Wow! This weekend went REALLY fast. I managed to resist going into my classroom, but know I will pay for it this week! I have a meeting to plan this week and am not too firm on my teaching plans. I am still planning day-by-day at this point, trying to get a feel for this group of kiddos.
I started getting ready for the week and thought I would share my routines that I have tried to develop to make my week go easier.
1. Get gas on Sunday – I have challenged myself to use 1 tank of gas per week this year. I have only had to play catch up for 2 weeks and it has made me super conscious of how much I drive. If I get gas on Sunday, I am good for the week.
2. Choose outfits for the week – I try to look at the forecast for the week and put complete outfits in my closet. This includes belts, scarves, leggings, tights, etc. I hang everything on a hanger at the front of my closet. I work hard to not iron anything.
3. Make my lunch for the week – I buy food for a week’s worth of lunches. Sadly, the school lunches are very expensive for adults and are just not very nutritious. Sometimes I buy yogurt, sometimes I make salads or soups (I made lentil soup today – yum
I saw a pin on Pinterest on how to vacuum pack salad for the week. It led the site: www.salas-in-a-jar.com. I haven’t tried the vacuum packing, but this worked well anyway. Plus, I like the idea of storing food in glass rather than plastic!
I also started buying things that can be stored in my classroom for lunch. I drink Silk, rather than milk (I know, funny that a dairy farmer’s wife can’t drink milk!) and found cartons that can be stored at room temp. They are great for snack too. I try to keep peanut butter crackers, pop corn, oatmeal, hot chocolate, and things like that to snack on or make a meal of in a pinch.
4. Library Books - I recently started checking books out from the public library to use in my classroom rather than spending mass amounts of money to buy them. Usually, those who can be really advanced planners get dibs on the books in my building and I hate asking around until I find what I need. I am rather bad at actually getting the books back on time, so I designated one of my canvas bags as my library bag. It never comes into the house. I order my books for the next week or two (all of the libraries in a 4 county area ship books to the one you request if you order them in advance – love this!) and when they arrive at my library, I put them in my cars and take them right to school. When I am done with them, they go right back in the bag to go back to the library. It’s the little things, you know…
5. Planning – I have to admit that I am not a great planner. Five years in, it is really starting to get to me that I don’t remember the things that I have done that have worked out well, let alone where the pieces for that lesson are now. I am guilty of dragging everything but the classroom sink home to plan and rarely ever actually pulling it out of the car. In an effort to lighten my load, I am relying a great deal on online resources rather than materials that I have to drag home. I bought a jump drive just to keep materials on as I plan. My thought is, if I can get myself to work early enough, I would be able to print what I need and make copies as soon as I get to work. We’ll give this a whirl and see how it goes. I have some tentative plans for this week.
How do you prepare for your week?
*************************************************************************************************************
On a fun note, Abby from The Inspired Apple is having a $3.00 sale today! I actually own all of her fabulous work on Teachers Pay Teachers, so of course I had to buy Pop Rockin' Descriptive Writing Activities. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ideas, but I am afraid that I shouldn’t use Pop Rocks in my classroom. We have a pretty big strict health policy and I am sure I would get a few calls when the kids go home asking for candy because it was so much fun. Sadly, I didn’t even dare do the wonderful Jitter Juice because even the teachers drinking soda at school is frowned upon. Any ideas that I could use to replace the Pop Rocks in this great unit? I was initially thinking food, but I wonder if something else might work for an alternative.
WOW! You say you're not organized, but you sound very organized to me :) I only figure out what I'm wearing and eating the night BEFORE! I drink Silk too. Love it! Vanilla flavour is my favourite. If you're looking for a candy substitute for the Pop Rockin' unit, what about those sesame crackers? You know the ones that come in those little five packs. They're quite sweet and they all stick together, but they're cheap and way healthier than candy. It might work.
ReplyDeleteBarb
Isn't it funny that I still don't feel organized! I know that I am a grouch when I start my day off scrambling! I think I know what you mean by the sesame crackers. Are they more of a candy mixed with sesame seeds? I used to know of a great little old fashioned candy store that had them, but it closed. I will have to look around. Thanks!
ReplyDelete