A new Year

September 1, 2009 00:54

Today I went into P.S. 89 and began to unpack the classroom. This is the first time in my teaching career that I have not switched rooms and it was wonderful to come back to a familiar room where everything was just where I left it.

This morning, I also met the student teacher that will be working with me for the fall semester. He is currently enrolled in the graduate program at the Bank Street College of Education (www.bankstreet.edu). This is also the school that I attended. The college has a mission and philosophy that is extremely close those of P.S. 89.

The day was spent putting new paper up on the bulletin boards, arranging furniture, and setting up the class library. Of course I attached a giant “To Do” list on the chalkboard. This will become a never-ending list where things get added to and crossed off daily until the morning the kids come in the door.

Since I left the school, I have been envisioning the year to come. I keep a separate, more personal, list in a private notebook. This is a spot where I think about some of the new things I would like to try with the class this year. Some of the things on the list are as simple as a better ways of organize the day-to-day activities of the class. But the most exciting parts have to do with adding new components to specific areas of the curriculum. It has been fun to think how Alex can fit into diffrent pieces of the curriculum at the beginning of the year. I have some ideas and will be sharing them in future posts.

The Job Swap is an initiative of the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation and BKB, in cooperation with the NY400. The Wildcard contest is organized together with newspapers Het Parool (Amsterdam) and AM New York (New York).