One Word

Busy!

As you can see I haven't posted in a while because not only have I been busy at work, but our weekends have been just as busy. This job is very different than the past 4 years that I have previously taught. It is so much more involved!

Tonight was Open House~ We had 3 sessions where we had to present for about 20 minutes about what the kids are going to learn for the year. I think the hardest thing for parents to understand is that it is NOT the time for a conference. It's only for me to share important information for the year. They always want to stop and talk to me about their child. Even though I say please sign up for a conference if you would like one. But they always say, "How's my child doing?" I always say good. I send home their progress reports tomorrow. We'll see how many contact me after they see those. (I expect a lot to contact me. These kids are not paying attention)

This week is probably the busiest week I've ever had at work. Yesterday we have our Reading Benchmark test and some FAIR testing. Today we had our Math Benchmark test, Guidance, and an AVID presenter about college. Tomorrow we have the Science Baseline test and enrichment groups start. Then on Thursday we have picture day! It has been very difficult to actually teach this week! Normally I wouldn't mind that, but with fifth grade I feel like every day is VERY important. I will slowly figure it out. :)

Here's to hoping things calm down. Have a great week!!

A Good Day

So it's the start of my second week. I would say it was a good day today. I felt prepared and I was able to have plenty of things to cover. The only wrench in the schedule today was a fire drill at the end of the day. I've got a few boys that tend to get silly together. I need to really nip that in the bud ASAP! They work nice and quietly when it's time to be silent, but when I'm teaching they start to get restless and make jokes with each other. I will work on it.

Also, this week is stressful in the fact that we have Science planning on Wednesday, so we will have a sub in our rooms. Then I am out on Friday for the long weekend. It will be a big difference for the kids to be with someone new so soon, but hopefully things will be fine.

I need to work on my end of the day routine b/c the kids leave in groups. So I have to have them all packed and ready by the time the first group leaves. These 5th graders are busy with safety patrol in the morning and at the end of the day. Plus, we have specials first thing in the morning. So mornings are busy too.

I really want to start using my Promethean board. It's just we need some more training to make sure it works for the lesson. I feel a little caught off guard when it's not working the way it's supposed to. It will get there.

Overall, it was the first day I felt pretty good about. It was comfortable. I also got a new kid who is part of the inclusion program. So that will take some getting used to. Now to worry about my day tomorrow. :) Have a great week, all!

First Week

So i'm about to finish my first week as a 5th grade teacher. I am overwhelmed! This week has been very busy and a fly by the seat of my pants kind of week. I didn't have enough planned on Monday. It was all procedural stuff. Then I fell behind on items that needed to be turned in to the principal and assistant principal.

I just feel like every time I'm about to get above water something brings be right back down. Today was probably the hardest day so far. It's not the kids. I really like all of my kids. It's the new material and all the other stuff that makes it hard. Jackie was my saving grace today. I walked in to talk to her and she just knew something was wrong. I get real emotional when something isn't going well for me. She talked me through it and made me feel much better. Thank you lord for Jack! :)

It's hard adjusting to being at work from about 7:40 til about 6pm. That's what I've been doing all week. Is it too late to change to 3rd grade? I'm just not comfortable with the material yet. I feel like a first year teacher...it's awful. I pray that it gets better. I hope you do too!

PS...I got a package of some great books today! Thanks, Amy! She also sent me a nice little motivating card. It really made my day! :)

Meet the Teacher

Well meet the teacher went well. I had 11 out of 18 show up. They were all very nice and only a few parents gave me "the speech" about their child's behavior.

I had parents visiting from 4-6pm. We have these new Promethean board in our classrooms. We had to learn enough about it to make a fun interactive attendance check for the night. I made a bookshelf and the kids had to put a book with their name on it onto the shelf. It's super neat how they could just walk up with the pen and move the book over on the board. They all seemed pretty excited about it and so did the parents. I think I'll be more excited about it when I'm fully trained! It will definitely enhance the way these kids learn and the way I can teach.

