November 2015

It's been a while since I have blogged.  In August, I started a new job.  That job is 45 minutes from where I lived.  My husband and I decided that it was time to hunt for a house.  At the end of August, we made an offer on one.  After going back and forth on price, we settled a deal.  The seller wanted to close by the end of September, so it was a full month of inspections, appraisals, paperwork and more.  We were able to get everything approved in around 20 days.  It was a rushed project.  

October was spent moving, cleaning out our apartment and settling into the house.  It has been very busy.  

On to November!  I'm linking up with 

for November Currently!  

I am currently listening to the roar of the hot tub.  Our new house came with a hot tub.  This weekends project was to empty, clean, and fill it.  My husband spent many hours doing all of this.  The current project is getting the levels all just right so that it can be used.  

I am currently loving the cooler weather.  I like to wear my sweaters and warmer clothes.  My philosophy is that I can always add more layers.  We had a hard freeze already also, so my allergies are done until spring!! 

I think that I am almost caught up at work.  A few projects to grade and I should be set!  It is nice to not be as overwhelmed as I have been in the past.  This year I have a lot less work that has to be done.  I teach two sections of Reading and two sections of Writing.  I'm prepping 2 lessons a day rather than 6-7!  

I'm wanting someone to come decorate my new house.  I am not very good at decorating.  So far I have just a few things hung.  As soon as I unpack the rest of the boxes, I will start hanging things.  I'm not near as creative as others, so it may be a struggle. 

New house means needing/wanting new things.  I just wish that I had more time to shop!  I've gone a few times and picked up little things, but need a big trip.  I'm still needing an area rug for under my kitchen table, door mats, rug in front of my sink, and decorations.  

November is Thanksgiving month!  I love Thanksgiving food.  This year we are hosting at our house so that everyone can come see it.  The in-laws will be coming over.  My favorite food is mashed potatoes and gravy.  I'll be making that this year.  After all the food, I love to look at all the ads and map out our Black Friday shopping trip.  

Here is to a short month!  We have Parent Teacher Conferences this week and next, so that means 2 four day weeks, a five day week, then a two day week before the holiday!  

Happy November!! 

Classroom Reveal

I am so excited to be linking up with Angie and Ashley for their September Linky!  Make sure you check out their blogs.  

This month I am doing my classroom reveal!  I have been in school for two weeks now, so waiting to reveal my room has been a real struggle!  This year I accepted a new position in a new district.  I am teaching 5th Grade ELA.  It was an exciting move. My new staff is amazing and I'm loving my new district.  

Without further ado, lets take a look!  

In my classroom I have this display case area.  It is like a window, but can be used for storage.  It is the only storage in my room. I decide to cover the window with a curtain and a banner!  Then the area is used for storage.  You can't see the items that I have in there, so its a nice way to kind of hide it.  

When you walk into my room and start looking from right to left, you will see my READ 180 area.  I will be using READ 180 for my intervention Reading program.  I am teaching the intervention students and the others will go to a different 5th grade teacher. 

This is slowly becoming one of my favorite tools!  This is my 6th year teaching, and I am very techy.  This is my first year with a smart board.  Took a little bit to get used to, but it is a great tool!  

You can also see that I have a small group reading area set up in the other corner.  I love kidney shaped tables!! 

My students are set up in teams!  Each member has a job.  The posters on the wall that you can see, explain those jobs.  I will blog about that at a later time :)  Under my windows are my book shelves.  They are built into the classroom!  It makes storing books so much easier.  I didn't need as much furniture for my classroom.  Sorry, that I didn't zoom in more.  Maybe another post.  I came home to blog and remembered that my pictures were kind of far away.  I won't be back in my classroom for a week because we are going to camp! 

This is my desk area.  I have a computer table and a desk.  There is also a book shelf in the corner that holds my teacher books and binders.  I also have a smaller shelving unit on the wall.  I've put a bunch of trinkets in there.  

I said that I love kidney tables!  I have two of them.  For reading, I will be co-teaching with the Title I teacher.  We will both need space for small group work.  One came with the room, and I was given the other one.  The bulletin board behind the table is one of my favorites.  It is a display area for my writers.  I will be posting student writing there soon!  They have officially finished their first piece of writing.  

The last area of my classroom.  I have a cart with chrome books for my students to use!  It is so nice to be able to utilize technology.  I am trying to use Google Classroom with them for writing. 

Be sure to check out the other blogs on the linky!   

