flow

As I approach week four of the 2013 - 2014 school year, I find myself gradually coming into a flow. The systems that I had in place last year are coming back to me, and with a year of experience behind me, I'm getting back into the teaching groove.

I typically get to school an hour before my students show up. This gives me time to make sure all of my materials are ready to go so that there are not any down moments for the little guys to go crazy. I also just like being prepared, and this time allows me the time for not only material preparation, but mental preparation. I review my lesson plans, check my materials, make any changes to account for any materials missed the day before, or to allow for review of materials that the students did not grasp the first (or second, or third) time through. And I breathe.

This morning I found that I was able to move through these typical steps much faster than I was during the first two and a half weeks. This meant that I spent nearly 45 minutes lesson planning this morning. Now that I am comfortable with the lesson planning template that I came up with, I was able to plug information in and wrap up next week's language arts plan before the day even "started."

As the day progressed, I found that my students are coming into a flow as well. They are no longer asking every five minutes if it is time to go home yet (or now, they ask if it is Smartie Pants Time, when we do our daily review and wrap up). They moved in and out of centers like pros. The lined up quickly and quietly (or at least faster and quieter than they previously did). We're onto something here.

This afternoon I was able to prepare my monthly calendar and reading log for September, along with a notice of weekly learning objectives for the month. Tomorrow morning I will be able to update my kinders' take home folders so that families know what is coming up, and what they should be reviewing with their children on a daily basis.

I'm feeling good about this whole teaching thing. I've loved it from the very beginning, but this week I am beginning to really feel like I'm finding the balance and flow to make my year a little bit smoother, and my time management a little bit easier.

And it only took three weeks. (And a year, but who's counting?)