Janet Abercrombie's Blog – August 2011 Archive (6)

"T - 1": First Impressions on Parents and Students

Residents of Southeast Asia understand typhoons. As the winds pick up, people in the community scramble to secure windows, haul terrace furniture inside, and stock up on food.

The pre-service week has been a typhoon of activity, with my focus shifting to and from classroom arrangements, …

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Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 31, 2011 at 9:21am — No Comments

"T - 2": Preparing for the Extra Duties

At "T minus 2", I begin sifting through the calendars and emails about upcoming meetings, lunch duty schedules, curriculum planning updates, and more.

As I enter dates into my plan book and Google calendar, I remember the year that I was a substitute teacher. I arrived at 7:30 and left at 3:30 with all papers graded, plans for the next day solidified, and specific anecdotal notes on the progress of each child. I often wondered, Why is it that, when I teach full time, I stay until… Continue

Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 28, 2011 at 4:00am — No Comments

"T - 3": Zooming in and Zooming Out of Teacher Meetings

Students arrive in three working days.

The only thing I want to do is work in my classroom. But there are meetings. Obligatory attendance. Would admin know if I skipped?

I admit these feelings as a trained administrator, knowing the importance of the pre-service meetings. If I were to write objectives for the meetings we have had, they would be as follows:

Build a positive school-wide and divisional culture
Inform both veteran and incoming…

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Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 26, 2011 at 6:02pm — No Comments

"T - 4": Thinking Through Organization of Students and Their Supplies

Once the bigger pieces of furniture are in order, I begin working on the finer details. Specifically, I ask myself What processes can I put into place the will expedite student movement from one activity to another?

Teaching time is precious. If students take more than a minute or two to transition from one activity to another, a teacher can lose hours of important instructional… Continue

Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 24, 2011 at 3:17am — No Comments

Before the Students Arrive ("T Minus 5")

Today was "T Minus 5". Students arrive in five working days.

Two feelings: chatty and overwhelmed.

Importance of Chat

Each school year begins with faculty and staff assemblies. I look over a sea of roughly 300 people, about a third of whom I know fairly well. I want to hear about their summers. I want them to expand on their Facebook updates - all the fun stories they didn't post.

I think the importance of beginning-of-year chat is…

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Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 22, 2011 at 3:05pm — No Comments

Last-Minute Classroom Purchases

I've never met a teacher who didn't spend personal time and money shopping for classroom resources. By contract, I begin work in two days. I spent the afternoon picking up some last-minute items.

In order to purchase items, they need to fulfill at least two of three criteria: