Another busy day

I had an excellent morning planning with my new teammates. I got to spend some time with them and got to know them a little bit better. I was feeling pretty nervous about how I would fit in as part of the team. They are extremely organized and have systems down pat for pretty much everything they do. The good thing is that they made me feel very comfortable about doing things in a different way if I want to. They kind of expressed the attitude that they want to do it their way (it seems like they like the consistency of how they have done things) yet they were open to my ideas and were enthusiastic about my suggestions to do things differently with my own classes. We talked and planned all morning and then went out to lunch together which was fun.

I also met up with my old first grade team for some appetizers later on and it was so nice to catch up with them and chit chat for awhile. I did get some sad news from them though...One of the students I taught during my first year had a mom that was sick with Cancer. She had brain Cancer and because of that she didn't make too many appearances at school. She called to check in often though, and she was one of the sweetest women. She was so nice and cared so much for her daughter. She had been battling Cancer for awhile and earlier this year she passed away. I hadn't thought about this family in awhile, but they were always so sweet and I was really upset to hear this news. I just can't imagine what they are all going through and how hard it must be for young kids to lose their mom. My current roomie actually taught this student last year when she was in 4th grade and she said it was just a horribly sad situation. The youngest child in the family was in my previous team member's first grade class this past year and she said she actually had two students' mothers pass away during the school year. Such a difficult thing to deal with, especially when the kids are at such a young, fragile age. Even though this didn't just happen super recently, I know the family is still mourning and my heart goes out to them.

After returning home from seeing those friends, I hit up the gym for a good sweat session on the bike and started reading the book I just received from amazon today.

I have only read the first two chapters, but so far I LOVE it. I am so excited to try out the ideas! Here is a little excerpt for you:

It's the end of summer. School begins in just a few weeks. At night as you sleep, you find yourself dreaming about your new classroom, how it will be different this year. You see yourself sitting at the guided reading table with five young students gathered around you ready to read a new book. As you introduce the new text, no one interrupts you. There is no "Teacher, I need help with this paper," "The headset at the listening station doesn't work," or "He hit me." You glance around the room and see the rest of the class working cheerfully and intently at reading and writing tasks that the children find purposeful and fully engaging. Two boys stand beside the overhead, which is projecting a poem onto a nearby screen. Together they read this poem, which had been introduced to the class during shared reading. Then the pair take a dry-erase marker and circle the rhyming words. They read the rhyming words together and use magnetic letters to make other words that rhyme with those from the poem. They copy their rhyming words onto strips of paper, which they put in their literacy work station folders. You smile and return your gaze to the small group you're sitting with. You observe which children are using the strategies you've been modeling. You guide their reading and prompt when necessary, watching your students in the process of becoming independent problem solvers. At the end of your guided reading group, students move to different work stations and the learning continues. Is this just a dream? It doesn't need to be...

I am looking forward to reading the rest and getting ideas for great literacy work stations that I can use in my room. I love how the author, Debbie Diller, emphasizes the importance of creating work stations using materials that have already been used for instruction, the importance of modeling what to do in each station, and having the children demonstrate they understand what to do before they are released to work independently. She also stresses the importance of teaching the work stations one at a time and not overwhelming the children with too much stuff too soon. I like her reminders to take it slow!

Tomorrow I will be in a training for our new math curriculum adoption. I am really intrigued to see what it's all about. From what I have seen so far, it does not look at all developmentally appropriate for Kinder students, especially since  the manipulatives were not purchased. There are pages in the workbook that have very small paper "manipulatives" that have to be cut out. As if I would waste precious time having my five-year-old students cut out these paper pieces. No thanks! We are supposed to give the program a try, but I suspect we will be making some adjustments as we go along. In any event, it is always good to receive training and become more familiar with a program instead of just complaining about it, so I will give it a go and hope for the best!