Back to School Series- Part 2 {Planning the First Three+ Days}

     The classroom is setup, the room is clean, tidy, and organized. The first bell of the first day of school is only minutes away. Remember that feeling? (Those new teachers, just wait, it is an amazing feeling!). And then you realize that you haven't planned a good ice breaker activity. (Now to finish like a beginning writer in 6th grade) and then you woke up! The End!

Okay...okay... That was a bit dramatic, but I wanted to drive home the point that you need to have a great plan in place for the first three days! Why three? I can't tell you that exactly, other than that is what I have found gets me into my groove. Also, because those three days are not a typical schedule in my classroom. I am able to, over those three days, slowly and methodically channel my students into a schedule that they hit the ground running with on the 4th day. Magic? Nope. Experience? Yup! This will be my 14th year of teaching. I think, THINK, that I am starting to get a grip on it.

Let me kind of show you my first three days. Nothing set in stone, and each year I tweak it a little to match the incoming class. (This year will be different because it is the first time in 9 years that I won't know my students at all- I just moved schools).

DAY 1-
*Students come to class and have an activity that has them scour the room. It's like a scavenger hunt. They have to look at the rules, the lunch calendar, find where the pencil sharpener is, etc.
*Once the bell rings, I have the students take their seats. I introduce myself and talk about what they can expect, what I expect, and the awesome activities we are going to do (like make pyramids, cell models, dance festival, and more- I REALLY build this part up!).
*Next we have the "You are big kind now and you stink, so shower and wear deodorant." Yup, I say it just about like that. They giggle and get embarrassed, but it is an important part of our first day!

Then we go outside and do a team building activity. I do about 4 outdoor team building activities on the first day. The students are used to being outside and in unstructured time. I keep that in mind as I plan out these first few days.

Once we come in, I do a math game or a science game...some academic topic, but in game form. This gives me a chance to find out about what they can and can't do.

The day continues in this fashion. Learning and team building activities mixed with a review of the rules (which I choose, and the students DO NOT help make), and we practice our attention signal, we practice lining up, walking down the hall, AND, fire drill line-up. I time them to see how fast they can do it correctly. If they run, shove, push, or goof off, I add time to their score. I keep track for the whole year and challenge them to get better with each drill!

Phew.... Okay, so that is the basic day.
But, I always, let me repeat, ALWAYS have about 5 extra activities planned. Maybe it won't take the 30 minutes I scheduled to explain how to use my library on the first day, and now I have 15 minutes. ROOKIE MISTAKE ALERT! DO NOT JUST LET THEM HAVE FREE TIME THE FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL! NO NO NO!

This is where you pull out your extra activities. I have a couple fun free ones in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop you can check out, like my Meet Your Classmates. A fun and interactive activity. Click HERE to check it out.

Day 2-
I do several of the same TYPES of activities. I only go outside 2-3 times. This is where I try to wean them. I stick in a regular lesson (say a writing lesson- but disguise it as a cooperative writing activity about what they WISH their summer had been like). We really hit the rules and procedures again on day 2. I want them to know and know that I know, they know them. I also send home a simple homework assignment, like tell your parent 3 things you learned today.

Day 3-
This day is 90% a regular schedule day. I usually do one outside team building game, and then we review rules between lesson and activities that are geared towards a regular routine.

SO... as you can see, I keep my students super busy and focused during those first few days. I mix in summer type outdoor games, with team building and academic activities, that get them excited to be back.

On Day 4, I do a quick rule review, and then we are off and running in a regular schedule with full length lessons and (more on this later) accompanying homework.

So, there you have it! Mr. Hughes' First Three Days of School Secrets Revealed!

Enjoy and let me know a couple of favorite activities that YOU do on the first few days back!

Day One ROCKED!

Well, the new year has officially begun and this educator had one fabulous day. I was very pleased with how amazing my class behaved and how much fun we had (at least I did, and I think most of the students did too). We were able to get so much done today and I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

On a tragic note, we went to unload our camera last night (that we hadn't unloaded for almost a month) only to find that the data was corrupt. We lost all our vacation pictures, my oldest son's birthday party, and lots of fun pictures of the kids. I was SO angry last night. Frustrated. Annoyed. Helpless. I hate feeling that way. It affected my sleep and so I have been exhausted today. So, if anyone out there has pictures of our family from Mid-July to today, PLEASE send them. We lost the reunion at Bacon Park as well. It is very disappointing to us. Please share any pictures you have. My wife is devastated to have lost so many of her pictures. :(

My little family did well while half of us were at school. My wife played clean up the clothes and washing them. She is SO amazing. We are still waiting to hear from her internal medicine doctor on the results of her latest tests. We are hoping that the infection hasn't moved else where in her body- which is a concern this doctor has. She has a couple of appointments in September and then one in November and then we hope to have these slow down for a while. We got the final bill on her hospital stay. It will be expensive, but nothing like it could have been. I do plan to send a letter to a doctor I know sharing what he wanted to know- TOTAL out of pocket expenses. I then expect him to help out as he has promised MULTIPLE times, but never followed through on.
I figure he ought to help out on something.

