Getting the Teacher Started with Read to Someone
I've just started putting my classroom back together again after it got its summer cleaning, and I'm already beginning to think about what I'll do differently this year.
Listen to Reading already got a bit of a makeover last year when I added the portable CD players, thanks to a Donors Choose grant. I've put each of them into small plastic containers, along with several books, so children can move about the room freely with them. I'm planning on getting rid of one of the two stationary CD players that I also have, but this still means 6 kids can be doing Listen to Reading during a session.
One other major change I'm thinking about is creating lots of open space in my room. I love little nooks and learning spaces, but I also want to have plenty of open space for groups of children to work together.
As I continue cleaning and remodeling, I'm sure I'll have more to add! What changes do you plan to make this year? Do you have advice for those who are just getting started?
**UPDATE!!! 8/3/12
I've spent a little time in my classroom this week and am doing a complete room overhaul! I've rearranged the layout of the entire room and am currently in the middle of reorganizing my book baskets for the classroom library.
I am literally "unpacking the boxes" that I wrote about in my Getting Started with Read to Self post. After much contemplation, professional reading, and discussions with friends, I am absorbing those leveled tubs into the rest of my classroom library. I will keep one very small section of leveled books to be used as a resource when I confer with children... but that's it. It was a conversation I witnessed on Twitter between Donalyn Miller, Patrick Allen, Stephen Krashen, and Paul Hankins that made this decision final for me, as well as Donalyn's follow up "Guess My Lexile" blog post. More pics to come once this huge project is finished!
**UPDATE!!! 8/3/12
I've spent a little time in my classroom this week and am doing a complete room overhaul! I've rearranged the layout of the entire room and am currently in the middle of reorganizing my book baskets for the classroom library.
I am literally "unpacking the boxes" that I wrote about in my Getting Started with Read to Self post. After much contemplation, professional reading, and discussions with friends, I am absorbing those leveled tubs into the rest of my classroom library. I will keep one very small section of leveled books to be used as a resource when I confer with children... but that's it. It was a conversation I witnessed on Twitter between Donalyn Miller, Patrick Allen, Stephen Krashen, and Paul Hankins that made this decision final for me, as well as Donalyn's follow up "Guess My Lexile" blog post. More pics to come once this huge project is finished!
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| Whew! One small portion of the classroom library is finished! |
