Ch-ch-ch- Changes!!!

In my last blog post I said I had some big news to share with you all. Well here it is -- I have a new job!! I am officially teaching a 1st/2nd grade combo class...in a new school...in a new district!Everything came to be incredibly quickly. I won't go into details, but I feel like it's worth mentioning that after many changes in leadership and direction I was feeling as if my previous school was no longer the best fit for me. Still, I applied for my new job feeling like it was a long shot. So you can imagine my surprise when I applied, interviewed, and accepted all within a weeks time. I was offered the job this past Friday. This meant I had to move out of my old classroom this weekend (I felt like I was filming an episode of hoarders -- 4 cars and one pick up truck later) and I entered my new classroom for the first time on Monday morning.

First glance photos & impressions... It. Was. Huge. 

Ok, so maybe not huge. But it's easily double the size of my old room. However, all this new space is also CRAMMED with STUFF!! Yup, the person who abandoned this room also could have been on an episode of Hoarders. (I think most of us teacher types probably could)  Except apparently she's the type of hoarder who leaves it all behind because every nook and cranny of my room is filled with stuff...

When I said it was abandoned, I wasn't kidding. Please note the hair spray left on the upper shelf. 

More stuff.

The focus of this blurry picture is all the bins on top of my completely filled storage closets. 

Bins that are also filled with, you guessed it, more STUFF.

Some of the stuff is totally useful and organized. A lot of it isn't. I will spare you pictures of the filing cabinets and and shelves. For the past two days I've been trying to sort through it all and turn my new little world into a functional classroom space. It's a sloooow progress task. I also need tofigure out how to teach ALL new curriculum and how I'm going to deliver instruction of new said curriculum to two different grade levels at the same time. Since apparently I'm the only 1st/2nd combo teacher this year. Last year, there were two 1st/2nd grade combo teachers. This year, it's just me. But the whole staff has been so incredibly welcoming and helpful which has been such a blessing!

I'm mostly feeling  SUPER EXCITED for this new school year and all of its possibilities!!

(But the thought of organizing this room to my liking also makes me feel a teeny bit overwhelmed)

 

This is what the room looked like when I left today around 6 PM.

  I traded out the tables for desks. They still need to all be set to the same height.

 Also, I'm sure you'll all be very impressed by my one lonesome decorated bulletin board :)

Okay, so now I'm sending out a bloggy SOS-!!

If you are or know any split/combo grade bloggers or websites - I need links ASAP!!

 If you teach Investigations Math Curriculum and know have any great tips or resources - hollar at me!

Same thing goes for Making Meaning and Words Their Way curriculum resources.

Other miscellaneous thoughts that will have me scouring the blogosphere this week...

Myself and the lovely gal next door teaching 1st are hopefully going to do some team teaching for math and literacy. Which kind of has me thinking...should we have the same behavior management system? I  have loved my using clip chart management system for the past three years. It works really well for me.  But, I can't have clips for my entire class and her entire class. What would you do?

 I'm moving from a Core Knowledge charter school into a district position, which means I get to teach all new Science and Social Studies units this year. I love creating my own Science and Social Studies units, so I will spend some time getting to know the second grade standards this weekend. And I'm officially joining the masses in the land of the Common Core!

 Today another teacher mentioned to me that the K-2 kids don't receive nightly homework besides a reading log and sometimes a homework Bingo where they pick 3 activities to complete over the course of the week. This is very different from my old school. Not that I'm a homework lover by any means, but it's another new thing to figure out. This is probably a loaded question, but I'm gonna go there anyway. What does homework look like in your classroom?

And last but certainly not least, do I have to change my blog name now??

Maybe just start calling me-- Falling Into Second with a Sprinkle of First :)


So where I teach today, is not the same place I was teaching a week ago. Crazy!!
 Link up with Blog Hoppin to show everyone where you teach.