what i did with pre-service week:

Desk area complete with ink-leaking printer (it'll be replaced in the next week, there were many other computer problems and many other available printers, so it's pretty low priority)

I get a podium! Yesssss! It can't go higher than that-- the screw doesn't stick. That's okay, though, I don't need it much higher up than that.

Quotes by the door. It's a beginning of the year activity I'm doing, where they pick two quotes and tell me why they like them (it ties in with the essay we're doing in 10th grade).

Bulletin Board. Not quite done because one part has to be filled out by the kids, mostly. I'm having them put their names & titles of books they're reading (and they can put a small summary on it, if they want) on one part. The calender actually is somewhat filled now, mostly with 10th grade due dates. I'll put the 11th grade stuff up there on Tuesday or Wednesday

Front of the room.

Back of the room. The bookshelf in the corner of the counter is now filled with workbooks that are actually good enough to use! (Well, one of them is SOL prep books... I figured I should teach them some of the tricks of that tricky, slippery test in 10th AND 11th grade) The notebooks in the crates were bought by my amaaaazing co-teacher, Portia, for the two classes we teach together. I'm so glad I'm with her again this year (but I'll miss working with Sue, too!), we work together well and I like having her in the classroom.

Close up of what's on the wall between the counter and the shelves. It's a bunch of book suggestions! I have "If you liked Harry Potter, try...", "If you like nature, hiking, adventure or you watch 'Man vs. Wild', check these out...", "If you like 'Law & Order', 'CSI', etc, take a stab (har har) at..." and a few others, plus a general list of good books that didn't fit in. I'll be posting more that have novels, plays and stories we read throughout the year and suggestions for those that enjoyed them.

These three questions are what my 11th graders will try to answer throughout the year while we read and examine the literature and writing and whatnot. There is now blue bulletin board paper in the big space between the questions. Hopefully, this idea works out...

I looked through another English 11 teacher's class lists and I told her I was so jealous of the kids she got! She has some of my crazy (in a good way), creative, hilarious, sarcastic, good hearted kids and she's doing an amazing curriculum with them this year. I'm excited for her to have them and for them to have her. There were a few kids where I told her if she ever had problems with them, tell me and I'd try to talk some sense into 'em. Her and I are going to use some of the same materials--some of which are from This American Life and This I Believe (I had a feeling she was the other Ira Glass, David Sedaris, Public Radio fan... and I was soo right). Hopefully she has a great time with the kids of mine she has this year, otherwise I will be very disappointed in them. I, unfortunately, didn't get a lot of good, gushing comments about my incoming 10th graders, but I've mostly forgotten who they pointed out and what they said. It's good to know so that I don't have any wonderful surprises, but, at the same time, kids change quite a bit over the summer... hopefully. :)
My first day of school is pretty easy. It's an even day, which means I only have 4th and 8th bell. 4th is 11th grade, with quite a few kids I had last year. One of them, SP, is one that came into my class last year swearing she hated English with all her heart and that thinking about writing an essay made her sick to her stomach. She made a complete about-face throughout the year and I'm going to make sure to tell her once I see her how excited and happy I am that she's in my class again. In that class, I also have a lot of my 5th bell kids, so I'm excited to see them again. Let's hope it all goes smoothly...