My New Classroom in the Time of COVID-19

I'm a remote learning kindergarten teacher this year.  In my district, this means that I will still report to my school building each day, but will teach students from my classroom via Loom, Google Classroom, and pre-recorded content videos while other teachers' students join them for face to face instruction on campus.  My new classroom is a teaching space that would never in a million years be able to support all of the materials, furniture, decor and experiences that my previous room did, but I selected some essentials that remained with me in the building while everything else was brought home. I hope to be able to mount my laptop (camera) on a swivel stand in the middle of the circle, so as I move from location to location, all I have to do is check for focus and framing, without trying to finagle the right height for my laptop in each location, risking gravity's inevitable assertion.

Here's the "before:"

I've arranged my classroom into three areas.  The first is my instructional "circle," which includes in a clockwise rotation my SMART Board, a reading table, bins full of ELA and math manipulatives that can be displayed via projection provided by a document camera, an art easel for painting and craft table for demonstrations/tutorials, and a big book, calendar and story time area next to a cart that is positioned next to the SMART Board. The second is my office area, complete with desk, second monitor that can be hooked up to my laptop, my bulletin board and curriculum storage, and a large table that I can use to sort consumables, create work packets (hopefully), and spread out curriculum guides or other bulky items if needed.  The last area is the real estate for my bulletin board displays and other visuals such as anchor charts and dry erase surfaces.  

Here's the view from my desk (my SMARTBoard is against the far wall, past the big book stand and storytime easel):

I've been keeping half of the room's lights off and the projector of the SMARTBoard dimmed this past week in an attempt to keep the room as cool as possible.  Even with the help of two oscillating fans, I haven't been able to get it cooler than seventy-three degrees, which, no joke, is almost ten degrees hotter that I like any room to be. There are no quilts or lots of puppets and stuffed animals in my room now because we need to minimize the amount of fabric and other porous surfaces into which I and other visitors to my room may come into contact, but the bulletin boards are prepared and surfaces are decorated as they would be if my students were going to be with me in-person. I plan to photograph our sound wall, a display of our 7 Habits, our sixty Power Words, our math vocabulary wall (it's taped to cabinetry), and the front of our room in case a Bitmoji-style room isn't allowed for reference on a Google Site or in Google Classroom.  Even if our building is closed again like it was last spring, I should be able to use the pictures I've taken as reference materials online. 

To the right of my desk, behind the instructional circle is a long table, rolling cart, and bulletin board/tub storage.  I anticipate this area will end up full of math workbooks, packets, and whatever other resources I might be providing to my students.  Because there's a huge bulletin board in this area, I've put up a sound wall that I can easily photograph for my students' reference.  All of my ELA book tubs are stored within easy reach, though I don't know yet if my students will be able to borrow and use books at home, or if they'll only have access to them digitally.

(Sound Wall printables by Must Love First on TPT found here)

Though I'm hoping I'll be able to teach effectively for the school year from within this classroom, I'm setting up an instructional closet area at home in my craft room should our buildings be closed again like they were in the spring. Over-prepared is better than under-prepared, right?

This year my classroom won't be full of students or their work, creative constructions, or seasonal crafts.  It will be odd, and even uncomfortable. I'll be hearing other children and colleagues as they pass by my classroom each day and it will be an adjustment to only interact with my own students via a screen with little if any time in each other's presence.  It will be refreshing yet unusual to eat my lunch and snacks and drink my water outside for as many days as it is possible.  It will be uncomfortable, worrying about what might be in the air all around me indoors, and what I might bring home with me each day.

No, I cannot take a year without pay.  I'm at least fifteen years away from retirement.

Vigilance. Grace.  Hope.  Patience. "Preparedness." 

I'm not sure they, or my organizational efforts, will be enough.

Show and Share: My Very First Classroom

It's a good thing I found these photos and scanned them, because this classroom no longer exists:



In fact, the school building that housed my very first classroom, and of course, my first group of Super Stars, no longer exists.  It was leveled to make room for a new building that bears the same name as its predecessor:



Mis-matched tables and chairs, very little staple-board to think of (it's on the fronts of the metal sliding/swinging closet doors), and miles of green chalkboard.  This is where I first set up shop:



The two doors with glass... those were my art supply shelves.  See the staple-board on the closed closet door?  Displays or posters had to be stapled on as flat as flat can be so that when the doors were swung open and slid into the closet, nothing would be ripped off.

Certainly edges were torn.  If the walls didn't snag the paper, the little fingers and hands of my students did as they opened and closed the doors each day to hang up snow gear and backpacks, or take it all down for recess or home time.



Our single sink flanked by the classroom door and the only shelves available for my *then* non-existent class library.

Did you notice the baby carrier on one of the tables?  I was hired about three months after I had Dear Daughter, and after the school year had already started.

Dear Daughter will be seventeen years old tomorrow.

