Getting back into the swing of things

We're in the middle of our back to school planning session and quite frankly, I'm really excited about next year.  It's been a while since I've felt energized about my job, so this is a positive move.  I think the combination of having a long summer (to recharge and meditate) and some changes (co-teaching with the GATE teacher, being a peer coach) have left me feeling empowered and valued.

Our first week plans at a glance:

We're treating our day in two separate parts.  First is ELA, which includes reading, writing, foundational skills, science, social studies, and technology.  We also put procedures and back to school activities in the top box.  Math is very difficult to imbed (because we're following Engage NY's curriculum), so that's a separate entity.

We've got our first week pretty well planned and have the first unit (next 6 weeks) mapped out.  The whole grade level hasn't been involved with the planning, but it was their summer break so #nojudgment.


I had a long, relaxing summer and am ready to get back into a routine.  However, someone in the house feels differently about back to school...

(the poster did say First Week at the top until Waffles found it...)


Mrs. H and I have spoken with our admin about our long range plans (thematic units) and voiced our excitement.  They're both on board and are eager to see the implementation.

I'm working on a new writing sort (coming soon), revising "no way Jose & that's a fact, Jack" (true/false statements, also coming soon), and notebooking activities.  I also made a new welcome banner, with Chloe's help of course:

I'm taking it in tomorrow to laminate and then will post pictures.  I hope to have my bulletin boards finalized tomorrow as well!

Inspired by a fellow TpT creator's project, I made my own thought bubbles for student notebooks:

In addition to reviewing cutting, gluing, and listening to directions, it provides students the chance to brainstorm before sharing their ideas out in table teams.  There are ten different questions and I've made it available {here} for free!

#Year8Can'tWait