197 Days

197 days of school.  27 first graders.  1 pencil stabbing.  100's of tears.  1,000's of smiles.  It's been a great school year.  Overall it has been the most challenging year in my 5 years of teaching.  Put 18 WILD boys and 9 sweet girls together and it's a recipe for chaos.  Throw in the fact that none of these 6 year old darlings speak English as their first language and we're crammed into a tiny classroom and you can see why I almost went crazy some days.

But don't let me fool you.  It was also one of my favorite classes.  They are some of the smartest, most respectful and sweet children I have ever had the privilege of working with.  I was blown away with their progress this year.  By the end of the year EVERY ONE of those 27 students was reading, writing and speaking in English.  Most of them were reading on or ABOVE grade level! 

In the next series of posts, I'll update what happened each month of school.  For now, I'll start with day one.  This year I did a Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom!  theme in my room.  We started with a unit on the alphabet, reviewing what they had learned in prepa the year before. 

I used a coconut tree I had and added velcro alphabet letters that I made from scrapbook paper and laminated.  We alphabatized, grouped by sounds, and acted out the story.  We also made a "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom... Look Who's in Our Room!"  display where the students decorated their coconut tree and added alphabet stickers to spell their name.  It was a great unit to assess where my students were and where to begin. 

I'm already in the process of getting ready for the beginning of the next school year.  This year I'm going to have a reading theme with quotes and displays from some of my favorite children's books.  I started cutting out my Giving Tree.  I can't wait to show you the end result in August! 

For now it's back to moving.  I am in the process of downsizing now that I'm living alone for the summer.  Actually I'm just moving right next door.  It's a cute 2 bedroom house with a kitchen/living area.  I hope to post some pictures once everything is moved over and organized.  It's funny.  I've lived in 3 houses in Honduras and I can see them all from this house.  What can I say?  I live in a great area and have great neighbors.  I am really blessed.