My first group of Super Stars are starting their senior year... of college.  Some are getting married.  Others have started families.

I don't feel old.  I feel... bowled over.

All I can think is... wow.


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Did you take photos of your first classroom?  If so and you've blogged them, link back in the comments section.  I'd love to come visit!

I May Have Gone Overboard on the Lamination...

...but at least most of it was done using my own personal table top laminator!

My students drew self portraits:



I cut out white background paper and some smaller polka-dotted paper:



Used some glue:



... and took a moment to enjoy those sweet smiling faces!







My aide added "fiesta" fringe:



...and then we strung up the portraits in a boy/girl pattern on blue ribbon. After hanging the banner up and photographing it from multiple angles, I muttered not-so-kindergarten-teacherish-words under my breath when I realized I couldn't get the GLARE out of the frame! **SIGH**

I'll attempt another here's-the-finished-product photo for you next week.

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We visited a farm today! We learned lots and lots about animals and plants, a bit about Kansas history, and a whole LOT about BEES. Can't go on a field trip without the proper accessories, now can we?

Thank goodness for construction paper, yellow plaid scrapbook paper, black Sharpie markers, glue, a tabletop laminator, silver tone pin backs, and hot glue guns!







BUZZ!

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Productive Day!

Isn't it funny how productive one can be in the classroom when there are no other teachers or students in the building?

I went in around ten this morning and left at three-thirty, and though I didn't touch *any* of the filing I had hoped to work on, I did manage to:

~Get my students' daily schedule written up on sentence strips and displayed in a pocket chart

~Make new desk and cubby tags, laminate them, and get them situated

~Enlarge our word wall with another panel of blue bulletin board paper

~Create handwriting pages for my students using the Zaner Bloser font to spell out their names

~Relocate the Lego table, the computer center, and listening center for better flow

~Set up the discovery table for this week's science exploration



~Make new Borrow Book envelopes



~Prep the photos of lunch time choices on our chart



(The English Language Learner Teacher/Department sent us photos of all of the food item choices for the year so we could have visuals to go with our lunch charts!)



~Cycle out the "welcome to kindergarten" book selections and add alphabet, shape, and autumn books to the reading center

~Set up the light box, colored transparent blocks and overhead projector with manipulatives





It was a good day, and despite the fact that I'm supposed to be "off" enjoying this Labor Day weekend, I just might be inspired to go back to school on Monday and tackle the filing, once and for all.

But not for the entire day, no sir-ee Bob. I feel the need to BBQ.

Need...More...Coffee

I'm ever-so-resistantly moving back to my school schedule. In bed by nine(ish), up at five(ish), out the door by seven(ish), needing another cup of coffee by three(ish). Problem is, if I drink coffee at three, I'll be exhausted but unable to get to sleep at nine.

My toddler has been *so* helpful keeping me on my school schedule over the past two weekends as well. He's awake and rarin' to go at five. Not five(ish), FIVE. Bouncing. Running. Yelling. Happy, smiling, exuberant. No coffee needed. Not a chance of sleeping in for me. I feel no guilt sending in the attack toddler to wake up Daddy and Sister at seven. NONE.

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My husband took me to Lydia's last night for our anniversary dinner. Num, num, and MORE NUM! He enjoyed the bottomless pasta (the servers had a much prettier sounding name for it) and I indulged with a perfectly cooked salmon steak on a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes and (get ready to catch my mother as she faints) green beans! We had a piece of "Happy Anniversary" Tiramisu for dessert, and then attempted to burn off some calories walking through Barnes and Noble.

Finding the newest editions of Somerset's Artful Blogging, Somerset Home, and Somerset Life in stock at B-and-N also helped burn off some of our delicious dinner: jumping up and down with glee is exercise, right?

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Yes, I'm heading back to my classroom today. I managed to avoid it yesterday, though I did take the kids on a bit of a drive to find another teacher store out of town, and visited Goodwill to find a reading chair. Two vests and three purses for the pretend center later, I found a sturdy yet comfortable chair. I'll be so happy when my class finally has that "all pulled together" look, ready for students with bright, shining eyes.

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Speaking of bright, shining eyes, get comfy, and watch this video of Benjamin Zander, speaking about classical music and life, and think about checking the connection you have with your students when you meet them for the first week of school:

So You're Going to Teach Kindergarten, pt. 1

Yay! Good for you!

On the first day you can get in to the school (and presumably, your classroom), make sure to take your digital camera, a measuring tape, a notebook and pencil, your lunch, snacks and drinks for the day, and your calendar. If you have supplies, books, and other teaching gear you'd like to drop off, go for it, but don't plan on opening them!

Here's why: there are a few things you need to do before you wave your magic wand,*poof*, producing the world's greatest kindergarten classroom in cloud of glitter.

