I certainly owe my followers a run down of the first days of school!
Monday, August 13th:
After a day of meetings we had the third grade Meet the Parents night. As always I got nervous... I love meeting the kids... but always worry how I appear to the parents! This year I decided to mention my WBT training and mentor status. I described a little about Whole Brain Teaching and mentioned how this will help their students become better learners! I didn't do the WHOLE lesson on the parts of the brain but I mentioned a couple, complete with gestures. Many parents REALLY nodded their heads and looked at spouses or other family members that were with them. I took that as a good sign!
Most of the students brought their supplies and I had them put paper, pencils, and Kleenex in a central location and the rest of their supplies went to their lockers. I did have names on desks however I mentioned to parents that the seats would probably change soon. This is what I said, "Many of you have already found your child's desk. I do not know your child yet. I look forward to getting to know them during the first days of school. The seats they are in right now are temporary and I will change them as I get to know them as learners. Please feel free to contact me if you have concerns about your child's sitting arrangement. YOUare the experts on your child. I am not... YET! (BIG SMILE)." The parents seemed to like these comments.
Wednesday, August 15th - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - (My tenth year of teaching!)
Our school day started in the gym with an opening assembly with the theme of Olympics. After welcoming the students, we showed them a slide show of pictures taken (using a green screen in our building) of the teachers and staff as Olympic athletes. I am working on getting my picture to share with you for your entertainment! One of the pictures even showed a picture of the royal family with our principal's picture placed over the Queen's face! The kids LOVED that!
After the assembly I took the kids to the side of the gym and taught my Class-Yes lesson. This was difficult because of the chaos of other classes leaving the gym. (Video coming soon). Laughter and giggles were immediate... and I saw a couple of stressed faces turn to smiles! On our way back to the classroom I showed the tables that we would sit at during lunch, I was amazed at how relieved the students seemed after knowing where to sit. Some of them REALLY do worry about that!
Before entering the classroom, they put ALL supplies in their lockers. I didn't want ANY of the supplies distracting from what I had to teach them. This was an issue most of the day. These eager learners really wanted their supplies in the classroom. A couple of them wanted to ask questions but I used Coach B's advice and said, "I will answer questions later. Please have a seat". As soon as they found their seats, I started following the cue cards (Available on Teachers Pay Teachers) I had made using Coach B's First Hour/First Day Webcasts.
Program 532 WBT The 1st Hour
Program 533 WBT Day One
I pointed out the Morning's Lesson List on the dry erase board. I quickly checked off the first lesson telling them what a great job they had already done. We reviewed class yes. I reminded them about the importance of putting hands in the listening position. "Great, lets move to lesson 2!" My principal walked in at this point and said, "Lesson 2? You haven't even been in your class five minutes!"
My kids grinned and I said, "Let's show her Lesson 1, that we learned before even coming to class! CLASS!"
"YES"
"CLASS, CLASS"
"YES, YES"
"Classity, Classity!"
"Yessity, Yessity!"
Our principal clapped for them and smiled, "Well, I am certainly impressed! I don't think any other class in the school has learned their first lesson as quickly as you have! Keep up the good work!"
At this point, I wished that I already had the scoreboard running! Oh Well, It would start soon! Time was ticking, I had to have them to Music Class in 15 minutes and wanted to teach them Rule 1 and introduce the scoreboard!
I taught Rule 1. We practiced saying it over and over. We practiced in different funny voices. I wanted to teach the scoreboard at this point, however I needed them to know how to line up! I decided to teach them LINES because we would have to line up soon for Music.
THIS POST IS ALREADY SO LONG... So
you have to wait until tomorrow to get more! Tune in tomorrow to hear
how I taught the three peat within 10 minutes of being in my class!
Well thank god that your school doesn't have to deal with students bringing in drugs or weapons and even simulated weapons. It's a huge concern and I hope that students can recognize that by bringing in these things, they cause distractions and potential danger for others. :)
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