First week--again

Even after all these years, the first day is always daunting. Yes, I still have the nightmare a day or two before school where the children walk in and everything is still in boxes and the walls are bare. But that was not the reality. My black and white polka dotted theme was added to again this year. I made two "of those crate things" as I read in another blog last month. I managed to clean up many of last year's piles of filing, etc. I know, I should have simply trashed them but it's difficult to do that. 

The curriculum in my district seems to be pretty aggressive for struggling readers, so there are many accommodations I need to make. The biggest struggle will be our switch to Singapore Math. Everyone says I will love it but the transition piece is a struggle for me just now. We've got new TEKS coming and are directed to operate under the new ones while our students come to us only knowing the old ones.  I am once again implementing "Daily 5" and making greater efforts to include "CAFE" along with it. Some of my students were exposed to "Daily 5" last year and they are coming along just fine. But the biggest hit last week was the craft we did following First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. It was one shared in Nancy Vanden Berge's blog, Firstgradewow.blogspot.com. It's amazing what skills show up in completing such tasks. I don't have everyone's permission slips back just yet or I'd show you their work.

Is everyone else finding it tough to get back in the lesson planning groove? I guess I've lost it...but it's coming back...very slowly. Well, I must put my chatting on the back burner and get back to some organizing for next week. My goal for today was not accomplished--I still have some goodies to get finalized to share on TPT. 

Later,
Pam