If this is your first year teaching at an already established school, chances are you're not the first teacher to use the classroom. You might walk into a completely empty room. You could walk in to find a mish-mash of furniture, equipment, and curriculum materials. You might find that your classroom has served as the storage or catch-all room for the rest of the school for the past five years. Or you might walk in to a fully furnished, fully equipped, almost completely developmentally appropriate teaching space, like I did this week:



ACK! What? Before you have a stroke, let me point out a few things. 1) As a teacher new to this district, I've gone to school before many of the "regular" teachers have returned from their summer vacations. The summer cleaning staff is still dusting, washing, repairing, and vacuuming the rooms in preparation for the start of school. 2) Take a looksie at the bookcases along the back walls. Everything sitting on TOP of the shelves...is MINE. And those shelves make a full "L" along two walls in the room. All of the items on the lower shelves were already in the class. 3) All of the furniture has been moved to the center of the room so that the janitorial staff can clean the carpets around it. Once several more furniture shifts take place, the carpet will hopefully be shampooed.

Dear Daughter and the Toddler came with me to inventory what was in the room on Day One. You need to inventory your room as well. The inventory might be difficult to do because previous teachers will store the classroom's curriculum materials and supplies, but they won't organize it or return everything to its original location and condition. If the last teacher liked to keep half of the language arts books at the reading table and the other components of the curriculum kit at his/her desk, or in small tubs for individual students to use, chances are, you'll find that "system" still in place when you arrive. The best thing to do is to open every cabinet, cubby, and drawer. If you find items that seem to go together or have matching storage boxes, pull them all out and place them together in an easy-to-get-to location. Here's a photo of the math, science, and language arts materials and curriculum "kit" items I've found so far:



It's a "rough sort," meaning I haven't opened up all of the boxes or checked to see if the workbooks or flashcards, assessment booklets or supplemental activities are in order, much less present. I still have big books and flip charts to find and add to this pile so that I can reassemble the kits as much as possible.

You can sort your classroom items pretty easily for your inventory: furniture, curriculum kit elements, math manipulatives, language arts materials, puppets, computer equipment, stereo/headphones, toys, workbooks, arts and crafts supplies, classroom/school binders for policies, procedures, a professional library, etc. Doing a rough sort lets you know what you have, the condition of your classroom furniture and supplies, and points you in the direction for creating your to-do and wish lists.

I sorted paper products:



Then determined what I had for crayons, glue, kleenex, etc.:



A majority of my afternoon was spent sorting math manipulatives and language arts materials. The blue tubs and the clear containers with white lids are ALL math items:



These two sets of shelves are full of puzzles, and ONLY puzzles (ignore the storage bins up on top, that's part of my seasonal decor, which I'll try to get to on Monday):



These clear and yellow bins are all fine/gross motor activities (Legos, building blocks, lincoln logs, etc.):



The bins already available in the classroom come in primary colors and are perfect for storage on the shelves. Blue will be for math, the yellow is for fine/gross motor, and next week I'll sort language arts/literacy items into red bins. Green will house science materials, and orange...who knows? Dear Daughter will get a treat from Dairy Queen on Monday afternoon after she peels every sticker and label off of the bins in my class. If you don't have children to be helpers in your room, consider asking a colleague if s/he has teens for hire who would like to earn their favorite fast food meal for lunch in exchange for doing the little things.

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Before you leave for the day, measure your room. Photograph it as well. Photograph the ceiling, the insides of cabinetry, the bathrooms, where your windows are located, your furniture, everything. You'll want the photos to refer to later, possibly in the wee hours when inspiration comes to you in a dream, waking you! Take notes too. How many staple boards or corkboards do you have for display? How many windows might you have to make or purchase curtains for? How many electrical outlets do you have and where are they located? How about computer jacks? If you have open storage shelves like I do, and you're considering covering them with curtains to reduce the visual noise (and possible temptation for more impulsive students), measure, measure, measure so you know how much fabric to buy (and purchase plain 'ol clearance material, okay?). Make sure to ask your principal or building administrator if you're ALLOWED to staple items into the walls, hang decor from the ceiling, or affix hook and loop tape to hang curtains before you do it!

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Your calendar will help you remember when your new teacher orientation will take place, teacher inservices too, and you can set goals for each day you're able to spend in your classroom setting up. You'll want a day for inventory (and requesting furniture/materials if necessary) and your "rough sort," a day for furniture arrangement and the setting up of centers (with materials located where they will be utilized the most), another day for bulletin boards and classroom decor, a day for lesson plans, your parent newsletter, and grade level planning meetings, and another day getting your first week's activities, materials, stories, and required school safety drill practice planned and prepped in full. Make sure to ask if your school will host an Open House before school starts, or if you need to prepare for initial observations and assessments of your students before they arrive for their official First Day.

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If you have the time or just feel the urge to lay claim to YOUR classroom before you leave on Day One, you can set up your Essential Three that will help you through the rest of the week:



Welcome to Kindergarten!