Preplanning: the to-do list that never ends

This week, we had 3 days to prepare for the start of the new year. That's a whole lot to pack into 3 days!

1. Faculty, department, and team meetings

2. Unpacking and organizing classroom

3. Updating and copying class syllabi

4. Homeroom and 1st period paperwork

5. Textbook retrieval and scanning

6. Decorating classroom in a way that is stimulating for but also appealing to students

7. Legal briefings and training

8. What to do on those first few days

That's only what I can think of off of the top of my head. For every task we finish, there are at least 3-5 other items that are spur-of-the-moment requests from someone else: "Could you send me...?" "Will you email...?" "Can I get your help with...?" Not only are we getting ourselves ready, but we are also taking care of colleagues. It's what we do.

My Classroom

This year, I moved from my sweet little trailer way out yonder in the trailer park to a small classroom inside. I'm convenient to pretty much everything now, which makes me (and my feet) very happy. No longer will I have to plan an afternoon trek to make copies the next day, or make sure I have water and snack to tide me over during the long hike to the front office. I'll be in the middle of the action!

It took some rearranging of the furniture that was already in the room, but I think I've set up

my class in a way that will suit my teaching style. 3 of the rows of desks are facing front, and 4 of the rows are facing the door. This set up is a trick I learned from a colleague at my previous school to help make the room seem bigger. I've also set up a "creativity table" for those who aren't suited to traditional desks.

On the board are 4 taped boxes for my various classes. As always, I'll put daily assignments and reminders here. Even with the 4 boxes, I still have plenty of space for notes and activities! It is a big board!

I've also already posted my rules. I've found that these few rules have helped me manage my students' behavior and activity better than anything else. 6 simple rules:

1. Be prepared for class: Brain, Materials, Supplies

2. Absolutely no sleeping

3. Take responsibility for your actions

4. Don't make excuses. Create solutions.

5. Never mak

e fun of someone for not knowing something

6. Stay on task and on topic

I've found that all I have to do is give "the look" to a student, and they know that they've probably broken one of these 6 rules. I'm pretty easy like that, and it truly helps students to

know what your boundaries and expectations are. If I need to add a rule, I will. These 6 have worked for 3 years, though. :)

My Space

This will be my 6th year teaching, and I have never felt more confident about beginning a new school year. I truly feel like I can handle anything that comes my way because of my experience and my flexibility. I haven't made copies of my syllabi yet...but I'll get to it! I forgot to make seating charts, but I can do that when I get to school

early on Monday! I already have assignments ready and waiting for the students, and that's my main concern right now. I know how to prioritize the rest of what needs to be done.

As you can see, I've created a little fort for myself in my "teacher corner." :) I don't like students touching my stuff or invading my space, so I do what I can to clearly set up a "no-fly zone." I've already made myself comfortable, though, and am ready to get to work! Notice "Piggy" on the book shelf for Lord of the Flies, and the raven on my media cabinet for our study of Poe's poetry. These things are fun because when students look at them, they have an association with the literature we studied. I like it when something tangible can help them create stronger links to the reading. (On a side note: this is undoubtedly the neatest my desk will be ALL YEAR. LOL)

Student Space

Letting the students know that I have high expectations for them to be productive as well, I've set up a little "productivity corner" for them. Here, they can type, study, read, or take a break from the rest of the class while they think about how to make better choices. (I just thought up that last bit, but it fits with the corner set-up.)

The calendar on the board is for students to announce their birthdays and special events. One of my SOPH LA students from last year has a birthday coming up in 3 weeks! He will be in my JR LA class this year, so I will get to wish him a happy birthday! :)

Well, that's just some of what I've been up to in these past 3 days. When I arrived at school on Wednesday, I was a little overwhelmed with everything I needed to do. Unpacking all of my boxes and setting up my classroom was a priority, though. When my surroundings are in order, my mind is at ease, and I am better able to focus. So, it looks like the year is off to a good start! I'll be making weekly postings about my 4 different classes (LA II, LDC III, SOPH LA, and JR LA), so stay tuned if you want to know more about what goes on in an ESOL classroom! :)

Day 4: Rules, Rules, Rules

I didn't post yesterday because my students were just writing their essays over their summer reading. I gave them a choice of 3 topics related to the reading (conflict, choices, defend or support the book as summer reading), and they had to chose one. I also gave a 4th choice for the "slackers" and new students. They had to tell me about themselves as students. While the they all worked quietly on this (I allowed a minimal amount of talking if they needed to clarify a point with a friend), I graded their summer reading objective test. It was a productive day!

