yawn

Today was my much anticipated first institute day & meet the teacher evening/cook out. I can describe the day in one word: long. okay, two words: long and exhausting. I got to school at about 7:15 this morning and left at 8:15 tonight. Yikes. While I realize that this is the first of many long evenings at school, at least I won't have kids until 7:30 every night! Hopefully my body gets the memo that it's not in college anymore and gets it SOON!!! When one of my team mates asked me today what I'm going to do about my naps (I am a HUGE napper. Love em. Like, 2 hour naps are ideal...Somehow I think those ended with my summer..), I responded that that's why I have so many pillows in my reading corner. 20 minute snooze after school? Done.

Aside from being exhausting, meeting my students and families tonight was really great. As nervous as I was, the really seem like great, friendly kids (save for a few shy ones and a few who seem to be in denial about summer's end...). I am SO excited to get to know them better tomorrow!

While I already have a million things to do and a pile of papers on my desk to sort through, I am planning on just taking the next few weeks one day at a time...We'll see how tomorrow goes :) In the mean time, at 9:02pm, I am going to bed. I am either officially old, or officially a teacher.

maybe, just maybe, i'm ready for this

After countless hours in my classroom this week, my room is (drum roll) DONE. Name tags are taped to desks, text books are passed out, folders are labeled, and my desk is cleared off. Except for one (small) pile of papers...but no one's perfect ;)

In three days, my students will be come into my perfectly prepared classroom, the year will start, and I will really be a real-life teacher. I'm feeling nervous and excited once again, but for maybe the first time all summer, a little more excited and a little less nervous. For those of you who know me personally, I tend to be a bit of an anxious person (and those of you who REALLY know me know that that's the understatement of the century...). But I looked around my classroom today (yes, I was there on a Saturday. I know.), glanced through my first week plans, and realized that I am ready for the week. And as much as I wonder if I'm ready to teach, I have to remember that I would not have gotten the job if my building staff hadn't thought I was competent for this, not to mention my professors from college and cooperating teacher/principal from student teaching. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in denial about how challenging and stressful this year will be. I just feel, maybe, that I can handle it.

Ask me that same question again next week, and you may get a completely different answer. I'm told this year will be a roller coaster of emotion. But I'm looking forward to it :)

countdown: 4 days

Yikes, I've already gotten behind on my writing and school hasn't even started yet! Let me (briefly) catch up. After a long but helpful four days of teacher training last week, I spent the weekend a little excited, a little nervous, and a little overwhelmed. I vaccilate between these three emotions incredibly rapidly. After an end of summer vacation weekend in Boston, I got to my classroom Tuesday morning with the best intentions. 10 hours later I walked out the door. TEN HOURS. Needless to say, that was a pretty draining day. I am getting a lot accomplished, and with a little polishing, my room will be ready.

Yesterday, I received my class list so I started putting names on folders, name tags, check in magnets, etc. Who knew how time consuming THAT would be?! But things are coming together.
I also received my district laptop yesterday: an old-ish dell. If you know me personally, you know my dell history and hatred. I swear, if this dell gives me a quarter of the problems I had with my dell, I will have a breakdown (by this I mean I will probably throw the computer out my classroom window and watch it's microchips splatter across the parking lot). I swear I'm not a violent person...

I'm still pretty overwhelmed by trying to write up my schedule (and trying to fit the 120 minutes of literacy instruction that are recommended into a 90 minute literacy block...buh bye science and social studies...), and there are so many tiny details that I think of every single second. But the room itself is looking good-ish.

My reading rug (I wish my camera could get a 360 view!)

Reading corner

Main floor area

My (messy) desk area complete with the aforementioned laptop whose brand I will not respeak here....

My to-do list for today is insanely long, and so far none of my friends have sounded too thrilled about coming in to help...so I guess I better hit the road.

ps- you know you're already losing it when you have dreams about frantically searching for a t-shirt diecut punch

teacher, do you believe in me?

Today was my first day of new teacher induction week. You know what that means--yes, it's almost time for school! Believe it or not. While today was very overwhelming, it got me excited about my district and my school. Over the past few years, both have implemented a bunch of programs to help their students boost test scores, achieve in the regular classroom (without special ed. pullouts), and reach their highest potential. And it's really showed with the huge gains all of the district schools have been making. I'm excited to be a part of a district that really emphasizes professional collaboration and makes sure that teachers have the time, resources, and support to intervene when students aren't learning (more about this in my next post when I review my most recent read: Whatever It Takes).

While I learned an incredible amount today, the thing that definitely stuck with me the strongest was this amazing video we watched. Even more so than "What do teachers make?" this incredible speaker impressed upon me both the importance and seriousness of my job, as well as got me super excited about teaching. Watch it. AMAZING.

Help I'm trapped in a pile of books!

Today I worked in my classroom for about 4 1/2 hours. I know that's not too long, but it was my longest time there yet! While I feel like I was productive, there is SO much more to do. Way too many white walls! Thankfully my good friend Megan came to help me and took over all the tedious jobs: wipe desks inside and out, wipe cabinet doors so I can hang posters on them, put up number line, sharpen pencils, etc. Oh, and bring me lunch--perhaps the most important job of all! Thanks Meg! :)

While I had many accomplishments today, I had two big frustrations. First, the files left behind by the teacher whose room I have inherited. While many are well labeled and organized, there are many huge folders generally labeled things like "science." Needless to say, I spent my first big chunk of time today sorting through those and recycling tons of things and organizing things into files that are, ahem, a little more descriptive than just "science." Thank goodness for my three filing cabinets!

Second, I realized to my chagrin that sorting books by genre is easier said than done. Is this fantasy or science fiction? A ghost story or a fantasy? What about the ghost stories that are also historical fiction? Or the animal books that are also sports books? Aaaahhh!! I spent about two hours sorting books by genre, and needless to say that by the end a lot of books were just falling into the "fiction" umbrella genre. Yikes. When my neighbor teacher popped in and shared that she also had all her books leveled, I about had a heart attack. Hmmm who can I convince to look up the levels of my hundreds of books for me...

Funny how it seems like the more I get done, the more it seems there is to do. Hopefully the next couple days can be super productive since next week I have new teacher orientation and will have much less time in the classroom. Maybe I can leave my mom a to-do list...

letter to my teacher

Last week, I was talking with another teacher friend, Mme H. (prof de francais excellente!), about whether or not, when we think back to our years of school, we have that one teacher that stands out as the one who inspired us to teach, or the one that changed our lives. While I would have liked to tell her about that special teacher, I couldn't think of one. Neither could Mme H. I have had wonderful teachers in school, but the ones who have impacted me most definitely came in college. However, tonight I realized that, although she did not inspire me to teach, I was lucky enough to know one special teacher from ages 7-18, and this teacher did change my life. She was my piano teacher, Mrs. N. I was planning on writing a blog here about how special she was to me, but I think I'd rather write it as though it is a letter to her.

Dear Mrs. N.,

It's Miss Teacher, your former piano student. Do you remember me? I wanted to write you this note to tell you some exciting news: I'm going to be a teacher next year! As I've been preparing for the upcoming year, I've found myself musing over some of the great teacher's I've had in my life.

Mrs. N., while you were not my classroom teacher and I didn't see you every day, you are one of the teachers that most touched my life. After studying piano with you for ten years, I have so many vivid memories of my lessons. You made piano fun by helping me pick music I already loved and challenging me with music you knew I was capable of playing. You listened when I was frustrated with a piece. You never cringed when it was bad, but helped me improve. When I absolutely hated a piece of music, you know that sometimes it was okay to let me move on to something different--you understood that not every student needs to play the exact same thing.

Mrs. N., piano lessons with you made me fall absolutely in love with music. Music was such a defining part of my childhood and young adulthood, and I am so grateful to you for helping me develop that love early on. From Billy Joel to Broadway, Debussy to the Disney Princess Collection, you knew that by playing what I loved, I would love playing.

I have so many wonderful memories of the non-music parts of my lessons, too. You always knew when I had something special going on at home or school, and I remember excitedly showing you my pictures from Homecomings and Proms. You knew that sometimes those parts of lessons were as important as working on my music. You did what so many teachers wish they could do, or don't even know that they should: you learned who I was as a student and as a person, both accepted me and challenged me, and showed me that you cared. Mrs. N., I hope that someday I can teach my students the way you taught me. I hope that I can inspire them and share my love for learning with them, as you shared your love for piano with me. And finally, I hope that I can make my students feel as special as you made me feel every week for ten years. I will never be able to thank you enough.

With Respect, Gratitude, and Love,
Miss Teacher

Furniture Moving: Take 3

After attempting to arrange the furniture in my classroom both yesterday and Wednesday (with neither day coming to any even remotely functional arrangement), today my mom and I finally figured out a layout! Thanks, mom, for having the spatial skills and design ideas that my brain lacks! My new setup has a reading corner (or what will be a great place for reading once i bring in a rug and pillows, oh, and the books!), a functional desk area for me, a couple independent work stations, a place to set all my materials when I'm teaching, and a great place to lead reading groups and for group work. I could use another table for group work, although I don't think my odds of getting one are very high...

I feel much calmer now that things are where they belong, and I'm excited to start decorating. So many ideas...Now that the room is arranged, it's already starting to feel more like home. Once it's completely ready, I know that I will be so excited for school to start. But for now I'm still nervous :)

Some pictures of the room (it's so long that I couldn't get it all in one frame!):

The Reading Corner: the angle doesn't do it justice, but it will be fabulous with another bookshelf, my pillows, and my teacher chair. It's right next to my amazing window nook, which will be perfect for curling up with a book. This is right when you walk in the room, across from the door.

Straight back from the reading nook, I have my main desks area and the white board. This is where I'll do most of my teaching. I'm not sure about the desk arrangement, but it's a start!

My Desk: Here's my mom, posing at my desk. Yes, she's holding a tambourine. I love that my desk is by a window now--perfect. This is so much nicer than where it was at first, on the other side of the room in back. Now it's more in the middle/towards the front.

Well, it certainly feels good to have that figured out. Who knows if it'll still be as good once I start teaching, but for now it's a start! Ooh and another exciting thing from today was finding a stack of Spiderman comic books at a rummage sale :) Perfect for my reluctant readers. And only $.10 each!

Now it's time to take a break from thinking about school for the weekend...Next week though is our school planning retreat, followed by me spending the rest of the week in my room, working. Hopefully it's a productive week!

words to teach by

I am not a teacher; only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. 

I pointed ahead–ahead of myself as well as of you.

George Bernard Shaw

holy math manipulatives!

I got into my classroom for the first time today! In trying not to overwhelm myself too much, I brought my friend Miss R for support and ideas. I also brought only two tiny crates of supplies, putting off the big hauling of my books as long as possible.

The Good: My room is big! It's bigger than I remembered from when I visited the school in May, and has tons of space. It has two windows that are in little "nook" alcoves that will look awesome with some pillows on the floor and posters--perfect places to read, work independently, or just take a break (or a nap after school if you're me...). I also have every math manipulative imaginable, including a class set of fraction circles! Good thing my mom talked me out of buying the big bucket at Lakeshore for $30! (I also have about 10,000 unifix cubes, not even exaggerating) Miss R and I agreed my room is Math Manipulative Mecca. I have a gigantic white board and plenty of cabinet storage.

The Bad: No bulletin boards. I mean I quite possibly have the only elementary classroom with no bulletin boards. I have two cork "strips" on the wall outside my room, but that's it! If you know me, you know that I pretty much breath arts and crafts, and I have been planning cute bulletin boards in my head pretty much since I decided to be a teacher, so this is a bummer. My room does have two chalk boards in addition to the white board, which I think I'll cover with paper and make a magnet board of sorts... Anyways, I also have a whole bunch of big pieces of furniture for which I can't seem to figure out a functional arrangement...I'm bringing in my mom Friday and crossing my fingers her incredibly high spatial skills will see the room and instantly have a floor plan in mind (complete with accents, decor, and a color scheme. if only I could paint :) )

The Ugly: Huge file cabinets, this really ugly book storage contraption (picture to come) that I can't make sense of, and orangey-brown carpeting.

The Wonderful: It's my real classroom and I'm going to be a real teacher very, very soon!

The Terrifying: See above.

I will post pictures tomorrow :)

Back to School Countdown: 27 Days (yiiiikes!)

More on the 32 Third Graders?!

Imagine how excited I was today when I sat down at my computer and saw that I had a message on goodreads.com (a wonderful site for the reading-obsessed) from Phillip Done, author of 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny (see my book review from a few weeks ago). As if it wasn't exciting enough to hear from the author and receive a thank you for the 5-star rating I gave 32 Third Graders on goodreads (rightfully deserved!), Done informed me that he has a new book coming out early this September! It's called Close Enconters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood. I cannot wait to read this, and you can bet I will be ordering it from amazon the day it is released. Check it out in September! And thanks, Phillip Done, for letting me know! ;-)

PS- On a different note, if I get this excited that an author messaged me, perhaps I should have my students write to authors this year... *files idea away in mind amidst a million and a half other "brilliant teaching ideas" and hopes we have time to actually do it*