Project Organization Phase 6: Substitute Info

Now that you have created an organized spot for your plans, it's time to focus on plans for a substitute.  Most classroom teachers I know use a binder.  As a substitute my favorite class to sub in was Mrs. Dunn's class.  She taught kindergarten and was well prepared for a sub.  I opened her sub binder and it walked me through her entire day.  For the morning meeting, I had basically a script to follow which showed me how she gets her students focused and the types of questions she asks them during the activities. 

As a resource room teacher, I don't feel that I need a binder explaining all of that.  A folder works well for me.  I chose a purple folder for my sub folder.  It's the only folder in my room that's purple.  I keep it on my desk and it's clearly labeled as my sub folder.  I used double sided tape to add the most important information on the cover of the folder (behavior plan, class rules, location of materials, who to talk to for help).  Inside there is a map of the school with important locations marked, a 1 page summary of what to do in an emergency, How was your day sheets and what to do if there are no plans. 

My emergency sub plans are simple and never have to be updated and here they are: Please follow the schedule on my desk for the correct day of the cycle (1-6) and push into the classroom.  Assist the classroom teachers with their lessons and students with their independent work.  DONE!

Sometimes it's nice to not have a class :)

If you are struggling with what to put in your sub folder, google it!  There are a ton of examples online like this one: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/SubFolder.pdf

Project Organization Phase 5: Planbook

This project is creating an organized planbook which is really more than just a planbook.  This is something that you should have fun with - make it your own because you should be spending a lot of time with this through the year.
Materials:
-Binder with view pockets in the front for a cover (2" is probably good)
-Set of dividers
-Page protectors (optional)
-Zippered pouch (optional)
-3 whole punch that goes in a binder (optional)

You can make this as simple or as complicated as you would like.  The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to keep in your binder.  Create a tabbed section for each item you want to have in the binder.  Here are some to choose from:
-Student birthdays
-Calendar
-Schedule
-Test Accommodations/IEPs
-To Do lists
-Lesson Plans
-Old lesson plans (previous quarters/months)
-Travel Logs
-Attendance
-Meeting Notes
-CSE Agendas
-Lesson Planning Guides (list of goals or state standards, curriculum maps, blooms taxonomy etc...)
-Parent communication
-Staff Directory
-Handy Lists (favorite websites, future lesson ideas, whatever you might what to refer to when planning)

I don't recommend using all of these.  I have 5 sections in my binder (plans, to do lists, travel logs, meeting notes/cse agendas, and calendars) plus birthdays in the front and a blooms sheet in the back cover.  I recommend spending some time on the actual sheets that you are going to fill your binder with.  Put cute graphics on your to-do lists or lesson plans.  Make a decorative cover for the binder.  Put family pictures on the back cover.  The simple act of creating a binder is simple.  Making your own can get time consuming.  Make it however you would like it.  Have fun!

Project Organization Phase 4: Desk Files

Materials:
Stacking letter tray (5 or 6 slots)
Colorful/decorative file folders

If you think back to phase 1, I had a warning at the bottom.  We end up with piles for a reason.  Unless we change our habits, we will still end up with piles.  Having a stacking letter tray on your desk (I like to have 5 or 6 slots) will make a small dent in this.  I bought colorful file folders from Michael's dollar bins.  Each folder has a label:

Before I leave
To Do
To File
Read and Sort
Keep on Hand

I can fit quite a bit of paper in those files.  That might not be a good thing but it does keep my desk clear of papers, for a while at least.  Pictures to come.

Project Organization Phase 3: Special Ed Binder

Materials:
-Binder
-Dividers

I remember sitting in new teacher orientation at my district.  At least 5 times the mentors said, "If you have any questions or you need help with a student or lesson, talk to a special ed teacher."  That's when I knew I was in trouble.  I was just as new as everyone else yet I was expected to be able to fix problems for everyone.  Chances are, you will be a valuable resource to the rest of your building. 

I quickly gathered all the forms that my buildings/district use.  Referral to special ed form, RtI referral form, Aide justification form, Parent input forms for the IEPs, the handbook that is sent to parents from the special ed office, and so on.  Basically, any form that a co-worker may want to see or need a copy of.  All of these forms went in the first tabbed section labeled "Forms". 

