A Day Our Way: My Classroom Schedule

I always find it interesting to hear how others spend their days. How much time they allot to this subject and that. With that being said, I'm linking up with Amelia from Where the Wild Things Learn for A Day Our Way: A Classroom Schedule Party!

8:00-8:30: Arrival

During this time, students unpack, make their lunch selections for the day, and turn in their homework. They then raise their hands to show me they got their planners signed, and in return I give them $1 for getting it signed. {You can read about this here.} This is a great means of communication between me and parents, and ensures I see any notes they may have for me. I give them $2 each Monday if they have gotten their planners signed over the weekend, because let's face it--as soon as school dismisses on Friday afternoon, kids throw their book bags aside until Monday morning.

8:30-10: ELA Block

During this time I try reallyyyyyy hard to only spend 30 minutes in whole group, and then move on to station rotations. We have 3, 20 minutes rotations with a total of 4 stations. This means kids don't go to the same rotations every day.

10:00-10:10: Snack & Restroom

I personally love snack time. I never did this when I taught 4th grade, but my third grade team does snack, so I do, too. I eat a snack as well. 

10:15-10:45: Social Studies or Science

I would love to fit in both science and social studies every day, but it's hard to find the time. We've been doing 2 weeks of one subject, and then 2 weeks of another. 

10:50-11:35: Music or PE

We have PE every day except for when we have music. Music is usually only like 3 times a month, so my kids get plenty of exercise!

11:50-12:20: Lunch

We always have a duty free lunch because we have very special ladies who watch the kids. Bless them.

12:30-1:30

Rarely do we teach whole group math. Since we co-teach, we have more of an opportunity for small group time, so we take advantage of that.

We actually just started doing math test prep as a station since we have FCAT approaching in April. I find resources with sample questions online and we usually only get to 1 question a day. We really get in depth with that one question, though, and show different strategies for solving. Math small group is the direct instruction of our day, and seat work in the independent practice. Math fact fluency is differentiated by their group level and what they need review with.

1:30-2:30: Writing/Catch-up/Recess/Misc.

This is the hardest part of the day for me. I have from 5-6 kiddos who get pulled out from 1:30-2, so I find it hard to introduce anything new. We usually play catch-up for 30 minutes until they return, then squeeze in writing and recess, and then begin packing up at 2:30. Now that I look at it, I really need to make better use of this time. Ideas?!

2:30-2:45: Write in planners and pack up

2:45 Dismissal

We hardly ever have meetings we have to attend, but do have to stay until 3:25 each day. This is usually just enough time to prepare for the next day, relax and eat a snack.. again. :)

I'd love to hear about your schedule... go link up!