Classroom News and Teacher Week 2013: Classroom Management

Well, today I finally decided to stop by the classroom!  I didn't take pictures, but it wasn't pretty.  The middle of the room is full of a few of my things, but mostly things from the other teacher who is moving out of the room.  (She is moving to a portable that was not there at the end of the year so both of our things were being stored in my room.)  Her portable wasn't ready until Monday so no one has  moved her boxes and other things to her new room.  I also found out that there are no tables or desks for my room as of now.  School starts in a little over a week and I go back on Monday!!!  I'll let you know how well I manage to start setting up the room with no tables or desks to start with.  I'm determined not to stress and do the best I can!

My new motto!

I am linking up with Blog Hoppin to share classroom management tips.  I hoped to get a picture of my classroom management tools today, but everything is still in boxes.  I am sharing two of the management ideas that my students seem to love last year!

Photo from Lakeshore Learning.

Hope these were useful.  Head over to Blog Hoppin' to check out other classroom management ideas.

Teacher Week: Classroom Tour (Tuesday)

Today is Day 2 of Teacher Week 2013!  I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin again.  I get so many great ideas from peeking into other teachers classrooms.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to share today.  Last year I put my "heart and soul into decorating the classroom." The quotations are there for a reason, that is exactly what my principal said when he told me I had to move rooms this year.  HA!  His comment has made me laugh as I think about preparing the room this year.  Still can't figure out why he said it during this conversation. 

Last year I went in for two weeks prior to school to paint and decorate in an attempt to create a classroom that I knew the kids would love and would lead to the best instruction.  Last year when I finished my room I knew it was absolutely perfect and I would probably keep it that way next year.  Well, next year is here and I am in a different room and have no idea where to begin.  Going from perfect to the unknown is HARD, but such is life!

Although that may have seemed like a pity party, I promise it wasn't.  The point of this is to say that in an effort not to get stressed out and overwhelmed, I haven't been in my room.  I have been creating things at home, but can't wrap my brain around where to begin for this year.  We go back on Monday, so I'll figure it out then.  I'm sure it will be nice and I will probably even gain a lot of ideas from looking at others who decide to join this blog hop! I'm actually a little excited because even though I probably would have left everything the same, I function better with changes.  So I get to be creative and fresh again this year!

Since I can't give you a tour of the classroom for this year, I'll let you see a picture of my room from last year.  I only have a few pictures of the room and they were all taken from the corner by the doorway.  This is all I can offer, but hope you enjoy.  Just for a little background the colors were red, black and white (our school colors) and polka dots.

Now you link up or check out other classrooms here!

Teacher Week: Let's Talk About Me (Monday)

Today begins Teacher Week 2013!  I'm going to link up with Blog Hoppin.  They are hosting an awesome link up! I don't know about you but I love reading about all my favorite bloggers.

Here are the topics for this week!

Okay...now on with the show!

 

1. I am a worrier.  It makes me feel better to say I over think everything, but honestly that's just another word for worrying.  Believe me I try not to, but it's nearly an impossible task.  Lately I have been trying to focus on Matthew 6:25-34.  I have it posted everywhere so when I find myself worrying I read those verses.  I don't see any progress, but I'll keep trying until I get there!

2. I am a questioner.  I ask tons of questions and have realized people don't like to be questioned!  I have learned to keep most of my questions to myself, unless I am truly confused or I am around my true friends!  Ha!  It's just easier with friends, they don't get offended and understand that questioning helps me understand.  Understanding helps me make informed decisions and do my best.
 
3. I enjoy driving.  It takes me about 45 minutes to drive to work.  I love this time in the car to thinking about school.  In the afternoon I am thinking about how the day went.  I feel less frazzled and since I have used my car time to problem solve I can usually relax about school things once I am home.

4. I love baked goods and baking.  I do love to eat them, but I also think baked goods just look way too cute and pretty not to be appreciated.

This is the first carrot cake I made and the first cake I decorated. I am better at decorating cupcakes.  It didn't really matter how it looked...it was delicious!

5. I usually have very little space on my DVR.  I record so many shows, but never have enough time to watch them.  I usually delete 70% of what I record.