I've been freaking out all week about my plans for next week. We planned out our week as a team and then realized we needed the first day to explain all the procedures and behavior charts. So then we shifted all plans by one day and never really planned exactly what to do the first day. So I've spend my whole weekend looking up fun "first day" activities! I went and made some copies at Kinko's and wrote up a minute by minute schedule. I'm a little weird in the fact that I have to know exactly what I'm doing and at what exact time I'm doing it. :) I think I get that from my dad. School is the only aspect of my life I have to do that. Who knows why?

So now I'm all planned out for the first day. I've got my copies ready. I have my outfit all picked out. I have my clothes in the dryer for the week. Its all about setting a tone for the year on that first day. I hope I can do that. Wish me luck! :)

My First Day

I arrived a little early to make sure I was there on time and able to get my new room key. I didn't know where to get my key, so I went to the mail room to check my mail box. I felt like the "new kid". I waited for a few people to come in while I pretended to be on my cell phone. As I watched them, I figured we were to go through the main door. Once I went in, I saw a line and got in it. I was given my new room key and a new jump drive.

My new room is #43. :) I opened it up and dropped off some of my stuff before I headed to the media center for our motivational speaker. His name was Dave Weber. He was very good. He talked about how we need to try every day to make each day better than the one before. It doesn't have to be a big change, just a nose more! (He referenced the Kentucky Derby.) He had us break into groups and learn about each other in a different way.

Here's the exercise: (feel free to reply in the comments)
1. If you won 100 million dollars, what 5 things would you do with it?
2. What are your 3 pet peeves?
3. What 3 things do you value?
4. I absolutely love.... (no spouse or kid answers)
5. Sometimes I let myself indulge in....

It was a neat way to get to know each other. He was a great way to get our day going. He had lots of jokes and lots of enthusiasm! I really enjoyed his seminar and I think all teachers should start their pre-planning on a high note! :)

Then the PTA provided us with lunch! A very delicious turkey sandwich, chips, and a cookie! We all sat around the cafeteria in a big square, so we were all facing each other. The principal went around the room and introduced everyone and told the story of how they were hired. It was very impressive!

I worked in my room a little bit today... mostly putting away some of the books I ordered from scholastic! :) There's a picture of my new library.


I'm actually excited for the rest of the week! It was a very different experience than my other school. I'm becoming less nervous about the new position. I probably won't update again until after Thursday because it's our Meet the Teacher night! :)

I look forward to your responses! :)

First Day is Tomorrow...

Oh my goodness! Summer is completely over tomorrow! :( I always hate when summer seems to end so quickly. This year seemed more quick than in the past. I think it's because we went into the middle of June and now we start in the middle of August. That's only 2 months! When did our summers get so short?

I've been getting more and more nervous all week. I think I've been psyching myself out. Thank goodness I know my team members already. That means I will have 2 people to sit with. It's tough being the new girl. I went through that before in high school...and that didn't quite go so well. (ha) But there is a familiar face that moved from my old school to my new school, so that's comforting! :)

I have to be there at 8am tomorrow. I was trying all week to get to bed earlier to be ready for this upcoming week. But anytime I wanted to go to bed, I couldn't. The mind gets going on things that just keep me busy. It's mostly worrying about school stuff. I want the teachers to like me and I want to have my room ready with my plans ready to teach when the kids walk in the following Monday.

Wish me luck... Hopefully I can sleep tonight! :)

Classroom set up!

This is my classroom in progress. I started by moving the tables into groups of 4 except for one table of 5. There really isn't a lot of space. At least for what I was used to. It's a whole different ball game when designing a 5th grade room as opposed to a 2nd grade room. I want it to still be fun and colorful, but I don't want them to feel babied...

Jennie came to school with me yesterday to put some butcher paper on the bulletin boards to be ready. It was a great help! I just need to work on my library. I found lots of old books from when I was a kid. They are in my reading area now. I also ordered several books from the Scholastic website!

I'm so nervous to start this new adventure, but I know it is a good and much needed change. Watch me just love every minute of it, I hope! :) Til later in the week! Hopefully I will get more pictures up!