In Summer

Welcome, summer. Boy am I glad to see you! 

I finished spring quarter with a 3.8 GPA (praise the Lord!), on June 13th, and my last day of school (Lowell), was June 19th. I spent the first several days of my break catching up on chores, selling bunnies, and getting ready for summer classes. To celebrate the first day of summer, I went camping with a really good friend on Thursday night up in the Granite Falls area. It was beautiful, peaceful, and so relaxing. It was so needed. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was amazing for the hikes we did and adventures we had. 

This summer I am working as a nanny for a 3 month old baby, Bear, in Edmonds. I'll only be working about 19 hours a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll still have time to enjoy my summer and travel over my long weekends. In June, I also have a few other babysitting jobs scheduled - one over a weekend in Seattle. I've been wanting to visit the city since I never really have, and this will be a good weekend to do so with the girls I'll be watching. 

Speaking of travelling, in a couple weeks my family and I are going to Moscow, ID for our cousin's wedding. A couple weeks after that, I hope to take a trip to Leavenworth to explore. In August, I'll hopefully be cabin leading Jr. High camp at Lakeside Bible Camp, going to Oregon to see friends, and camping at the end of August. I'm really hoping to go to California after the summer. I wanted to go in September, but with school starting, it's a terrible time to leave. And then college will start again after that, so I will most likely go there in December. I want to go for a couple weeks this time. This summer, I hope to do lots of hiking and  

Summer classes started on June 25th. I only have 3 this quarter, and only 9 credits - PE, Health, and Social Studies online. PE is on Tuesdays and Thursdays but is only 4 weeks long. Health is on Wednesdays, and is 5 weeks long. Social studies has one in-class class on the 25th but is 8-10 weeks long. I'm glad that classes will be more chill this summer. I need a little break for sure - last quarter wore me out! You can find out more about what I've been doing over the past 3 months in my last post. Throughout the summer, I will also be working a lot with my church in kids ministry and service projects. I'm super excited for Reach's purpose here in Everett, and to see our ministry grow! 

Thanks for reading about my summer plans! Have a good weekend!

Holly 

The Last 3 Months

Well hello there . . . been a while.

It's been more than 3 months since I've made a real post, not counting the 5 I released as a school project. However, in February when I wrote my last blog, I stopped having time due to spring quarter coming up and preparation for that.

The past 3 months have been INSANE. I worked at Lowell Elementary 5 days a week, 8am to 3pm, and then had classes 4 nights a week 5 to 9. 4 days a week, I was out of the house for at least 13.5 hours. And after classes, typically I would hop right in bed. I barely saw my family, and was only home to sleep and take care of my rabbits pretty much.

Wednesdays were particularly busy - I worked until 11:30, drove to Cedar Wood in Bothell for my half day practicum, left for school at 3:30 and sat in traffic for an hour on my way there. My busiest week was at the end of May. I had a lot of projects due in class, and was trying to apply for scholarships. I work up an extra hour and a half early all week just to write scholarship applications and essays before work, because I needed to do homework every other free minute of the day. That was a particularly stressful and exhausting week.

When I wasn't working, I was doing homework. Every second I could. I got to class usually an hour, an hour and a half early Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so I did homework during that time. I did homework all weekend. Any weekend that I was travelling or had plans set me behind and I did miss a couple nights of classes catching up, or did extra homework during IT class. I had huge projects due every other week, assignments and lesson plans due every week, and lessons to teach at Cedar Wood. I had 5 classes - about 16 credits. My practicum class, EOT (Essentials in Teaching), IT for Educators, Math, and Art. Thankfully Art was only 8 weeks long, so the first couple weeks in June before spring quarter was out, I had Tuesday nights off. I still don't know how I did it. It's by the grace of God that I made it through spring quarter without losing my mind and with a 3.8 GPA.

The things that kept me surviving through these months were my planner, car, and the Psalms. I love my planner. I took it everywhere (I still do), and wrote everything down. EVERYTHING. From what assignments were due when, to when I needed to clean bunny cages and when I had bunny pickups or work meetings. I thankfully got my license and a car right after spring quarter started. I don't know what I would've done without it. I'll write another post soon about my car story. It's quite a miracle! Pretty much whenever I had or made time to read my Bible, I read the Psalms. They are easy to read most of the time, and very comforting. Even if I wasn't pursuing God every second or even ever day, He reminded me that He was pursuing me.

