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?  

Daily 5 Saved my Year!

This year I had the pleasure to teach a 3rd/4th grade split class.  Of course this is not an easy task.  In order to be successful students need to be independent.  I will share a tool that was a huge help this year for my classroom! 

Last summer I was introduced to the Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  After reading the book I knew that I NEEDED to implement this in my classroom.  I even shared it with my co-workers and they fell in love as well.  On day 1 in my classroom I began with the Daily 5 by teaching students "Read to Self" and building their stamina.  After following the book and preparing students for the first few weeks they were ready to use this tool on their own.  

Students each got a bookmark that I found on TeachersPayTeachers.  I labeled each bookmark with numbers.  I had too many students to allow choice of their own.  I started by letting them chose and there were too many that could not successfully work together but were not willing to admit it.  When we would use Daily 5 all I had to do was tell them a number.  They could look at their bookmark and know exactly which area they should be at during this time.  

I used Daily 5 during most of the day.  My day started with Math.  One group did independent math while the other had a whole class lesson.  Then I switched.  The next portion of the morning was Reading.  I did a 45 minute whole class lesson.  After that students did 2 Daily 5 rotations while I worked with small groups as well as the Reading assistant.  In the afternoon I taught Science and Social Studies during two different time slots.  Each grade got one of these subjects each day but not both.  While working with one grade the other would be at a third Daily 5 choice.  Another time during the afternoon I did Reading Intervention.  The Intervention teacher and I each had a group that we taught for 30 minutes.  The rest of the class completed 2 more Daily 5 choices.  By the end of a good day they had completed all 5 choices unless they were working with a teacher.  This management tool was a great resource to use in my class.  It helped students to be independent so that I could continue teaching or working with a small group of students.  I also did not have to create independent work for them to do for each of these times.  

I highly recommend this tool for all classrooms!  

Week 2: Dream your Dreams!

It is week number 2 of the TPT Sellers Challenge!  

I am excited to be joining this challenge this summer.  So far I have found great new fonts and clip art.  I cannot believe that I didn't know these existed or were so easy to use :)

This weeks challenge is "Dare to Dream."  I will share with you some of my dreams with my blog/TPT business! 

Here are my dreams! 

#1: Purchase a house:  My husband and I have been married for 2 years now.  We currently rent because we weren't positive about the location when we got married.  Our goal for this summer is to purchase our forever home!  The whole process has been exciting and frustrating all at the same time.  We have looked at 15+ homes so far.  We are being picky because it will be our forever home and not just a home for now.  We have a few things that we really would like.  This is something we pray about often and know that God will give us the right direction when he is ready to!  

#2: Inspire and Be Inspired:  My goal with my blog and my store is to inspire others just as I have been inspired from other bloggers! 

#3: Fellowship with others:  I find that when I can share ideas with others and get positive feedback or just positive energy from others it helps me to be a better person and teacher!  Fellowship is something that we all need.  

Thanks to the following blogs for putting this challenge on!  

TPT Seller Challenge Week 1

Hi Everyone!  It has been far too long since I have blogged.  My goal is for that to not happen again.  

I have decided to participate in a great challenge this summer.  I am teaming up with a few other bloggers to boost my products on Teachers Pay Teachers and work on gaining more followers.  

Here are my starting statistics: 

The first week's challenge was to makeover a product. I have utilized my spelling menu all year, but thought it could use a face lift!  Check out my changes! 

For a few days I have listed this product on sale!  Get it while the sale lasts. Click on the image to go to this products page.  Please review if you purchase.  

The goal is to update at least one more this week.