The beginning of school and all of that.

The first 6 weeks of school for any teacher is pretty insane.  In my case I'm starting at a new school and a new to me grade.  So there was the moving, both my stuff from my old school to my new and from the old grade 4 room to the new one that I currently occupy.  I'm getting to know a whole new set of kids.  I spend a lot of time in the first 6 weeks reading student files, benchmarking and assessing where they are at and how they learn best.  I also spend time teaching routines for the kids to follow and playing with seating arrangements to find one that will work best for the students I have.

My classroom was pretty empty when I first moved in - the boxes are mine

My classroom after a lot of work

Ready for students

I really do love the classroom I have been given.  It is the largest one in the upstairs wing.  This means that I can create difrerent areas for learning to take place.  I chose to place the students in desks in order to give them their own space.  Rather than traditional rows, the desks are on a semicircle of rows facing towards the Smartboard.  We have two areas of black and white tiled mats.  One is in front of the Smartboard for comfortable seating.  The other is at our Meeting Place in our book corner by a window. I love that there are 2 tabled areas for students to work at.  One of the tables is kidney shaped.  The students face towards the literacy wall and is a great place for teacher time.  The other is 2 trapezoids pushed together for group work.
I've had a great start to the year and am happy with the way things are going.  I'm happy to say that I've finished all of the "where to start" assessments of my students and have a good idea of my students' needs.  Looking forward to a great year!

My Class, the first day of school