Even though I barely had time to breathe, there were some highlights. Students at Cedar Wood told me I would make a great teacher. They learned something from my lessons. My CT told me that I made a difference in the life of one of her students. Even though I was only there for 3.5 hours, once a week. My kids at work make progress on their IEP goals. They didn't die or get hurt. One of my students did pull the fire alarm, but we sincerely hope he learned a lot from that experience (we're pretty sure he didn't). We had a talent show, carnival, and Last Day of School celebrations.

It was by far the busiest, most stressful few months I've had in forever. And hopefully it won't be repeated, at least for a long while. But it wasn't terrible. It was insane, yes, and I can't say it was worth it, but it was a challenge that I passed. I succeeded, I finished it, I grew, and I learned so much.

I have several blogs that I have started as I've felt led or inspired over the past several months, but haven't had time to finish. And even though not all of them apply to what's going on in my life immediately, they did at one point. I'll finish them up and post them during the next few weeks. My next post later this week will be about what my plans are for the summer. School's out now, and although I have summer classes and I'm working, everything will be much more chill. I'm so ready for a little relaxation and summer fun!

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Holly

My First Day Project - The First Day

The first day is here. It's third grade, 8:35am, and students are arriving. I'm ready, and here's the plan:

When students arrive to the classroom, I will greet them at the door. "Hi! I'm Ms. Wisniew. Welcome to your classroom! Find your name and have a seat."

Once all students have entered, and are seated in their assigned seats (they will have assigned seats for the first week), I will introduce myself again, talk about some things I like, my favorite book, animals, where I went to school, why I'm excited to teach 3rd grade, etc. We'll go over and practice our Call to Attention. We'll go over today's schedule, which is posted on the board. Then, I will pass out some questionnaires for them to fill out to get to know each other and for me to get to know them. After they have those filled out, they can talk to people in their table group and discuss their answers. While they are working on this, I will be taking roll, and asking students if they celebrate their birthdays. Next, I'll put 2 giant pieces of paper on the board and hand out some sticky notes. Students will write a third grade fear and a third grade excitement on their sticky notes and place them on the papers, without signing their name. Then I'll read them all aloud and students can see how similar their fears and joys are to other students. These are for me to review and use.

Around 9:15, I'll collect the questionnaires and we will go over our procedure for transitions. We'll practice, I'll model, and students will model. We'll begin some name games, where everyone stands in a circle and says their name along with a corresponding movement or hand gesture. I will begin to demonstrate. Then, everyone says the name and does the movement/hand gesture. After that, still in a circle, we will say our name as fast as we possibly can. Then once we've been around the circle, we'll start again, saying our name as slowly as we possibly can. After this, we'll all know everyone's names very well! I'll give students a few minutes to talk in their table groups again and get to know each other by providing some sentence stems or questions they could ask each other. Then, they will show me how to transition back into their seats like we talked about.

Around 10, we will talk about what they want in a teacher. They will talk with their table group and come up with 3 things they agree are important to them in a teacher. Then we'll write them all down from each group on an anchor chart and post it in the classroom. I'll add a few of my own that I think are important to keep me accountable to. Then, we'll talk rules. What rules do they want to hold themselves and their classmates accountable to? Again, we will discuss in our groups and come up with 3 important ones. We will narrow it down to 5 critical rules for our classroom. If I deem it necessary, I may choose to add some important rules they left out. We will talk about consequences and what happens when rules are broken in this classroom.

Around 11, we will go over some procedures we use every day - especially flexible seating and the different group structures that we have, compared to most classrooms. We will talk about things we will learn this year - what they can expect in regards to homework, growth mindset, family interaction, etc. We will go over our entering the classroom procedure, bathroom/snacks/water/leaving the classroom procedures, materials/supplies/tech, classroom library/silent reading procedures, teacher mailbox and turn-a-card procedure. With all procedures, as appropriate, we will practice and model the expected behavior several times. At the classroom library procedure, students will actually choose books they want to start reading.