The next section is labeled IEP Examples.  This is where I keep sample IEPs.  My co-workers have let me read some of the IEPs they have written.  If I really like the management section, I'll copy and paste it into a word document titled Management.  I print these sections out as well and put them in this section.

Behavior Plans is another section.  Any time I find a behavior plan online that I like, I print it (and save it) and stick it in the binder.  I like having a hard copy of these things so I can find them quickly. 

Finally, I keep my districts handouts/guides about the special ed department in the last section. 

This does not need to be a project that you do all at once.  I would set up the binder and as you come across papers, stick them in. 

Project Organization Phase 2: Student Records

For this project, you need to choose how you will keep student records as well as what you keep.  The what might determine the how.  You will use either binders or file folders to store your students records.  Choose what you are more comfortable with and what you think you can maintain.

Materials:
Binder and dividers

or

File Folders and a crate or file cabinet

I currently keep student records in 2 different spots.  Each student has a number.  I have a set of numbered file folders, 2 for each student.  They are labeled with "Student Work Samples #" and "Student Documents #".  This system is easy for me because as I sort through my piles, I can simply toss the students work in their file folder.  Sorry the picture is blurry!

My other system is a binder for reading records.  I have a tabbed section for each student (also numbered).  In that section, I keep a cover sheet (fountas and pinnell running record recording sheets) which give me a quick glance at the students reading level progression.  Behind that I have their cafe menu and then their running records and fluency assessments.  

For some reason having these 2 systems seems to work for me.  Next year when I have to do set probes on a set schedule, I will use the binder system for everything.  From my experience, the items kept in the binder tend to be sequential and are ready to go for meetings. 

All you need to do is gather the work/documents you have now and file it into one of these systems.  This project isn't as visually pleasing as the first one, but the next time you have a meeting about a child you will feel the benefits of this!

Project Organization Phase 1: The Piles!

I just spent the past 3 hours reading another teachers blog which promised to organize me.  It wasn't helpful.  I did get a new behavior chart idea that I may use for next year but overall this wasn't a good use of my time.  I liked her concept: giving everyone assignments each day to complete projects (ultimate plan book etc...).  Here is my quick organization guide:

1. Get supplies.  You will need file folders - hanging and the ones that go in the hanging ones, pens - markers - sharpies or whatever you want to label file folders with.  I don't recommend labels because you need to print them.  The goal here is to quickly start your filing system and keep it organized.  If you have to print a new label just to file a piece of paper, it won't be filed. 

2.  Gather the piles of papers you have laying around.  You know you have them and you know how they get there.  You run to the copy room to get stuff ready for the next 3 months.  You spend your whole prep copying and then you realize you have to go get kids - like now!  And so the stacks are born.  Those papers get thrown on your desk and they stay there until you get frustrated, overwhelmed, or ambitious.  I had a ton of stuff printed out that I ended up recylcing today because the papers ended up getting lost in my piles and my plans for them had changed. 

3. Armed with your filing cabinet (mine is plastic from walmart), file folders and markers/pens/sharpies/labels, begin sorting through the stacks.  Don't organize the papers first - that wastes time.  Pick up 1 paper at a time.  Decide whether or not you need to keep this.  If you do, create a file for it.  Be smart about your labels.  Don't mark one folder "Reading" because you know that folder will be filled in about 2 minutes.  I have a folder for visualizing, making predictions etc...Breaking the labels down by skill will make planning easier.  I can also jot down lesson ideas on the folder itself.  If I have an activity that has many papers with it, it gets it own folder.  Continue doing this until your piles are gone.  You may also need to create some more piles in this process such as a Need to do, need to grade, need to send home, need to take to the office, hang on the wall etc...try to keep it to a minimum.  Congrats!  Your filing system is well on it's way to being organized!

4.  Now that the bulk of your piles are recycled or filed, you MUST tackle the remaining piles.  Start with what can be taken care of in your room.  Today I found a reading level chart that I wanted to hang by my desk so I hung that up.  Next, I organized my "send home" papers into piles per child so I can quickly hand each student a pile when I see them.  Papers I needed to take to the office I set by my door so the next time I went down to the office I could take it without making an extra trip. 

