Baby Steps

We came in to an empty classroom (this is how we left it in May), which is nice, because I'm a big fan of a blank canvas.

We started the day off with a staff meeting, and then Amanda had to go to CPR and first aid training (I'm up-to-date, so I didn't need to attend either session). While she did that, I got to work organizing our files. The files in our classroom are several years' worth of lesson plans, craft ideas, finished crafts, etc. And they were a hot mess. I really should have taken a pic of the "Christmas" folder before I broke it down into multiple folders...it was horrifying. I wouldn't even use the files last year because they were so overwhelming.

We also figured out the general setup we want for our classroom. It's quite different from last year.

On  the carpet, we've gotten rid of the circle time rug. We only have eight students currently signed up, so we moved one table to the carpet for table activities. We also decided to move the dramatic play area to the carpet.

excuse the mess...it's a work in progress :)

We moved the rug and the two-sided shelf (which holds blocks on one side) to the corner of the linoleum, where our new block area will be. The other side of the shelf will hold art supplies, so the kids will be free to grab whatever they need when they need it. The sensory table will be in the other corner of the linoleum, and the remaining table will be the art and snack table. We also made a change with our cart. Previously, it held teacher-only items, but we've decided to make it into a circle time cart instead. The top shelf will hold teacher items for circle (stamps, dry erase markers, the day's story, etc.), while the bottom two shelves will hold activities for the kids, like puzzles.

We also went to get our TB shots, and then went to pick up some small gifts for birthday bags :)

As for the theme, we've decided on a soda fountain/sweet shoppe/Candyland kind of thing. I can't wait to see it all come together!

It might not seem like a lot, but we made a lot of progress. I can't wait to make more!

Back to School

I've been pretty quiet on this blog for awhile now. Things got really crazy. And things are about to get crazier, but that also means the blog is picking up again! Preschool doesn't start back up until September, but teacher prep begins today! I'll be teaching Preschool I again (the class I switched to last year), but I'll have a new co-teacher this year. Arelis, my co-teacher last year, is married to a guy in the Coast Guard, and they got transferred to North Carolina. My co-teacher this year is Amanda, whose son was in our class last year. She taught previously, and I'm really excited to work with her this year!

I'll be sharing our prep work over the next couple of weeks, including our classroom theme and finished product (decorating is my favorite part of prep!). I also plan to share the lesson plans I write over the course of the school year, and share more craft ideas as well. I'm also back in school myself this semester (studying early childhood education, of course!), so I'll be sharing some of my related assigments too!

I'm excited to get the school year under way, and to share it with you!