I Survived!

That's right, I survived the first week of school.  While it's technically not a full first week of school (Labor Day), I did it!  Everyone got home okay every day!  WOOHOO!  (My mom considers that to be a success.)

I had forgotten the craziness of the first day of school.  When I put the last kid on the bus... I was drained.  I had forgotten what it was like to have 20 kids with varying levels of "school" experience.  Some have no experience with the routines like walking in a line, using a classroom bathroom, sitting in a chair, practicing good listening, eating in a cafeteria...  But as the week continued, we learned about our classroom expectations and consequences.  I sent home my monthly behavior calendar on day 1- students colored in an apple to indicate their day.  I started my clothespin management system on Day 2.

We also practiced those routines.  I cannot express the importance of modeling and practicing to perfection the expectations for the classroom/school routines.

I took notes on the advice from KindergartenKindergarten and spent two or three days practicing the cafeteria routines.  First I modeled the expectations (as well as what not to do), then we returned to the classroom and made a chart together of the good and bad choices that can be made in the cafeteria, and then we revisited the cafeteria the following day and reviewed the chart and made that super cute lunchbox.

Each student has a 3 digit long cafeteria number that they must enter to buy lunch.  In the beginning of the school year, we just write these numbers on a popsicle stick and the students hand that to the cashier.  But our end of the year goal is independence, so my kiddos will need to learn how to enter their own number. Hubby is going to make me an outline of the keypad for my students to use.

It's going to be a great school year!