summer is over!
i met my "little sister" today. i am not going to write much about that in here, but it was fun to get to talk to her and her mom and i am excited about hanging out with her. i hope she has fun and learns stuff and has good experiences with me. BBBS gave us free coupons to the zoo and the children's museum, so that's cool. i am psyched to take her out to dinner and for pancakes, to go to basketball games and the movies, maybe miller outdoor theater ... i hope we have fun!
in other news, my classroom is ready! i am ready! still not nervous. actually my predominate feeling today was sadness about the absolute ending of summer. summer. is. over. sad day. oh well. a new start to the year. one of the best things about teaching is that you get to start over completely new every year. check out my facebook page for pictures of my classroom. every year i have grand ideas to start out really organized, let's hope i stay that way this year! my desk is really clean right now ...
i already made seating charts for my 1st and 2nd period because those are my kids from last year, in 8th grade now, and i know who is not allowed to sit by each other. i am kind of excited to see them after the summer has passed ... see what they learned in summer school and how they look and if they matured or who they are friends with ... my 3rd period is 7th graders, so i do not know them at all and i am going to let them sit wherever they want at first, then if they can't handle that i will know how to separate them because they will show me who they are friends with based on who they sit with on the first day. my 4th period is beginners and intermediates - i know a few of them but not very many. i want them to be able to sit wherever because i know the beginners are going to be scared out of their mind - these kids come to a school of 1,300 students not speaking ANY english - and they need to be able to sit where they feel comfortable. i have 24 kids in that class (!!!) which is a TON for the lowest-level kids, so we will see how that goes. that is generally a fun group, but 24 is a lot of kids. that's my biggest class though, which is awesome. that could always change, but for now, the numbers are pretty good. my 6th and 7th period group is the same kids for reading and language arts, and hopefully i will not have to give them a seating chart, because i like for them to be able to choose their own seats and move around during those classes. i like it to be less structured. it is a smaller group too.
i know monday i will be anxious and excited. i cannot believe summer is over and another year is here! time flies ... where do the years go?
in other news, my classroom is ready! i am ready! still not nervous. actually my predominate feeling today was sadness about the absolute ending of summer. summer. is. over. sad day. oh well. a new start to the year. one of the best things about teaching is that you get to start over completely new every year. check out my facebook page for pictures of my classroom. every year i have grand ideas to start out really organized, let's hope i stay that way this year! my desk is really clean right now ...
i already made seating charts for my 1st and 2nd period because those are my kids from last year, in 8th grade now, and i know who is not allowed to sit by each other. i am kind of excited to see them after the summer has passed ... see what they learned in summer school and how they look and if they matured or who they are friends with ... my 3rd period is 7th graders, so i do not know them at all and i am going to let them sit wherever they want at first, then if they can't handle that i will know how to separate them because they will show me who they are friends with based on who they sit with on the first day. my 4th period is beginners and intermediates - i know a few of them but not very many. i want them to be able to sit wherever because i know the beginners are going to be scared out of their mind - these kids come to a school of 1,300 students not speaking ANY english - and they need to be able to sit where they feel comfortable. i have 24 kids in that class (!!!) which is a TON for the lowest-level kids, so we will see how that goes. that is generally a fun group, but 24 is a lot of kids. that's my biggest class though, which is awesome. that could always change, but for now, the numbers are pretty good. my 6th and 7th period group is the same kids for reading and language arts, and hopefully i will not have to give them a seating chart, because i like for them to be able to choose their own seats and move around during those classes. i like it to be less structured. it is a smaller group too.
i know monday i will be anxious and excited. i cannot believe summer is over and another year is here! time flies ... where do the years go?