Well, it is getting late and it is time for bed.

Later...

1st Day of School and Loving It

Today had many, many good points!

• It was the first day of school. I wasn't nervous about the year this year at ALL! I don't know if that is confidence from having planned out my week and year so extensively that I was just comfortable starting, OR if these masters classes are making me more confident...I don't know. It was nice to sleep fairly well (woke up a couple of times, but not school dreams related).
• THE LAST BOOK OF THE HUNGER GAMES SERIES CAME! Of course it comes today when school starts and masters classes. But since my wife is into the series too (ha ha- I told you honey!) we have decided to simply read out loud to each other each night for the next 6 months (kidding) until we get through the book. I am very excited to READ this book (or listen as the case may be).
• Made it through my masters classes. I was actually relieved to get the first class over with. It is nice to know what to expect for the semester. I am currently taking educational law and program planning and evaluation. Both will tough in the reading department, but there are few papers this semester. It is more of group and individual presentations. I would much rather do those anyways. Ed law will be interesting. We will be reading boo-ku court cases and talking about them, but I am thinking it will be interesting. I may even share some of the learning or cases I have to read (I have to do presentations on 4 different cases).
• When I got home from school today, my one year old came running to me with a giggle. I hugged him and talked to him and then put him down. He proceeded to walk to the front door and put his back to it so I couldn't leave. I laughed. I walked into the bedroom and he did the same thing. Closed the door and stood in front of it. I think he wanted me to stay home. Unfortunately I had to leave for class. When I got home tonight, he stood in front of the door again. Followed me to my closet and closed the door while I was changing and stood in front of it, in the bathroom, and the backdoor AND the side door. I really think he was determined to block any door I was around. What a cutie!

There weren't many downers in my day, other than it has been a really long day AND I had to order about $200 worth of textbooks for my classes. That part isn't very fun. Oh well, it is motivation for getting good grades in my classes- if I don't, I don't get reimbursed for them, and that would be bad...that would be very, very bad...

Well, it is getting late and I would like to actually visit with my wife before I collapse with exhaustion. She has been canning pears all day, bless her heart. Ummm...they will sure taste great this winter. 

Later...

Tomorrow is the Big Day...

A quick post before heading to bed...after all tomorrow is the first day of school.

Went to the district opening institute (as they call it here) and had a great time visiting with the other 6th grade teachers. That is always my favorite part.

Returned home around 3pm and worked in my room for a while. When I found out my Masters Classes Syllabi's were on line, I got totally distracted by them. That just means I have a little work to do in the morning before school starts. :) That is okay. It is going to be a great year!

After school tomorrow I will need to run home and get ready for masters classes- BLAH! I hate that they start the same day as school. BUT, this is my last fall semester in the program. If I survive this (and I will) and Spring semester, I will be done- DONE! Bwahahahaha

Anyways, I still need to get a few things if order for tomorrow sooooooooo...

Let the Adventure Begin...

Later...

Day 1 of 180

Okay,
I promise this isn't a countdown. Today was the first day of class and it went really well. I am pleased with the ability almost all of my students showed in following the rules and being good. I look forward to seeing if they will have the wits to continue to follow the rules so we can do all the fun things we missed out on last year.

My first night of Master's Classes went well too. We have a small class of 9 and it will sure be nice to have these classes spread out over 15 or so weeks rather than 8 weeks. I believe that this will be a "do-able" task. It is also nice to have Ms. D in classes with me. We laugh and chat.

Well, it is late and I am exhausted.

Later...

The Wait is Over!

Wow! I can't believe that it has been so many days since I last posted! Man, Time just sneaks up on me. So, sorry about the delay.

Life has been a whirl-wind. I think I last posted on Saturday. (Crazy!) Sunday came and went. For more on that, check out http://ldspointofview.blogspot.com/. Monday was a great day. I had to be up by 5:30am so I could carpool to our district offices 90 minutes away for opening institute (teacher pep rally, basically). Headed home around 1pm and went and helped a member of my church clean his house as a surprise for his wife's b-day. So I did that until 3:30 when I had to run to the school for our first faculty meeting, and then back to my friend's house to help finish cleaning. (My wife and kids came back with me- my wife made the cheese cake). We had to leave around 7:30 to come home and do FHE and do father's blessings for school. I also had some pre-first day school things to get ready. Was able to be in bed by 11:00pm. Pretty early considering the last few weeks bed time.

I was up early this morning and at school by 7am. I was lucky enough to get two new students today. So I now have 24 students. AHH! My room isn't designed to hold that many students. I had a great day. I have a good class and we had a lot of fun doing some team building activities and games. My oldest had a great first day as well in 3rd grade. He is such a great boy.

