Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Putting the ACK! in August (or, Why are the stores already selling Jewish New Year cards?)

It always takes me about a month to adjust to the rhythm of the summer. For the first two weeks in July, I dream about school: it's not over yet, it's just begun, I'm getting excessed, I'm being moved to high school, you get the picture. And just when I'm settling into vacation, blam! August hits like a ton of bricks and I start having those back to school dreams. A few days ago I had the one where it's the first day of school and my classroom is completely unfinished, and also it's like the middle of first period and I have yet to pick up my class.

So I took that as a sign I should get my butt over to the school supply store. (Actually, if you really want to know, it went down like this: July 30 -- I get an email from the UFT about our Teacher's Choice allocation money for the coming school year. As always, we can start purchasing school supplies on August 1. Which I don't, because I spent August 1 at the beach and a baseball game, because I have all the time in the world to purchase school supplies! August 2 -- I have my bad dream about the unfinished classroom. August 3 -- helloooooooooo, school supplies, I've been expecting you.)

Then I spent the whole afternoon Velcro-ing little stars and hand cutouts with my students' names on them to Popsicle sticks. "Helping Hands," get it? "Star Readers," get it, get it?! I am 98% sure that, come September, I will regret having put names on all that stuff, as I am 98% sure that, come September, my roster will change, but it probably won't change as drastically as it would if I had an ESL class, and I have extras. Also, those nameplates from Target? Cost one dollar, people, get 'em while they're hot (and boo-yah, Carson-Dellosa).

Then I spent far too much time printing and laminating times and subjects to use on my Flow of the Day. Flow of the Day, by the way, is a fancy way of saying "class schedule," and when I Googled the term out of idle curiosity about whether any other school systems refer to it this way, the #3 link was a Yahoo! Answers inquiry about, ahem, that other flow of certain days...of the month...right, that one. At any rate, my flow of the day (no, not that one) will look all fancy-schmancy, which I'm sure will be a comfort to me when it's the second week of school and all the cute little stars and hands have fallen off their Popsicle sticks.

Meanwhile, those five minutes in July I spent browsing the Everyday Math curriculum? Hmm, probably not going to cut it! But that's OK, because I have the whole rest of August to get Miss Brave back together, right?

...right?

Wait, why are you making that blam noise?

5 comments:

Angela Watson said...

Ok, THAT was hilarious. You get a little wacky in the summer, apparently, and I like it!

Oh and flow of the day? LOVE it. Or maybe flow FOR the day. Might use that. :-)

bun2bon said...

And yet teachers continue to prepare classroom materials like crazy, even though they know those "cute little popsicle sticks" will fall apart/get lost/change names/etc from the moment the rubber hits the road.

Some call it insanity, or naiveté. I call it "hey-let-me-enjoy-this-moment-of-hope-and-joyful-anticipation- now-because-who-knows-what-depressing-things-might-happen-later."

http://thischildleftbehind.blogspot.com/

c'è montessori said...

You do get a little wacky, and as a first time visitor I have to say I ALSO like it. This laminated flow of the day is gonna be spectacular.

I'm also a teacher in the city, and interested+following your blog and adventures now!

mcaitlin said...

my local supermarket has halloween candy already...it showed up around august 1st.

Pigtailed Teacher said...

Good luck with the Everyday Math. I taught the third grade units last year (for the first time) and man, is that curriculum ever fast paced! Forget about the idea of mastery. I was very lucky that the other third grade teacher was so willing to help me get through it. She was a great resource for letting me know which lessons I could skip (shhh, don't tell anyone I skipped a few lessons!) and which activities needed extra days or special prep. If you do a math word wall, you might want to Google Everyday Math and there are a couple good websites from other school districts that have the vocabulary ready to print up...since you might be busy putting those stars back on the popsicles. :) Good luck!
Pigtailed Teacher
www.pigtailedteacher.blogspot.com