We will go over our lining up procedure, I'll show them how it's done, we'll practice it a few times, have some students model for us, and then we'll line up for lunch at 12:15. Let's say that they have lunch, then recess, then specialist, and don't come back to the classroom until 1:45. During this time, I'll be going over their questionnaires and preparing the lesson I'll teach when they get back.

Once students return, we will have a lesson on characters and talk about the books we chose for silent reading. I will introduce a book we will read together. We will go over the turn & talk procedures.

Students will have another, 10-minute recess at 2:10. When they return, we will go over our self-assessment procedure and they will have a chance to practice it. Then, we will go over and practice our dismissal procedure, line up, and they will dismiss for the day around 2:45 - 2:55.

Remaining procedures will be taught the next day. On day 2 we will go over all classroom jobs and what they entail. On day 2, they will also have their first Word of the Week (RESPECT), math and reading/writing lessons. They will be assigned classroom jobs on day 3. On day 3, we will also have a science lesson and play with some STEM supplies. On day 3, we will also begin math and reading/writing workshop procedures.

My First Day Project - Classroom Management

Strong classroom management starts on the first day. We will do a lot of team-building exercises, like a STEM project, a name game, and I will give a questionnaire to get to know the students, as well as tell them a bit about myself. On the first day, students will be greeted at the door, with a smile and a, "Hi! I'm glad you're here. I'm Ms. Wisniew." After the first day once I know names, I will greet all students at the door using their name and asking questions about their night or weekend if appropriate. 

Whenever it makes sense, I will talk to my students about what's going on their lives and find things in common - especially on the first day. Students love to know what their teachers' favorite things are, what they like and don't like, and I will talk about all these things. I will talk to my students as if they are adults. Not as little children. 

Turn-a-Card - Each student is given an envelope containing a green, blue, yellow, and red card. A child will use these cards to communicate their feelings. This way, I know where my class is at by a quick glance around the room and can redirect any students that are feeling frustrated or bored before they get out of control.

As part of my classroom management, I want my students to do a lot of their own behavior management. Students will be given journals/notebooks to record how they did at the end of the day. If they had a hard day, they will color the date (on a calendar on the inside), yellow or red. If they had a good day, they will color it green or purple if they had an outstanding day. They will also get a few minutes at the end to journal about what they did that day, how they felt about certain things, what they learned. They will be encouraged to be honest with themselves because this is for their eyes (and mine & their parents, later on), only.

Rewards - Students will be given a token (fake gold coin), to place in a jar when they do something that exceeds expectations, uses the word of the week, etc. Once the jar is filled, the whole class gets a reward (such as party, class snacks, extra recess). Also the procedure will be taught for whatever the school-wide motivation system is.

Consequences - yellow zone/red zone - send a note home, call home, principal's office, depending on severity of misbehavior. Something like not following directions all day or being asked multiple times to do something may result in a note home, and something as severe as bullying, throwing desks, or hitting another student may result in all three. 

Motivation - whole class rewards, self-assessment, calls home to parents/caregivers.

Whenever we have long breaks, before and after a sub takes over, Monday mornings, and whenever necessary, we will review and practice procedures by actually doing them and having myself and students model them. We will do the same with class and school-wide rules and review them often, whenever necessary.

Since I don't know what school I will work for in the future, I don't know what they policies will be with consequences, motivation, etc. However, I will always have a smile when I can, be positive and happy to see and work with my students which will aid my classroom management! Even if I am not always bubbly and excited, my students will always know that what is best for their learning is at the front of my mind always.

My First Day Project - Student Records & Family Involvement

Student Records 

Because I will be graduating with a dual endorsement in elementary education K-8 and special education P-12, I will have a lot of students with IEPs, 504s, or behavior plans, because I will be prepared to work well with them. This will create a lot of extra records.

I plan on having the majority of my records, especially confidential ones like IEPs, BIPs, grades, or student information in my desk.

Students will turn in work in a "turn in bin" on top of the shelves that hold their mailboxes. I will send homework home through their mailboxes - however, I don't plan on giving them lots of homework. I will discuss this more in my post about procedures.

