First Day of School

Even though this will be my fifth year of teaching and my class role doesn't look bad at all, I am getting a little nervous about the first day of school. I get so nervous that I sometimes feel like I'm the one going to the third grade. I know the importance of starting off the year being stern enough that the students take me seriously, but at the same time, I don't want to seem scary to the children. In all my years of teaching, this has never been a problem, but I still worry about it every year.

With that being said, I have begun the preparations for August 9th. I got SO much done at Make -n- Take today and am planning to go set up my classroom later this week. I have also begun to mentally prepare and am trying my best to get back on schedule with going to to bed on time and waking up bright and early. As much as I love summer vacation, towards the end of it, I start to get ready to go back to work and can't wait to get busy teaching my third graders!!

Tomorrow

I have two Make-n-Take sessions scheduled for tomorrow and as crazy as it sounds, I'm super excited!! No matter what else I do during the summer, I always make sure that I sign up for Make-n-Take. For those of you who may not know, Make-n-Take is a "workshop" for teachers (and parents) to go and make things for the school year. Everything is free and you can get as much as you'd like as long as you use it to make something. For example, if you wanted a piece of poster board, you'd actually have to make it into a poster instead of taking it home blank. In addition to getting all kinds of stuff for my classroom, my grade-level coworkers and I always sign up to go together and I really enjoy their company (which I don't get too much during the year because I'm always with the kids).

The consultant at my math workshop last week was from Maine and she told us all about something even cooler than Make-n-Take. They have a huge warehouse called Ruth's Reusable Resources that teachers can "shop" at and take anything they want. At this warehouse, people have donated all kinds of classroom materials, computers, and even tables that teachers can take. She told us that there are very few rules and limitations on how many of each thing teachers can take (for example, only one computer per teacher). This sounds so nice and I would love to have something like this for teachers in Mobile!

The End

It's so hard to believe that we only have a few more assignments to complete before the end of the semester. Of course I'm thrilled about being closer to receiving my Master's, but at the same time, I wish I could continue to learn about teaching language arts. Before taking this class, I would have said that I disliked teaching writing more than any other subject (for several different reasons). However, after this class, I feel good about walking into my classroom and helping my third graders enhance their writing and become life-long writers.

Yesterday, my group and I had our literature circle chat (our book was about teaching memoir writing to students) and I learned so much from everyone. We got so into sharing our ideas and techniques in our classrooms that the chat lasted about an hour longer than we had scheduled. While we talked mainly about teaching the memoir genre to our students, we also shared some classroom management tips, some of which I have never heard of and can't wait to try in my own classroom.

When I found out that I would be require to blog three whole times a week for this class, I was really worried because I admit, I'm a pretty boring person and was worried I would quickly run out of things to talk about. However, I have REALLY enjoyed blogging (it's been very cathartic to share even my most boring thoughts) and will definitely keep up my blog after the end of class. I have always loved being in school and learning, but I have to say that taking this course has been one of the best decisions I have made in my college career and will DEFINITELY make me a better teacher!

Exciting

I found out today that my grandparents from Pennsylvania will be visiting sometime in the next five months. An exact date hasn't been picked because they are both retired and stay on the road most of the time. My mom's entire family lives in Pennsylvania, but because I've been in school and teaching for years now, I haven't been able to visit them in quite some time. So of course, I'm extremely excited for them to be coming down for a little bit!! When I was little, my family and I would travel to Pennsylvania or the my family and grandparents would meet somewhere halfway in between (like Dollywood), so even with all the distance we have stayed extremely close throughout the years. My grandma is a retired teacher, so I know I can always count on her for advice for making it through those tough days. My grandfather is hilarious and constant laughter is pretty much a given when spending time with him. Knowing that I get to spend some time with them in the near future is wonderful and I can't wait!!!

Math

As the school year quickly nears, I have been attending a training for the new math Investigations books that have been purchased by the system. I have always loved numbers and math so I have always thought of myself as a great math teacher, but I can say I am very excited to try out these new resources! I have personally witnessed the importance of allowing students plenty of time for hands-on and interaction during math and these materials are certain to do just that. It sounds silly, but I have had a ton of fun at the training while pretending to be a third-grader and doing all the things my students will get to do. I can only think that if I, a twenty-five year old, find these games and activities fun, my eight year olds are surely going to love them! One of my favorite things about being a teacher is finding new things that I know my children will get excited about so I am extremely excited to put these resources to good use in my classroom.

Hard To Believe

Wow! It's hard to believe, but summer vacation is almost over. I work at a small rural school so I know most of the students long before they reach my classroom for third grade. Yesterday, I was able to see my class role for the upcoming year and I am super excited!! In my four previous years of teaching I have been so blessed with absolutely awesome classes and it looks like this year will be no different. Honestly though, the majority of the kids at my school are wonderful. We are lucky to have very few disciplinary problems throughout the year and it truly makes it so much easier to do my job when the kids are so wonderful and cooperative! When I'm not constantly worrying about discipline, I am able to allow my students to talk, share, and have fun while learning. Seeing the looks on my students' faces when they are actually enjoying being at school and learning makes waking up and going to work everyday so completely worthwhile that there is nothing else in the world I would rather do for a living!

What a Beautiful Day

Well, I don't have much to say except that again, I truly felt blessed to be alive today. While the news station I watch predicted an 80 percent chance of rain today, my house didn't get a drop of rain. Usually this would disappoint me, but the temperature was so pleasant today that I really enjoyed being able to spend time outside with my puppy. I absolutely love how simple she is and how happy she gets just to play fetch with a stick from the pine tree in our yard. Seeing her so carefree is so relaxing to me (and usually at just the right times). It's amazing that she always seems to know when I need a little pick-me-up and can ALWAYS deliver. It's outrageous that I adopted her thinking I would save her from a possible life of despair, but in actuality, she is the one who always rescues me from my sorrows.

Independence

Happy 4th everyone!!! As I write, I am watching my neighborhood fireworks show and it is absolutely beautiful. However, I want to take some time to thank all those who have and who still are serving our country. As a child of two military parents, I have seen first-hand how devastating it is to send your loved one away for years at a time, sometimes straight into danger, to serve our country. Yet, millions of people willing do so if only for the love of our country. No matter how one feels about the war, the current economy, or any other problems our country may face, that same person would be hard-pressed to deny that our country is a great one! Yes, we may feel that some things could be improved, but because people die for our freedom everyday, we are ABLE to feel this way without persecution. So, while life right now may be a little tough, let's give a little more thought to those who have fought and died for our country and what a great country it has become because of these people!!!

Rain

There's no type of weather I love more than rain. I would be perfectly content living in a city that got rain everyday of the year. When I look up at the sky and see that rain is on the way, I truly feel happy. While many people would completely disagree with my opinion, can these people honestly say that they don't feel relaxed when they hear the sound of rain falling on the roof? I also love to crack the windows during a light shower and savor the distinctly refreshing smell of the rain. In addition to loving rain myself, I always notice that the animals in my backyard seem invigorated after a rain as well. A little rain shower just seems to make the world a more lively place and I certainly feel that energy myself.