One more chance...

In an email the staff received from our principal, he said that we would discuss our preferences for next year with us this Thursday. I saw this as one more opportunity to beg on my hands and knees plead my case for moving up.

I heard yesterday that there are two fifth grade teachers that are going to be told they can come teach first or resign. Yikes! That does not bode well for me.

But..I'm going in trusting the Lord works all things for my good. This has surprisingly been a very big issue for me. I've been in constant prayer about it for weeks. I am thankful that I haven't set my heart on it entirely, but I will be disappointed if I don't get it.

We'll see what tomorrow holds...

Hello, 2012!

I'm getting student #24 tomorrow. Technically, this will be the 27th kid I've had this year. 28..including our sweet friend who pushes in from the SpEd room.

I really have no idea how you teach 24 first graders in one room. It's 24 vs. 1. I realize I'm the teacher, but sheesh. Those are some crazy odds.

I feel like I'm going to be forced to pick and choose who I teach. How nutso is that!?!

We had a quick little grade level data meeting today to discuss our Early Star Literacy scores from December. The Superintendent of Elementary C & I said that our kiddos should at least fall into the "Transitional Reader" category at this point in the year. I still have 6 that are below that in "Emergent Reader". HOWEVER, just one month ago, I had TWELVE!! I cut that number in half! Woo!!

In looking at those 6...2 are ELL and 2 receive Tier 3/Title 1 instruction. So, really...the last two are my biggest concern. Is that not picking and choosing or what? Makes no sense to me.

Common Core Math is whoa. Whoever set the pacing for us this year was on some kinda crack or something. The windows for each unit are incredibly short. And with CC we HAVE to teach the skills to mastery. I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes every time we talk about it. I swear the people in positions of "leadership" have no common sense.

We read "How Full is Your Bucket?" yesterday. I had my kids draw another kid's name at random and then write or draw something to them that would fill their bucket. I heard lots of "I like his/her shoes". We got lots of new shoes for Christmas. :) Two of my favorites were "_____ is my hero" and "_____ is really funny". So sweet. One girl asked if she could write one to me. She said that she thought my nails were pretty. They're currently hot pink. haha! I may or may not be using the line "you're emptying my bucket" for my kids that won't stop talking or interrupting me. I've also had a few kids tell me they felt their buckets were empty, so we brainstormed why and how we could fix it. If this gets them to think about how their behaviors effect each other, then I have definitely succeeded this year.

Ooo...I can get them little buckets as an end of the year thing. Gotta remember that.

We're also writing New Year's Resolutions. Two of my sweet kiddos want to be better spellers. One wants to drink more milk. One wants to get better at driving her little play jeep. Quite a few want to be better helpers for their parents. We talked about ridiculous resolutions vs. realistic resolutions. Sky diving and driving cars are ridiculous resolutions for a 1st grader. They loved hearing that. I think this group is a lot more realistic with their resolutions than my kiddos were last year.

We also made a patchwork quilt square to make a classroom quilt. We talked about how each of us is different and unique but together we make a beautiful masterpiece....and how it takes teamwork to accomplish this. I surprisingly feel like we're pulling ourselves together.

I am going to try to figure out what to do with my life after this year. I am looking at gaining certification in another state to be closer to my parents. I also heard about a program there that works with children who have autism. They work with the students and families outside of the classroom. I have decided that the part I love most about my job is coming up with creative solutions to learning issues. It's rather daunting to do for 24 students. I feel I am most effective, creative, inspired and on my game when I work with less kids (as I'm sure most people feel). I am definitely going to be looking into this and consequently pursuing a Masters in Special Education.

We have a little more than 70 days until State testing. No snow days in sight. I still haven't decided if that's a good thing or not. I'd like at least 1 or 2.

I am extremely thankful for the grace to teach. I am even more thankful that these first two days back haven't left my bucket completely empty at the end of the day. :)

Meet the Teacher

Tell us a little something about you...

I am originally from North Carolina but have been living in the midwest for 5 years this month! WOW! It seems like forever and then not long at all. My parents still live in NC, and I spent my entire summer there. Perfect!! I live with my sister who moved to them midwest almost 3 years ago. My brother moved out here about 10 months ago. Unfortunately, my parents will not be moving out any time soon. I played teacher as a kid. I honestly didn't have a strong desire to become a teacher when I finally decided to finish my bachelor's degree, but it was a perfect decision.

How long have you been teaching?

This will be my third year teaching in an urban school district. I'm fortunate to be teaching in the school I student taught at. I will also have my third principal in 3 years. I love first grade. Especially sharing stories with my kids.

You might not know...

Hmm. You probably don't know a lot about me. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm going to make being a classroom teacher my only career. I'm playing around with ideas for a Master's degree and hope to figure out just what I want to do. My mom is a social worker and so is my best friend. So..who knows!?

Oh...I also got stitches on my first day of my teaching career. Thankfully, it didn't happen at school, but it was a great story to tell my kids the next day.

What are you looking most forward to this school year?

I'm looking forward to working with our instructional coach. I am also looking at strengthening my small group teaching and classroom organization. I was not given the organizational gene and having 23 kiddos in my room this year is forcing me to be organized and focused. I'm also looking forward to sharing my extensive collection of books with my kids. I loved reading "Aliens Love Underpants" to them last week.

What do you need to improve?

