Year 2

My second year of teaching I taught 2nd grade, and wow do they start out little! At the beginning of the year they are basically just really big first graders, and by the end of the year the growth they make is huge. Couldn't we say the same thing about us as teachers? At the beginning of the year we start out thinking we are going to do things a certain way, but when the needs of the students differ from what we picture we need to adjust. Anyways.. back to the topic - my second year teaching!

All summer I scoured pinterest trying to find as many resources to use with my second graders. I searched for ideas that would help me organize and set up my classroom. I was moving rooms, and setting up that room was my summer job! Don't you wish we got paid for all the work we do over the summer? Ha! I inherited a room jam packed with tons of clutter and junk resources accumulated from years and years of hoarding teaching. I am so thankful for the resources I got from the room, but man was organizing that room a challenge! Here's what it looked like when I took over:

Yes, that is an overhead projector sitting in front of one part of the library. That library had over 1,500 books in it, and they were not sorted in any system AT ALL.

Yes, there is a desk facing the back of the room.

What is going on with the cubbies? Yeah, I don't know either.

Yes, there is a table filled with extra junk in front of the desk, which is already covered in junk. It also has another storage container underneath it filled with junk.

What is going on with those boxes next to the sink?

    

Yes, those are four copy boxes filled with old files stacked on top of each other. 

I couldn't believe how many things were packed into this room! I would open the cabinets and things would fall out on top of me. I moved half of the things out into the hallway and the room was still completely packed. This is what it looked like at the end of the summer:

Calendar Area

Reading bulletin board and turn in trays.

Door leading into my classroom.

Student work wall

Word wall & books hiding the storage on top of my cabinets.

DIBELS chart. I had the student numbers written on stars and moved them up as their reading fluency improved.

Birthday Wall

View from the back of my classroom

Data area. I put this up at the last minute and wasn't completely motivated to get it done.

Math wall and meeting area. 

That year was amazing and challenging for many reasons. I had an amazing group of students and parents. I had 31 students. THIRTY-ONE! With 31 students you have to really get creative.. with seating arrangements, behavior management, filing papers, time management.. you name it! I had a wonderful group of parents that were a huge help with preparing materials and assisting us with our special events we do throughout the year.

Here's what I took away from my 2nd year of teaching - Things change.. a lot. Your teaching style will have to change to meet the needs of your students, and when you have 31 littles in a room it will have to change again. There are some things you just can't do with 31 students. It's easier than your first year of teaching, but you still learn just as much as you did your first year. It'll get easier (hopefully!) every year!

What are some things you learned from your 2nd year teaching?