Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My Second First Day!

Today was the first day of my second year of teaching! Go me!
We had a half day, and it went AMAZINGLY well. Like, I was boggled as to what was happening in my classroom. They got a little squirrely in the last hour or so, but they're essentially all BFFs who haven't seen each other in a few months... so I wasn't too tough on them. :)

We started Daily Five today, and it went crazy well. Last year when I tried to launch D5, we read to ourselves for 17 seconds on the first day.

17. Seconds.

Today I actually had to stop them at 3 minutes! I almost died. I told them afterwards that I was AMAZED and I couldn't believe what was happening, haha! Then we walked down the hall in complete silence with our hands behind our backs and our bubbles in our mouths.

It wasn't all perfect! I did forget to collect their supplies, which led to general craziness at dismissal time. We enjoyed some Jitter Juice (courtesy of Abby), which was very fun!
 But it was a little too unstructured for us on the first day.  I'm sure it's just the way I taught it, because it was super fun and the activities were awesome! I learned quickly that we need lots of structure in my class. And that's cool, I can work with it. :)

So, tomorrow's another day! We're launching Writer's Workshop (which is new for all of us) and learning the 3 ways to read a book! And some math stuff too. :)

Question for ya - tomorrow we have our Technology special, but our Tech teacher isn't coming in. I want to take my class to the computer lab just to get us into the routine. Any thoughts on what we can do while we're there for 30 minutes?

7 comments:

  1. Do your kids need to sign permission slips for internet? If not, then starfall, Fun Brain, or other educational sites.

    Or let them play in Paint.

    Journey of a Substitute Teacher
    and
    Endless Pinabilitites!

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  2. Have them do something on wordle about themselves! You'll get a peek into their thoughts and their spelling skills... and it's super fun!

    :)
    Christina
    *Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge*

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  3. Yay for first days!! I'm so glad it went well for you, Jill. You're class sounds like they're going to be fun this year!!

    Heather
    Peacocks & Penguins

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  4. Congrats on a smooth (second) first day!! Hope your year stays this great :)
    Erin
    http://adventuresinthirdgrade-brown.blogspot.com/

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  5. Hooray for a great first day! It sounds like your class is off to a great start. I love the picture of them drinking their jitter juice. So cute! :)

    Amanda
    The Teaching Thief

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  6. Yeah for more than 17 seconds- although it is amazing what they can get into in 5!!! :) happy second first day!
    Staci

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  7. I'm eager to read more of your posts! YOU ARE amazing and must be exhausted at the end of the day!

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