The Nesting Stage of Summer
Now that it's officially August, I feel that it's really time to think about "Back to School." All summer I've been reading blogs and tweets and slightly thinking about how I want to set up my classroom. But, to be honest, I have been thinking more about my new role as a math coach. So, for some reason, this morning I had a moment of panic.
Must. Read. All. The. Blogs!
Must. Read. All. The. Tweets!
I feel like I want/ need to decide some things for my math classes. I can compare these weeks before school starts to the weeks when pregnant, before you have the baby, where you want to clean everything, set up the nursery, etc. They call it nesting.
I feel like that right now. I'm nesting. I'm going to Ikea, Target, and the dollar store. I'm collecting new school supplies, bins, and decorations. I'm planning. I want to clean stuff. I want to purge and start fresh!
So, indulge me as I make a little list of things I'm thinking about:
-I'm moving classrooms this year. I get to start fresh... going to get rid of some books/ supplies I haven't used in the past 2 years.
-I want to talk to my principal about moving the teacher desk out of my classroom and not having one.
-Thinking about how I could have rugs in my classroom to make it feel more homey. How could custodians clean around them?
-Bought a little lamp at Ikea-- want to have some "softer" lighting. Maybe get more?
-Bought bins to keep interactive notebooks at the tables, so students can get them out right away, on their own, and I don't have to have someone pass them out each day.
-Want to revise my warm-up routine. Thinking about doing a "Do This or That" format, where I give students 2 options of work they can do for first 10 minutes of class.
-Want to try using music cues this year. I borrowed this idea from Matt Vaudrey. Read more here.
-Will be co-teaching 3 periods with a yet-to-be-hired Special Education teacher. Thinking about how to communicate my expectations for our co-teaching relationship.
-How do I want to set up communication/ recording of ideas with the new math teachers I coaching? Google Doc Portfolio? Physical Notebook to pass back and forth? Both?
-I want to go to the art supply store and buy some of my favorite pens... Stabilo Point 88. (or maybe just order from Amazon.)
-Need to plan pre-school get together with my new team.
-Should I get a little back to school gift for my new team? for new math teachers?
-Need to get new fabric to cover new bulletin boards. Maybe some fresh boarder too.
-Need labels for cabinets
-Need to buy packing tape... I use it for so much: putting labels on desks, "laminating" interactive notebooks, etc
-Maybe buy big jug of white glue to refill glue bottles this year. White glue works better than glue sticks, I've found, for interactive notebooks.
-I'm sure there's more... I'll probably wake up at 3 AM thinking about this. Ah! It's such a fun/ stressful part of the year! Happy nesting, teachers! :)
Must. Read. All. The. Blogs!
Must. Read. All. The. Tweets!
I feel like I want/ need to decide some things for my math classes. I can compare these weeks before school starts to the weeks when pregnant, before you have the baby, where you want to clean everything, set up the nursery, etc. They call it nesting.
I feel like that right now. I'm nesting. I'm going to Ikea, Target, and the dollar store. I'm collecting new school supplies, bins, and decorations. I'm planning. I want to clean stuff. I want to purge and start fresh!
So, indulge me as I make a little list of things I'm thinking about:
-I'm moving classrooms this year. I get to start fresh... going to get rid of some books/ supplies I haven't used in the past 2 years.
-I want to talk to my principal about moving the teacher desk out of my classroom and not having one.
-Thinking about how I could have rugs in my classroom to make it feel more homey. How could custodians clean around them?
-Bought a little lamp at Ikea-- want to have some "softer" lighting. Maybe get more?
-Bought bins to keep interactive notebooks at the tables, so students can get them out right away, on their own, and I don't have to have someone pass them out each day.
-Want to revise my warm-up routine. Thinking about doing a "Do This or That" format, where I give students 2 options of work they can do for first 10 minutes of class.
-Want to try using music cues this year. I borrowed this idea from Matt Vaudrey. Read more here.
-Will be co-teaching 3 periods with a yet-to-be-hired Special Education teacher. Thinking about how to communicate my expectations for our co-teaching relationship.
-How do I want to set up communication/ recording of ideas with the new math teachers I coaching? Google Doc Portfolio? Physical Notebook to pass back and forth? Both?
-I want to go to the art supply store and buy some of my favorite pens... Stabilo Point 88. (or maybe just order from Amazon.)
-Need to plan pre-school get together with my new team.
-Should I get a little back to school gift for my new team? for new math teachers?
-Need to get new fabric to cover new bulletin boards. Maybe some fresh boarder too.
-Need labels for cabinets
-Need to buy packing tape... I use it for so much: putting labels on desks, "laminating" interactive notebooks, etc
-Maybe buy big jug of white glue to refill glue bottles this year. White glue works better than glue sticks, I've found, for interactive notebooks.
-I'm sure there's more... I'll probably wake up at 3 AM thinking about this. Ah! It's such a fun/ stressful part of the year! Happy nesting, teachers! :)
I love this list, as I have always loved getting ready for school and buying school supplies! Which type of white glue do you like for your students--school glue or all purpose? Talk with your room grandmother about this and potential gift ideas for the teachers.
ReplyDeleteThanks room-grandmother! I look forward to your glue gift. :)
Delete