My Weekly Schedule, Currently, and a Peek at my Week!

Well I have to say...my week ended quite nicely. I got my kids hopped up on sugar and sent them off for Halloween fun and NO SCHOOL FRIDAY! Woo :) It was records day for me, but that's still a day off in my book. And I don't know about you other teachers, but I NEVER get school time to just work on my room, and my finishing my report cards early, I had 6 uninterrupted hours to just organize and work!

So I got my lesson plans done early, and it gave me time to check out some linky parties!

The first one is from Susan at Thank God It's First Grade called What's Your Schedule? I thought this was such a good idea! I love seeing how other teachers organize their day. I unfortunately have no control over my schedule, but I like to see what others do.

 

This is my schedule. I will preface it by saying I don't love it! But it's what I have to live with so I make it work :)

 

 

 

8:45-9:15 Arrival, Announcements, Morning Work, and Jobs

 

This part of my day I like! First of all, I am NOT a morning person and being a late start school is fantastic. The kiddos are all wide awake and ready to learn when they get to school.

 

So when my kiddos get to school, they do their morning routine and start their morning work. Every morning except for Fridays, we do DeeDee Wills' Read, Trace, Glue, and Draw. I bought all three of her bundles and let me tell you...these babies are gold!

 

 

First of all, the kiddos know what to do EVERY DAY. No more Miss M, Miss M, how do I do this? Drove me crazy! Now my kiddos know what to do every single day. Second, this not only helps my kiddos with handwriting, but improves their cutting skills, one to one correspondence, left to right directionality, reverse sweep, sight words, making detailed illustrations, counting, etc. I could go on and on! Try them out!

 

When they finish their morning work, they are allowed to play any of our math station/literacy station games until I start our morning song for calendar.

 

9:15-9:55 Calendar and Math Workshop

 

Yes...I know. 40 minutes for calendar and math...its awful. But it's what I have to work with, so I make it happen. I think calendar is important enough to still take up 15 minutes of our math time because not only are we practicing literacy/math skills, it is am important life skill that I am not going to keep them from learning!

 

Anywho, that leaves us with about 25 minutes for math. Generally, this means that I either do mini-lesson/whole group activity, or mini-lesson/math stations. We do not have time to do all three. And I am usually five minutes late to specials...whoops :)

 

9:55-10:50 Specials

 

10:50-12:00 Reader's Workshop

 

We spend the first 15 minutes of reader's workshop having snack, doing a bathroom break, and watching ABC/character education videos.

 

Then, we do our mini lesson, me time (independent reading), we time (partner/book tub reading), and our read-aloud lesson.

 

12:00-12:25 Literacy Stations

 

My kiddos love these! Our literacy stations include computer station, ABC station, Word Work station, listening station, and poetry station.

 

During all of reader's workshop and literacy stations I am pulling groups (minus the mini lesson and read-aloud). I drill routines into my kiddos and I trust them to do what they need to do while I'm busy with their friends. Plus, they LOVE coming to my table to work with me, so no one wants to misbehave and lose the privilege!

 

12:25-1:05 Writer's Workshop

 

We always start writer's workshop with a mini lesson, and then my kiddos get right to work. They honestly work the whole time. I work really hard to get them excited about books and excited about their stories and they groan when I tell them time is up! I spend writing time conferring with individual students. Right now, my kiddos are in such different places that I cannot really pull writing groups, but eventually, I will do that too!

 

Later in the year when the kiddos are better readers and writers, the literacy stations time will dissolve into reader's and writer's workshop.

 

1:05-1:35 Lunch

 

1:35-1:45 Bathroom Break

 

1:45-2:10 Rest Time/Academic Lab

 

This time is really pivotal for my kiddos. Having a full day kindergarten program, my kiddos need this time of rest. For the first few months, it is just that...rest time. Then, it turns into an academic lab, where students are working on individual reading/math/writing skills.

 

2:10-2:35 Science/Social Studies

 

I switch off teaching science and social studies. We spend a few weeks on each unit and then move into the other subject. We don't have time in the day nor enough material to teach both at the same time.

 

2:35-3:05 Recess

 

3:05-3:45 Learning Centers

 

This is awesome time for my kiddos to learn how to collaborate and play together, build relationships, and practice those skills we are learning throughout the day. It is also a time when I can pull kiddos for extra help. Since I have such minimal time for math, many times I use this part of the day to pull math groups.

 

3:45-4:00 Pack Up and Dismissal

 

So that's my day! Not my ideal schedule, but we manage to make it work! Head on over to Susan's blog and share yours!

