Open House Update

Phew! I always stress out about getting my room perfect before Open House and this year was no different! But this year I had a lot more anxiety than I normally do and at 4:30pm, I started feeling that my room was missing something. It was missing that spark that I normally feel...almost like a sense of completion. But families would be coming in soon and I wouldn't be able to do much to fix the uncertainty I felt.

As soon as 5:30 hit, I realized what I was missing: the community of learners...my students. I know it sounds cliche, but welcoming the families really made the room feel better.

I'm excited for what this new school year will bring and so happy to have the students I have. Here's to a great 2014-2015 school year!

We had a station where students built a representation of themselves with only 20 Legos!

We also had a station where students wrote an "I am" poem. And there was another station where students wrote their names and numbers on an index card to go on their crate!

And a photo booth, of course!

Open House Update

It's been about two weeks since my last post...it sure has been busy in Room 201 lately! But I thought I'd post some pictures before I start blogging meatier posts! I hope you enjoy!

Open House Photo Booth:

And two of my favorite pictures are posted next because these parents were brave enough to take photo booth pictures without their kiddos!

Whew!

First week of school has flown by and all I can do is...smile. :) It's been a great week and I wish I could share everything, but honestly, some of it was a blur. I will try to capture everything that I observed and noted to be important for the beginning days...

At the Open House, I asked parents to share their thoughts on these three questions:

1. School is important because... 2. A successful 5th grader looks like... 3. What will you do to support your child in becoming an independent learner?

This was important to me because I wanted to see and understand what my parents valued in their child's education. I also did this because I asked my students two of the same questions and wanted to compare their answers and see if there were any similarities. I hope to return to these anchor charts during intake conferences in September and really hone in on the third anchor chart with a follow-up question. :)

Here are the questions I asked students to answer in their first week of school:

1. School is important because... 2. A successful 5th grader looks like...

 3. What should students in our class be doing to make sure our class runs as smooth as possible? 4. What kind of teacher helps you learn best?

And it seemed like both sets of writers were very thoughtful in what they wrote. I was especially impressed by the reflection my students provided with the last anchor chart. They were able to communicate with me that they needed a teacher who was kind and had their best interest at heart, listening to their perspective. We also had to define what "kind" meant, because I wanted to make sure they knew that sometimes there are times when I am serious and then there are times when I am silly. All in all, it was great to read their thoughts on these phrases/questions.

Up next...our Marshmallow Challenge and other meaningful thinking that was done by our wonderful fifth graders!

Open House Photo Booth

It is the night before school and I am...blogging? Whoa, this must be the new Mrs. Hong. :) Last year, I would have just called it a night and gone to bed! I am tired now that I think about it...

So as I am trying to review my plan for the first day of school, I can't stop looking at the pictures from Open House on Thursday and giggle to myself. It makes me realize that we need a little bit (okay, a lot!) of fun in school every day!

Back up...what pictures? Wellllllll...I set up a photo booth in Room 201 for Open House 2013-2014! I set up an area in the front of my classroom and made some awesome props to provide some fun while meeting families. I think I had the most fun of all!

I will post some pictures of my students, once I know who can/cannot be posted, but for now...I will leave you with a few with some adults in 5th grade and a principal from Robinson...

A shout out to my husband, who laboriously taped letters and was reprimanded when his lines weren't straight or thick enough... :) Thank you, Mr. Hong! You are the most supportive husband a teacher could ask for!

And so with these goofy pictures, I think about the students and families I've met and cannot wait to start the school year tomorrow!