Weeks 1-5 in Mrs. A Rod's Class
Wow!
I was just talking about back to school emotions and now we are about to start week 6.
A LOT can happen in the span of 5 weeks!
Weeks 1-3 were great. Stressful, but great! We were getting routines down. We were practicing fire drills every day. We were starting our Rooted in Reading series (LOVE!) and loving it.
I had a child in my class that moved to another school. We got new students like always. Lots of beginning of the year assessments (we do I-Station and DRA, what do you use at your school?)
We were building relationships and learning about each other. You know, the good stuff.
Week 4 started like always. It was picture day on Thursday, September 6. We smiled and took our photos and went back to class. Then we got an emergency text from admin saying we were evacuating our school.
They found mold and we had to leave immediately. We spent that afternoon at a nearby middle school in the gym. The kids were squirmy, but we made it through and we were safe.
We had an emergency meeting afterward where the informed us that we were going to begin teaching in a local high school (all the way across town) the very next day. We were not allowed to go into our school for anything other than a purse.
That Friday, we started in a new classroom. With nothing. Seriously, I didn't even have pencils. Luckily, I had a pouch of pens that I used during summer PD's and I had my students write with those. The kids were lost and confused, but they loved our "big kid" room in the high school. We had nothing to read except our BEE binders that they bring everyday in their backpacks.
I had made a few copies at home (thank God for HP Instant Ink) and I brought those that day. I made cut and paste pages, and realized we had no glue or scissors. Oops. We did our best that day. Some kids stayed home because there was no way for them to bring their child all the way across town to our new school. Later in the day, they set up a little area outside where donations of some school supplies came in. It felt strange to take things like this. It is so strange to go from a room where you have all of your supplies labeled and organized to go to looking through donations the next day. I had no clue where they had come from, but I was grateful.
Week 5 started in a whole new school and most of my kids made it to school that day. We had a little more supplies as well, which made a day with no specials go pretty smoothly. We will probably be here for the year while our school is under construction, so I will make the best of it for those kids. They are happy and excited that we have to climb the stairs to go to our specials on the third floor. They feel like such big kids. I have added some little touches, like displaying a picture of each child, so they feel at home in this new room.
I really feel humbled by this experience of being uprooted so quickly with nothing. I have shared photos of caddies, pens, decor and after this, I realized what really matters. It's not about having the best room or the most bins. It's not about the quotes on the wall. It's not about how much I can buy for my classroom. You can do that if you'd like, but what matters is YOU. You run that room. You are the one they come to see. What you do and what kind of vibe you bring into that room everyday matters. I have tried to have the best attitude through this change, because if I don't, what will happen? I'll be grumpy. The kids will be grumpy and will hate our new situation.
We will be in our new room/school for a while and they still need to learn. I will make it fun. I will make it meaningful. I will not try to worry about the looks of things as much (but seriously, I want to be comfortable and happy to come to school, so of course I'll add some cute things!). I want all the stuff I used to have, but I can't go out and buy it all at once. It came with time, so I will build up again with time.
Now that we've done a full week in our new room, I look forward to the possibilities of this year. We will be around 9th graders every day. We hear and see the marching band all the time. We get to climb stairs everyday and get some steps in. We get to see our beautiful mountains daily. We get windows!
I will try to talk about each week and what we're learning this year. I will try not to complain at all about what I don't have and try to focus on the things I do have. I can't wait to share it with you all.
Guys, I'm sorry that I am not the best writer. If you have read to here, you're truly a trooper :)
Let me know how your year has been going. How many weeks/days have you been in school? I hope it's your best year yet!
I was just talking about back to school emotions and now we are about to start week 6.
A LOT can happen in the span of 5 weeks!
Weeks 1-3 were great. Stressful, but great! We were getting routines down. We were practicing fire drills every day. We were starting our Rooted in Reading series (LOVE!) and loving it.
I had a child in my class that moved to another school. We got new students like always. Lots of beginning of the year assessments (we do I-Station and DRA, what do you use at your school?)
We were building relationships and learning about each other. You know, the good stuff.
 |
| Just dabbin' and building relationships. |
 |
| I'm such a problem solver, right? (The white cord was too short, so I fixed it.) |
 |
| Our hallway board at our "real" school |
Week 4 started like always. It was picture day on Thursday, September 6. We smiled and took our photos and went back to class. Then we got an emergency text from admin saying we were evacuating our school.
They found mold and we had to leave immediately. We spent that afternoon at a nearby middle school in the gym. The kids were squirmy, but we made it through and we were safe.
We had an emergency meeting afterward where the informed us that we were going to begin teaching in a local high school (all the way across town) the very next day. We were not allowed to go into our school for anything other than a purse.
That Friday, we started in a new classroom. With nothing. Seriously, I didn't even have pencils. Luckily, I had a pouch of pens that I used during summer PD's and I had my students write with those. The kids were lost and confused, but they loved our "big kid" room in the high school. We had nothing to read except our BEE binders that they bring everyday in their backpacks.
I had made a few copies at home (thank God for HP Instant Ink) and I brought those that day. I made cut and paste pages, and realized we had no glue or scissors. Oops. We did our best that day. Some kids stayed home because there was no way for them to bring their child all the way across town to our new school. Later in the day, they set up a little area outside where donations of some school supplies came in. It felt strange to take things like this. It is so strange to go from a room where you have all of your supplies labeled and organized to go to looking through donations the next day. I had no clue where they had come from, but I was grateful.
Our supply shelf on the first day :)
The kids and I fell in love with our windows though. That first day, it rained and we got to see it all. In our "real" school, we have tiny windows at the top of the wall where we can only see the tops of the trees. These windows have really been a treat for us.
That weekend, we were able to go into our "real" school and fill 3 boxes with things we'd need. I grabbed the caddies, book bins, and books. Those were my priority. (I still wish I would've brought more guided reading books.) I set up a word wall and called it a day.
I really feel humbled by this experience of being uprooted so quickly with nothing. I have shared photos of caddies, pens, decor and after this, I realized what really matters. It's not about having the best room or the most bins. It's not about the quotes on the wall. It's not about how much I can buy for my classroom. You can do that if you'd like, but what matters is YOU. You run that room. You are the one they come to see. What you do and what kind of vibe you bring into that room everyday matters. I have tried to have the best attitude through this change, because if I don't, what will happen? I'll be grumpy. The kids will be grumpy and will hate our new situation.
We will be in our new room/school for a while and they still need to learn. I will make it fun. I will make it meaningful. I will not try to worry about the looks of things as much (but seriously, I want to be comfortable and happy to come to school, so of course I'll add some cute things!). I want all the stuff I used to have, but I can't go out and buy it all at once. It came with time, so I will build up again with time.
Now that we've done a full week in our new room, I look forward to the possibilities of this year. We will be around 9th graders every day. We hear and see the marching band all the time. We get to climb stairs everyday and get some steps in. We get to see our beautiful mountains daily. We get windows!
I will try to talk about each week and what we're learning this year. I will try not to complain at all about what I don't have and try to focus on the things I do have. I can't wait to share it with you all.
Guys, I'm sorry that I am not the best writer. If you have read to here, you're truly a trooper :)
Let me know how your year has been going. How many weeks/days have you been in school? I hope it's your best year yet!
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