on Monday the 9th the fun begins! I really am looking forward to it now :)
Happy Labor Day to all those who will be on holiday on Monday :)
My advice for learning the cycle - write it on the board, nice and big! We don't do a cycle like this, but we have always sent a cafeteria helper everyday and now it's only 3 days per week. My students asked me on the first day of school why the "Lunch Helper" schedule was the biggest thing on the whiteboard. It's because otherwise I'll forget it :)
ReplyDelete-Dani
A Place to Thrive
Your rooms looks great! Best of luck with your start-up. :)
ReplyDelete-Lisa
Grade 4 Buzz