My Pinterest page is a mix of teaching ideas and baby stuff; the algorithm has figured out my lack of kitchen competence so recipes don't show up much anymore. Today I clicked on "
The Classroom Procedure you won't believe you ever lived without."
The teacher's blog post talked about the wonders of "Prime Time" - also called Bell Ringers or Do Nows - activities that take the first five minutes of class, give the teacher quick info about comprehension (known as "formative assessment" in the teaching world), and are part of the classroom routine to get kids started learning immediately after the bell. To my excitement, I already do these in my classroom. It is thrilling to read professional development texts only to discover I already implement helpful strategies in my lesson plans. I look forward to spending time this summer going through all my Pinterest teaching boards and get excited about a new year.
We will have a new schedule next year. We are adding an eighth class to the kids' schedules, but implementing a modified block schedule to fit everything in. Due to faculty meetings and chapel, classes on Mon/Tues will be 75 minutes long, classes on Wed/Thurs will be 85 minutes long, and our Fridays we will run all eight of our classes in 45 minutes chunks. We will lose some teaching time as a result of adding the eighth class, so part of our faculty's job this summer is to cut down our curriculum to the most important essentials, then rework timing to fit the longer class periods. For AP English, this will be very exciting. I regularly feel that an extra 10-15 minutes of class will help wrap up my lesson, and with long periods I can offer them more timed AP test prep (which was a comment they gave after their test this week, that they weren't prepared for the speed of the test).
It is finally fully spring in Indiana, as evidenced by this family of geese that live by Spartacus' daycare. I'm trying to teach Spartacus that they are called "goslings" but he insists on "baby goose." I have one more full week of school, then three days of finals the next week before I'm off for the summer. Here are some pictures from this week that get me excited for more family time soon!
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| Miz Buttercup this past week - 3.5 months old |
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| My brother and his new wife will be moving back to town in July. |
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| Spartacus will only be in daycare 3 days a week this summer so we can hang out more |
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| This is Buttercup hanging with part of the tenor section at church choir practice |
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| Spartacus is slowly exiting his Finding Nemo phase and entering a Star Wars one |
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