Monday, May 27, 2013

Next year... I'm definitely going to...

Whew.  My school year ended on Friday after what I could only describe as Middle School "Hell Week."  It's our last week of activities, movies, end of the year ceremonies and just general madness.  I'm usually snippy at best because everyone has simply lost their mind.

Even on Friday, and school was OVER, we had a massive fight to just cap off the year.  I was in the office as the aftermath of the fight came rolling in and it was not pretty.

My assignment change and classroom move are official.  I'll post the pictures of my new room - it's a M.E.S.S....  That's a whole post on it's own.

On the happier side - I'll be back to 7th grade Language Arts next year.  My heart, while sad with leaving my computer lab, is very happy to be back in a Language Arts setting.


Which means I can join my sweet friend, Kim over at Joy in 6th Grade, for her 1st Linky Party!

Here's my list:


1.  Interactive Student Notebooks

Miss OCD, our non-blogger friend and I have been discussing how to do these for next year.  We're all pretty excited about them.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll see that I've been pinning a lot of Interactive Student Notebook ideas.  It will probably be another post I'll make over the summer - I've got a lot of ideas.  I love foldables and I've been making my students take notes (with COLOR) for awhile, so it seems like a good road to travel down.

2.  Read Class Novels

I've always wanted to teach Language Arts with more novels.  My students hardly ever read full novels with our textbook series, I think it will be a great challenge for me (and my students!)  I have one project posted over at Donors Choose and I'm hoping for some success there.  I want my students to read the Hunger Games this year because it's such a good novel to foster classroom discussions.

3.  Create a Clean, Engaging Classroom Environment

My new room is a total mess.  It probably hasn't been cleaned since 2000.  (I'm not joking.)  Apparently, the old teacher never even put bulletin board paper up.  Yes.  I'll wait for you to gasp in horror of the thought of a completely white, dull, classroom.  

4.  Updated the Bulletin Boards

So, along that vein... That room needs bulletin boards with fun anchor charts.  I love all the anchor charts up on Pinterest, so I'll be taking some ideas and working with that.  

I think I'll be busy making a lot of different Language Arts items all summer preparing for my next year, I'm really excited about it.

10 comments:

  1. Hi Lauren,

    I completely agree with you about the anchor charts. It is a current obsession of mine to find anchor charts on Pinterest and has inspired me to keep a ton of anchor charts in my room this year. It's so awesome for students to be able to reference what we've learned from earlier in the year through an anchor chart. I'm loving your blog-being a middle school teacher myself, it's always fun to find other middle school teachers' blogs! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For some reason, Anchor Charts have never been "big" at our school. So I never really thought too much about them. I wanted to do them last year and I think this the year I'll put them together! :)

      Thanks for stopping by! Us middle-schoolers need to stick together!

      Delete
  2. I too definitely agree about the bulletin boards and anchor charts! I'm glad I found your blog too! I teach year six in New Zealand so am always very excited to find blogs by teachers of the slightly older kids !

    x Serena x
    Magic Mistakes & Mayhem

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Serena! I know how you feel about older kid blogs. It seems like 90% of all blogs for teachers are Primary grades. I like seeing all the older kid blogs too! :)

      Delete
  3. Moving can be nerve-wracking.... I am excited that you are going to be teaching LA. I always love finding a kindred spirit to bounce ideas off of. If you have not found Erin at I'm Lovin' Lit, you need to!!! She is FABULOUS and has a million jillion great ideas for accomplishing your goals. We just got the email about what they are expecting out of our rooms to allow them to clean this year---- this includes boxing up LOTS and LOTS of everything for me.... YUCK

    Off I go in search of boxes. Have a great start to the summer--- cannot wait to see the pics of your new room! You will make it your own, it will be fabulous!

    Amanda
    Teaching Texas Teens

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh great! I love finding other Middle School Language Arts teachers! :) I will definitely go and check out I'm Lovin' Lit.

      Good luck on boxing... Our rooms don't really get cleaned - unless we do them!

      Delete
  4. I love The Hunger Games-such a great book that will lead to fantastic discussions. I'm also working on interactive notebooks this summer too. I found your blog through the linky party. I'm a new follower.

    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for getting my project funded!