Today was fun. I gave the students in my LA classes 25 minutes to finish whatever they needed to finish on their summer reading essays. Most of them used their time wisely and finished. For the other 1/2 of class, we did a board activity similar to the "Chalk Talk" that we did on Tuesday. (Like I said on Tues., I don't want to give up on an activity just because it's not perfect the first time!) This time, we wrote "Classroom Rules" on the board. The students brainstormed class rules that they've heard before, and what they wanted to change about those rules. I agreed to be flexible with the rules IF students gave me something in return. The students chose the top 5 rules that they had a problem with, and through our discussion, 1st period came up with the following:

1. Teacher will give 30-second grace period on tardiness
* Students will work bell to bell
2. Teacher will allow students to use iPods quitely during individual work time
* Students will participate fully during group work time
3. Teacher will allow students to leave textbooks in classroom
* Students will come during advisement to finish work
4. Teacher will not give homework from the textbook
* Homework can be a worksheet or short writing assignment
5. Food, Drinks, and Gum are allowed
* Everyone will help clean up everyday

These seem pretty sensible to me! The experiment worked really well except in my 6th period SOPH LA (S) class. They just weren't interested in the activity. I had to pull 3 rules out of them, and their homework is to come up with 2 more rules, or they have to follow whatever rules I decide.

In LDC IV today, I had the students do their "I Am" poems. I showed them three of the best from last year (nicely written, beautifully illustrated), and told them to get to work. Most of them wanted to take them home to finish for homework, so they could make them look really nice. I noticed that the students have self-segregated. Asians/Hispanics. I've made a list to pair them into non-native language speaking pairs, and am going to think of some speaking and writing activities they have to do together in order to practice their English. Their tendency to stick to their "own kind" is why they are in LDC IV to begin with: they don't practice their English enough!

Tomorrow, I am introducing the students' research project to them. We'll see what kind of feedback I get from them....

Day Two: Boring and Crazy

How can one day be both, right? Well, for the first half of the class period, students had to take their summer reading test. This took up about 25-30 minutes. I hate test time because time just drags and drags. After their tests were turned in, I led students in a "Chalk Talk" to get them moving and to start opening up. The original purpose for the "Chalk Talk" was to have students think about and agree upon classroom rules for our period together. But, we didn't get around to the rules. I have a collab. teacher during 1st period (the "Talk" was something she did last year), and she wanted to get an idea of weather the students were excited or scared about their sophomore year. So, we just wrote "School" on the board, and the kids commenced writing their thoughts on the board about this year. Rules came up only at the end.

I think we might have another "Chalk Talk" on Thursday (tomorrow they have to write their summer reading essay) to come up with the classroom rules together. I think that would be a cool activity, and it will get me out of my bad habit of trying something once, having it not turn out exactly the way I wanted, and never doing it again! I need to get the students used to doing activities like this so they are more comfortable with speaking their mind, getting up and moving around, responding and interacting with each other, and thinking outside of the box.

On top of what I wanted to do with my students, I was also taking care of paperwork that is necessary at the beginning of the school year. That put an added level of hectic to the day.

A thought: I didn't put the kids into a seating chart yet because we didn't have enough desks on the first day. I'm finding that some in my ESOL class, especially, need to be isolated from their friends, and need to be around people who don't speak their L1. Tomorrow, I should go ahead and get the students settled into a seating chart. I don't want them to get comfortable with doing whatever they want. I'm going to put numbers on the desks ASAP, but I think I should get them in the assigned desks NOW.

We'll be starting a research project soon, so I want to have the class organized before that. It will make me feel much better when I let the students move around to work together.