The Great To-Do List Challenge

Sunday nights are bittersweet.  There is this overall feeling of rest, but an urgency that tomorrow my week will be non-stop.  And I'm thinking about all I have to do- aside from my complete and total do-over of everything I have going in the classroom, um, it's the beginning of PALS testing- and whether or not I'll do it.  

And then there's this here blogging dealio I've started.  Which, by the way, I was inspired to do after relishing reading other blogs I discovered on Pinterest.  Why I was really pretty oblivious to the resources available on teaching blogs until now, I don't know... but it's good that I figured it out at this point, anyway.  So so helpful being able to hear and see what people are doing in their classrooms all over the world.  And it's teacher appreciation week- so isn't it great to be able to appreciate so many different people that I'll never meet?

I have also enjoyed seeing how many folks have viewed what I've written so far.  On the map they give me, the lower 48 and Alaska are dark dark green, and then I've got light green in the UK, Australia and New Zealand- love you, Traci *kiss,kiss, sissy*!  No followers, but that is o.k.  I'm doing this mostly for me anyway.  I am pleased though that I pinned a picture of my life cycle wheel to my pinterest page and two people have already repinned it.  Ah, it feels like Christmas, I tell you.

But anyway- the point of tonight's entry is that I am going to challenge myself with a to-do list. And I'll add in the clarification that the challenge lies in actually COMPLETING items on the list and not just WRITING it out.  Because I am very good with list making.  And charting.  And graphing.  Can make absolutely hundreds of them in minutes, I just never do anything with them.  I think I end up feeling that I made them too pretty to mess up with a strikeout line...  The bonus to this particular to-do list however, is that not only will I be challenging myself to get these things done in the classroom- but it also helps me plan for blog posts.

So here we go- this is what I'm going to try to accomplish and plus use as posts:
1) Library organization- got tons of baskets and shelves and I need to make it happen
2) Desk do-over project- those kids are slobby, and since I am too, I've gotta get myself cleaned up and get them under control as well.  And I have a plan! Based on a photo of an organized classroom on Pinterest.  More details to come.
3) My new audio book scheme- ooo I can't wait to use this new microphone gadget I got
4)plan for economics unit- because great googley moogley, it probably starts next week
5) Finish up the peek-a-boo posters and get them bound in a book- I loooove my peek-a-boo posters.  It's a simple idea I came up with maybe ten years ago.
6) Monitoring work avoidance with the bathroom- also an idea from Pinterest, but I have an adaptation that will work better for my kiddos
7) "Book shopping" - I'm old at the teaching game, but new at this Daily 5 thing- hang in here with me and see if I can make it work
8) Making my retelling center more engaging- I've got a  puppet theater DIY up my sleeve

and then these are following things that I know I want to work on for "next year" but don't see myself getting to with my current set of kids:
9) I want to start "guided math"- I've got some ideas and hope to make lots of goodies for it.
10) Plans for working on increasing children's oral vocabularies.  Especially for helping with making that reading jump from level 20 to level 24 when the text goes from kid conversational to formal. - Big thought on this one is "Tea on Tuesday"
11) Serious plans on integrating science and social studies SOLs with language arts and math activities
12) Studying up on my interest in fold-ables, lap booking, and center creation 
13)  My never ending quest to have the best non-fiction resources EVER


I think this baker's dozen is a good start.  Let's see if I make it to Super Teacher!