This year was my first year as a teacher. I was hired two weeks after school started (a sub started the year) and had a weekend to prepare my room for 21 diverse students. Half of my students were transferred to my school right before the start of the year. Let me just say there were a LOT of unhappy people involved. I faced a lot of challenges. I knew my first priority was getting to know my students and transitioning them from having a male substitute to 5 ft. tall me. I was hired on a Wednesday, given my keys and a brief tour on Friday, and I started on Monday! Any teacher would find that situation stressful, but lay it on a first year teacher...oh my!
I had a "to do" list a couple of pages long and took many trips to Walmart. The room was completely bare and had some decorations that had been thrown up by the sub because he was hired to fill short term the day before school started (hence the unhappy families and students). I can honestly say this has been the most challenging situation I have been put in (including 10 years in customer service), but as I look back it is amazing what I have managed to accomplish.
My colleagues have been a saving grace for me. I was able to keep my head above water as we created a Common Core Math curriculum from scratch, dealt with some sticky situations, and gave me so much valuable advice and feedback.
I have started to create a "what worked/what didn't work" list that I will be posting soon. I want to share what I have learned in the course of one year, what I never learned in college, and what I want my future room to look like. I will be teaching summer school which means I have about a month off before I step back into the classroom. In that time, I hope to get all of my intervention and remediation materials ready to go and use what I've learned to help my 5th graders transition into 6th grade!
For today, I will leave you with my end of the year goody bag. I only have a picture of part of it, but you get the idea!
Inside is a class picture from our Jr. Olympics Day.
Each kiddo will also get a letter from me letting them
know how proud I am of each one of them.
They also get a Blow Pop (because we all know that's what's important)!
In the next few days, I hope to have a post showing before and afters of my classroom. I will also be adding everything I've learned. That will be an ongoing process! Have a great week!
