First week of school!!

Dear blog, it's that time of the year again! We have to go back to work. I have enjoyed spending time at home with my babies and spoiling them. I had a really difficult time wrapping my mind around the fact that school was starting. I remember whining to my husband that I didn't want to go back, I wanted to stay at home. He proceeded to tell me it was time to grow up lol. The summer vacation went by so fast I couldn't believe it when my calendar turned to August 1st. Once that happened, I spent everyday in my classroom or working on my Professional Developments. I miss being at home with my children, it kills me every morning when I have to walk out my front door and I leave my son crying because he doesn't want me to go. But I know it's something I have to do. I have bills and student loans to pay back. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get an education, but man those loan payments are a pain.

Anyway back to my first week at school. It really hasn't been a bad week. I have used the time to get to know my students and lay out the procedures and rules. I have done some really cool activities. This is my second year teaching and I have changed everything that I have done from last year. I learned so much from my first year, so I'm not interested in doing it the same way. Also, my students are not the same so it's nice to spice it up.

My first two days were procedures, procedures!! These are so important! One of our first activities was reading the book "David Goes to School" by David Shannon. They enjoy those books, so they really enjoyed the read a loud. After I read, we talked about David's behavior and how that is not the way we act. I had two columns on my large note bad; one for "No, David" and another for "Yes, David". I got the idea from here. On the yes column we discussed which behavior we want David to have and I reminded them I expect the same for them.

Another activity we did was a STEM challenge. They had to build a tower using 12 index cards and 12 inches of tape. This was fun to watch. Their comments were hilarious "this would be so much easier if we had more tape" or "can we have more tape?" I had some groups who were able to complete the challenge. I tested their building by seeing if it could hold up a stuffed elephant I took to school. They loved this activity. Also, I got to see how well they worked in groups and who couldn't be together in a group. So overall a very informative activity.