After school I was able to relax and plan for tomorrow, come home and mow my lawn and water the garden (thanks honey for helping with the watering), and then during dinner I received a call from the 2nd grade teacher asking for help moving some furniture. I stopped by and picked up the high school science teacher (who happens to be a good friend) and we spent about an hours moving a washer, dryer, fridge, oven, and sink back into place. She wanted to pay us, silly lady! I did because it is the right thing to do. Got home to find our dishwasher had leaked water EVERYWHERE! So no dishwasher for a while. I think it needs a new seal. So I will looking in to that. All the kids have runny noses, and the baby is teething so he is sick with horrible congestion and high fever. Fun stuff at night when he only sleeps for 40-90 minutes at a time. But that is okay. I can't believe that the timer has counted all the way to zero! Crazy stuff.
Well, since it is late again, I am off to bed- More tomorrow! Peace!

P.S. My dad's knee surgery went really well. They are expecting to be home by Friday. YEA!

Finally, I Feel Ready! (Almost)

Ok, So I am not 100% done in my room, but I have my first day ready to go, the tables are ready with new crisp folders, and the room feels clean and welcoming. I agree with Damien Riley, a 4th grade teacher in CA. Teachers deserve praise the public doesn't even know they should be giving. (Read about it by clicking HERE.) He had a great point. I am very excited for the new year, just worn out from the long drawn out summer. But that is okay.

I think I found a new favorite quote. My kids were watching a new Garfield cartoon. Garfield was having a hard time getting what he needed to do done. He had this to say, "Every time I think I've hit rock bottom, someone hands me a shovel." This totally reaffirms the fact that it can ALWAYS be worse, so buck-up little campers and get on with it. So remember that as you go about this school year- someone could always hand you a shovel. It could always be deeper. Of course, when you are in trouble is not the time to be looking for the shovel... However that is another topic all together.

The last couple of days I was in a training session for level 5. I can't remember if I explained that, but whatever. It was long and I struggled to stay awake after all the long nights of watching the Olympics.

I was able to make it home by noon and water the garden, grass, pick the cucumbers (WOW we got lots), and work in my room. All this before my parents invited us up for pizza. My dad is going in on Monday to have his other knee replaced. So I will be mowing their lawn and other odd jobs for the next few weeks.

I think that about catches you up on my crazy life for the past few days. Remember to tell your friends about my amusing life! (and have them check it out!)

Later...

Bad Slacker, Bad!

So I totally feel like a slacker for my neglect on posting the last couple of days, but I have done anything but slack off! I have been busy, busy, busy!
Let's see, I last posted on the 7th, so this is what has happened:
On the 8th, I spent the entire day (ok, not the ENTIRE day, but most it) at the school actually making headway and feeling that I might actually pull off the first day of school! (We'll see how that actually comes off). I also found out that I was WAY under-insured on my house. So I had to almost double my coverage! But at least now if my house burns down I can actually build a new one.
As for yesterday (the 9th), I took my little family to the Castle Valley Pageant. It was a blast! It rained pretty hard for the first little bit and then cleared up. It was a wonderful and touching. It reconfirmed my beliefs (I think we need that from time to time) and reminded me yet again why I feel, say, and do the things I do. Anyways, this is best left for my new blog: http://ldspointofview.blogspot.com/ so check that out for more of this talk! :) We missed the opening ceremonies and got home late (like 12:30) and I crashed.

Today, August 1oth, has been a really good day. I was able to tutor this morning and help my mom pay some of her on-line bills (which I enjoy doing and she saves postage- not to mention she gets to live in the 21st century) and then I headed to the school. After 6 hours of working I got a ton done. A lot of the little things got done that needed to be done and I am now free to move on to getting serious about planning out my first week. I do a lot of community building with my class. We do a lot of interaction games and activities and slowly add in the math and writing and everything else. The kids like the approach and I like that they seem to get along better and have more fun. Anyways, my wife and kiddies showed up for the last couple hours and were my helpers/slaves. My amazing wife was able to organize all my math manipulatives and supplies (markers, crayons, etc.) that the students use. (Thank you Honey! You are a life saver). We came home and I was able to mow that lawn (even with all the dead spots we are getting :( ) but couldn't water the lawn or finish the garden as the water was too low in the gravity ditch. Oh well!
I am excited however about inside the house. We bought new window treatments for our game room/exercise room. The previous owners had hung vertical blinds that were designed to cover a sliding glass door. TWO of them side by side and they took up the whole wall for two smaller windows. I had NO sorrow in my heart as those babies hit the carpet! Then we hung a nice curtain rod and tan/brown suede curtains. It looks really cool (I know, I need to be better about including photos with my posts- I do try. Just like Pod casting, I am SO FAR behind on that- Oh Well!) We had just finished dinner after hanging the curtains when my parents walked in and said they were watching the kids while my wife and I headed to the church to see a couple who was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They had the most amazing cakes. One was a grand piano and the other was a mountain camping scene. While there, I also got to visit with the mom of one of my soon be students. My little family is really good friends with the mom's daughter who is in college. She(the daughter) is coming to dinner with our family tomorrow. YEA! The kids love her to pieces and she is so good with them.
Well, the Olympics will only be on for a short while longer and I want to watch. So I hope these ramblings made sense. Nothing too humorous or crazy! Enjoy- Tell your friends about this blog. I mean, who can't relate to my crazy and usually problem riddled life! :)
Later...