I plan on grading summative assessments and class work but I also want my students to do a lot of self-evaluating rather than having me grade everything. I want them to self-evaluate their homework, their behavior, etc. Inside their bins on shelves, students will have a notebook or binder for self-evaluating themselves. At the end of every day they will self-evaluate their behavior and evaluate their homework at the end of every week or biweekly period.

Summative assessments and class work will be kept for grading and evaluating and then will be distributed back to the students in portfolios at the end of each semester, for students to see how far they've come, or how much they've learned, through the year.

I'll monitor progress through the summative assessments and class work that I keep, to see how my students are understanding the concepts taught. During the day and through formative assessment I will be able to see quickly how my students are understanding the lesson and what they are learning, so that I can correct any misconceptions or misinformation as quickly as possible.

Family Involvement: 

I hope that I get plenty of parent volunteers and help because I believe that a close interaction between the teacher and parents is key to a very successful school year. However, I know I can't control how much they help out or volunteer. But I can control how I interact with them.
It's important to me to start on the right foot when interacting with families, and this begins before we all meet at the open house. On the first day of school, I will to send out a newsletter introducing myself to the parents and talking a little bit about my qualifications as their child's teacher, as well as my contact information and what they will expect from me in the way of family communication throughout the year.

On a bi-weekly basis I will send newsletters home to families, to let them know what we're learning about in class. Parents can always email me anytime, and we can schedule phone calls as well if they have concerns or anything they need to talk about considering their child.

I will call home when student behaviors warrant so, whether great or troublesome. I want to call home when students are doing well, not just when they are having difficulties.

Conferences will be held twice a year or as the school requires. Anything discussed in a conference will not be brand-new to the parent or caregiver(s). Any behavior issues or things their child has done very well will be discussed often or as necessary. Conferences will be student-led, with the child taking the caregiver or parent through their learning that semester/year with a portfolio of their worst and best work.

My First Day Project - Classroom Procedures and Rules

Procedures: 

Entering the classroom - Students will put lunches, coats and backpacks away in their lockers outside the classroom. On the first day and through the first week, they will come in and find their name on a seat, find their mailbox, and find their cubby with supplies and books they want to read. I will greet all students as they arrive and give them 10-20 minutes to silent read while the class gets settled and I get things ready for my first lesson of the day.
After the first day, students will be able to choose what they table they want to sit at. Because of the flexible seating, they do not have arranged seating, and their cubbies and mailboxes are the places to keep their stuff - not cluttering the tables and distracting their peers.

Morning work - Students will silent read, write in their journal, or work on unfished work for the first 20 - 30 minutes of the day, while I take attendance.

Packing Up/Dismissal - Students will be dismissed by table group to pack up. They will line up once everyone is packed up, and I will walk them down to the spot where we meet parents. Any students taking the bus will leave before the whole group leaves the classroom. Once we spot a parent/caretaker, they will give me a high-five, and that will release them from my care.

Birthdays - The first day, I will ask each student if they celebrate their birthdays. If students do not, then I'll collect from each student the day they are born, and not make a big deal out of "birthdays", instead, making it more universal by it being the day each student came into the world. I'll have a calendar with these on the front of the room. For any students that have birthdays in the summer or when we're on a break, we'll celebrate a half birthday or a week before, so that they still feel special. On birthdays, the celebrations won't take up the whole day. At the end of the day, we'll play a game of the birthday student's choosing, and students will write notes to the birthday student saying what they like about having them in their class or as a friend, sharing a fun memory, whatever they want, and then we will share those on the circle rug at the very end of the day.

Holidays - I want to keep holidays as equitable as possible. I will let families know ahead of time when we will be talking about holidays, having lessons on holidays, celebrating birthdays or holidays, and how it will be done (as equitable as possible), so they can make the choice for their family what to do. I also want to talk about and celebrate holidays of students from different cultures and religions, such as Hanukah. Most holidays don't happen during a school day, so I immediately thought of Valentine's Day which is typically a school-day holiday. I won't have students bring homemade mailboxes to put Valentines' in. In fact, before the holiday, I will have students make their Valentines for everyone in class and then give them out in envelopes I provide. The students can decorate their envelopes and put their name on it however they want to make it personable.

