Where it all goes down Wednesday!

I've posted pictures of my room before (here), but here are some updated pictures of my favorite spots in the room!

 my "status of the class" for the writing process

 behavior... classroom economy+clip chart= super happy Miss Dennis!!

 Thursday book bags on the left, part of the library on the right (full pic of library below)

 our class post office!  I had two of these shoe things in the old apt, and only one will fit in my closet now... so I took it to school for student mail (they have traditional mailboxes for schoolwork and flyers, this one is just for their letters to each other!!)  I spray-painted clothespins, and the kiddos picked a ribbon for the middle of it (I sharpie paint penned their number to the sides)

 my daily 5 choice board and cafe strategies board (we're starting slow this year)

I absolutely love this rug from Target, my late bus riders were helping me sort word wall cards by putting them on their letter!!

Happy Wednesday!

Meet the Teacher Monday!

 I "mustache" you to read this ridiculously long introduction...

something about me... I have far, far, far too many gray hairs for just turning 30!  Ha!  I sprained my ankle the Saturday before pre-planning, and moved from the 'burbs back to the city the first weekend of the school year.  AND curriculum night (open house) is tomorrow night and I am NOWHERE near ready.  I currently feel like I'm drowning... starting a new grade level, flying by the seat of my pants, pulling work clothes out of a box each morning because I just got a dresser yesterday (and my closet is the size of a storage cabinet at work, seriously!).

how long have I been teaching...
This is my 6th year teaching, my 7th in education (I was a sped-k parapro right out of grad school, I just wasn't ready for my own class just yet).  I taught 4th grade math and science, then 1st for three years, last year I started out teaching 4th science, and was displaced six weeks into the school year to another school in the county, teaching a science lab special, then displaced again for this year.  I've moved to another school, into a new addition (yay hooray for a window!!), and am teaching 2nd grade this year.

My kiddos are super cute this year, but man-oh-man are they chatty!!  I'll give them a warning, they'll say "yes ma'am" and then go right back to talking... I'm worried that I'll lose it with them one of these days...

You might not know...
 that I play on a pretty competitive kickball team.  We've won the "Brooklyn International Kickball Tournament" for the past two years, and we just placed 2nd in the summer league tourney held yesterday in ATL.
or you might not know that I originally wanted to go to law school to focus on educational policy, but the whole not wanting to work for a senator, or be a politician thing sort of got in the way... I *just* recycled the Supreme Court cases from my senior seminar in policy last weekend... and I haven't ruled out policy yet, but I'm loving being in the classroom and being able to see the difference that one person can make.

What I'm most looking forward to this year...
getting into the groove of 2nd grade, and being able to relax.  I'm uber-stressed right now, and feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water... there are so many things that I want to do, and not enough time or $$$ to get them all done immediately (I'm an instant gratification kind of girl).  I'm really looking forward to the day that I feel fully prepared when I get to work in the morning.  I'm also looking forward to the moment when our schedule is internalized, and we're so deep into the daily 5 that we don't notice the kiddos waving outside our door.

I need to improve...
my stress-management skills.  I've found myself getting really frustrated already this year (and it's only day 11).  It just burns me up when I'm going suuuuuper slow, and doing something step-by-step, going through the procedure, modeling and practicing, and I have way more kiddos than I should (imho) blowing through it and not even paying attention.... rawr!!!

I can't live without...

 

but that's not a teaching supply.... so here's the real "can't live withouts"