Teacher Linky & Focus Walls

Summer is almost over for me, but I am oh so excited to begin a NEW school year with my little first graders!  I am linking up with Miss Kindergarten to tell you 10 things I have learned from teaching...I have only been teaching six years, but I feel like I have learned SO much since my first year.  Don't we all feel that way?!

1. Procedures:

*Always take LOTS of time at the beginning of the school year and after any break to teach procedures.  Your day will go so much smoother if you take time to thoroughly teach kids what they are expected to do.  Don't forget to MODEL what they are supposed to do.  Teaching procedures can be fun if you add a silly skit or song to teach it!

2. Be Prepared & Flexible:

*I added these two together because you can never be over prepared, but at the same time your lessons will change based on student needs or an unexpected interruption.  So be Flexible!  It's not the end of the world if you have to change your lesson.  Now back to being prepared...I drive forty minutes to school everyday, so I always have everything ready before I leave school every afternoon.  But a lot of teachers come in extra early to get their materials ready.  Either way, having everything ready before the kids enter your classroom will help you!

3. Parent Communication:

*Always, Always, Always communicate with your student's parents!  Whether you call, send notes, or email, parents love hearing from their child's teacher about how they are doing in school.  

4. Collaboration:

*Collaborate with your team teachers and other teachers in your school.  You cannot do everything by yourself AND you learn so much from your peers, just like kids do.  

5. Kids need a Schedule:

*Just like we need to know what we are doing for the day, our kids need to have a schedule and know what we expect them to do.  With that being said, they will still ask you what time is _____, or when is recess!  It never fails!

6. Learning Centers & Stations:

*I have found that learning centers/stations have really worked in my classroom.  This gives students an opportunity to review skills you have taught them during whole group instruction and allows you to work with small groups or individual students.  For them to be effective students need to know exactly what they are supposed to do and centers need to be well organized.    

7. Caffeine:

*Dr. Pepper gets me through the day!  It's an addiction!

8. Bathroom & Shoe Strings:

*If a kid has their shoes untied and they come out of the bathroom with wet shoe strings and asked you to tie them...good luck!  I learned my lesson!  

9. Reading Books on the Carpet:

*It never fails that if you are reading to your class and they are sitting on your big carpet...one of your littles will touch your toes or want to play with your shoes!  But I love them anyway! 

10. Have Fun!  

*You can teach and have fun!  Sing songs (especially to the little ones) and give lots of praise! 

Now onto my new products!  I have a focus wall in my classroom and I love it!  It allows for the students to see what we are learning about and always includes our learning goals for the day.  Here are some focus wall sets that I have created.  They are focus wall headers (labels) to help you organize your focus wall board!

Click on the pictures below to view each set!

 Each set includes large and small signs. 

I will be back in another post to show you pictures of my Focus Wall and how they can be used in primary and intermediate classrooms! 

Enjoy!