Lining Up - Call table groups to line up. Once all students are lined up, "Are you standing nice and tall?" "Yes we are ready for the hall." The expectation is that they are not speaking, have hands to themselves, and follow proper hallway expectations.

Walking down the hallway - Students in front typically follow expectations and know where they are going, so most of the time I will stand in back through the hallway to make sure students are not goofing off and following hallway expectations. No talking and hands to yourself, as well as whatever the school policies entail. Line leader and door-holder will be classroom jobs.

Call to attention - "Okay 3rd graders, one, two, three, eyes on me . . ." "One, two, eyes on you!"

Bathroom - Can go at any time, without asking, but not during carpet time or when I'm teaching a lesson. Only 2 at once/1 boy, 1 girl. Must take a lei when they leave, and return it when they come back.

Snacks/water - any time without asking, except when I'm teaching a lesson.

Students leaving classroom - Whether going to the nurse, office, or whatever else, student must take a lei and return it when they come back. When running errands, students cannot go alone and must have a buddy they will not goof off with. Only 2 students can leave the classroom at a time. If 2 students are on an errand, no students can use the bathroom until they get back, and vise versa.

Classroom jobs - Change bi-weekly. I will choose students at random for the jobs, unless that student did it already. I may decide to give a student that needs some responsibility or work a particular area a specific job. For example, a student that does not meet hallway expectations on a regular basis may become the door-holder. Some of our jobs will be: Door holder (2nd in line), line leader, caboose )last in line and shuts off lights), answering phone ("Ms. Wisniew's room, student speaking"), teacher assistant, librarian, Pet caretaker, classroom custodian, etc. I will not have enough for every student to have a job at once. There will be times when students do not have jobs. But, when they don't, they are responsible for making sure they are cleaning up after themselves and managing their own behavior.

Flexible seating - Pick 1 spot and stay in that spot, clean up all materials, don't distract others, stay on task, respect materials.

Word of the Week - I'll pick a new word every week to be our word of the week. This will be a word that they don't commonly use in their vocabulary, but is either a favorite word of mine, a fun word, a weird word, or a word that corresponds to what we will be learning that week. If a student uses the word in context, and another student catches it, they can get a token.

Materials/supplies - Put them back when you're done, clean up after yourself, use what you have in your cubby (if you have your own pencil, don't use a classroom pencil).

Technology (chromebooks/iPads) - Put it back and plug it in when you're done, take turns (if necessary), only use your Chromebook (if 1:1), stay on task, respect the technology.

Transitions - silent, quick, clean up after yourself. I will have music (smooth jazz, classical, nothing with words), during transitions and students can try to beat the music and be done transitioning by the time the music is off.

Early Finishers - Silent read, work on homework, complete unfinished work.

Sharpening pencils - ok whenever necessary, unless during a test. Don't have to ask as long as it's necessary. Can't be done in the middle of a test. Before tests or other similar work, students will be asked to have multiple sharpened pencils available.

Answering questions - If I'm busy with another student, student must go to a peer to ask question. Can ask me when I'm available. Students are encouraged to ask each other first.

Workshop/independent work - pull students to kidney table that need extra help, data collected, to look over grades, monitor behavior, etc. All students will be given a list of things to complete - whether silent reading, writing they are working on, finishing a math test, etc. At the beginning of the year, students will be given things they can easily do alone and I will be available for help or with any questions, without pulling students.

Classroom library - Students can borrow books from the library during workshop or independent work time. When it is time to silent read, they are expected to have a book already. This is not the time to shop for a book. They must choose a book that is just right for them - at their reading level, on a topic they are interested in.

Silent Reading - not a time for perusing books; that can be done at other times. Students can sit wherever they like and must read for the full amount of time given. This is a silent time; no talking tolerated.

Homework - I don't believe in busywork; homework will be given over the weekend if necessary for the unit or project we are working on, or for students that need additional practice in a topic. Homework will be placed in mailboxes, and collected in a bin above the mailboxes. Students will be expected to read every night for a half hour. I understand that students often can't get around to this, or parents can't sign off that they did it; that's why I have so much time for students to just read and enjoy a book in my classroom.

