20 year 3rd grade teacher here. One of the most important parts of small group work is to start slow. Teach specific behaviors and expectations that you want to see hear and do for each small group. Entertainment is not the goal of small group instruction time. All students should be learning whether they are with you or in their own seats. Teach and model over and over again!!!!
It's okay to feel overwhelmed during your first year in a new district. Take it one day at a time, do what you can, do lots of research, don't be afraid to ask for help, and by mid-year, you'll be okay. TRUST ME!!!!
Thank you! I was confused as to why I didn't feel that way in my previous district and then I remembered that I started as a Teacher Intern, so I didn't have to prepare a classroom when I started.
Small groups in the beginning isn’t necessarily a negative thing…look at it as you get to see early on which students regressed or are lower than anticipated. You can meet them where they are! Small groups change all the time! Your classroom looks amazing and your students will love it and love you….The new PDs will be over soon or minimize (I’m DREADING them too) and you can focus on teaching your kiddos! Have a great school year!
So sorry you were stressed out. It gets better!!! It truly sucks to start small group instruction so soon. If I could give any advice, I would say call those kids to your table one group at a time and just TALK to them, get to know them, build RELATIONSHIPS. Favorite foods, hobbies, books (for literacy, of course). No instruction for the first day or two. Admin may not like it, but those relationships you build will make it so much easier to actually teach later on. Some of the best teacher advice I ever heard was, "Sometimes you just have to close your classroom door and do the right thing." Also, good luck on the Reading Academies. You got this!🙏😇
For small groups, you could make a choice board for students to take out and choose each day that they could be doing while you’re having small groups. It could be low prep like a writing prompt in their journal, writing their math facts in a notebook, and/or a ReadWorks assignment on google classroom, etc.
❤ Listen! I'm 10 years in, worked in 4 school districts. Every move has felt like I'm starting over. Every district has their own way of doing the SAME thing. Even skyward is different in EACH district. Some use canvas, some use Google classroom some use Pearson..
Totally agree! There was a skyward training and at first, I didn't think I needed it since my previous district used Skyward. It was totally different! So glad I paid attention! 😂
What you are feeling is completely natural, when moving districts, heck even switching grade levels in the same district can be tough! You got this girl!! Remember not to be hard on yourself I know as teachers we can be perfectionist, but remember to give yourself grace as you embrace all the new. And I just completed reading academics this pass year, it was tough being pulled so many days from my classroom, but in the end I was grateful I didn’t have to complete it during my own time.
My school had limits for paper and it was a huge learning curve. I started using sheet protectors as if pouches for some of the work and the kids wrote on the pouches with wipable markers. That way you could print out less copies because you would reuse the same paper. For small group time your kids can do STEM and morning work bins (some of the activities you already have may be appropriate), challenge cards all of which I think you showed us in earler videos. I'll keep thinking if you like. Also, if you need more clarification just give me a yell. Remember to breathe and allow yourself time to adjust to the changes. Have a good year!
I feel your pain and worries. I moved from FL to Oregon. I feel like a brand new teacher. Coming from middle school to high school, from a block schedule to now 45 min schedules. I teach Social Studies, but here I will have to also teach Spanish and ESOL (because I am hispanic, not because I have a language certificate). I feel overwhelmed with the change, and feel like a brand new teacher. within our prep week we have to turn in our syllabus for all 6 classes, an outline for the curriculum for each class, and our p-scales for the classes. I am trying to take it one day at a time and not put too much pressure on myself because I don’t want to be stressed throughout the year. All we can do is what we can do, don’t over stretch yourself, you need to be mentally at peace so that you can be a better teacher for the students. We are all in this together, and are here to support each other. I am very happy that you have a team that will support you, so you don’t feel as alone as you did in the other school. Don’t be afraid to rely on that team to actually use the support they offer you. You are not alone. Unfortunately in my prior school and this one, the schools are so small that I am the only Social Studies teacher, but the other faculty are supportive of each other regardless of subject teaching. You mentioned CANVAS as a new tool. I am the opposite, coming from Canvas to Google Classroom. I actually prefer Canvas, once you get the hang of it, it is so user friendly and it can synchronize the grades to whatever grading tool your school uses, so you don’t have to manually put in grades. You just grade it on Canvas and voila! I am intimidated by Google Classroom because even though I was trained on it two or three times, I never used it, so don’t remember how to use it AT ALL!!! 😅 For your question as what to do with the kiddos while you have small groups…a lot of teachers do stations during that time. So one station is a writing activity, another is reading a specific activity, another is practicing phonics, library (where they can pick their own stories), etc.. You just give the kids worksheets for each station or book as prep. Each station can be group/partner/ or individual work. You have to give enough time to spend with your teacher group. For instance each station is 10min and then you rotate to the next station. One of the stations would be teacher station, which is where you would have your small group. The groups would be of ideally 4 kids per station, and they have to move with there groups for the next station. You would teach them how to clean up before they move to the next station. You can have a bell or timer to keep everyone (including yourself) on track. I used to be a teacher’s aid in Kinder before I became a teacher, and this is what K-5th grade teachers did for Reading and Math. Hope it helps you out.
