First Weeks

I can hear you all now. "You're a terrible teacher blogger." I'm sorry! It's been weeks and weeks and everybody else has been posting pictures and crafts and stories about things going on in their adorable, organized, well-managed classrooms and what do I have to show for the past two months of manual labor? Well, not much. But I'm working on it. I started my first year of teaching last October, so this is my first time teaching the beginning of the year and there have been so many days I wished I could add "Community Cry" time into my schedule so me and the kids could just sit on the floor together and wail about whatever is bothering us. Also, I started grad school classes last week. And this weekend was Dragon Con in Atlanta. So hopefully I will get better at this and post more often and add lovely pictures and all that stuff. I really want to come back to this post and add some pictures, but right now I just want to have SOMETHING posted so people don't think I have just totally abandoned this blog. I promise I have not. And I know you will all agree with me that if I had to detract from health/sanity, teaching ability, grad school grades, or blogging frequency, the last one would be the unfortunate winner there. I thrive on routine, and I just don't have one yet. But if you were in my class, I'd let you all move your clip up to pink and go to Treasure Box for being so patient.

SHOPPING TRIP!

Hello friends! I did some serious shopping over the past week and between yard/garage sales, Craigslist, and random cheap-o stores I got some great stuff! This is really important because number one, we don't have much money to spare, and number two, the VAST majority of the things I used in centers last year were borrowed from the teacher who started the year. I just wanted to share some of my finds with you!

 I realize the math ones are not that different,
but hey, now they're differentiated!

I got these at Ross--$5 apiece! Four center activities,
ready to roll, for only $20! THANKS MOM!

I got the purple saucer chair at a charity garage sale for $10. The cover needs washing, but it was a great price, perfect color, and it's just the right size for my kinders--I think up to two of them could fit at a time! 

Behind the chair you see the crate with my new center puzzles, plus the microwave I got from somebody on Craigslist for $20 (on top of our old microwave, which doesn't work and is roughly the size of Air Force One, so that's why it is still on the dining room floor.) The little white one is going to school. I'm going to try to start moving stuff into my new classroom next week. There's nothing wrong with the room I had last year, but when I worked as a para I spent a lot of time in that room. Now I feel like, no matter what I do, it will never feel like "my" room. I need a fresh start. Taking over for someone else after eight weeks of school, I never felt the same sense of ownership and connection with my kids. I felt behind all year, I never got a good filing or organization system in place, and I didn't get to be the teacher that I want to be, and that I think I CAN be.

The result of that, of course, is that my new classroom (fortunately right next door, and still across the hall from two of the best teacher-friends an exhausted, anxious first-year teacher with an extremely immature sense of humor can have!) has.... Well, not much. The teacher whose classroom I "inherited" had been in that room for over five years, and a LOT of that stuff was hers. Now that it's summer, she has the time to cone and get what's hers and I get whatever's left. 'Tis the summer of garage sales for me! I'll also probably be at school about two days a week working in my room--it's either that or PANIC PANIC PANIC CRY PANIC CRY WAVE HANDS SIGH CRY CRY PANIC the week before school starts, and I do NOT want my second year to start that way!

Also, I will hopefully be starting grad school in the fall. And me and the hubs have started looking to buy a very modest home in the next year. Am I crazy? Don't answer that.

Oy vey. Just thinking about all of this makes me want to pour a jar of hot fudge over a half-gallon of coffee ice cream and eat it straight from the tub. I think I'll settle for watching "Big Bang Theory" and then an "early" bedtime.

Good night, friends!

Teacher Blog, Y'all!

Holy moly, I can't believe that I have FINALLY finished my first year teaching! I've had one of the most arduous job-searching experiences of anyone in my graduating class, but somehow I made it through the past four years. At some point I'll tell that story, but right now I'm just trying to get a handle on this teacher blog thing! There are so many amazing, colorful, and inspiring blogs out there and I want to join in the fun! I want to have an adorable, functional, organized classroom, and make my own worksheets and activities to share, and be part of the general chaotic creativity that is KINDERGARTEN!

P.S. I'm going out tomorrow and Saturday to trawl local garage/yard sales for picture books, classroom furniture, and other assorted educational paraphernalia--wish me luck!

P.P.S. I'm trying to figure a couple of formatting things out, so if things look crazy periodically please forgive me. Sometimes I don't computer as well as I would like to!