Tattling/Disputes - My classroom does not tolerate bullying of any kind, rudeness, or not being a good friend. Everyone is welcome in my classroom and should feel safe to learn. However, I know that disputes will happen and so will tattling. Tattling will not be tolerated. If you aren't involved, don't get involved by telling me about it. I will teach my kids to solve their own problems - unless it's a big problem, they don't need to come to me every time. They are 3rd graders. They should be able to handle many recess disputes or arguments over classroom supplies on their own. Whenever something does get out of hand and I need to intervene, I may need to get the class's attention and then prompt everyone to work on something independently while I take some students out of the room to talk. I may also keep a student or multiple students in from recess or their specialist to talk, or think about what is going on.

Teacher Mailbox - This is where students can share excitements, concerns, whatever they have on their minds and hearts that they don't want other students overhearing.

Class groups/partnerships - when students are paired up for partnerships or placed in groups, they will say "Yay!" or "hurray!" no matter who their partner/group members are.

Turn & talks - look at your partner, listen to their words, speak so only your partner can hear, turn back to the front when done, wait quietly. If you don't have partner, ask a partnership to be a group of 3. If someone asks to be in your partnership, you always say "Yes!"

Turn-a-Card - Each student is given an envelope containing a green, blue, yellow, and red card. A child will use these cards to communicate their feelings. This way, I know where my class is at by a quick glance around the room and can redirect any students that are feeling frustrated or bored before they get out of control. Some students may choose not to use them, and only take accountability for their behavior at the end of the day, and some students may be asked (privately), what their color or zone is (or what it should be), for the way they are behaving, and what they need as help to get it back to the green zone. 

Self-assessment - Students will be given journals/notebooks to record how they did at the end of the day. If they had a hard day, they will color the date (on a calendar on the inside), yellow or red. If they had a good day, they will color it green or purple if they had an outstanding day. They will also get a few minutes at the end to journal about what they did that day, how they felt about certain things, what they learned. They will be encouraged to be honest with themselves because this is for their eyes (and mine & their parents, later on), only.

Tokens - Students will be given a token (fake gold coin), to place in a jar when they do something that exceeds expectations, uses the word of the week, etc. Once the jar is filled, the whole class gets a reward (such as party, class snacks, extra recess). Also the procedure will be taught for whatever the school-wide motivation system is.

Consequences - yellow zone/red zone - send a note home, call home, principal's office, depending on severity of misbehavior. Something like not following directions all day or being asked multiple times to do something may result in a note home, and something as severe as bullying, throwing desks, or hitting another student may result in all three. 

Conferences - I will do student-led conferences when I can. Students will be expected to attend the conference with their parents. Anything that is concerning that needs to be discussed will have already been brought up to the family and discussed as necessary. Students will have portfolios of the work they have been doing, projects, artwork, etc. (worst and best), and will talk their parent(s) or caregiver(s) through what they have been learning.

Procedures that happen every day will be practiced as often as necessary, and many, many times throughout the first week. After a long break, Monday morning, before and after a sub, or when necessary, procedures will be reviewed, practiced, and modeled.

Classroom Rules 

Chosen by students during first week.

Rules that I will add:
We are Kind
We are Respectful of Materials and Others
We Care, we Share
We Love to Learn
We will do our Best

School rules/expectations - will be discussed and posted somewhere in the classroom.

Rules will be discussed often or as necessary when students break them. After a long break, Monday morning, before and after a sub, or when necessary, rules will be revisited and modeled.

Teacher Expectations 

Chosen by students on first day.

Some I might add:
I will always listen to you
I will always stand up for you
I will always be FOR you, never against you
I will always help you succeed
I will always help you learn
I will always help you do your best
I will make mistakes
I will learn with you

My First Day Project - Physical Classroom Environment

The next several posts are what I will turn in as a First Day of School project for one of my classes this quarter. I hope you enjoy a little peek into my brain as I'm thinking as a first-year teacher!

http://classroom.4teachers.org/

The physical environment of my classroom is hard to think about because I don't have a lot of choice about how big my classroom will be or how it will be structured. Honestly, I will have to work with what I have once I know what I get.