 

Next is November Currently from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade! These are so fun to do!

 

 

Listening...to Wild Wild West! I haven't watched this movie in years :)

 

Loving...that I am moving into my new apartment next weekend! It is actually final now :) Woo!

 

Thinking...I need to start packing!

 

Wanting...To not do this grad school project due tomorrow. My partner and I have worked on it for so long already I just want it to be finished!

 

Needing...to get motivated! I have a lot to do today!

 

A Yummy Pin...I've seen this one before, but they just look so good!!! Cheddar biscuits :) Yum! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/170714642097407544/

And last, a peek at my week! We have a late start day (2 hour delay) for PD on Wednesday and a special Veteran's day assembly on Friday, so it's a little different than usual. Link up over at Mrs. Wills Kindergarten!

 

 

Here are my plans! Starting three new units this week :(

And if you are looking for any Veteran's Day activities, check out my Honoring Our Soldiers pack!

Enjoy your week!

Completely new schedule....in March! AHH! (Freebie!)

So I am totally dreading tomorrow because we are getting a completely new schedule! Can you believe it? Second graders totally and completely changing their routine?

It is all for the best, because our pull-out and push-in schedules are going to be better AND it means I'll get someone in my room everyday for an HOUR during reading. Cool right?

So, because of this I have been planning like crazy to make sure that our day runs smoothly and that everyone LOVES our new schedule.

Here is the basic run-down of our day:

8:45-9:05: Morning Stretch
The students will arrive at anytime during this 20 minutes, so I have to be prepared for students who arrive at 8:45 and 9:05. I want everyone to be doing something beneficial the whole time, so this is what I've got.

The students start with a 4-square. They are all review questions and should take the students about 5 minutes to finish. There is a question in each square (based on math/word work skills we are currently learning) that I project on the Smartboard, and students complete in their journal.

When they finish, students look at our Be Proactive board (7 Habits!). Students choose from this board anytime they finish early. If you would like a copy of this, you can get it here!

Book recommendations is something new that we are trying. Most of my kiddos are into chapter books, and I am trying to push the last few in there too!

There are different forms included based on the type of recommendation it is. Maybe they think they'll like the character or lesson taught, or maybe they know someone likes a particular topic like sharks. It is a freebie for you :)

9:05-9:20 Morning Meeting
This is my favorite time of the day! My kiddos share about their weekend, share things they are excited/scared/nervous/happy/mad about. We greet each other and begin with the end in mind (7 Habits!) by going over our schedule for the day. Getting them excited about what we are doing not only keeps me on track with what we are doing, but also helps the organize their day.

9:20-10:50 Reading
Our reading time has now increased from 60 minutes to 90 minutes! Ahh what to do? Luckily, for the next 2 weeks we are working on nonfiction reading clubs.

Our reading clubs are topics of the students' choice that they research with a purpose. For example, if their research is on sharks, their purpose could be Top 5 Most Dangerous Sharks. This way, they have a purpose for their reading and are forced to provide evidence.

They are LOVING this, so we are currently doing this for most of our reading time.

10:50-11:50 Writer's Workshop
I LOVE writing! It's my favorite thing to teach :) I always do a short mini lesson, with modeled writing. Then the students take their writing folders and work on their own ideas.

I call over writing strategy groups throughout writing time to work on handwriting, sentence conventions, story organization, paragraph writing, etc.

11:50-12:20 Lunch

12:20-1:20 Math Workshop
Math is probably my second favorite! We always start with a Problem of the Day. These are short math journal prompts that usually do not have only 1 answer. For example, I might say, how can you make 43 cents? Then, they show me as many ways as they can.

Then, we move right into math stations. There are 4 stations, and the kiddos make it to 3 stations each day, for 15 minutes. The stations are:

• Paper Practice: Anything from our Investigations workbook or any other worksheets to practice important skills.
• Math Tubs: Differentiated tubs (2-3 students share a tub) of skill appropriate games
• Computer: Math computer games
• Work with Teacher

For the last 10 minutes, we do a whole group activity.

1:20-1:40 Recess

1:40-2:25 Academic Lab
This is when most of my pull-outs happen. This is also the time I pull groups that don't fit anywhere else in the day!

2:25-2:50 Science/Social Studies
We alternate science and social studies units. We are currently learning about landmarks!

2:50-3:05 Pack Up/Stack Up

3:05-4:00 Specials
Specials at the end of the day? AHH! I know. Roll with the punches right?

So that's about it. Crazy right? I hope it goes well!
Sarah