First Week = Success!

So far, so good.  Which I must say is more likely due to the wonderfulness of my class than any innate teaching ability of mine.  I couldn't have gotten any luckier with a first classroom.  I have 17 students, and only two of them are level 1 ESL.  The former is unheard of in Vancouver, and the second is about the same.  As I said...lucky.  The kids are just lovely, and as most of them are returning students, have already been trained well by my predecessors (thanks ladies), making it necessary only to review classroom rules.  Which means that I had to figure out something to teach instead of practicing routines!
I started off with an LA project, which was a really good idea (go me!).  It gave us something to do for the whole week with the added benefit that I now have a much better idea of each student's writing abilities.  It was also a good chance to introduce rubrics when I had the time to actually do a whole lesson on how to read and understand them.  One thing that didn't turn out so well was our "Where I'm From" profiles that are going to go around a world map.  I have learned that whatever size I think is big enough to be easily seen on the bulletin board - make it bigger.  The profiles turned out well enough, and all fit around that map...but can anyone read the ones beyond eye level?   Probably not.  I wonder what the kids will say if I suggest re-doing them and making them bigger in time for Meet the Teacher night.

The classroom itself is a decent size, although I wish I had space for a classroom library (not that I brought all of my books from Canada...I don't even want to think about how much that would cost) and I could be in trouble if I get another student (which I think I am).  The room is quite hot and I can't open the windows because they are renovating (aka, rebuilding from the inside out) the building right next door.  It's loud and smelly (I wonder what's in the paint they're using...).  However, I am not complaining, because I know it will be cold soon enough.