Thanks to hurricane Sandy (who, by the way, has been way more intense than expected), I have some time to blog.
Looks like it'll be a short 3 day week.
I was supposed to be attending a workshop this week but Monday got cancelled because of the storm and the second part of the workshop (today) was shortened..but all in all I definitely learned some things that I'll be bringing back to the classroom and into some units.
So how has year 2 of teaching been, you ask?
For one, having a REAL summer was rejuvenating. I'm still feeling well rested thanks to all that time off..and that's made a huge difference.
I'm also feeling like less of a hoarder this year. If you currently saw my desk, you might think otherwise..but the rest of the room is much happier than last year's room was (in my opinion at least). This past August, the massive amounts of stuff in my room went through a serious cleanse. The library is SO different from last year's (thank goodness). The play area is far less cluttered. The room just feels and looks much easier on the eyes. Yes, it's teenie, but a small space is a fantabulous reason to get rid of that junk you just don't need.
Year 2 has been different mainly in terms of my planning.
I have recycled almost ALL of my classroom systems/procedures and some lessons from last year.
Every weekend, I blog..er, well, blog-search. I've found some amazing kindergarten blogs created by some truly inspiring teachers.
Not gonna lie to you, it's a little bit overwhelming to see their amazing classrooms via their blogging and pictures. They just really know what they're doing (and that's with 20+ students) and it makes me feel very behind. How will I ever get there?
But anywho, on a more positive note, as I go through these blogs, I find lesson ideas. Some do tie into what the students are learning and others tie into basically nothing related to what I'm teaching, but they seem amazing so I save/use them anyways. It's been a relief having these lessons that I know work because there's PROOF of it in the blogs. I'm also teaching with more confidence thanks to this recycling process.
It probably sounds bizarre, but it'd be so reassuring to hear horror stories from experienced teachers about their first years in the classroom. I wonder if there's a blog for that? It'd just be so nice to know for sure that amazing teachers also struggled through their first years on their own. This sounds like deja vu. Have I said this before? Probably.
