Schedule is almost all set. Just a few logistical things to go through. I'm glad to say our team decided on this together! So complicated though. I really wish there is a way I can just do the schedule my way... but got to remember I have a team and we gotta do it together!

My New Classroom Assignment and Scheduling

I am getting my new classroom!

It's very exciting until they assign me one classroom, I choose which bulletin boards to stay, what to add, figure out what should my classroom look like, and then I get reassigned to a different room. This happened twice. I was put in 3 rooms! The third room is now final (I hope). I will be in the 3rd/4th grade hallway with the other 3rd/4th grade teachers! I am very excited.

Recently, I've been figuring out my schedule. It's rather confusing.

I'll try to explain.

The green means the courses will be in English. I am planning to color any classes held in TL be in Yellow. The reason why I haven't color yellow is because I still have to see what the 3rd/4th team decides on; our schedule should match because we have Math, MAC and LAC together. MAC = Math ACceleration; LAC = Literacy ACceleration. As I wrote down Math in pen and colored it green, that class is already set. Now it is MAC and LAC where we have to decide where we want them.

As for literacy, I have two one-hour blocks. One for English, one for Chinese. I've talked to the CI team support (she's wonderful!!!) and she suggested I do:

• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
• 20 min. Shared Reading
• 40 min. Guided Reading
• Tuesday and Thursday
• 20 min. Shared Reading
• 10 min. I do/We do Model
• 30 min. Writing

I also might do that for English too.

On the schedule, I still need to put social studies (taught in Mandarin Chinese) and science (taught in English) on it. I would like to pair s.s. with Chinese literacy and sci. with English literacy. Ugh, we'll see how successful I am with that and if I'm not, I might have to talk to our support again or the principal.

????? What I am a little iffy about is if I will have any common planning time with the 3rd/4th team. Plan time is during specials (art, music, PE, and LRC). I wonder if I have any of the same time with any teachers. Need to ask that this Tuesday.

?????? I really would like half of my day to be in English and another half to be in TL. It doesn't seem to be possible at all. I could have chunks during the day but that is least ideal. I need to bring this up to the principal.

Helpful websites

http://www.semanda.com
http://chinese4kids.net
mandarin-immersion.blogspot.com
http://www.asianparent.com/index.aspx

These are some of the websites and blog I found months and months ago. This might be a great way to start searching for resources when I need it.

• Semana.com has a lot of flashcards. Because our program is an Immersion program, no English is encouraged to be used during class. That, I might need to edit.
• chinesefkids.net is a bunch of activities, stories, videos, etc. on it. It's just a good resource to go to it whenever I need something for a lesson I just cannot find anywhere else.
• mandarin-immersion.blogspot is a website that helped me find the other three websites. The teacher, 畢老师, is from Utah. The last updated blog was back in 2012. Even though that is a little outdated, it's a good place to find any activities or lessons s/he's done in the past.
• asianparent.com might be a great website for my district to take a look at. We are still looking for books the kids can read during the school day so this might be a good website for us.

BraniPOP's Main Idea and Details Table

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1qqVU0yowwxZnpCN0t0bDhrZ3M/edit

I found this, a looooong time ago. I feel like this is a very good visual representation for the kids; it's a good 3D graphic organizer. I just have to translate to Chinese, which is fine, but the format is in .pdf so it's going to take some time.

Update

Just updated this post!

http://mandarinbilingual.blogspot.com/2013/12/going-to-taiwan.html

Learning Pinyin

http://teacherweb.com/MO/MillsElementary/MrsBondsFantasticFirstGraders/apt14.aspx

Found this website and found this photo

I can totally use this to put things for pinyin. Gotta make the list of pinyin first and then list what can go in the boxes!

This image would help me too

http://www.liveinasiablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Best-Way-to-Learn-Chinese-Pinyin-Chart.jpg

Below are some of the words the kiddos should/might know from previous years.

1. b: 爸爸、杯子、八、脖子、斑马、鼻子、白色、帮忙
2. p: 泡泡、牌子、平原、苹果、胖、朋友
3. m: 妈妈、马、蚂蚁、玫瑰花、猫、门、门、么、没、明、美、名
4. f: 饭、粉笔、番茄、范、风
5. d: 弟弟、蛋、蛋糕、灯泡、袋子
6. t: 土豆、桃子、头、汤、糖、兔子、土、太阳
7. n: 奶奶、男生、女生、鸟、牛、
8. l: 老师、老虎、蓝色、篮子、六
9. g: 哥哥、歌、国旗、钢琴、骨头
10. k: 扣子、哭、裤子、卡片、可乐、
11. h: 花、河、黑、孩子、海、猴子、盒子、火
12. j: 鸡、橘子、姐姐、九
13. q: 七、钱、铅笔、桥
14. x: 虾子、鞋子、心、熊、
15. zh: 桌子、粥、针、猪、竹子、纸、蜘蛛、种子
16. ch: 船、茶、虫、叉子、
17. sh: 石头、沙滩、舌头、蛇、山、扇子、十
18. r: 热狗、肉、人、日、热
19. z: 紫色、粽子、在、作作业、作业、最、子
20. c: 草、草莓、菜、村、存、层、菜
21. s: 三、思、所、死、四、色、岁、森、扫地
22. y: 鸭子、椅子、一、有、友、邮、油、游、右、幼、鱼、玉、渔
23. w: 五、物、乌、舞、污、我、为、外、玩、万、完、晚、湾
24. :u : 与鱼语雨玉鹬
25. a: 啊阿爸把八怕爬嘛玛吗妈马发打大答他她它那哪拿啦拉卡擦哇
26. o: 哦伯婆摸我
27. e: 了乐车册色热可和喝河赫
28. ei: 北佩没每美飞得累给黑嘿
29. ai: 白百拜买拍带太奶来莱该改开凯还孩海
30. ie: 别灭猎些写谢
31. ao:
32. ou:
33. an:
34. en:
35. eng:
36. ang:
37. ong:

一烏与阿喔ㄜㄟ哀ㄝ凹歐安嗯ㄥ

Edit 11/03/13: Maybe I'll just use pictures and put it in Wall Pockets by Post-It...
Edit 11/03/13 part 2: Maybe Pocket Chart Organizer is cheaper...
Edit 03/29/14: This might be a good center for the students to have. I might have to find a different chart for the kiddos to understand. [[half hour later... FOUND THEM!]]
Edit 05/05/16: I'm back... still thinking. Getting my grad school now and made me think of this. Starting from #24.

Update

Oh gosh, where do I begin?

I don't think I've mentioned this, but I'm currently student teaching right now and starting to teach more and more as the year goes on. My school has been piloting edTPA for 5 years now and I'm part of the process. It's definitely a project that I need to give my undivided attention to do my best. My lessons and reflections will all be sent to Pearson (the all-time famous publisher) for evaluation. In short: it's a bigger deal than taking finals.

I've also been trying to order furniture for my next year's classroom. Here's the list I ordered:

• 2 - kidney tables (might only get 1)
• 1 - round table 48" in diameter
• 3 - long tables 96" x 24"
• 2 - cabinets [I'm not sure the dimensions but I requested the bigger ones]
  
• 2 - 2-drawer file cabinets
• 2 - 4-shelves bookshelves
• 10 - trapezoid tables
• 3 - big chairs for stations
• 40 - medium shares
• 30 - drawers/totes for each student (I will have a lot extra)

I'm still trying to see if there is a list of things I cannot have in my classroom in case I purchase "illegal" things. Still trying to wait on that list!