Last week I signed my contract to teach next year - I am so excited to be almost finished with my first year and that they want me to come back! I have worked incredibly hard, a ridiculous number of hours each week, to get to know the curriculum and make sure that I'm very organized for next year as well. I love that I'm so organized because then next year I will be able to focus on coming up with more fun activities and hands-on ways to teach instead of worrying about the general curriculum and standards. Yay!

Wow, apparently I've been so busy that I completely forgot I even had this livejournal account. Oops!!

Well, things have been going well. I survived progress reports, report cards, parent/teacher conferences, our big Chirstmas concert, and it's time for progress reports again!! I can't believe how fast this time had gone by!

My class is a great challenge (not just for me, but for all the teachers who come in contact with them), but I adore them anyway. Each of the children are wonderful in their own way, some more than others, but I enjoy each of them. As much as they frustrate and challenge me, at the end of the day (most days), I feel so lucky.

I love working at a Catholic school. Clearly, it has disadvantages. But at the same time, the advantages are HUGE. The most exciting thing to me is that we can talk about, discuss, and teach morals, values, faith, and religion.

I am also blessed with the most amazing co-workers in the world. Each and every staff member at the school is wonderful. I don't think many people can say that they like every person they work with. I have made a couple close friends as well. I feel so incredibly supported, which is huge for me being a first-year teacher.

I thank God every day for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I am learning so much about myself, about kids, and about teaching. I hope to stay at this school for as long as I possibly can! :)

Finally, I have pictures of my classroom. It's already a little different, but at least this will give you an idea of what it looks like! :)

The first picture was taken from the first doorway into the classroom. The chalkboard on the right is the main one and the one the students face.


This was obviously taken at the beginning of the day, the classroom is nice and neat with chairs up. The students are in groups of 3 and 4 in their desks.


This is my morning message whiteboard, supply area, job pipe (job signs are magnetic), and book area.


More of the classroom library.


This is the reading area with the couch, video rocker, my rocking chair, and Buddy the turtle!


Our classroom rules!


This is the computer area and the poetry center next to it.


This is my desk area - kind of messy in the picture but it's not anymore!


Another picture of Buddy's tank.


Another picture of the classroom, this time taken from the reading area.


And that's all for now! Let me know what you think! :)

I have survived my first full week of school! We have really gotten into the swing of things, starting the first unit for each subject, and I am having so much fun.

We have been working with compasses and drawing designs with circles which has been quite a challenge for them. I have a couple left-handed boys (actually four) who really find this a challenge. But they have been doing a great job, which was so exciting to see!

We have also done a couple science experiments, which are fun but they are pretty stressful for me. The students get so excited about them that they have huge problems listening long enough to hear all the directions, so they end up having to do something over. But I think from now on, all the materials will stay out of their hands until they get all the directions and can repeat them back to me... lol.

In social studies we have been doing fun geography challenges too, although the following directions thing has been a little bit of a problem there too. They have been improving recently, though, so that's good.

My class is so unique, so different from any class I have ever worked with before. I don't have many issues with disrespect, which is likely thanks to the strict guidelines the students have been learning beginning in kindergarten or preschool. But they are just so chatty, they really never stop talking!! I am still working on figuring out the best way to persuade them to keep quiet while working. They do well some times and others not so much. I may start some kind of reward program for when they do a good job listening and working without chatting. We'll see! The fact that my biggest problem is my students wanting to share their lives with my and the class is pretty good!

This week we have a couple stressful things coming up - open house on tuesday and an observation by a nun on thursday! eeek! but hey, I have handled all the stressful situations that have been presented to me so far, so I can do it. I am doing a much better job realizing that worrying over something is really not worth the energy that it takes.

What else... oh, Buddy the turtle bit my uncle (Father Justin), which I think is hilarious. he picked up the turtle with his hand around his head when he thought it was around his behind. the turtle latched on! so he has renamed the turtle Chomper. the best part was that my class gave him such a hard time about how he should've read the note on his tank (which says don't tap on the glass or reach in or I may bite you) - lol.

That's all for now! pictures of my classroom will be coming soon! :)

I saw a girl today that I used to tutor in english, and she asked me about college. I love being able to say, actually I'm not in college, I'm a teacher. The reaction of people is quite fun. When they expect you to still be in school and you're working at a real job instead it's quite a surprise. And people are so happy for me, so that makes me happy!

I took pictures of my classroom on Friday, so I will hopefully put those up soon. It's hard because I don't have internet at my apt, so I keep my laptop at the school, but my camera/computer connection is set up on my desktop in my apt. So I need to make an effort in order to get these pictures up. But they will be up soon! I just have so many things on my mind that I keep forgetting! I don't know if I will ever be able to put up pictures of my actual students because of privacy issues, but I will take pictures of them soon and be able to show people, just not post them online.