Steps 2-4 need to be done in the same day.  It's not impossible and you don't need to stay after school for hours. You don't have time you say?  Here are some activities you can give kids to do while you sort piles: Practice state tests, center games (fcrr.org!), independent writing activity, independent reading (I do this every once in a while and am always surprised at how many kids can't read on their own.).  It's not a waste of instructional time because these are all things that kids need.  What is a waste of instructional time is being unorganized. 

5.  Relax!  Enjoy the view of your pile-less desk. 

*Warning: To keep piles away, you will need more organizational systems in place which we will work on but until then, you can continue to sort the piles that you accumulate. 

I just found this analogy that I thought might help you so I'm sharing it here:
From Merlin Mann: “Lose the shells”:
The idea here is that you probably don’t have a place in your home or office where you store the shells from every peanut you ever ate. If you did, you’d definitely want to organize them by the year in which you ate them, perhaps keeping separate jars per-month or per-location where you ate the nut. You know. For posterity. But you don’t do that. It would be insane. Once you eat the peanut, the job of the shell is done. So lose it. Ditto dead email. Never organize what you can simply discard; and if you can’t discard it, throw it onto one big pile.

Group Names

I was giving practice ELA exams all day today and it gave me a lot of time to think.  With my new planbook format (planbook.com) I've had to name all my groups.  I now have several groups that could have the same name 3rd Grade Reading Group for example.  I've decided that I want to give the groups names, just as you would reading groups.  Most teachers in my schools use colors for group names.  A few use shapes.  One teacher uses science terms (suns, planets, stars).  I found a set of graphics that has 12 animals in it.  I'm going to use those as my group names next year. 

1. Jelly fish

2. Gorilla

3. Cat

4. Bear
5. Bumble Bee
6. Whale
7. Butterfly
8. Turtle
9. Walrus
10. Kangaroo
11. Bat
12. Penguin
(Pictures from Mrspancake.com)
The first week of school each group will decide what they want to be.  I'll do a mini lesson on alliteration and have them spice up the names.  Their animals image is going to go on their cubby (magazine file).  I will identify the groups by their animal names in my planbook.  I'm currently in the process of adding more center type activities to my collection. I'm going to get bins for each group that will hold center activities that are appropriate for them. Each quarter I'll re-evaluate the activities in their bins. 

I also plan on using the group names as part of a positive behavior plan.  If a particular group is having a lot of behavior problems, I'm going to cut their group sign into X amount of pieces (x will be determined by age).  Each day the group will have the opportunity to earn the pieces of their sign back.  When the sign is complete, they will earn a prize (game day, reading outside, computer lab day).  I feel that this would be too much to manage for every group so as stated earlier, I will only be doing this with a group that has behavior problems. 

Depending on how you plan and organize materials that are coming up, you could also create folders with the group name/image on them to house future or daily materials for the group.  To me, this is easier and more fun that just colors.  If I like it, I'll be making permanent folders with the group images on them.  Make sure you have enough group names to fill all your time slots.  Currently, I am allowed 1 prep and a lunch.  There are 13 thirty minute time slots in my day where I can see kids.  When I take out my lunch and prep, I'm down to 11 time slots.  12 group names is enough for every group to be able to choose their name (even if they are only deciding between 2). 

I hope this gives you some ideas to think about!

Anecdotal Notes

I have several different types of groups that I see daily.  Some math, some ela, pushing in to classrooms and pulling kids out.  I have finally created a way to keep notes for all different types of groups that I like and can manage.  I have a clipboard for each group (9 total).  Each clipboard is loaded with the type of record form I want to use.  My math record forms have a spot for a general idea of the lesson (equivalent fractions), a list of students names (up to 10 students), and then a spot to check Mastered, Progressing, or Needs Reteaching for each student.  On the bottom it also has a spot for general notes and follow up.  3 of these fit on 1 page.  This makes it easy for me to walk into a room, jot down the lesson topic and quickly see who has it and who needs help.  I can also keep track of specific notes I wanted to write and anything I may need to do to follow up.  When it comes time to do progress notes, I have a list of what we did and who understood what.  For reading groups I'm using the CAFE reading conference notes.  It has a spot for the book, level, what I observed as well as the concept we talked about and the next steps to meet that goal.  Each student has their own page (not as easy to manage) but each page has a spot for 6 notes.  All my clipboards are kept in a basket next to my desk.  Before I leave to go to a classroom, I grab that groups clipboard and I'm all set. 

