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.