Let's see, what updates so I have about my class/teaching. We had a fire drill on friday, which wasn't too bad. Of course I jumped out of my skin when it went off, but there was another teacher in my classroom at the time and she jumped worse than me. My kids did pretty well getting outside without talking but were so chatty on the way in.

We have P.E. on Fridays, which causes a little bit of a problem because we also have Mass on Fridays. On days that students have P.E., they are allowed to wear their gym uniform instead of the regular uniform (which is more dressy), but when they have Mass, they have to dress up. So they have to bring P.E. clothes and change before P.E. So the other teacher told me that they have the kids change in the classroom, the boys and girls taking turns. So I attempted that this Friday, and it worked pretty well but during the switch all the kids were so loud that we disturbed the other classes. So I think I need to come up with a prize or something for those who remain quiet. Some way to motivate them!

I think I have finally figured out what to do for my two biggest challenges: math and spelling differentiation. I have kids who are very high level, a bunch who are in the middle, and a couple who are very low level. So I need to make sure I am reaching all of the students, especially those who are high and low. I do have a woman who comes in to help with math Mon-Thurs, so I am going to have her take the three low level students out of the classroom to work with them on third grade math work that they never got to last year because they were so behind.

What else - oh, I had my first meeting with Monique, the principal, on Thursday. It went really well. I am happy with how everything is going, and she has been liking what she's seeing when she pops into my classroom a few times a week, so yay for that. I have to set a goal for this semester or school year and write out a plan for how I will accomplish it, so I think I will relate it to the differentiating instruction for my high and low level students.

I think that's all for now! I lovelovelove my job! :)

So, I'm officially a 4th grade teacher. It sounds so weird. And it feels pretty weird too. Mostly awesome though! We had inservice last Wednesday and Thursday and this past Monday and Tuesday, and then school started Wednesday the 29th. Inservice was okay, nothing terribly exciting or difficult. Got my CPR and first aid training, listening to a couple nuns talk about education and accreditation. Fun fun!

The first day of school was an experience, that's for sure. The kids were so excited and happy to see each other, which was nice, but they were SO chatty! We came up with classroom rules, and they had to be reminded quite often that they needed to raise their hands and keep quiet while others were talking. But they have already improved in that area, so that's good.

We did a bunch of fun games/activities on the first day. Oh, and of course, I introduced them to the class pet, who we are just calling Buddy. I told them that was my name for him but that as a class we could vote for a new name, but they seem to like Buddy, so I think that name will stick. That's a good thing because I would probably call him Buddy regardless. :)

On the second day, we had a little bit of drama and excitement because when I arrived at the school, Buddy was missing from his tank! To make a long story short, we had the whole school looking for him and finally found him before lunch - he was in the kitchen in the basement, 4 flights of stairs down! Somehow he survived all of that and made it back safely, although he did scare the crap out of the woman who found him!

So after the Buddy drama, on the third day, the class continued to improve their listening and raising their hands, so that was great. We also went to Mass in the morning. The whole school goes to Mass each Friday, and the classes pair up with buddies from younger grades. So my class has second grade buddies, which is quite cute. They did a great job being role models, so that was good to see!

What else... my class tends to be happy and excited about learning, which is something pretty new for me! They love to read and do projects and all that. It's so fun getting to know a new class, seeing the dynamics, and being able to joke around and have fun with them on the side.

So overall, my reaction to the first 3 days of school is: YAY. I love it, and I'm excited for this week. We have a four day week because there's no school Monday. It's nice because we work into going for five days in a row. I think that will make it an easier transition from summer to school.

I am hoping to take pictures this week of my classroom and my apartment (if I have time to remember, lol). I don't think I can post picture of my students (for legal reasons), but I will look into that. I will definitely have pictures of them that I can show everyone in person though. :)

Until next time! <3

Yesterday I moved to Middlebury!! 

The morning was slightly stressful because it was me, Dad, Matt, Kyle, Rachel, and Sarah trying to get all my stuff packed into the sketchy white van, the huge truck, and Deb's van. It almost didn't fit! haha, I have SO MUCH STUFF! However, it does all fit into my apartment with room to spare, so yay!

I love my apartment now!! It's so much better now that it has all my stuff in it (duh). I have a huge bedroom/living room, an office/dining room, a kitchen, and a pretty big bathroom! My biggest problem at the moment is that I have so many dishes that I don't really have room for much food in my cupboards! haha. But I am working on resolving that problem with shelves in a small area near my fridge. They will be hidden but will provide lots of storage space!

