Hi Renee, Congratulations! To be direct, yes this first year is going to be immensely challenging, but worth every lesson learned. Sharing in the educational lives of children adds a richness to your life that you will only cherish more with each year. So go into the year knowing the rigor it will ask of you, but be VERY loving and patient with yourself. You have plenty of time to grow into the teacher you want to be. It can not happen in one year. You'll look around and wish you were doing what the veteran teacher down the hallway is doing, but you have to know she "became" that after years of teaching. Be VERY VERY nice and forgiving of yourself this year. It must be your mantra. With that said LESS truly is more. And I am writing, not so much with professional advice, as much as survival advice. Pick a curriculum focus for yourself and hone that skill, with plans to add the next activity, idea, or routine the following year. For example it took me 4 years to have Writer's Workshop where I wanted it, and I am still tweaking. And some of those years I used a vocabulary program that I knew wasn't the best, but it did the job, until I had the focus and energy to give to developing that....another year. It sounds like your first focus is going to be reading. The good and the bad of teaching these days is that you have a plethora of ideas and experts to choose from. This site is a solid jumping off place. First, I would decide the structure of my day (honestly good ole Harry Wong and his new teacher routines are a great idea). And then if someone in the group gives you ideas or a resource, give that a solid chance before you begin you pick and add from too many other resources. Design a clear daily structure, pick a model for your reading day, and then give it your focus before you try to go off in other directions. More than any model you choose, I believe your students will have a successful year if their teacher is feeling sane, more than like the perfect teacher. Make the choices that give you a chance to be happy this first year. And we're all here ready and willing to support and help. Happy Teaching, Gina _________________________________________________________________ Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live Messenger. http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_video_072008 _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
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