Organizational skills. Small group instruction. Time management. Rigorous centers.

What teaching supplies can you *not* live without?

My SMARTboard. LOVE IT!! My kids love it too. I'm excited about letting them use it more.

Post-its...and the good kind. Love making charts with my kids.

Fun markers. Love Mr. Sketch. My kids are already enjoying their scents. I use them for checking their morning work and desk work. They love the smell.

Carl's Corner and other websites that help me not have to make my own stuff and give me ideas of what to use with my class.

A New Year...

I really took a long break this summer. I ended up staying home in North Carolina for 8 weeks instead of 4. Best.summer.ever! I was not looking forward to coming back to the midwest and having to work.

I had a wonderful class last year and was very nervous about the group I would be getting this year. I ended up not getting the class I wanted and got a kid I retained from last year. I felt really down and disappointed for a couple of days and then decided that whoever is supposed to be in my class will be there and whoever isn't there isn't supposed to be there. From then on I have been getting more and more excited about the group coming into my room.

Unfortunately our numbers kept going up. All 3 classes are at 24 on their rosters. However, not all 24 have shown up in our rooms. I'm at 23. The one student missing is the one who was retained from last year. PRAISE THE LORD! He was the one I was dreading the most. I did not want to deal with the same kid again. He apparently doesn't live in our district; his family life is tragic. If he does come back, we'll make things work. And if not, I hope that he gets put with a great teacher and a great class.

So..we've been in school for 2 days. It's been difficult to transition from a wonderful group of kids to some I'm not sure about or don't know very well. I miss my kids from last year but am excited to see them move on to second grade. And I love that they're still on my hallway.

I am loving my kids. We're so cramped in our room, so we're spending time discussing how we can be respectful and how important it is that we keep in our areas. I'm launching the clip-up/clip-down behavior chart that so many teachers use this year. I learned about it from reading lots of blogs and browsing lots of pictures. It so fits my personality better than just flipping cards. My kids seemed so excited that they could actually move up and earn more rewards. They were given the compliment of "best class in art" today, and as a reward, I let the whole class clip-up. None of my classes before have ever gotten that compliment. The kids were so excited and proud. I also shared with them about earning class compliments. In the past I've use plastic chain links to make a chain to the floor. It usually takes about 45 compliments to hit the floor. We had to wait a bit to go into Art today. The kids waited so patiently and were complimented by the Art teacher. I congratulated the class on their first compliment. One of my boys asked me if we could put stars up rather than links. What a brilliant idea! I immediately die-cut stars and got one up on the wall. I love this because I can put the date and who the compliment came from. We ended up getting three today!!

I can foresee a few problems arising, but I think we'll be ok this year. But TWENTY-THREE!?!?! (9 boys and 14 girls) My biggest class was 20. Which I realize is only 3 less...but 3 bodies makes a big difference. I can get rid of two tables in my room with 3 less kids.

I am so glad to be excited about this. I was not thrilled about coming back to work after experiencing a great summer. I definitely think these kids are going to make the transition easier. :)

Summer Vacation

I'm taking it very easy at home with my parents this summer. I'm trying to keep myself away from lots of computer and television and reconnect with old friends and myself.

I am loving this season of being quiet and reading.

Of course, my teacher wheels are spinning. I just can't make them stop. I got to talk with one of my high school teachers this evening. I realized that I really do love my job. I sometimes forget when I'm in the middle of the year and we all have cabin fever.

I am going to keep reading and learning and preparing for next year, but mostly I'm going to soak up some sun, sweet tea and familiar faces.

I love summer!

Next Year

I have already started to think about next year, as most teachers are. I have been thinking about it all year really...making mental notes and trying to figure something out. I tabbed a page in my go-everywhere-hold-everything notebook as my 2011-2012 ideas and to-dos. I am hoping to spend quality time purging a lot from my room this summer and reorganizing.

I plan on rearranging my room to reflect more of what I believe as a teacher. I plan on getting rid of a lot and reorganizing EVERYTHING!

I definitely fail in the organization category. I just can't seem to get it together. I plan to put a lot of my "worksheets" and activities into binders by subject, but I have to figure out how to organize them in the binders. I really wish I could have taken a college course on classroom organization! I'm going to figure it out, write a book and have my career made! haha!!

My theme for next year will be star related, I think. I'm going to play around with a lot of ideas and work on some decorations.

The biggest undertaking for the summer will be planning my year in units and really mapping it all out. Unfortunately, I didn't learn this in college either. There was no way to plan anything last year, and I didn't plan anything this year. I feel like I am finally familiar with our "curriculum" to break it and do the things I want. My personality is very much a "rule-follower". We had a reading "Nazi" last year who was a stickler for following the book. It's difficult to break myself out of habits. Thankfully, I have people who are willing to push me and help me figure it out.

We are very blessed to have a local church coming to host a school makeover work day for us in July. They're bringing tons of supplies and people to spruce up our school. We got to submit wish lists of what we'd like to see. I can't wait to join them in making our school over.

I am looking forward to having an even better year next year!! I am so inspired by everything I am reading in books and what other teachers are doing. Y'all are seriously amazing!

I am also secretly hoping that I get the entire kindergarten class in the room next to me...minus one who I know I would not get along with. :)

Head on over to Time 4 Kindergarten to see what other teachers are planning for next year.