August Currently/ New Job

One of my favorite posts to write is the monthly Currently!  I am teaming up with 

for the August Currently linky!  
I'm going to start with a little bit about my summer!  This summer I worked on applying for a new job a little closer to home.  I am happy to say that I was offered a position in a district close to where he grew up.  I will be teaching 5th grade this year.  I will be teaching Reading to my homeroom and Writing to all 3 sections of 5th grade.  It is an exciting journey.  One of my favorite things is that I am one of 3 Fifth grade teachers.  At my previous district I was the only one of my grade (well two grades since I had 3 and 4 last year).  I am excited to collaborate and grow even more as a teacher!!  
Alright, now on to my currently! 

As I write this, I am currently listening to the morning news show.  They are talking all things weather and about last nights storms. 

I am loving my new classroom!  It has carpet and air conditioning.  No more having to wear my under-armour in the winter due to my building being freezing, or running a million fans due to my building being so hot and muggy!  I also get a smartboard.  

I am thinking that my summer has gotten shorter.  At my previous job I would have went back after Labor Day.  Now I start August 13th and students start on August 18th.

I am wanting more time in my day.  I have classroom to get ready, appointments to make, house to clean and curriculum to read.  It will all get done, I just feel overwhelmed at times. 

I am needing to work on my time management.  My goal for this school year is to utilize my prep time and the other times i'm required to be at work to get my grading and everything complete.  Hoping to bring home less work this year. 

Back to School Random Act of Kindness: I plan to use lots of compliments!  I am in a new district so I need to get a feel for things and start with a positive note!  

Thanks for stopping by.     

Bulletin Boards

I'm teaming up with Ashley and Angie for a wonderful block linky!  Be sure to check them out. 

This month we are blogging about all things bulletin boards!  I personally have a love/hate relationship with bulletin boards.  They look so great and can add the spark needed to classroom decor.  On the other hand changing them all the time gets to be daunting during the middle of the year.  My creativity goes downhill as the year goes on.  There are so many different directions that you can take your bulletin boards.

During my first year teaching (5 years ago), I created boards that would stay up all year, some that were interactive and one that had to be changed often.

This board was a behavior board that students utilized.  When they had a "green" day they would get a sticker.  This is not my behavior system now because as I've grown as a teacher, I have came up with better ideas.  

This board was in the hallway.  It is decorated for the start of the school year.  I changed this board and typically used it to display student work.  My goal with hallway displays is for student work to be shown because this is where visitors look.  

At my first school, we had to decorate a booth at the fair each year.  This is similar decorating to a bulletin board so I had to add it.  This is a fun display for students work to be at the county fair.  Students love to find their work, whether it be in the halls, at the fair or even in the classroom.  

Now after my first year, I tried to make my boards more interactive for students.  They didn't necessarily touch it but rather use them for information often.  

We did a letter writing lesson.  The kids wrote to people in different states and they wrote letters back to us.  We also received post cards from many states as well.  The goal was to get all 50 during the year.  Each time a letter or card arrived, we would read it and then find where it came from.  This bulletin board offered a geography lesson along with our writing.  

Another one that I use each year holds my jobs for the day.  

As for this year, I am moving to a new school.  My board space is different.  At this point I have not started setting them up.  I will be teaching 5th grade Writing so I think that I will have a showcase board for some of the best writing that I find!  

Be sure to stop by everyone else's blog and check out how they use bulletin boards in their classrooms.  

Summer Reading!

Happy Summer everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying the time off.  One of my favorite things to catch up on is reading!  This summer I have been reading a lot of Middle Grade books so that I have some to share with my students in the fall.  I'm going to share with you!  

I started the summer reading "Leaving Time" by Jodi Picoult.  This is an adult book but I needed to be able to read something for me first!  It was fantastic.  If you like her books then go get it or borrow it from the library!  

Alright, now for my Middle Grade books and my thoughts!  

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (World War I)  by Nathan Hale

This book is a graphic novel that is jam packed with information.  It is a historical fiction book.  I really like historical fiction and many of the boys that have been in my class do as well.  I can see this book being passed from student to student very easily.  I am excited that there are a lot of these books.  Graphic novels to explain history was a great move on the Nathan Hale's part!  

Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff 

This book was a very easy and quick read.  I found myself not wanting to put it down.  Trent feels responsible for another boy's death because he hit a hockey puck at him.  The doctors found a heart defect and the boy died later.  Trent goes around through the motions of life feeling like he is ashamed and everyone hates him.  The things that happen change the story to a more positive feel.  