Bulletin Boards

When I was in college, I was so excited about making bulletin boards.  I like scrapbooking and being creative so decorating a classroom should be simple, right?  Now that I'm in the classroom, I have to say bulletin boards are a huge pain!  If you make them seasonal, they need to be changed frequently.  Punching out titles takes FOREVER.  I never have ideas that tie into what I'm teaching at the time.  I suggest you spend 20 minutes or so looking through bulletin board pictures online.  Save any that look remotely interesting to you.  I've found a few that I really like that can be left up all year round.  I have also found some that don't point out the fact that my students aren't on the same level as their classmates.  In August, put up bulletin boards that can stay up all year long if needed.  If you get the urge and time to change them, go ahead but it won't be something that hangs over you head.  Here are a few pictures of my boards:

Genre Study board - Students write the titles and authors of books that fit each genre on a post-it and stick it under the correct poster.

Literacy Cafe Board - The half post-it note marks our current focus.

Dates

Just a quick piece of advice, at the beginning of the year find out when the marking periods end (aka when progress notes are due) and see if you can find out when annual reviews take place.  Make sure you plan enough time before these dates to assess students progress again.  I like to have the most up-to-date information for progress notes otherwise I feel like I'm forgetting something.  My marking period ends Friday.  I started doing running records on students last week and will continue to do that through this week.  My students will add to a writing assignment for me as well.  I like to know that what I'm telling parents is relevant and current.  Make sure you section off enough time to complete these assessments.  My running records (reading a to z) take 30 minutes each for the upper grades.  That means I can only do 1 each day for a group.  If I have 5 students and I need to do 2 running records each to find their reading level- that's 10 days!  Some groups I only have every other day so that 20 days! Planning enough time will make you less stressed. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon!

Behavior Plan

To follow up the prize box post, I wanted to talk about behavior plans.  I have thought of a thousand different "whole class" (by class I mean all my students) behavior plans.  None of them quite work a small group setting.  To start the year, I made a chart with 5 colored pockets (green, blue, yellow, orange, red).  Everyone starts on green.  Blue is a warning.  Yellow, orange, and red mean increasing punishments (owing me time, behavior slip home to parents).  Each child had a popcycle stick with their name on it.  If they broke a rule, the moved their stick.  The problem is there were too many sticks, nobody could find their stick when they had to move it - the time and confusion it cost wasn't worth it.  My new plan is simple - 2 laminated sheets of paper.  1 will have a chart on it with room for names and then checks (the background for each column is in the same colors as the pocket chart.  As students misbehave, they recieve checks next to their names.  The second sheet (which I haven't made yet - I'm still phasing out the prize box) will have a title and thats it.  When students go above and beyond what I've asked them to do - they can write their name on the second sheet.  Those students will be able to choose from a few free options such as sharpening the pencils for everyone or filing for me or time on multiplication.com.  I haven't worked all the kinks out of the positive reinforcements yet but I have a little time.  When it comes to behavior plans - keep it simple!

Prize Box...

...Don't have one!  We teach in small groups.  90% of our students don't have behavior issues and therefore the prize box is just one more thing to manage.  I didn't manage my prize box well last year so I thought that I should create a structure and criteria for it this year - I made it worse!  I was giving the students tickets to reward good behavior.  The majority of the time I'd forget to give them tickets, it takes 5 minutes for them to put the tickets away and another 5 minutes of them surrounding me asking when they could pick out of the prize box and if they could just look in it again.  It's a nightmare!  I wish I could take it away now but it's a little late for that.  Once spring comes around I'm going to remove the boxes from my rooms.  Rewards will be 10 minutes of outside play time or an outdoor reading day.  I did stop giving tickets already.  I'm setting up 2 more prize box days and then it's leaving!  Save your time and money.  Kids will work just as hard to earn free time or to be a special helper.  As I'm phasing out the prize box, I'm slowing teaching my students that when they work hard, they are naturally rewarded.  If John finishes his activity in 25 minutes instead of 30 because he got right to work instead of talking - he can file papers for me or be the pencil sharpener which they love to do - it is a reward for them!

