Home Sick

After only a half hour nap yesterday, I woke up with a scratchy throat which by this morning had turned into full on strep. Goodness, I can't believe how fast it happened! So, I woke up at 5:45 AM, wrote my sub plans and put in for a substitute. I found out that this is my 5th day out sick this year. I feel like that's not that bad, 5 sick days in 7 months, although hopefully I can start beefing up my immune system so I don't end up with whatever sickness is going around second grade. On the bright side, when I went to the walk-in clinic this afternoon, (because it is IMPOSSIBLE to get an appointment from me PCP) I only paid $5 for my co-pay and $5 for my prescription! Woo! Thank goodness for health insurance.

Staying home sick is certainly bittersweet. I would definitely rather have been at school with my kiddos :) I think I should be better by tomorrow and back to work...hopefully. In the meantime, I am going to try to plan next week ENTIRELY so that I can enjoy my greenish weekend in Newport. St. Patty's Day Parade, here I come! Lets just hope I can kick this strep by then!!

Class Meeting

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to have my angel of a literacy coach come into my classroom. She taught my class and I how to run a "class meeting" and changed our class forever.

Class Meeting
1. Give a compliment
2. Get a compliment.
3. Apologize.
4. Pass.

Thats it. You can do one of the four. We sat around the perimeter of my gorgeous rug and passed a dried up purple sponge around the circle. (It was the only thing I could find in my room to use as a "talking object.") As each student held the sponge, they made a choice to do one of the above. Some passed, none asked for a compliment, many gave compliments. It was such a positive moment packed with second grade emotion. One girl broke down into tears, complimenting her two best friends for being "some of the best friends she's ever had," another one of my boys got all choked up talking about his best friend too, another said she was sorry that her mom's friend had cancer, and yet another said she was sad that a local teenager had recently died. I almost lost it. How quickly I forget, between cups of coffee and hours of planning, that these kids are 7. And 8. That having a friend to play with everyday at recess can make or break their day. In that moment, some felt so much genuine love for their friends that tears came rolling while just thinking about how happy these people in their lives make them. Wow.

In my dream classroom, I always knew that I wanted it to be positive and safe. A place where expectations are set high and kids try their best. It was at that moment that I realized that most of all, I want my kids to be kind to one another and know/appreciate the value of a compliment. The power of a postive attitude and how far you can get just on that alone. Class meeting. I'm pretty sure I can find 10 minutes in our day where everything stops and we think about the big picture. About life. About one another. Me and my 7 and 8 year olds....

Addicted...

You know you're a NEW teacher when...

...you ASK your reading specialist for some "good books and videos" on guided reading, are legitimately thankful when she gives you some to take home, and then proceed to PLAN (and actually be excited) to watch them on your Saturday night.

...or maybe its the laying-on-the-comfy-couch, relaxing, no-alarm-set-for-the-morning part that's exciting to look forward to...

Anywho, no joke, this is what I did this weekend. The reason being, I am having a tough time differentiating and finding meaningful lessons with rich literature in the traditional anthologies. They are just so...blah. I am so intrigued by the concept of work boards, stations, and guided reading, the students' main source of reading instruction being done independently. My school gave me a GREAT book called "Spaces and Places: Designing Classrooms for Literacy" by Debbie Diller.

Inside are lots of pictures showing what a well set up classroom looks like and how greatly it impacts the success of your reading lessons. I am hooked. All I can think about now is how I can set up my room to MAXIMIZE the amount of learning that can go on simultaneously in our room! The only problem is that I am a new teacher and I have inherited such a hodge-podge of random furniture that its going to be tough to have a nicely cornered library on bookshelves...seeing as I don't ACTUALLY have bookshelves. I am determined though and luckily my mentor just happens to be one of the reading specialists in the school. I am thinking that taking full advantage of my resources is going to be the secret to my success. I have a PD this week that is actually based off of Diller's book. How perfect! (That's another one...you know you're a NEW teacher when...you're actually excited for professional development.)

Plus, I am in the midst of decorating and redesigning my new place. (I'm a big girl now...gotta have a big girl house to match the big girl job!) Many trips to Target later, it is coming together. I am excited to move onto bigger and better things...ie my classroom :) I love the idea of a well decorated and thoughtfully laid out classroom (mostly because mine is SO not). I can just picture it...a room with defined centers, working traffic patterns, and a definite color scheme. So far, I've got the color scheme chosen (based around my fave color, teal, of course). I am thinking that I am up for the challenge...we'll see!