Sunday, September 4, 2011

Heigh-Ho

It's off to work I go!

And I am prepared.

My little checklist is now complete as I have...
  1. Updated our class page on the school's web site. 
  2. Sent off a "Welcome Back!" letter to our students and parents - we are looping with our kindergarten students so we have them all again for first grade and I can't wait to see them.
  3. Completed my class schedule, well a tentative one anyway.
  4. Set up a Discovering the World of Art tour at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  5. Scheduled performances for The New Victory Theater's upcoming season.
  6. Purchased some new children's books including First Grade, Here I Come by Nancy Carlson, several titles by Dan Yaccarino (who will visit us on October 13th!) and Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek & Roman Mythology (specially arranged for children 5 and up) by William F. Russell. 
  7. Brushed up on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which are rolling out the second year plan for NY schools. More on that in future posts.
  8. Written lessons and did curriculum planning for the coming school year.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we set up the classroom and engage in professional development so we are ready when the students arrive on Thursday.

I am also teaching a Beginning Reading and Writing course at Fordham University this semester and continuing my doctoral journey with Dissertation Seminar.  After two months off (two months!) I am ready to plunge back into hectic pace that is my life the rest of the year.

All the best to the many educators out there who are doing the same!

6 comments:

Barbara said...

I'm tired just thinking about all the things you are doing! It does sound like you are off to another terrific school year. The kids in your class are so lucky to get to spend the next 9 months with you. It's great that you teach in a city rich with possibilities!

Gary said...

Barbara - I did all this over time in a very relaxed manner so it was far from exhausing. The trouble comes when I have so much to do and not enough time to work in a manner which is best for me (slow, thoughtful with attention to detail).

I LOVE teaching in NYC because of all the cultural opportunities. It is a marvelous landscape to explore art, literature, theater, history and diversity. It all begins again tomorrow!

37paddington said...

lucky kids! lucky parents!

Ms.M said...

I know your not really part of the whole teacher blog craze but I chose you as one of my Top 10 Teaching Blogs. OK so I cheated a bit and mine is top 15 or something but hey how could I resist? I love your stories. Go to the link below to read more.

Here is the post.

Go here to read more.

Ms.M's Blog
A Teacher's Plan

Gary said...

Angella - Lucky me!

Ms.M - Thank you for including me in the top 10 (15)! I love it! I have actually wondered how one becomes involved in the teacher blog scene. What's that all about anyway?

Ms.M said...

Gary,

You just blog about what you do in your class. So you do part of it already! It is just teachers sharing stories and activities they do in their classes. You also follow other teachers blogs and comment.

If your interested you can find some of them from the buttons you saw on my blog.

What I love about YOUR blog, is that it is not just a bunch of cute activities (which I love too), it is much more. I love the stories. They are funny and inspiring. Even when they are sad or angry stories there is always a point about the classroom or just life in general. :)

Plus being an ELL teacher I can relate to most of your stories. So I might be partial.

Ms. M
Ms.M's Blog
A Teacher's Plan

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