Goal Sheets

As resource room teachers, we do not have a curriculum to guide our lessons - we have IEP's.  In order to write focused lessons, you need to keep the IEP goals in mind while planning.  I have recently created a quick and easy form in Word to keep track of them.  I create a table for each student.  The first column holds all of the goals.  I have 15 boxes next to each goal  for checkmarks/dates.  Each time I write a lesson pertaining to a goal, check it off or write the date in the box.  That way you make sure that you are focusing on each goal evenly.  I fit 5 students on 1 page (some kids only have a few goals, others had a lot).  I also added some cute graphics/fonts to make the form attractive.  I use this is my curriculum.  It focuses my lessons and makes it easier to plan. 

As I've mentioned before (I think...), I also create an "At-a-Glance" sheet outlining each child's IEP.  Last year I made index cards for each student for Test Modifications.  Having these items on my desk allows substitutes/paraprofessionals to easily see what needs to be done if I'm not there. 

I hope this helps you stay organized and focused!

Free Easy Printable Centers

As a resource room teacher, we do not have text books.  We don't have a set curriculum (besides IEP Goals).  I am constantly printing out worksheets that nobody uses because they needed help with a class project instead of the review day I've scheduled.  Of course, when I am expecting the classroom teacher to send work, they don't and I'm left trying to figure out plans in the 30 seconds it takes us to walk to my room.  I've found a solution.  It's so simple, I can't believe I didn't think about it last year!  Rather than printing worksheets and throwing them away - laminate them for an instant center/quick activity.  You won't have to worry about running out of copies and trying to print out worksheets while students are waiting for you.  When 1 student in a group finishes their work before the rest of the group (which will definately happen while your being observed), you will immediately have something for him/her to do.  Being able to use wet erase markers rather than a pencil makes it feel more like a game to students. 

My two favorite websites for these printable activities are themathworksheetsite.com and http://www.fcrr.org/
The math worksheet site is a math worksheet generator.  If you join the website, you will have many more options/types of sheets however, there are a ton of sheets you can get for free too.  FCRR is a website full of reading centers.  They have them grouped into grade levels (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) and within each grade level they have printable activities for each of the 5 components of literacy (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension).  Most of the reading activities are card type games.  I saved everything on my computer (in case they ask you to pay in the future) and I print off what I want onto card stock.  There is a lot of work involved in making some of the reading games (cutting apart cards, laminating them, organizing the extra materials needed and setting it all up in 9x12 office envelopes - I'm also color coding the grade levels so I can tell the students what color games they can play.)  I'll post pictures of some created games later. 

Everything I'm printing from these websites I'm laminating.  Now if my plans change, I need quick sub plans, or my students finish their work early - I'm prepared.  It's also an easy way to build in review of previously taught skills.  My favorite part is that once they are created, there is no more prep!

I hope this post has given you some ideas.  Feel free to leave your favorite center/worksheet websites in the comments.  Happy center making!

Modified Spelling Lists and Phonics

As a resource room teacher you will probably be giving alternate spelling lists.  Start thinking now about how you are going to manage that.  I like Rebecca Sitton's spelling word list: http://rmtc.fsdb.k12.fl.us/literacy/files/1200wordlist.pdf  If you look at other sites, you will notice that this list contains Core words and No Excuse words for grades 1-5.  The core words would be the spelling words. This is how she has it broken down:
Core Words: 1st Grade = 1-30 2nd Grade = 31-130
3rd Grade = 131-265
4th Grade = 266-400
5th Grade = 401-600 and beyond

No Excuse Words:
1st Grade = 1-21
2nd Grade = 1-36
3rd Grade = 1-60
4th Grade = 1-100
5th Grade = 1-150 and beyond

I'm going to pretest my students who need a modified list.  We will decide a start point for them.  They will always know what their spelling words are going to be (the next 10 words on the list!).  From a management standpoint, this is as good as it gets.  However, these students also need to study spelling patterns so make sure that is included in your lessons.  Many of my students are in 4th and 5th grade.  Phonics games are too babyish for them.  I found a neat ESL website that has printable phonics games and flashcards.  They aren't babyish and my kids love them, especially the phonics monsters: http://bogglesworldesl.com/phonics_monsters.htm  Play around on the site, there are a lot of good printables there!

