The first two weeks are over! What a whirlwind of emotions. I've already had my first parent conference, referred two kids to the counselor, and on a positive note, received many birthday wishes and a few gifts from parents!

I am feeling overwhelmed! I cannot seem to get caught up. I am spending every second of every free moment doing stuff for my school or the masters class I am in. I came home last night, Friday, and graded papers until 1:00 AM (although I finally got some good sleep...until 11:00 this morning). Now, it's back to grading papers and prepping for next week's lessons. My class is far behind some of the other classes. I blame part of that on lack of structure on my part and lack of planning. I do not understand some of the lessons fully so I use some of that class time to let the students finish their assignments from the previous lesson in that subject.

I decided to go ahead and use a reward system. Our principal is against reward systems and says we should not reward students for doing what they are expected to do. In a way I agree, but in other aspects, I feel kids need to be rewarded and after all they are kids. I took the ticket system away I was using, per my principal's request. I was giving out tickets for students who got their agenda signed and their reading log signed. I also was giving tickets to students who were exceeding expectations. I had to nix that and the students want to cash in their tickets. I haven't come up with how they will cash them in yet. So, yesterday I felt I was losing control of my class. I decided to have table teams and teams showing me first that they are following directions and focused get table points. The team with the most points at the end of the week get to chose a coupon (randomly) that entitles them to something special. The ones who did not win yesterday were upset and loved the coupon choices. I have never seen such a well-behaved class as my class was yesterday before and after specials. I know what works for my class and I'm going to try to stick with it. I also use consequences for loud noise when I'm trying to quiet them after activities. I spell SILENT LUNCH one letter at a time and when they reach the H they get silent lunch. Yesterday I took off the H in lunch and they did not have silent lunch. I was told by other teachers I should have left it and once they earn a consequence, they serve their time.

When the students are good in specials or especially good during instruction, I give them a handful of marbles in the Caught Being Good Jar. They love the incentive of getting a special class treat when the jar is full.

Hopefully I will continue on the right path with my class and we will continue to have a successful year! If the grades will come up, I will feel much better. I hate they are getting bad grades because it reflects on me, but they are not studying and the result is an F. That is one of the most frustrating things I am dealing with thus far.

I'll be back!

Photos of my very first classroom.

These are photos of my very first classroom. This is what it looked like before open house. I can't say it looked this way after open house! There was school stuff everywhere!!! I am really excited as I begin my journey!

My back wall

Horseshoe table with open house forms to be signed and checked.

The pink bin is for student work. I numbered the folders with student numbers. They are inside a hanging file that has the students name on it. The two folders inside the file folder are "keep" and "sign and return" for work that goes home. The green bin is for student's writing portfolios.

One corner of my room.

Have You Filled A Bucket Today? board. The coupons are on top of the bookshelf in a bucket.

AR Quiz Line (thanks for the idea from Pinterest). The numbers will be in an envelope

and those ready to take the quiz will put their number in line. When they finish, they put their number back in the envelope.

My library corner

The front of the room by the whiteboard and SmartBoard.

My filing cabinet and extra storage area by my desk.

My desk area with an extra table in front.

Computer centers

By the door of my room. Facing the back.

Classroom Jobs Poster I made

Just some posters I hung

A look down my cubby wall with my word wall above it.

Heading out of my room into the hall.

My room is ready for open house!

Ready for open house! 

One side of the front of my room.

One of my boards. We will be doing elections soon.

The chair my hubby made me and the view of my classroom from the front of the room.

One word board

roll of paper my hubby made a mount for.

Here it is up close.

Getting Ready for Open House Tomorrow

WOW! What a week! I have had Common Core training, meetings, set up my classroom, learning curriculum lessons, preparing for open house tomorrow, getting my daughter ready for her first day tomorrow, and beginning another grad school class has been overwhelming, but exhilarating! I am completely exhausted today as my body is entering crash mode. I have put in well over 12 hours a day of work to prepare for the school year, almost forgetting about my graduate school class and putting my family life on hold. I need to do a better job of balancing everything, but I feel I may be taking on too much! I have joined the first responder team at our school, volunteered to be our webmaster for 5th grade, and joined the Collaborative School Health Committee.

My classroom is set up and ready to go tomorrow for two open houses. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow (hopefully before the kids come and mess up their pretty organized desks!). I have given each of my students a gift bag (brown paper bag) with a poem welcoming them to school. In the gift bag, I have two pencil top erasers, a notepad, a compass, candy, and a bookmark. Also on their desks are all their textbooks, neatly stacked and a parent questionairre. I am also having the students do a scavenger hunt as they enter open house to find various things. On my back table I have set out my bus assignments for parental confirmation, rosters, our class schedule, and other various forms and information. We do not have to be at school until 11:00 tomorrow, so I actually get to take my daughter to her first day of school with my husband and we will enjoy a breakfast out before I head in early. I am getting first day jitters! I hope I am ready!

Finally in my classroom!

I got to work in my class today after finding out a lot about my school and school policies. My room looks like a tornado came through, but that tornado has moved out of my house and I have my house back! I will be able to work in my room again on Thursday and Friday, then all day Sat and Sun. I am getting there. Looks bare...I don't have a lot of stuff that many experienced teachers have, but for what I do have, it looks nice! The next two days are full orientation days at Ridge Rd. Middle School, so I will learn a lot more about our school district and then hopefully I will have a lot of time to get my room set up the way I would like it to be by Sunday. I will post pictures in a few days. It's my first classroom ever, getting it set up! So, that part is a bit overwhelming! It's late...the time I'm usually on here (where up until now, I would consider it early), but by being awake for so long, I'm ready for bed. 

Goodnight!

I'm Done, Now What?

Well, today I am posting my first picture of one of my creations for my classroom. I wanted to give my students options for what they should do when they finish an assignment early. I named the poster, "I'm Done, Now What?" I will be getting it laminated later this week.

I start my job tomorrow! Yay! I have orientation in the morning at my school, then I get to work in my classroom in the afternoon. The car is packed and I'm so ready to start seeing my dream become a reality! I haven't even stepped foot in my classroom yet, let alone outside of the main office. I am excited to see the school and let my creative juices begin flowing as I set up my classroom.

I have worked all day laminating, cutting, creating, printing, making lists, and typing. I still have a ways to go, but I feel I am ahead.

I will post more pictures as I get things settled in my classroom.

I'm Done, Now What? poster made for the students who finish assignments early. I tried to create options that required higher-level thinking skills, but I had to put "Read AR Book" in for those who do not want to think on a particular day!

What an exciting summer! I am getting ready for my first year of teaching full-time! I'm filled with anticipation and anxiety. My head spins every night as I lay quietly brainstorming about ideas for my classroom and my teaching philosophy. I cannot wait to get started! Tomorrow is our first team planning. I am eager to know what else I can do to prepare for an exciting first year of teaching!

Throughout this blog, I will share ideas with you on things I have created or things that others have created that I love! Please feel free to respond to any of the blogs I post and share your inspirations with me. I look forward to learning with my students and learning from everyone else in the teaching community!