TGIF!

Our first week is over.
I am exhausted!

I feel pretty good about our first few days, however, and am actually looking forward to planning for next week.  (That is, after I get into my jammies, crawl into bed, and sleep until 10 am tomorrow!) :)

The first day of school was pretty emotional for me.  My 4th grade son went to a new school this year, so I was thinking of him all day and wondering how he was doing without me being close by.  My middle daughter started 2nd grade and seemed to have grown up over night.  My baby started kindergarten (I cried as I watched her leave my room and head off to her classroom.  Her "pack-pack" was bigger than she is!)  As if that wasn't enough, my first class of 8th graders were starting their senior year of high school (many of them came by to see me and give me hugs!) and my principal's daughter, the little girl who took  her first steps in the middle school and whose diaper I changed on many occasions, started high school.  Geesh!

Ok.  So I am a sap!

I am loving our new schedule, though.  I have 3 blocked ELA classes (2 class periods long) and 1 Language Mastery class.  The kids have begun to decorate their interactive notebooks.  I brought in my Sizzix and they have had a blast cutting out the letters for their names and other shapes.  I am working on getting the books covered with contact paper, so I will have to post pictures once they are complete.  My classroom looks like a bomb went off in it - there is scrapbook paper and construction paper everywhere - but we will be done with the decorating part by Monday or Tuesday of next week.

I really do think that this is going to be a good year.  I am looking forward to the challenges of the new curriculum standards.  I am looking forward to working with a great group of kids.

                                   The poster I created that has a numbered spot for each students' exit pass (sticky note. )  This is near the door so they can post and go.

This is the beginning of my advisory board.   I have cupcakes with each of the kids' birthdays, and a "What are We Doing Today?" board.  (It's a Target, 5 frame collage).  I put scrapbook paper behind the glass and added die-cuts of, gasp, Hello Kitty!!  The background is all fabric - I took advantage of some great coupons and the teacher discount at JoAnne's Fabrics.

Here is my fruit crate that I use to hold our interactive notebooks.

So, once I get some rest this weekend, I say, "Let the good times roll!"

Sweating It Out

We are down to two weekdays before the kiddos arrive!  I have been working really hard in my classroom getting it ready for the year.  But this is what I am dealing with....

Yep...the air conditioner is still not working correctly.  Our building does not have windows that open, so we are dependent on air moving through the ventilation system.  There was a point late in the afternoon that something was working and my room did cool off, but then it quit again and promptly warmed back up.  (I took this photo right before I left...I forgot to check and see what the temperature was before the fans started working.)  Ok...enough whining. :)

I am so proud of myself.  When I left this afternoon, I was almost completely done getting my room ready.  All I have left to do is find some fabric this weekend to cover my bulletin boards.  This was quite an accomplishment for me.  Usually, I am frantically throwing things in closets minutes before the kids and their families show up for Back-to-School Night!  (I took a photo of my desk to show how tidy it was, but from the photo it still looks cluttered!)

I put together a new podium (yay!!) that I can use to hold my really heavy teachers' edition literature book and I put up some Hawaiian decorations to brighten the room. (It feels like the tropics in my room, I may as well make it look the part!)

New podium!!

So, Tuesday is the big day.  I can't wait to start the new year!

Wait, Wait! I'm Not Ready!

Tomorrow is the day.  Teachers report back to school.  The temperature is in the 90s.  I still have millions of things I wanted to accomplish.  And yet, tomorrow is the day.  It will be here in less than 24 hours and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

However, I am excited just as I am every year at this time.  We have new school supplies (there is just something about a brand new box of crayons that makes me giddy!) and new school clothes.  I went in to work on my classroom this past weekend and a friend helped me move furniture.  (I really hope they have the air conditioner working by tomorrow because it will be a little on the uncomfortable side if not!)

A few random things:

• I have been reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink.  (It is geared mostly to business, but I learned about it from the Scholastic Instructor magazine and found that much is applicable to schools.)  I am currently working on my unit for persuasion and am going to use some of the evidence in this book as my non-fiction text.  Pink brings up the fence whitewashing episode from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer as an example of the truth behind motivation.  "Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."  I will be using that episode as well.  I'll post again once I get all these ideas contained into something understandable!
• I attended a conference last week and had the pleasure of meeting Neila Connors.  She is the author of If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat The Students!  What an amazing woman!  Have you ever met someone that you just feel like you have known them forever?  That's how I felt when I met her.  She was so positive and motivating that I felt like I could go out and change the world after talking with her.  Best of all, I felt reaffirmed about being a teacher.  I do make a difference and I truly believe that I was called to this line of work.  (Remind me of that come December and I am feeling overwhelmed by all that has to be done!)

So, back to my day with my three lovely kiddos.  I plan to take them to the movies or something else fun to celebrate our last day of summer vacation together.