I wish I had taken my camera yesterday but I totally forgot with everything else I was trying to remember. It's not totally set up yet though, so I will take pictures when it is! I'm still waiting to get the couch and coffee table from Mom. Oh, and we forgot the new tv stand and two shelves that I bought the other day, so those are also missing! But otherwise it looks great!

I am so excited to have my own apartment and my own space. No one will mess up my laundry, play loud music which keeps me up late at night, eat my food, or touch/take my stuff. YAYYYY!!!

I also brought a few things over to my classroom. I now have a comfy desk chair instead of the piece of crap that came with my room. Seriously, it looked like a torture device instead of a chair.  And I have a rocking chair for read aloud time AND a fun video rocker chair for the kids (plus I already had the couch). I can't wait until I can actually set up the classroom (which I may be able to start doing next weekend). There's still so much to do!

Oh, also, the other day I placed a couple online orders for classroom supplies/decorations, and I am super excited for those to come in!

Basically, even though I have been up since 5:30 this morning to work at Curves today, I am in an excellent mood because I am so happy about my new apartment and new job!! YAY! :)

I think I spent my entire day today planning for school. From around 7am until 10:30 tonight. Rediculous. However, I did get a lot of wonderful organizational things done. So that is good.

I am still working on my plans for the first few days of school. And then there are all the decisions I have to make about my policies for homework and grading and all that. That's what I'm trying to get down on paper now so I can decide if I want to make any changes.

It is still so strange to me that I can pretty much do whatever I want as long as I teach all the standards and teach a certain number of minutes of each subject per week. That is a lot of freedom and responsibility!

I finished planning ahead in science today (I have 2 whole chapters planned which will definitely take at least a month and a half if not more). That was a great feeling. But I also realized that I don't have any of the materials for the labs that we're supposed to be doing. So I will need to make a long list and send that home to request materials from parents unless I want to pay for it all (which I obviously don't).

Hmm, what else. I don't have any new pictures for now. But Thursday I am going to Middlebury again with Emily and may get a chance to take some pictures of my apartment! OH - also, I am moving most of my crap into my apartment this weekend, so I am quite excited. I have one more week at Curves next week, but I wanted to get my stuff in the apartment so I could then decide what else I need to buy!

I went last week to the school to bring a few things and meet with the principal, Monique, and all that. I officially got my turtle approved as the class pet, so that was exciting! I brought a picture of him to show Monique and she was all excited that she would have a "tenant" at the school. I thought I would post a picture of him here so you can all see:



For right now, I am calling him Buddy. I think I may have a naming contest for him with my class, but I may just continue to call him Buddy cause that's what I've gotten used to. He's a sweet little turtle. :)

I have been doing a great job planning while I've been working at Curves. It works out nicely because I can plan when no one is working out there, and that happens a few times a day for extended periods of time. I have gotten about a month of social studies, religion, and science planned. Now I need to start working on language arts. And the math program still has not arrived yet, so I can't start planning, but I'm not too worried since I have used the program before.

There has been a slight pause in the planning the past few days, though, because on Friday afternoon I had to have emergency surgery to have my appendix removed! It was quite a surprise! I am recovering well though, but it is kind of a pain because I would like to be spending time planning now but I am just way too wiped out to even think about it!

I think that's all for now. I am planning to meet with Emily, the third grade teacher, next week to discuss my class and ideas she has for me. I'm pretty excited because she suggested going out to lunch and we're actually going to drive to Middlebury together since we both live about an hour away. I hope I will make a new friend! She seems very nice. :)

I was able to visit my classroom on Wednesday, so I took some pictures to share! I also picked up enough teacher's editions of the textbooks to fill the entire backseat of my car!! I have a lot of work ahead of me! But I am super excited to get started!

The first picture is from the hallway, one of the entrances to the classroom (there are two - one on each end of the room). You can see the table with the 3 classroom computers on it against the windows.



The second picture is shows the wall along the hallway, with the other entrance at the end and a huge long chalkboard between the two doors. This is one of two chalkboards in the room! There's also a whiteboard there (yay). The desks are pushed to the side because the room is rented by the college during the summer.



The third picture shows the second chalkboard, which was the main one the teacher used last year. I definitely need to decorate all the walls still! :)



The fourth picture shows the wall to the outside, with four huge windows that go all the way to the high ceiling. The teacher's desk (I mean MY DESK!!) is in the center of that wall next to the computers (I'm going to move it to the front of the classroom), and there is a couch in the back corner which was the reading area.



Well that's all the pictures I have for now! I will post pictures after I decorate and set up the room in August so you can see the transformation! YAY!