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Friday, August 8, 2014

Back to School Blog Hop (and a Freebie)

Happy Friday Everyone!

I’m so excited to participate in my first ever Blog Hop!  I'm joining other fabulous 5th grade teachers to offer this Back to School Blog Hop!




I remember my first day of teaching 5th grade, I was unsure and intimidated! I was a K-2 teacher previously so jumping to the "big kids" at a new school was a beyond nerve-racking experience!! The kids were so big and I was the "new teacher" in the building.  I felt like they could smell my fear.  I knew pretended like I knew I was the one in charge so I began teaching procedures like I've done every other year with K-2 students.  Well...I learned in the first hour, on the first day of school that modeling the "don'ts" of chair behavior/raising hands is unnecessary in 5th grade. BEFORE I learned this humiliating  valuable lesson, I demonstrated for the class what NOT to do (jump/climb out of your chair trying to get my attention).  I demonstrated this using my rolling chair not the brightest idea on my part.  I landed in the chair wrong and fell out of the chair and into a book shelf.  I was completely humiliated wanted to crawl in a corner and die, but quickly recovered, playing it off as if I meant to fall and injure myself.  The positive in all of this was, I never had students trying to climb out their seats that year. :)  The long and short of it is, 5th graders need routines taught in those first few days; just pick and choose the "bigger" routines to teach because it's not their first back to school "rodeo" like the smaller kids.  It also helps to remember 5th graders are just as nervous as you are; however, you're in charge and it's not always going to go as planned. Typically, nothing is ever perfect on the first day, just don't let them see you sweat...you meant to do "that".  In hopes of getting your year off to a great start, grab my freebie by clicking the picture below.




You can see more great Back to School tips by visiting Kate over at Kate's Classroom Cafe. Our group of bloggers has a great pack of goodies to send to one lucky winner to help your year get off with a bang!

Enter below for a chance at this awesomeness: a Rafflecopter giveaway

8 comments:

  1. I just found you via the blog hop. I too am teaching in NC.

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    1. Melanie,
      So glad you found me! Do you have a blog? If so, I would love to check it out! Where in NC do you teach?

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  2. I also found you in the blog hop. I used to teach 5th grade in Faith (Rowan County) and lived in Cornelius for a while, then moved to Mooresville.
    I moved back to Michigan last summer though.

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    1. Jayna, Do you still teach 5th grade? Small world! Some of my favorite people are from Michigan! Happy New School Year! Glad you found me!

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  3. Thank you for sharing that first day in fifth grade story! I've always done upper grades, so if I ever went lower (which I hope not to), I'd probably make huge first day mistakes too! One thing I like to do is have the students model the behavior. They love to act things like that out, and then they can really be held responsible because they've seen your expectation with their own eyes!

    Glad to have you with us! Your first blog hop, a great success!

    Smiles,
    Rachel
    Mrs O Knows

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    1. Thanks Mrs. O! Humility is the greatest virtue (so they say) and I definitely learned your advice the "hard" way! ;) Little kids are fun, but I'm having a great time with the bigger kids (glad they go to middle school so they can't tell the story of me falling out of my chair to the next bunch of 5th graders). I'm your newest follower and snagged your freebie during the blog hop.

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  4. Nice to "meet" you and glad to do the blog hop with you! I loved reading your fifth grade story! Bless your heart! I can imagine the nervousness moving from little ones to big ones! One day I'd like to teach little ones, but for now I'm enjoying 5th! Thanks for the freebie!

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    1. Nice to "meet" you as well! I just checked out your blog and am your newest follower on Bloglovin. The lesson was definitely one for the books! I doubt my class that year will ever for get me...haha! :) I'm looking forward to another blog hop some time soon! Happy Sunday!

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I love your comments! Thanks for taking the time! :)))