The Emotional Roller Coaster of Teaching

I haven't posted for a while because life has been speeding by during these first weeks of school. Waking up at 5 AM, enduring the extended school day, and coming home to plan has taken a toll again, as expected. I am trying to get more sleep this year and be in bed by 10 PM!

Overall, it has been an emotional roller coaster of HIGHS and LOWS.  The highs are high in teaching, full of love and happiness from children, and of course the lows are very low, as we reflect on ways that we could be better.  Some successes and "failures" so far...I hate calling them "failures," however, when life as a teacher is always a work-in-progress.

Successes! 
(1) Despite the sheer number of little ones (32 of them!), I can say that I have a great class, and I see my "vision" for the class coming to life with the right steps taken.

(2) I made it one of goals to know families this year, and I am proud that I've been able to do so amidst beginning of the year craziness! I have enjoyed speaking with all the families, and I feel like this will be a game-changer for my kids' achievement in the end.

"Failures"! (Things Gotta Change :)
(1) Tightening up some routines and procedures! Moving down from 5th/7th grades has been an adjustment, and it is very different handling 7 year olds! They are a whole different beast :)  I need to tighten up some essential routines - dismissal, line up, etc... Ideas are welcome!

(2) My confidence. I was so positive Week 1, but it is difficult to stay motivated as the grind sets in. With time, I know I will feel successful - in the meantime, I feel like a work-in-progress!

Luckily, Phoenix makes it so easy to think about the "Big Picture" of life when I am surrounded by beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I am trying to take it all in daily and keep it in perspective. Disclaimer: Do not try to take sunrise/sunset pictures while driving...as tempting as it may be :)

Math Rotations

It has been a while since I've posted last, due to the back-to-school craziness that has ensued!  I took a quick picture of the Math Rotations board that I created. I stole this idea from another great blogger, Clutter-Free Classroom (see here!). Thank you for the inspiration. Now I need to roll these out this coming week.

Cacti All Around!

As promised, here are some more pictures of my classroom during it's transformation. It was a crazy week getting prepared to show the room for "Meet the Teacher Night," but after moving desks up three floors, taking five tables and a teachers desk out of the room, and sifting through all the 2nd grade materials from last year, it finally got done!

I'm so happy with the Southwest theme! It really is coming together, and even those who doubted the "cactus" idea are liking it :)  Below are some pictures of the classroom:

Wall left of the door! Bulletin boards for tracking reading, class theme and goals, "Reading Takes Us Places!" Wall, bookshelves.

Wall opposite the door! Bookshelves with classroom library.

"Carpet" area for whole-group instruction. Easel, CAFE board, and Word Wall!

Close-up of the "carpet" area in our room! Thanks to all the generous donations on DonorsChoose.org, I will soon have a beautiful carpet with 30 squares for my kids to sit on :) Thank you!

Cactus CAFE!

Friday is Back to School Night, Tuesday in the first day of school....this week has been insane! Despite all the stressful situations I've found myself in, I was happy to finally begin setting up my classroom today. My first completed project is our CAFE board, in the spirit of the Southwest!

I mentioned in a previous post that I would be doing a Southwest theme. In reality, this means nothing more than picking some great colors and planting some laminated cacti, but I love it so far! I am excited to be implementing Daily Five and CAFE in my classroom this year - more posts to come with this board filled.

I must give credit to Ladybug's Teacher Files (http://www.ladybugsteacherfiles.com/) for  CAFE board headings. I made them my own, but I was fortunate to benefit from her fonts and graphics!