New Year, New View

We made it!

Week 1... Check.

My new group is amazing! We are totally meshing. Things in the behavior department are good. They are hanging on every word I say.  Let's hope this keeps up!

We've tried to change things up a bit this year.

1. You're Finally Here! Super cute book.

This is a must read to set the tone for the year. The kids were super excited for the rest of the day.

We used to read, First Day Jitters. I'm not hating on that book, I do love it but... I think it sets a weird feeling that you should be nervous and scared of school. Do we want kids feeling that way? Of course everyone is a bit nervous, it's human nature.

But to be honest, I was more pumped after ready You're Finally Here!

2. Cooperative Learning. The right way.

We were Kagan trained during PD this year. If you were like me, group work = cooperative learning. Ummm... no. Cooperative learning is amazing. Mix-Pair-Share and Round Robin are the first two I'm tackling. We are getting the hang of it and truly building the community.

3. Community.

Why did I rush this before? This year I am focusing on building our classroom community. Maybe that's the reason for the instant meshing, as mentioned above?

4. Favorite read alouds.

We are reading books for pure enjoyment. I felt stuck only using books for lessons and learning last year. There's so much pressure for testing and making the most of every minute. Let me tell you... Pure reading enjoyment makes the minutes count.

5. Ron Clark.

Lindsay is hooked on Ron Clark. She brought the book for me to read and I'm so bummed that I forgot it on my desk! I can't wait to read about the Essential 55 and put it into use.

With all of these new outlooks, I'm feeling like I need an overhaul in other aspects of our day. Stay tuned for how we are going to switch things up this year!

I'm really excited to get this year underway!
-Amy