As soon as I finished this I knew that I needed to read another one by Lisa Graff!  

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

This book has some of the same characters from Lost in the Sun.  It was just as good.  I found this one hard to put down as well.  Annie has lost her brother and goes around acting like a major hypochondriac.  What happens in the story is great!  Something that I think a lot of kids can relate to even without have ever lost a loved one.  

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Wow.  I finished this book with a whirlwind of emotions.  This book takes place in England during World War I.  Ada is "disabled" and has never attended school.  She lives at home in a room where no one can see her except for from a window.  Her mother is ashamed of her and will not let her do anything.  During this time many families in London sent their kids out of the city because they were afraid of being bombed.  What happens to Ada and her brother is an emotional roller coaster that you don't want to miss!  

I can't wait to add these books to my shelf in the fall!  I currently get books from the library on my Kindle so I'll need to splurge and purchase some of these!  What books have you been reading?  

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Rock Your First Year Teaching

Hi everyone!  I'm teaming up with

to share tips and tricks for your first year of teaching!  

Lets start with 3 things you should do! 

1.  Ask for help:  If you are confused, don't understand something or just need some advice ask for it.  It is better to ask for help than to do things incorrectly.  You should be given a mentor teacher.  They are a great resource.  Use them.  My first year I had to go visit my administrator many times to bounce ideas off of his head.  I had a difficult class that the other teachers had yet to handle.  They were not able to assist but were willing to offer support.  The administrator helped a lot.  Remember that you are not an island.  This job is successful when we are part of a team or "family" to provide what is best for all students! 

2. Set routines on day 1:  This was something that I wasn't aware of when I started.  I spent a lot of time creating routines after finding that I needed them.  Assume that students know very little.  We must set routines for everything.  Teach them and practice them.  It may sound silly but they need a routine for all things.  Even teach the routine of going to the bathroom, flushing, washing hands, coming back to class.  Teach how to get out supplies and put them away and more.  This is a huge life savor.  

3. Manage stress:  This is a hard one.  Find yourself an outlet to manage your stress.  I joined an aerobics class once a week.  This was a way for me to escape the school mind set for at least an hour a week.  I also found that calling my mom and debriefing my day meant by the time I get home to my family, I can let go of the day and focus on other things that didn't stress me out.  Everyone has their own way to manage so find yours right away!  Don't stray from this either.  Many weeks I found it would be easier to just focus on school work instead of attending aerobics class.  I always made myself go and felt way better afterwards!  

1. Get caught in the negativity:  Other staff members can be very negative.  When one person starts being negative it creates a vicious cycle and then everyone can easily become negative.  I've found that when they start to get down if I find something positive to say then it helps stop that cycle.  If the teacher's lounge is too negative and the teachers just complain; eat lunch in your room.  Don't get caught up in the complaining and drama.  It will look bad on you and it will make your year miserable.  

2. Don't spend too much time at school:  There is always more work to be done.  Set yourself hours and try to stick to them.  My first year I spent a lot of time at school.  I was in an hour early and left typically 2 hours after the kids did.  I would go in on the weekends and spend hours working as well.  Now I don't do that.  I still have the same amount of work to do but I'm ok with some of it not getting done right away.  As long as the most important tasks are finished then I am done.  I now arrive 30 minutes before school starts and I leave about 1 hour after the kids do.  I make sure that during that time I prioritize my work and try to not get distracted.  Family time is important.  We can't "live" at the school. 

Take time for yourself!  We are given personal days for a reason.  As much work as it is to plan for a sub, it is worth it in the end.  As long as you have some days take one during stressful times to just escape for a day.  Go get a massage, sleep in, go out to lunch and more.  Spend a day not worrying about the stress of work.  

Best wishes for your first year teaching!!  

"My Personal Side" My Favorite Cup

I am joining Classroom Confections for a link up today!  It is all about getting to know each other's personal side.  Today's topic is My Favorite Cup!  

In December last year I stopped drinking pop.  I was drinking at least 2 bottles of Diet Pepsi a day.  I decided to cut back at that time.  My go to drink now is water.  I love this tervis that I got from Thirty-One!  I am a Thirty-One consultant so some of our business supplies are wonderful.  This one is a 24oz.  I fill this with ice and water each morning.  When going to work it sits on my desk and I refill it all day long.  While at home on summer vacation it wanders around the house with me!  I try to drink at least 3-4 of these full of water each day.  

What is your Go-To cup/drink?