6. I'm obsessed with purses!  I love shoes, makeup, jewelry, and clothes, but there's just something about a purse that makes me smile!

I had been searching for a blue purse for awhile before falling in love with this beauty!

7. I love to talk, but talk very little unless I am comfortable with you.  Most people think I am quiet and reserved.  The true me usually comes out when I realize I can trust the people around me.  My family and friends definitely see the talkative, silly, loud, crazy, and yes even the grumpy sides of me.

8. I achieved National Board certification a few years ago.  The hardest and most rewarding professional development of my life!  

9. I love all things blue. 

10.  I am horrified of talking in front of large groups unless they are young children.  Younger children are just so much more accepting in my book!

WOW...didn't realize how much that was!  Head over to Blog Hoppin' to read about other teacher bloggers! 

The Ups and Downs of Student Teaching

Last night I discovered emails from when my friends and I were just beginning our teaching careers.  The excitement was evident.  Everyday was an email from someone telling where and what they would be teaching.  Seeing the emails took me back to the joys of discovering what teaching is all about and the passion I had when I first started teaching.

Today I saw that Ash from The Polished Teacher was having a linky party and decided to do a little more reminiscing while sharing a little of my student teaching experience.  Wishing Ash the best of luck as she begins her student teaching.

 

Monday Made It

The reality that I have less than two weeks of summer has officially hit home.  Since I am determined not to go back to school until I absolutely have to, I have tried to work a little harder at home.  Today I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics. 

 Last year was my first year giving students book boxes and I LOVED it.  Having book boxes increases the chances that students always have a book they are interested in reading.  It also reduces the amount of browsing time since students have assigned times to browse and have multiple self-selected options of books to read.  These boxes are from Ikea.  A great bargain, but the bottoms started to fall out about mid year.  This year I decided to tape the boxes to make them more secure.  Originally I tried to cover the entire box in duct tape, then realized I would probably be okay as long as I secured the bottom.  SO I have about 10 completely covered and 20 with the two stripes and the bottoms covered.

I came up with an idea for my box from last week's Monday Made It.  I am going to have my students perform a random act of kindness each day.  I figure each day we will pull one of the cards out of the box and each student has to perform that act of kindness.  I'm hoping this will help create a climate of respect.

 I have seen these class journals all over the place and decided to use them this year.  I am going to write one sample in each journal so students have an idea of my expectations.  The topics are: My Weekend, Hobbies, Vacations, Sports, Birthdays, Wishes, Sickness, and Giggles.  The graphics I used for these came from My Cute Graphics.  This is my go to site, I adore their graphics.

 

 The last thing I am sharing is my check for understanding posters.  I know I found this idea somewhere, but it was awhile ago so I don't remember.  I know the colors didn't match my theme of shades of blue so I created my own.  The graphics for the children came from Clips by Jen.  The blue border can be found here.  The chalk star can be found here.   

Thanks for stopping by.  Head over to 4th Grade Frolic to check out what others have made and to link up with Tara.  Enjoy!

Back to School Goals

I have been thinking a lot about how I will make next year enjoyable for both myself and my students.  When I saw this linky on iHeartRecess I decided to link up and set some back to school goals.

 

Personal: I plan to leave work at 3:30.  This will give me time to cook a healthy meal, exercise, and beat the heavy traffic.

Organization: I have a horrible habit of losing things, I am always asking my students to help find things around the room.  Hopefully by returning things where they belong we won’t have to go on so many treasure hunts!

Planning: Spend less time chatting and more time in my room planning during the school day (so I can leave on time).  I know this will be hard because I’ll miss my former teammates and it will be SO tempting to visit with them when I can.  My new room should help because it is out of the way, so I’ll just stay locked inside.  

Professional: This program has taken up much of my free time for the last year and a half, I can’t wait until I am finished!  

Students:  When I have a lot going on I get anxious and tend to be less patient.  I want to focus on being patient with them so they feel free to make mistakes and try new and challenging things.

Motto: This is for both me and my students.  I want us all to be willing to take risk, admit what we don’t know, and ask for help.  Most importantly to try our best!  

Hopefully writing these goals will remind me to stick to them this school year! Check out iHeartRecess to link up and read some goals.