Dreaming of Next Year

I love New Years. Every January I prepare a long list of wishes and goals for the next year. It doesn't really matter that I rarely make it through March with these new resolutions- its just the idea that a new year is a fresh start. As a teacher I get another opportunity every August to make a fresh school start. For the past three summers I spent a good deal of time redecorating my classroom: painting book shelves, making posters, decorating bulletin boards, sewing table skirts. Now that I LOVE the way my classroom looks, my attention is turned to how we actually do things in my classroom. It should be no surprise that I change my schedule and center management every year as well. My first year in kindergarten I must of tried five different center strategies and the following year I went with something completely new. I haven't found a center management that I totally love...yet.

So all that to say I'm ready for a new beginning this year. I'm firmly committed to a hybrid Debbie Diller Work Station and The Sister Daily 5 style literacy work block. Basically having set workstations that I don't have to change every week. I also want to move to a guided math format for math instruction. I'm still a little fuzzy on how I'm going to make it all work but I'm excited. Here's a peek at what I've been playing around with on my schedule:

Daily Schedule

7:15-7:45 Arrival, Exploration Centers

7:45-8:00 Morning Meeting

·      Greeting

·      Phonics Game/Song

·      Shared Reading

·      Sight Words

·      Morning Message

8:00-10:00 Daily 5 Block

·      Read to Self (20 minutes)

·      Minilesson 1- Phonics Lesson (15 minutes)

·      Workstations (40 minutes)

o   Listening

§  Leap Pads

§  MP3 players

§  Computers (starfall and raz-kids)

§  Stereo

o   Work on Writing

o   Word Work

§  play dough

§  sand writing

§  letter tiles

§  stamps

§  magnetic letters

§  pipe cleaners

§  bonus center

o   Retelling

o   Read to a Partner

o   Work with a Teacher

·      Minilesson 2- Writing Lesson (15 min)

·      Writing Workshop (20 min)

·      Sharing Time (10 Minutes)

10:00-10:40 Snack and Recess

10:40- 11:30 Math Workshop

·      Monday- Whole Group Lesson/ Game/ Assessment

·      Tuesday- Thursday

o   Mini-Lesson (5 minutes)

o   Math Work Stations x2 (40 min)

o   Share Time (5 minutes)

·      Friday- Special Math Activity

11:30-12:15 Specials

12:15-12:50 Calendar, Read Aloud, Rest

12:50-1:20 Lunch

1:25- 2:00 Theme Study/ Pack Up

 What are you working on this summer?