A Tour of My Brand New School: Part 2

Welcome back!  If you missed my school tour part 1 be sure to click here to check it out.  I have 2 more weeks before my back to school so it will be awhile before I can do a specific classroom tour.  I will be staying late to decorate the week before the kiddos come as we were already tour to expect no downtime and lots of PD that first week.  Yay.

First up on the tour is...

A First Grade Classroom

Almost all the classrooms are designed to be about the same size with the same setup.  All the rooms have windows, a few have more than others.  All classes are equipped with Promethean Boards which I haven't used before.  I have used Smartboard and Starboard so I don't feel too worried.

That's the teacher desk in the bottom right of the photo.  On the left corner out of sight is an easel and you can just make up the class meeting rug in the front of the room.  The IWB is in front of that which you'll see in the next picture.

As you might have noticed the room is not that big.  No matter which grade I will be teaching I will most likely be showing students how to take a center tub to their table.  There is not much room to create different areas.  One of these whiteboards will have to be taken over by mandatory objective posting and I'll probably add the daily class schedule as well.  You can check out my newly revised and editable schedule cards here.  Since the room already has a bright, bold color scheme I will stick to decorating it by using posters with a white or black background.

I plan on doubling up on these cubbies for students to have one to share.  Not only will they be sharing one with a student in their own class they will have to share with the next class as well so I can use some of them for storage.  Teaching grades 1-5 is run almost like teaching half-day kinder to two full classes. You can't really tell from the picture but these are pretty deep cubbies and I heard from another teacher that the students are not allowed to bring backpacks to school.  So really I shouldn't need all the cubbies for them, right??

Here are the remaining cubbies.  I figure one side I will keep for storage/center activity tubs and the other side will be for student use.  In between the cubbies is a sink which will be helpful for science and before snack/lunch.  Anyone have any good ideas to save lots of time when a whole class hand washes using one sink?  After 9 years  of teaching I have yet to have a bright idea (other than skip hand washing and use sanitizer).

A look at a few more rooms.  The only thing different is really the amount of cubbies, the size of the chairs, and the bookcases.

Each grade level section has a large common area in the middle of the classrooms, as seen above. I'm not sure what is currently planned for its use, but I'm thinking combined classes for fun science experiments, RTI, multi-class projects - the possibilities are endless!  It would also be a really cool place to put a reading area since the classroom itself doesn't really have room for big, comfy reading spots.  See those red, green, and yellow round things on top of some of the tables?  Those are floor cushions that would be perfect for this!

Here's just a look at some of the other common areas around the school.  They are pretty similar except for the colors.  I'm not sure about you but I think the orange is a bit much.

Believe it or not, some of our schools do not have playgrounds which was why I was quite excited to find this school has not one, but several.  I'm still trying to figure out the layout of the school (I've only been once) so I had a hard time telling how many but there are a few.  Even the nursery has it's own separate play area.

Teeter-totters and a swing set!

The top one in this picture is not a playground but a nice seating area for a teacher or two to take a break.  The bottom right is the nursery's area.  The windows are where the kindergarten section begins.

Here are just two examples of the teacher workspace areas.  Although there are desks in the classroom, many times (in my previous cycle 1 school) the specials area teacher will use your room to teach her lessons.  Which means during your prep time you do not have access to your computer or your room.  Luckily, the school offers these prep areas for you to grade papers or chit-chat. The only downside is these areas are tucked off of the grade level common areas and have no doors.  No doors = no privacy.  I don't remember seeing a space for teachers to eat.  Hmm...

So I'm really hoping I'm in kinder again this year.  Partly because I've spent almost all my teacher career in first but also because these rooms are cutest and coolest you've seen.  See through the window?  That's a private courtyard.  PRIVATE!  Your own personal mini play area.  Perfect to have a water/sand table AND a water wall (have you seen some of those on Pinterest?).  This room also has it's own bathroom.  Necessary for this age level!

Here's another look at the outside area.  That pink hippo is actually a trash can and is the same ones they have at the Al Ain Zoo.

Of course kindergarten also has its own shared area.  Unlike the other common areas this one has some play items.  I'm guessing they maybe eating lunch here instead of the cafeteria since there are quite a few trash can animals.  If you look at the first picture of the outside of the school, you'll see that the kindergarten has its own separate entrance but can be accessed from inside the school as well.

Well, that's the end of my tour.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I'm getting pretty excited to start a new year here.  It is such a colorful, cheerful place.

Are you ready to do a school tour with your kiddos?  Check out my latest product full of riddle fun for a scavenger hunt school tour!  It's on sale for a very short time.

Peek At My Day - Teaching Abroad in KG1

The school year is beginning to wind down although we are not out until July but the kiddos are finishing in June.  Those lucky ducks!  I follow several Facebook groups for teachers who are coming abroad to teach in the UAE and who are already here in the trenches.  A common trend I've seen this last week is that everyone wants to know what a typical classroom day looks like.  Well, no day is typical and EVERY day is completely different and full of surprises.  But I'll do my best to give you a snapshot.

