I have saved a few entries from September until I knew I was ready to start this blog. This is from September 30, 2014.
The first week of Elementary school after our extended Summer 'break' (strike) was a little like my first day as a student teacher, only more overwhelming. At least as a student teacher, you can always plead the fifth and claim 'rookie' status but NO, not me, this is my 8th year of teaching, I should know it all!! And trust me, I had no idea what was around the corner. I should have been tipped off when all of my colleagues continuously asked me if I was 'ready' for the weekend before school. I figured maybe they were just all a little nervous after being gone for so long-WRONG! They KNEW what was coming my way-a huge big semi-truck of "reality classroom preparation." The Friday, I worked a 10 hour day but some teachers were there LONGER than me? I wondered, what on earth are they 'doing in there?' We don't know our classes, and any teacher knows, you have to meet your students before you plan what learning opportunities to provide them. But now I know, oh yes, now I know what they were doing. Labelling. As a high school teacher, a label is a nicety if it makes you more organized but other than that they are hardly used. Well, I was about to discover the power of the label in Elementary school. On the first day with my grade 4/5s, they walked in and I had my desks in lovely groups of 4, I had bought lamps so that the overhead lights were not so 'well, overhead lighty.' And I had all my activities for a 'Getting to Know You" kind of day. I got through about 20% of my entire day plan and soon learned why we label every nook and cranny in our rooms. Survivial, that is what it is. Because when a Gr. 5 student walks in to your room and you say you can hang your stuff where you want and sit where you want, you learn really quickly about the power of the label. By the end of the day, I had two 'criers' because they could not work in a group (did I mention I do MOSTLY group activities in my classes?), two others who fought about what hanger to hang their coats on and I haven't even tackled school supplies yet-WHAT?!? After re-telling this story to an elementary colleague of mine-she laughed and said "oh, yeah you are like 6 months away from effective group work." So, off I went to change my day plans for the rest of the week and label hangers, cubbies, chairs, desks, anything with a surface had a shiny white label with someone's name. Lesson 1: Label.
