Hang with my buddy Jenny <3 Elizabeth
I’m so honored to be a guest blogger for Elizabeth! I love being here and hanging out with Elizabeth’s followers. You are certainly welcome to visit me, too! I am a first and now second grade teacher and I blog at Owl Things First. I may have to have a name change since I’ll be first and second at the same time. How does that sound? Owl Things First and Second! I’m not going to get into any new construction around that name yet!
Speaking of construction…YUCK! It started here in Michigan before the snow melted…Which was in May!! It was really a pain to try to get to work without running into some. It turned my five minute commute into an eight minute one. I’m always trying to look on the bright side of things though. I was able to turn the construction site into a field-trip. It was one of the best ones ever. My boys especially loved watching construction equipment in action.
Now that summer is here construction continues. Whoever thinks a teacher’s job ends in June isn’t a teacher. Construction time starts for the new year sometimes before school is over for the year. You know what I mean. . . You take time to rethink what went well and what was an epic failure. For me trying to have a listening center with music was epic failure. At least it was a funny failure. Kids put those headphones on and forgot that others could hear them as they sang their little hearts out. We tried all kinds of ways to make it work, but in my small room it just wasn’t possible!
Like many of you, I’m moving out of one room and into another. Construction of the “new” learning community is beginning. I turn to Debbie Diller’s Spaces and Places. This awesome book has over 300 pictures that guide you through all of the steps it takes to construct a well organized classroom that is appealing to both teacher and student. I’ve moved classrooms several times over the years and I always come back to this book to be reminded of important things to keep in mind when setting up your classroom to optimize learning.
How about a freebie? Here is one I created to get my class ready for our field trip to the construction site. I hope you can use it and that your students will not only find it fun, but also educational!
I hope that the roads you travel this summer will be construction free, but if you run into construction remember that our job is to construct our classroom environment in such a way that all students will learn and grow in our very own construction site!