Kindergarten is made of two grade levels - KG1 and KG2.  I consider KG1 to be the equivalent of preschool back home and KG2 would be like regular kindergarten.  Only in KG do EMTs (what I'm called - an English Medium Teacher) co-teach in the same room with an AMT (Arabic Medium Teacher).

Here's my daily schedule:

Morning Assembly (Tabore)

Teachers arrive at 7:30 am and the students arrive around then and begin gathering in the gym.  The whole school meets and goes over announcements, sings the national anthem, and rotates through each class (two a day) for a short performance.

Arrival

Students arrive in the classroom and perform the usual duties...putting backpacks in the cabinet, jackets in the basket (in cooler weather), turn their attendance card to show they are here, and put snack money in the pocket chart.

Free Choice Centers

Students are given time to just play and practice the previous day's skills.  They are allowed to choose any activity throughout the classroom.

Islamic

Islam is a big part of the culture here and is the main religion practiced in the country.  Time is given every day in the public schools to study the religion.  During this time (since I do not speak Arabic or read the Quran) is to monitor student behaviors and assist my co-teacher as needed.

Snack

Students either bring a small snack/lunch (looks more like lunch to me) or can buy a small sandwich, cucumber or banana, and a drink (juice, liquid yogurt called laban, milk, or water).  Choices vary and some items are not always available.  Snack time is shared between myself and my co-teacher.  I might do one day and she does the next.  This allows one of us to have almost 20 minutes of prep time which usually goes towards setting up the centers for after snack.

Literacy Direct Instruction

This is our circle time. We have a 10 minute lesson based on the school-wide theme (a theme can last for several weeks), followed by a brain break, then 10 more minutes of instruction (preferably shared writing).  Some days I lead the instruction and my Arabic co-teacher translates and adds more information.  Other times, my Arabic co-teacher begins and I do my best to translate into English the gist of the lesson.

Literacy Centers

Each week we try to have at least five literacy centers. These usually include an art center (drawing and labeling a picture using vocabulary cards), play dough, construction (theme related), writing, and reading. Some students also work on computers during this time.  Either my co-teacher or myself will hold a small guided reading group during centers. The teacher not holding the group is responsible for managing the students at centers and taking anecdotal notes and/or assessment.

Numeracy Direct Instruction

This is our second circle time.  It is formatted very similar to the literacy direct instruction.  We try to follow the gradual release model for instruction (I do, we do, you do).  Just like during literacy time my co-teacher and I will alternate instruction so it is delivered in Arabic and English.  I try to always plan a hands-on activity for the students based on the concept we are learning before releasing them to centers. Since they are ELL kiddos I feel this is very important to understanding their learning.  You can read all about an example numeracy/math lesson in my blog post here.

Numeracy Centers

Our numeracy centers are usually the same center names as our literacy centers but with different activities.  We change our center activities weekly but usually have art center, writing, play dough, construction, computers, and numeracy.  Art center might be to create a picture of the week's math concept like draw a heavy and a light object.  We will also encourage students to use the vocabulary cards to label their pictures.  The writing center might be set up to write their numerals and draw objects to match.  Construction they could be making numbers, making long and short lines with the blocks, experimenting to create a balance for weighing items.  Play dough usually stays the same and will be making their numbers using play dough mats with ten frames which can be found here.  The numeracy center is really just a designated table which we will put a variety of activities to work on number sense. Students will often choose a tub to take to another location or work at the table.

Again, during center time one teacher will hold small groups while the other rotates among the centers collecting assessment data and informational notes.

Specials

At our school we have P.E. (usually called sport or riada), music, and library.  For music and P.E. we have a true prep period and can use the time for the usual teacher things:  checking email, entering grades, preparing the next lessons.  During library one of us must stay with the class the entire time. There is a librarian who will provide lessons to fulfill her own outcomes but once the lesson is finished, the teacher is responsible for keeping the students engaged and on-task.

Daily Reflection Time

I love this time of day!  Every day at the end of the day we try to have students reflect on what they have learned.  I truly believe this is an integral part of their learning and is so beneficial to these students to practice and speak in English.  I have witnessed some amazing growth from this reflection time.  A more detailed blog post about daily reflection time is in the works - just in time for you to see about incorporating it into your day next year.

Dismissal

Most students ride the bus home as you can see by our chart above.  Only one student is picked up from school each day.  All teachers are required to be on bus duty and escort their assigned bus kiddos onto the bus each day.  Once the students leave, most teachers use this time to finally eat something. Twice a week we have one hour of professional development/meetings.  On a non-meeting day (provided lesson plans for the following week are finished) I can go home at 1 pm.  On meeting days, we leave school at 2:30 pm.  Definitely a nice change from back home!  However, all schools tend to be a little different. While what you've read above is typical for my day it may not be typical for another teacher at a different KG school.  

If you have any questions or I forgot to cover something, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you!