Well I survived my first week in my 2nd year teaching first grade. It was definitely less overwhelming than last year, but I still forgot how much reminding these kiddos need to raise their hands and listen and how many breaks they need throughout the day. I always think I'm prepared for that part of it, and then it comes and I am never fully ready. They always seem to surprise me and it gets so exhausting having to give so many reminders. I have to keep telling myself that these kids are still kindergarteners, they are still in summer mode, and they need all of my patience to get through that first day. So needless to say, I was pooped at the end of the day. Unfortunately pooped wasn't one of my choices for our First Day Feelings graph =) As you can see, most of my sweeties were excited for the first day, a bunch were happy (that's mine at the top), a couple were worried, and one little cutie was sad =( Poor baby! He was ok, but you could tell he was bumming! I know how you feel buddy - it's tough when summer is over! We had some fun finding new friends and the kids were so happy to be up and moving around. Remember I mentioned how they need breaks? Yep - they really needed this one (and many others) throughout the first week. We did a little Color by Sight Word. We also worked on our Back to School book. They loved this one and it actually held their attention for about 30 minutes at a time. We get Scholastic News in our classroom, so I spent some time using the big version that they sent us to read together as a class. We searched for words we knew and used some Stretchy Snake strategies to try to figure out some that we didn't know. Then I had them re-read these with a buddy. They were so cute trying to find the words we went over and so concerned when they didn't know a word. Of course I helped reassure them that I didn't expect them to know ALL of the words and just wanted them to see which ones they remembered. It's so important to try to build their confidence those first few days and teach them that in our classroom it's ok to ask questions, it's ok if you don't know something, and it's safe to make mistakes. All very important with little learners. We did so much more during our first week, but this is just a snapshot into some of it. It ended up being a terrific start to the year and I have a great group of kids. After that first day they really snapped back into school mode and remembered classroom routines. I was so impressed with how quickly they readjusted and am so thrilled to have these little cuties for the next year! This weekend I got to sleep in a little, went to a Harvest Festival with my family, and decorated some for fall. I guess if summer HAS to be over, I will embrace the autumn season! It is really my favorite one after all. Hope you all had a great week (whether it was your first one or not). I know it's going to be a wonderful year!!! =)