5 for (Freebie) Friday!

T.G.I.F!!!

We made it! It's Friday and hopefully most of us will be enjoying a long three-day weekend. 

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching 

for a very tired Five for Friday:

I'm letting pictures do the talking this week because I'm all talked out! If you stick with me, there's a freebie at the end :)

5.  College Pride Day

Our students had two weeks of summer school (half days) and then we started full days this week. Summer school is a time for character education, establishing routines and expectations, and pre-assessing. Every classroom is named for a college and we celebrated the end of summer school with College Pride Day. Every class debuted their "Roll Call" by performing their college cheer. Throughout the school year, we continue to cheer on our college at our morning pride meeting. It's like starting your day with a mini-pep rally for education!

4.Meet the Press

It wouldn't be the first day of school without the news crews, right? This is what greeted me as I rolled into the staff parking lot Monday morning at 6:15 am. The Baltimore City Police Commissioner was at our school to shake hands with our students as they entered the door. There's 800 students! 

I was very impressed :)  

3. The Joy of Reading

We kicked off our first comprehension unit: The Joy of Reading. Every teacher "wrapped" up their library and the students had to unwrap it to explore. Next, we called students back in groups of five to choose 2 leveled books to keep in their seat sack for independent reading. It was an exciting way to kick off the unit! The general educator I co-teach with has "Library Shopping" every morning during breakfast:she keeps a list of students (5 on Monday, 5 on Tuesday, etc.) and they know when it's their time to switch out their old books for new. We practiced the procedure this week and it's already running like clockwork :)

2. Independent Reading

Independent Reading is one of my favorite times of the day. It's actually my students' favorite time. I'm working with firsties who have specific IEP goals and objectives for literacy. In addition to their two library books in their seat sacks, I created independent reading "bags" for extra support. The bags include 5-6 high interest books and a little reading buddy (mini-beanie baby). If we are staying focused and applying our good reading strategies, we can also earn tools like monster fingers, finger lights, and magnifying glasses. If you were to drop in during this activity, it might look like a hot mess, but there's definitely lots of reading happening around here!

1. Work Your Wear

 

Alison's Work Your Wear Style Challenge started on Monday and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. It was super fun to participate and I appreciated all the kind words and support from the group! Above is the outfit for Day 4 - on the top is the outfit for the challenge and underneath was my spin on it. Click here to see Days 1-3 and please stay tuned for future outfits!

Soooo...I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse at my week! I tried to keep it positive and share the highlights. In truth, it was a very challenging week My caseload is very different from any previous year and there is no doubt I will be learning A LOT! I will be learning more about enhancing the curriculum using sensory materials, delivering instruction in bite-size chunks to accommodate attention spans, and implementing Behavior Intervention plans effectively. I will also have to get better at looking for and celebrating the good ("thank you for sitting in your chair safely"), tracking progress (we shaved off one minute off this morning's tantrum!), and using replacement behaviors rather than saying "no, stop doing that" ("hands in pockets" vs. "do not touch anyone"). It will be a very different year and I will be a very different teacher at the end of it. For that, I am grateful.

Thanks for sharing in my week! 

I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addicts for


Here's a chart I've been using with one particular superhero:

Here's what it looks like in action.

I use "if, then..." statement All.The.Time!

Please click here to download!

I also linked this post with The Daily Alphabet.

I adore this title:

Have a fantastic Friday!