Happy Spelling!

Online Plans

Once again, sorry for taking so long to update this!  I'm finally getting back in control of my paper work/life!  I've been looking for a new way to keep anecdotal records - I say new but I really haven't done anything consistently.  My record keeping last year was basically keeping all of their work (writing pieces, running records, math sheets, tests etc...).  This year, I have been doing long extensive projects with my students and I really don't have a lot of concrete work to keep.  I wanted to write notes in my plans but I couldn't find a plan format that I liked besides the one I was using.

I'm not sure why I even cared about my plan format because my plans are useless.  I only do about 50% of what I write in the plans because of meetings and workshops and projects the students are doing in the classroom and class parties.  I don't have time to go back into the computer and move around what I didn't do and add what I really did.  My plans don't help me from year to year because it isn't an accurate reflection of what was done. 

Today, I found a free (for the first year, $7.95 a year after that) online lesson planner (http://www.planbook.com/).  It allows me to put in my 6 day schedule.  You just click on group you want to write plans for and type them in.  There is also a spot for homework which I am using for anecdotal notes. I can write my plans out for the week.  On Monday, if I notice that Johnny really needs extra help with subtraction, I can simply hit "extend" on my lesson.  That sends Monday's lesson to Tuesday and moves all my other lessons for that group down by a day.  If Mrs. Jones need me to push into the room on Wednesday, I can hit "bump" on that groups daily lesson and it will move all my lessons for that group down a day.  I can add Events (like snow days) and it will either come up as a reminder on school days or you can set it as a non-school day and it will move all my plans down a day.  Finally my planbook will accurately reflect what I'm actually doing in the classroom!  It's worth looking into it - especially if you are like most teachers I know and hate your plan format. 

Happy Planning!

Lesson Planning pt 2

Sorry it's been so long since I have last updated.  In August we put an offer in on a house and we are now ALMOST ready for closing (should be any day now :D ).  I also just put in my application for graduate school.  Needless to say, my weekends (and weeknights) are getting really busy with work that isn't school related and I don't want my lesson plans to suffer.  Staying after one night a week isn't working for me right now.  Every time I plan on staying late there is something time sensitive that I have to do at home (usually mortgage paperwork).  I decided to create a chart of my schedule for the week.  My columns are the days of the week and my schedule is the rows.  I've also included a To Do column AND row.  I can quickly map out my plans for the week as well as a to-do list for each group and a to-do list for each day.  Now Monday morning I can type out my plans for the week and make copies for the week during preps.  It only takes me 5 - 10 minutes to quickly map out my week and by the end of it, I also have a list of everything I need to create, copy, and find for the week.  It breaks up the task of planning into smaller chunks of time which is helpful right now when I only have small pieces of free time! 

As always, I hope this helped some of you! 

Until next time,

Becky

And so it begins...

So as an update to my last post, I do have a classroom now.  If my school gets more students this month, I may be kicked out of it but as of right now it's mine.  I have students in one building but not the other one.  Monday we are meeting to figure out the students at building number 2.  Since I don't have the students that I had last year, I had to go through all of my records on them so I could hand them over to their new teacher.  Looking at my records, I realized that I REALLY needed to change my system.  It's no wonder why I felt like everything was so difficult - I made it 5 times as hard as it needed to be!  I did a lot of pointless work but I guess that's part of learning. 

As for this year, I've decided to use a new system called The Literacy Cafe.  It was created by the same women who gave us The Daily 5, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  To sum it up, The Literacy Cafe is a system that lays out how to display reading strategies, assess students strengths and needs, and how to keep track of assessments, lessons, strategy groups, conferences, and individual student notes.  And to top it all off, all of this information is kept neatly in 1 binder, organized by student.  That means that I can easily bring information on individual students to RtI meetings, parent conferences, and classroom teachers without breaking confidentiality.  The paperwork lays a trail proving that my assessments drive my instruction.  Did I mention that this is all neatly organized in a binder? (Binders are by far my favorite way to store paperwork.)

I'm excited to get to school tomorrow so I can set up my binders (one for each building).  I'm going to keep writing and math data on each student in the same binder - unless the binders get to be too big.  Of course, since all these books are directed at classroom teachers, I'm going to have to modify the program to fit my room but as far as the organization of the records, I'm good to go!  I'll keep you up to date on how the program is working for me as the year goes on.  In the meantime, if anyone has used The Literacy Cafe, let me know how it went and what changes you made!

