Week Three and More to Learn

    Monday of the third week of school, I had to attend a workshop to learn how to teach the math curriculum that our district uses. I needed to attend but I didn't want to leave my students. Well, I went to the workshop  and am thankful that my district provides this kind of training for new teachers. Now, I understand how to use all of the materials that are apart of the program. Twice during the day on Monday, I called the school to check on my students.

    On Tuesday when I returned to the school, I was afraid that I might find a note from my substitute that would inform me that my students were not on their best behavior. However, that was not the case. During the day, my substitute came to my room and told me that she didn't have any problems. She had substituted before and new the students from last year. I was so excited and relieved. Later during the day, another teacher at my school was scheduled to come into my room and model teaching a group with the new reading program that we are implementing. This teacher actually came during my center time which is when I'm working with small reading groups. I haven't taught my students exactly how to rotate centers and what to do when they don't remember what to do. Well, I have attempted to but just haven't been very successful in doing it. I have some active students.  During the teacher's reading session, I had several students trying to interrupt to ask me questions.  I had to leave the reading group and talk to several students. I'm know that this is an area that I have to focus on to ensure that I can work uninterrupted with the reading groups when I'm alone. I plan to spend the rest of this week working on transitioning from one center to another quietly.

    Today, I did just that. I did not teach my reading groups but rather I spent the center time working on helping the students learn how to move from one center to another quietly. I know that part of my problem is that the layout of my classroom is not conducive to smooth transitions because I'm attempting to have centers when I only have two tables. The desks that I have grouped together are the ones that are tilted which is perfect for allowing everything to roll right off and onto the floor! Anyway, we are dealing with that and have hopes that we'll get tables as soon as possible. I have to make the best of what I have. I was planning on six groups but based on the number of times we could rotate centers during the allotted center time, I'm going to have to adjust my groups. I'll need to work with four groups and maybe five but I do know that I will not be able to have six groups. There just isn't enough time. I plan to spend the rest of this week working on helping my students learn the routines and expected behavior during center time and next week, I'll start my reading groups.