Third Day!!

School has gone so well the last three days.  The kids are great and are going to be a lot of fun this year.  and they're all SUPER smart.  :)  We got our badges last Friday and I was so excited.  I'm officially a teacher!  Here it is:

 Oh and when I showed up on the first day, I found this beautiful arrangement on my desk with a note saying "good luck on the first day."  It's from Jennifer, my facilitator (mentor teacher).  She's such a sweetheart!

All ready for the kids to arrive!!  :)  Almost time.

Well, I made it through the first day!  And I'm still smiling...

Another cute little treat from Jennifer...found this on my desk during lunch on the first day:

I was so surprised how SORE I was after that first day.  My legs and lower back were so sore it hurt to stand, sit, or lay down by the time I got home that night.  After a good night's sleep though, I felt just fine for the next day.

The second day was just as great.  Kids were a little more talkative but still a bunch of sweethearts.  We did a bunch of walking around the school, learning where things were, and making sure we knew what procedures were  required in each place.  We also played a few games and they loved it.  Oh and during lunch, some guy from the district came to fix my computer because the CD drive was broken when I got it, and he took it WITH him.  So I'm now using a loaner computer and I don't have any of my plans for the rest of the week.  So I have to re-type them all up each night.  It's kinda a bummer.  I can't wait to get mine back.

Today was a good day as well.  We got started on math and reading and played a few games.  We also spent time finishing up things they hadn't finished the last two days (math pre-test, learning styles surveys, all about me book, etc.)  I'm not sore anymore but I am SO exhausted.  I'm going to finishing typing up tomorrow's plans and then head to bed.

Love you all!  I'll keep you updated :)

Back To School Night

Well, the last couple days have be quite busy but this has been quite rewarding tonight.  The last two days we have had morning meetings at our school from 8-12 and then had team and individual planning time for the rest of the day.  Tonight we had Back to School Night and got to meet parents and students.  Today's individual time I spent finishing up decorations, labeling supplies, and putting things in students' desks.  I also had to shove a couple things under my desk :)  At 7, all teachers, parents, and students met in the gym and our principal introduced all the teachers.  Then we went back to our rooms while the PTA talked with the parents for a few more minutes.  Then the parents and students went to their various classrooms.  We had to give a 20 minute presentation about our rules, procedures, and such to the group and hand out our class packet.  Then for those parents that had more than one student at our school, we did another 20 minutes presentation for a 2nd group.  I had almost all of my students come tonight (all but 5) and they seem like a great bunch!

Fun story for all of you...
...One of my kids asked this before the 1st group:
Jake:  Because you're new, are you going to be mean?  And are you going to have a break down in the middle of the year?
Me:  *after a pause of shock*  Well, do you think I'm mean?
Jake:  You never know because I had a teacher in 2nd grade that had a melt down in the middle of the year because our class was so bad.
Me:  Well, if we have a great class, I won't have a break down I hope!
Jake:  Me too!

Hahaha :)  This is gonna be a great year!

Tomorrow's agenda is just meetings from 8-10 and then team/individual planning for the rest of the day.  The new school year is almost here!

First Day of Training!!

So today I had my first day of training with the district!  :)  We spent the morning talking about the curriculum, what subjects we have to teach, and various resources to help us teach it.  Then we had more meetings in the afternoon learning about specific requirements that are associated with our first year of teaching and a few other general district resources that are available to us.  Overall it was a great day, but it got kinda long and boring by the end.  I went with two of my new roommates who are also starting next week and we met up with a few other interns and two others new teachers at my school.  It was great to be able to know a few people there and talk through things afterward.

After training, Jessica (my roommate who is also working at my same school) and I went over to our facilitator's house for some help and advice about getting all our plans ready for the first week.  Pretty much a good and productive day.

Tomorrow I'm planning on spending most of the day at the school setting things up and finishing up plans. And three of my teachers from BYU have offered to give me about three hours of time to help set my classroom up and finalize some plans.  Then there's more training Wed and Thurs morning, followed by more planning time, Back to School night and then Friday is all planning time.  It'll be a busy week!

A few hours of work makes all the difference!

Yesterday I came with Mom and Dad to start setting things up and here's what it looks like at this point.  It's close but not quite ready for school to start.  Here's a few pictures for all of you!

 Thanks for the curtains Nana!  They look fantastic!!

 These are called Wall Folders.  They will all have student names on them and this is where they will turn in their work throughout the day.  This way I can visually see who still has not turned their work in.

And I finally got a tentative class list.  I will have 24 kids: 15 boys and 9 girls!  That'll be a handful!

This is IT!!!

HELLOOOOO!! 

So I'm sitting here in my new classroom writing to you.  :)  I wish I knew how to make that smile EVEN bigger!  I can't tell you how excited I am right now.  Here's a few pics for you all of the 'before'.

YAY!!!!!  I've taken an inventory of that pile of desks and chairs to see what all I have and I'm working on an arrangement right now. 

Oh, and for those who were wondering, here's the measurements for my TWO windows (they're the same size):  54'" tall x 53" wide.  And that includes the window frame.

K, back to room arrangement :)

Oh, and a few other things....

I forgot to tell you all a few things:  (Well, Nicole you may have already heard them)

1.  Yesterday, I finally got my username and password for my student access site.  This is what I will use to keep track of their grades, make seating charts, take attendance, and a few other things.  Yay!
2.  I've limited the access on this blog to only those that I've invited.  If you'd like to share this blog with others, please ask first.  As a teacher, I have to be very careful about the things I say about my students and especially WHERE I say it.  So I had to make this blog extremely private just as a precaution.  But I wanted all of you to see it and I wanted to be able to share all my adventures with you on a regular basis (I hope :P).

This week's adventures

Hey everyone!

I just found out that I can go into my classroom anytime within the next few weeks before school starts.  I'm planning on heading up there Friday to check it out.  I'll take some pics of the room so you can all see what it looks like before and after the decoration!  :P  I'm really excited to start planning my very own room.  I love say that...MY very own CLASSROOM!!!

And because I've been super stressed about getting everything done and because Nicole is the world's best roommate, we came up with the goal that by the time I go up on Friday that I will have all of my plans ready for the first week of school!  (I'm not certain that I can get them ALL done, but I will certainly do as much as I can!)