Welcome back to school everyone!

Reality

It's August 31st.  Students come back to school in 8 days.  In my district, we are required to begin seeing students the first day of school.  As of right now, I do not have a classroom, I have NO students, I have no mentor, and I have no copies made because there is no paper.  I do, however, have a list of 40 half days that I will be out of my classroom.  40.  That number doesn't include annual reviews or workshops. 

So to sum this short post up: I have no clue whats going on as far as my job is concerned but I know that my students will be taught by a substitute more than by their teacher. 

My Simplified Library

Last year, I spent a ton of money on books.  I bought a lot of chapter books for my students, however, I'm the only person who used my books.  The students took them out of the library so they could take them home.  I used my copies to follow along with them.  I would also bring them home on weekends to read so I could help the students do book reports. 

This year, I'm going to keep all my chapter books at home.  That will leave me room on my shelves for my easy reader book sets, professional books, running record system, paper, and games.  I'm not sure if I decided to keep the chapter books at home because it makes the most sense while I'm split between 2 buildings or because it gives me an excuse to buy the Ikea bookshelf I've been eyeing. 

Mailbox magazines and books with reproducibles will be kept at school where I have access to the copy machine.  I'm hoping that this new system will allow me to stay more organized.  If I was only in one building, I'd bring all my books to school but being in 2 buildings, this seems to be the best option. 

Storage Solutions

I share a room in both buildings I work in.  This was great as a first year teacher because I had access to all of the experienced teachers materials and they were right there if I had any questions.  It made my first year much easier!  However, now I'm sitting in a dining room full of books, posters, and teaching supplies.  Why?  Because all of those wonderful resources I had access to have filled the closets of my classrooms.  We aren't allowed to leave books on shelves in our classrooms because the custodians wax the floors.  They need to be able to quickly move furniture.  So everything came home with me!

To save confusion, label all of the books you purchased with your own money with your name before it goes into your room.  Anything that belongs to the district or building doesn't get a label.  Books I could have probably set on the counters in front of the windows but since I was teaching over the summer, I brought them home. 

But books are just one section of a classroom.  I have math manipulatives, art supplies, pencils, paper, erasers, rulers, games, bookmarks, prizes, different types of paper, etc...  I can't take all these home every year.  And during the school year, all of this stuff stays in MY desk because I had no place to put it.  My area of the room was constantly a mess because I had limited the space I had in my classroom.  There is no point in trying to make room for my belongings in the cabinets because they are full of materials that I can use with my students.  To make room for myself in the classrooms, I am buying a few little plastic storage containers from Target.  You can add wheels to the bottom and each unit has 3 drawers in it.  Right now Target has them in 3 or 4 different colors.  I am going to keep math supplies and games in one, art and writing supplies in another.  During the year, I can keep some light items, like different types of writing paper, on top of the units.  At the end of the year, the custodians can simply wheel them out of the room. 

I am excited to see how much more organized my desk will stay with all of that stuff somewhere else! 

Desk Essentials

Here is what I am packing to keep in my desk for my second year of teaching...

First, there is the usual items:

1.  Pen/Pencil organizer - I use a cute coffee cup
2.  Pencils
3.  Pens in assorted colors
4.  Stapler
5.  Hole punch
6.  Paper clips
7.  Rubber Bands
8.  Scissors
9.  Tape/Tape dispenser
10.  Post-it notes
11. Some sort of file holder to keep on your desk
12.  Desk Calendar
13.  Sharpies/Markers
14.  Index cards - multiple sizes/colors
15.  Push pins
16.  Envelopes
17.  Stamps
18.  Decorative printer paper for letters home

Now the "extra" things you may not think about:

1.  $5 in quarters to use in the vending machines
2.  Extra bottles of water
3.  Motrin/Excedrin - whatever you may need (may want to keep this in your purse)
4.  Calming CD's to play while the kids are working independently
5.  A few snacks - in case you miss or forget lunch
6.  Some extra cash for birthdays/gifts, PTA/PTO events, school lunch (I never carry cash so keeping it at work is essential for me)
7.  Extra phone charger, in case your cell dies while at work
8.  A few pictures of family and friends
9.  Paper weights - for when you have the windows open.  Several times my kids have run around grabbing papers that were flying all over the room.
10.  Thank you cards for unexpected gifts
11.  Birthday/Holiday cards

I will keep updating this as I think of more.