      I'm a new follower over at your blog too! :)

      Delete
  5. Hi Lauren,

    Congrats on your move to Language Arts! Sorry it comes with such a messy room as a price. I'm a Language Arts teacher of 6th & 7th grade in NJ.
    I have always taught using anchor charts, but thanks to Pinterest, have truly jazzed them up this year. Also looking into interactive notebooks. You can check out my findings here on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lvc6/.

    Please keep us updated on your interactive notebook ideas. I'll be following and posting too! http://creative-in-middle-school.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi LIMS/Lauren:
    I'm so tickled that you joined my very first Linky Party!
    And I'm glad you're glad about teaching language arts... and I'm sorry that the room will need a major overhaul before you get a chance to work your magic on next year's bunch.
    Still, I know you will be sharing wonderful things next year that I hope to borrow from you!
    :)
    Happy summer...

    Kim
    Finding JOY in 6th Grade

    ReplyDelete

Thank you SO much for commenting on my blog! I read every comment and enjoy listening and seeing your thoughts! :)

 photo email-1.jpg  photo bloglovin-1.jpg  photo pinterest-1.jpg

Link Up!

Life in Middle School
<div align="center"><a href="http://middleschoolforlife.blogspot.com/" title="Life in Middle School"><img src="http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i357/FreeLauren21/TinyLIMSButton.png" alt="Life in Middle School" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Followers

Follow on Bloglovin

Follow on Bloglovin

Follow Me on Pinterest

TpT Store

Blogs I Love!

Archives

Categories

2012 (1) 31 bags (1) 5 for Friday (5) addictions (1) anniversary (1) appreciation week (1) assessments (2) awards (5) back to school (2) binder (1) binder covers (1) blog hop (2) blog of the week (1) blog tip (1) blogdesign (3) bloggers (2) blogging (3) bloglovin (3) bonus (1) book study (3) book whisperer (1) books (3) bulletin board (1) busy (1) button (1) california (2) CHAMPS (1) christmas (1) classroom (1) classroom decor (5) cleaning (1) clutter-free project (2) common core standards (1) Common Sense Media (1) computers (3) conference (1) covers (1) crafty (1) creative (3) currently (8) day in the life (1) decorating (1) district conference (1) edmodo (1) ELA (2) electives (1) exit slip (1) facebook (1) first day (3) first week (2) foldables (1) fonts (2) food (1) for sale (1) formulas (1) freebie (6) friends (1) games (2) germs (1) gifts (1) giveaway (5) goals (1) grades (1) grammar (1) graphic organizers (2) header (1) help (1) html practice (1) I love May (1) insanity (2) interactive notebook (3) ISTE (2) items for sale (1) joy (1) kinsella (1) lab (2) lablicense (1) language arts (5) layout (1) lesson plans (3) Liam (1) link (1) linky (20) linky party (12) made it (1) made it monday (4) madeitmonday (1) mama worries (1) math (6) math bingo (1) meetup (1) middle school (1) middle school rules (1) moving (5) NETS (2) new job (1) new stuff (1) next year (1) no opt out (1) optimum organization (1) organization (3) packets (1) packing (1) paperless classroom (1) peek at my week (2) pictures (4) pinterest (5) pinterest project (1) plc (2) plot elements (1) pocket charts (1) posters (4) powerpoint (1) printable (1) prizes (3) product review (1) products for sale (2) projects (2) reading (1) resolutions (1) reviewing (1) running (1) sale (2) sales (1) school (1) science (4) seating chart (1) shirts (1) sms (1) social studies (3) Standard 3.2 (1) story mapping (1) strategies (1) Tag (1) teach like champion (3) teacher bag (1) teacher planner (2) teacher week 2013 (2) teachers pay teachers (1) team meeting (1) technology (3) technology tailgate (1) testing (1) tn (1) to do list (1) TpT (4) venting (1) warm ups (1) website wednesday (1) websites (1) welcome (1) whining (1) why me? (1) winner (3) writing (1) yay (2)

Pageviews

Awards

Best Blogs for Teachers 2012

Designed by:

Munchkin Land Designs Papers by Amy Teets
Powered by Blogger.
 
Designed by Munchkin Land Designs • Copyright 2012 • All Rights Reserved