Printer, paper, and a few wish list items coming Sunday 8/13. Hopefully these are the most critical things right now but there are still plenty of things on your list for others to help too. So sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed, but if it helps, our daughter had taught 18 years and last year moved home, district, and assigned to two schools travelling between with no room of her own and was pretty overwhelmed with all the changes and new info. This year has been easier so far. So better things are coming. Hang in there!!
🥰Hope this relieves some of the stress and anxiety. Praying for cooler weather for you and me both. July and August have been bears on the temperatures. Stay cool!@@teacher_in_houston
If you are starting small groups on day 2, have the rest of the class build with legos or whatever manipulatives you have plenty of. Each student gets a half sheet of paper to write a sentence or two about what they built. Sentence frames on the board. My name is ___. I built a ______. Then they can draw and color their creations. You can pass out one baggie of manipulatives per group and have individual baggies for anyone who hasn’t mastered group work yet. You can clear off a shelf for them to display their creations for ONE day. They hate breaking them down, but after a day it’s a little easier. You’ve got this!!
You have a lot on your plate. New district, Reading Academy, PD, etc. Do your best, do not give up. Remember there is a teacher shortage, they need you.
My friend recently started a brand new job in a totally new (to her) industry. She mentioned how nervous she was and scared. So I wanna tell you what I told her: never forget that your employer picked YOU because they saw your potential and drive. They WANT you there, and they’re ready to support you as you learn. Give yourself grace on this new adventure. 💛 And thanks to Ms. Betty - I went to your wishlist then saw her comment about getting the printer for you already.
P.S. it’s totally okay to cry! I usually feel better after a good cry, because it helps me let out my feelings when I can’t put them into words. You got this Marisol! 💛
You got this Blanco!!!…your an amazing teacher, but I completely understand, Reading Academy for 8 hours straight is just torture and the bad thing about that is the information is great, but your brain is a blurred after 4 hours of it. Change is always challenging, that’s why people don’t like it, but your strong, take care….😊
It's totally normal and ok to feel overwhelmed at the beginning of a new school year. Especially when you have so many changes going on. Here's what I did when I was limited on paper one year. I used a lot of filler paper and notebooks. I would display ONE copy of the worksheet/activity/practice page, etc. The students would work and copy from that into their notebooks or on paper. When I would give a test, I make a class set, but they would put their answers on a bubble sheet so I could reuse the same test papers the following year. We used whiteboards a lot. If I printed a workmat, I would put it in a page protector so I could reuse them again. When I had extra copies of things, I would save those and use them again by printing on the back. Especially if we are going to cut it and glue it down somewhere. It sucks to be limited in copies, but get creative along and you can do it! Breathe, take breaks, and tackle one task at a time. ❤
Students get on a computer program while small groups are running. It's really the only thing that keeps them quiet. Some reading programs are Lexia, ReadWorks, and Newsela. Regarding the paper limit, learning how to shrink copies down to half of a page and printing front/back as much as you can will help with that limit.
Small groups for reading, I would have them do Words their Way word work or 180 days of Word Work and Spelling, SSR, Guided Reading with you. Writing if you want.
I literally uploaded my last setup before in-service on Monday with the exact same feelings 😊 you're not alone. I'm not even changing much but im in my 2nd year and it seems so much more intense since I kind of know what to do but I don't lol 🙃
Also want to say it's ironic how much i resonate with this video we got new curriculum last year, it was my first year, and I had 2nd graders (current 3rd graders) who you said had lower social emotional skills. It was interesting to say the least for me. I did pretty well being new but I had to do more...parent like teaching because they don't have the foundation to solve problems or arguing or respect or focusing.
Hi! Being that the kids are much closer to your other board, why not just use the other set of calendar labels you have? They are smaller but the kids are closer. Why do more work? Remember to breathe. I’m 24 (this year) years in and it still gets overwhelming. Just breathe and do your best. They are lucky to have you.
That's okay! 😂 I accidentally threw it in the trash when I was cleaning up one day and the custodian threw it out. I don't mind doing another set. I do the work while watching RU-vid videos so it doesn't feel like work. I'd rather be doing that than planning at home.
I forgot to mention … you are very organized and that is the key to staying on top of things,,, so try to incorporate SEL in the morning. Also it would be a benefit if you put up growth mind set posters and go over the with the students.. also it doesn’t matter if a teacher have already read a book a year before.. you still can read the same book. I hope this helps
I will be thinking of you. Does your reading curriculum have center ideas within it? What we use does. I would also search other RU-vid teachers to see what center activities they do.
Does your curriculum have a instructional program. A few districts in Houston have adopted CKLA and it has a program for students. Teachers in my district normally have students work on amplify or freckle while working in small group.
I guess I’m confused by the warning about your students. My son is also in third grade. So he was also in kindergarten during “Covid” times. Yes he had to wear a mask .. and yes he only had a half day instead of full and there were only 12 students instead of 24 so they could spread them out. But most ( not all ) children are resilient and have managed to adjust well. I guess I should take into consideration that not every school had the Same protocol and may have been completely virtual …. Either way good luck I’m sure you will handle everything with grace!