Holiday Activities

As you go through your first year as a resource room teacher, you will gather a lot of ideas and materials from the classroom teachers.  Get a 1-2 inch binder to hold your holiday materials.  I bought the dividers that are pre-labeled with the months on them.  I set up my binder to follow the school year (started with September) and added a few page protectors to the back.  I started this binder while student teaching so I had a small collection of materials already.  As the year progresses, I make copies of any activity I like.  I can easily just stick it in my binder when I get back to my room.  I use the page protectors for tracers/examples that can't be hole punched. 

PLEASE forget trying to keep all of your materials in page protectors.  You will not have time to pull out all the papers every time you need to make copies.

Only collect activities that you really like.  You don't have time to do multiple activities per holiday.  At the beginning of each month flip through your holiday binder and make copies of anything you will use that month.  Do your holiday activities EARLY.  If you don't, the classroom teachers will ask you to push in so the students can do their holiday activities.  Happy Holidays! 

Wrapping up the Year

Today I began packing up my rooms.  In one building, I'm switching rooms so I started moving things into my new room.  There is an unbelievable amount of work involved with switching rooms.  On top of that, there was a lot of stuff I should have done before students left (if I had known about them before now!). 

1.  If you have students who are moving to the middle school, contact all of the middle school special education teachers and see what information they want (IEPs, Behavior plans, sample work...).  You don't need most of that stuff the last few weeks of school.  Gather it up and send it out early! 

2.  Write your progress notes/report cards early.  You don't want to do it the last week of school and lets face it, the students aren't learning much the last few weeks anyways. 

3. Start a shred pile/box.  Let the classroom teachers know that any confidential papers they don't want, they can throw in the box (at my school we are responsible for teachers IEPs). 

4.  Go through your filing cabinet.  Hand back any work you want your students to take home.  Recycle any papers that you don't need anymore.  I sent a bunch of  paper home with students as scrap paper.  The kids don't care if there is stuff written on the other side.  Just make sure you don't send another students work home as scrap paper. 

5.  Organize your desk/shelves.  Pick a day and have your students help you.  They LOVE to help and you have 25-40 helpers! Once they leave, you are on your own.  Have students return books and materials you borrowed from other teachers.  They can take inter-office envelopes down to the office.  It will save you a lot of running around the building. 

6.  Find out what materials you need to keep on each student.  I needed to keep draft IEPs for next year, WIAT tests, final progress notes, Running Records, and a few work samples that show their ability. 

7.  Go through your plan book and make sure it looks decent.  We have to turn our plan books in to the principal and you don't want to try to re-write lessons the last day of school. 

If your desk, filing cabinet, and bookshelves are organized and cleaned out before the students leave, packing up is just a matter of boxing books and turning in your keys and planbook.

Spelling

As a resource room teacher, many of your students will probably have a lot of difficulty spelling even simple words.  I have recently started using the students writing as a way to create their spelling word lists.  My plan for next year is to give the students a few weeks to adjust to school.  I will look at the spelling lists they are given in the classroom (and look to see how they are doing so far).  Then I will decide which students need an individualized spelling list.  After getting parents permission, I will use the students writing to determine their spelling list. 
I created a sheet titled "Future Spelling Lists".  Together, the student and I will look through their writing.  We will pick out words that they really need to know and add them to the list.  Set a number of words the student will have each week, say 10.  Assign the first 10 words on the list.  If the student spells the word correctly on the test, put a check next to the word.  If the word is spelled incorrectly on the test, do not put a check.  It can be added to a future spelling list.  If you notice that the student is now spelling the word correctly in their writing, highlight the word to show true mastery.  I am going to keep this list in the students writing folder. 
If you are having trouble finding 10 misspelled words a week, talk with the teacher about current and upcoming units in science, social studies, and math.  Use some of the vocabulary words as spelling words.  Another list could be the names of pets, friends and family members.  I hope you will find this helpful!

-Becky