Gearing up for a new assignment: 2nd Grade, Here I Come!

Organization is always a hot topic for teachers at the end of the school year as we pack up our classrooms for the summer and take time to rethink the way that we do what we do. Currently, I'm moving out of my high school English classroom and into my new room (and new assignment!) in second grade. This is a huge change, as you can imagine, but the good news is, much of what I used in my old room can stay right where it is. It's not going to move with me, so my successor will simply inherit those resources.

God's Words - Binder Clips

Meanwhile, as I look to my new adventure as a second-grade teacher, I'm imagining all of the ways my classroom and my school day will be different. Here are just a few:

• One class, seven students, all subjects, all day
• Shorter prep times
• Strong support team of elementary teachers
• Manipulatives galore
• More visuals and anchor charts on the walls
• Calendar time
• New class Website, apps, and tech
• New forms of parent communication
• Increased volume of paper flow
• Take-home folders
• Cubbies
• Volunteers
• Elementary classroom management
• Recess duties
• Standards-based report cards
• Daily hugs from kiddos!

Needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I plan to do lots of learning and growing along with my students this year!

Heading into my new assignment, organization is going to be huge. This summer, I'll be getting my classroom shipshape so it's clean, cozy, safe, and a place where learning can happen. More on that process in a future post! 

Cultivate Kindness Market Jute Tote Bag

In addition to the "academic stuff," I want to teach my second-graders to be kind. There are tons of resources out there for fostering kindness in the classroom. Check out my Kindness Pinterest board for starters. Some ideas I plan to implement include displaying words about kindness throughout the room, creating a class mantra, having a Random Acts of Kindness bulletin board, and wearing tees and accessories that point up the same message. Of course, there's no substitute for taking advantage of teachable moments as they come up. Kindness can be taught!

I'm feeling so blessed right now to have this new opportunity at this point in my career. Moving to second grade has infused my work life with new energy and focus. 

I would love to connect with other second-grade teachers right now! Please reach out in the comments, or email me here: aballard (at) camascountyschools.org. What do you love about that "magical" grade level you teach?

Changing teaching assignments for fall? What challenges do you face as you make the change? Tell us all about it in the comments!

Have a fantastic end of the school year,

Amy

Pinterest Boards Full of Back to School Goodness for Teachers

If you're like me, you're already scouring your Pinterest boards for fresh teaching strategies for the new school year. It seems like I'm constantly digging for helpful articles on organization, classroom management, lesson planning, and content area resources. Then in the middle of the school year, I head to Pinterest for glimmers of inspiration to help me get through the tough stuff of school. Whether it's a promise from the Bible or a funny baby animal meme, there's something in my boards to put a smile on my face.

In case you're looking for some Back-to-School teacher goodness, here are links to some of my favorite boards! Enjoy!

Classroom/Content
Elementary
American Lit
Teaching HS (primarily ELA-focused)
Google Awesomeness
Writing Fiction
Teacher Supplies (Okay, I love this one!)
Classroom Decor
Classroom Management
Teaching Vocabulary
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

For the Teacher's Well-Being
Christian Teacher, Public School
Smart, Professional Clothes
Painting
Healing Garden (Take a walk in my garden! It's soothing!)
Healthy -Ish Snacks
Blessings (Can I get an "Amen"?)
Books to Read in My Nonexistent Reading Nook When It Rains
Teacher Gifts
The Florist Shop

I hope you enjoy these Pinterest boards. Have a favorite teacher-pinner? Share the boards you return to again and again!

Snow Day

Continuing the theme of asking in faith, I was challenged on Sunday to ask in faith, believing. What was my request? That day, it was for school to be called off because of snow.

It wasn't such a far-fetched idea. After all, the snow was falling fast, and several inches had fallen the night before. On Sunday afternoon, I asked my children to pray with me. We asked for safety in the weather and for God to give us a snow day.

That evening, I was already planning how I would spend my day off school. I'm on an organizing kick, so I started clearing off the dryer, imagining my newly-tidied laundry area and how much laundry I would get done today with school cancelled.

When the phone rang a few hours later, my husband put the call on speaker. It was a recording from the principal, announcing that due to inclement weather, school had been cancelled. I called my son to my side for a high five.

That's the way I want my children to see prayer. Not that every little thing we imagine will be ours, but that God sees the desires of our hearts, and that He is powerful enough to do anything. His authority over the wind and the waves and the weather has not diminished since Jesus calmed the Sea of Galilee.

So today as I do laundry and my kids play in the knee-deep snow, I thank God for his love. I hope my children will remember this answered prayer for a long time.

Christmas Lights in My Classroom

Maybe it's because I teach high school and not elementary school, but I have to work hard to motivate myself to decorate my classroom. The only bulletin board in my room is small, and I don't feel obliged to create elaborate, interactive displays and rotate them every few weeks. Not that I don't appreciate a quality bulletin board. Some of my friends in the elementary school are savants at creating appealing wall-art that ties together seasonal motifs and learning goals.

As Christmas approaches, I recently realized it was time to make some decorating decisions in my classroom, too. Time to step up my game. Fortunately, I inherited some strings of colorful lights from my predecessor, and I'd picked up a wreath at a yard sale last summer. My creative writing students cheerfully pitched in to help deck the walls. At home, I hunted through storage until I found a small, porcelain nativity to decorate my classroom bookshelf. It may not sound like much, but for someone who often makes the excuse of being too busy to decorate, I think it looks downright festive.

And my students noticed. One even thanked me for putting up Christmas lights. Who knows why it was important to her, but to me, the lights testify of the joy in my heart because of what Jesus has done for me. I hope my fellow teachers who are too busy to change that bulletin board more than once per semester will consider making Christmas the one time they splurge on decor. Jesus came to earth to save sinners. His love is our light and the reason for our peace. Let's share it.

Online Teacher Planners

Who doesn't love the old-fashioned, spiral-bound teacher plan books? They are the ultimate school supply, with their promise of order and accomplishment, their neat boxes ready to be inked in. But this is 2015 already. It's time to store that glorious planner in the Cloud.

So which digital planner is best? There are several viable, free options out there, and I've test-driven two of the major contenders. (I've also paid for an online planner, but it was not worth the investment).

Commoncurriculum.com
Pros: Some aspects user-friendly; attentive tech service; collaboration features

Cons: Glitchy in Chrome; difficult to figure out how to roll classes over to a new year; difficulty sharing unit plans by email

Planboard.chalk.com
Pros: User-friendly to the extreme; speedy tech service answers; easy to attach state standards, including CCSS, to lesson plans; new features added frequently, such as easy collaboration and date-free planning; works great in Chrome

Cons: Few; won't print unit plans (just daily plans), but I think this feature will be available soon

Conclusion: I switched from Commoncurriculum to Planboard gradually as I became frustrated by the limitations of the former. Both companies offer quality technical assistance, but too often the answer from Commoncurriculum was "Sorry, we don't have that feature." The clincher came when I bought a Chromebook and found that my old planner was incompatible with my new browser. I've never regretted the switch, though I can't wait for the ability to print my unit plans.

This is the first year I've done my planning completely online. Yes, I can sympathize with my fellow teachers who still love their paper planners, but there is something wonderful about knowing my plans are at my fingertips whether I'm at my desk at school, on my couch at home, or on my phone in the car. My sub plans look amazing, my adminstrator likes seeing the standards on my lessons, and, not the least of its benefits, my planner loses nothing when the school server crashes. Twice. In one year.

Try a free digital planner for a week. You'll be hooked.

Sadie Robertson "Live Original" 18-Month Agenda