I like the classroom setup above, although in my eyes it's not perfect. I hope to have flexible seating in my classroom, with only a couple tables and chairs for students, no desks, and lots of comfortable seating space elsewhere.

However, I hope to have tables and not desks because I want to foster a space of community and collaboration. I want my students to work together with projects and tables (rather than desks), is the best way to facilitate this. My students will not have assigned seating, however each table will have a certain number so that I can dismiss students by table group or assign them a specific seating when necessary. That's why there are so many shelves behind them - they will have their own labeled bin(s) for their things, but no specific place to sit each day. I will be doing this because I want my students to work with all of their peers, but I also want them to choose not to sit next to someone that they may be distracted by.

The many sofas and beanbag chairs are symbols for the variety of seating I want to offer my students. I want to have a kidney desk to work with students that need more individual support, whether they are performing below or above grade level. I want to have a book nook in one of the corners. No matter the grade level, I think reading is so important and I will have a classroom library where students can check out books that are just right for them. Books will be stored in the book stands and shelves at the nook, separated by genre and series or author.

My teacher desk is off in the corner because I don't think my desk should take up a lot of useable space for the students. On my desk, I want to have a teacher mailbox, where students can send me concerns, something going on in their life, or just something they want me to know without the fear of being overheard by a peer or being looked at as we talk. I can reply to them in their student mailboxes near the door. All of my classroom supplies will be stored in the storage section of the classroom map above, as well as in the shelving along the wall, and cupboards throughout the classroom - assuming those are provided in my room.

My door will almost always be open, and on the inside of the door I want a large piece of white paper that goes down the full length of the door, that looks something like the picture below (pinterest). I saw this first at a practicum placement a couple years ago and really loved it.

Near the door, I want a poster that is called the Shout Out Wall - a place where students will "shout out" one of their classmates for being kind, helpful, a good friend, etc., before they leave each day. Students will also have class mailboxes and there will be a turn-in bin on top of the mailbox shelf.

On the walls, I want to display class work and anchor charts of units we are studying, but on the first day, the walls will be pretty bare. There are a few anchor charts that I really want to have up, that will let the students know what is expected of them, and what they can expect from the first day and on, such as our Flexible Seating, GROUPS, Growth Mindset and Turn & Talk expectations. All pictures from pinterest.

Some anchor charts that I will have posted but couldn't find examples for would be classroom rules, school-wide rules, and expectations that the students have of me and what they want in a teacher. On the first day, I want to develop these charts with my students, asking them what they want for rules and expectations, and what they look for in a good teacher that will make them feel safe and free to have fun learning.
The anchor chart with classroom rules and expectations may look something like: In This Classroom We . . .
Show Respect
Are Kind to Others
Love to Learn
Or something similar depending on the grade level and my individual students. These will be coming from them, not just me, after all!

By the time I have my own classroom, I am guessing that most, if not all, schools within the Everett School District (where I hope to teach), will be 1:1 with students and chromebooks. That being said, I am assuming that by the time I'm teaching I'll have a class set in a huge portable charging unit. Most schools don't have desktops anymore so I assume the only one I will have is mine on my desk.

At the front of the room, I will have a small table with projector and classroom supplies - and a screen for the projector and either a chalkboard (do schools still use those?)/whiteboard/Smartboard to show visuals and display learning targets during lessons. I also want the schedule to be listed on the whiteboard/Smartboard every day, where the students can see it easily and know what will happen next.
On the board I also want to have a word-of-the-week - something that students don't normally use in their vocabulary, and whenever I or a student hears another student saying the word, the whole classroom can get a token in a jar that can earn them something once they reach a certain amount (or something like that).
Near the front of the room, I will also have classroom jobs posted that will change occasionally so each student can try out every job. I want to have student work posted as well, so that the students can claim their classroom as their own. I will also have a calendar with birthdays or day of birth marked to make that day a little extra special for the student.

I want to have a classroom rabbit as well - but this is also something that I don't have 100% control over.

Overall, I want my classroom to very inviting and friendly, a place where students want to be, a place where they feel safe to be vulnerable and do their best. I want to have quotes or pictures on the walls that give them encouragement.