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!

Personal Laminator!

I just recently purchased the Scotch Thermal Laminator TL901 (see here on Amazon), and I LOVE it! My school, unfortunately, doesn't have a large laminator and/or sheets that I can use, so this past year, I avoided laminating at places like FedEx or Staples because of the cost.

I never realized how affordable it would be to buy my own! On Amazon, this laminator is $30 and works perfectly. I bought the letter-sized Thermal Laminating Pouches by Scotch as well, and they have done the job.

This may be my new favorite purchase! Life saver :)

See the laminator in use below - I've been working on creating my behavior management system:

Back From Vacation...Back to School Shopping

Home Sweet Home...Back to the East!
After being away from the Southwest and enjoying a vacation for two weeks, I am trying to get all things organized for the final preparation push before the start of school in early August. I was able to make it back to the East Coast for a short vacation to Philadelphia and then down to the beach with some family in North Carolina.  While the air was muggier than the dry desert heat, it was a great time to reconnect with family and slow time down for a while before the fall rush begins again.

Back to School Shopping!
Back to the grind, I did some Saturday morning shopping today, making trips to Lakeshore Learning (online here!) and OfficeMax (That happened to have 25% off for teachers today!).  Check out my "Back to School" goods below!

A couple projects in the works...


(1) Southwest-Inspired Color Scheme!
                                

This idea came to me somewhat casually at Lakeshore when I realized that they had no teal bulletin board paper (1st choice) - tragedy :) .  I decided that I would switch my original idea for color in the room to something that was easily available. And this is where the Southwest color scheme comes in!

Considering I'm a non-native to the region, I'm telling myself it's still cute and acceptable to embrace this theme! Who doesn't love a cactus and a sunset?  Bulletin boards will be the bright red/orange and I purchased orange, yellow, and light green borders.  The picture on the right is of amazing desert decorations made out of fabric that I saw in the Anthropologie store in PA - a little inspiration!

(2) Venn Diagram Pocket Chart!
                                

At Lakeshore, I was excited to find this Venn Diagram Pocket Chart on sale! I bought it for $18, but could only find it on Carson-Dellosa for $29 (here!)...probably worth looking on Amazon instead. If you have as much trouble as I do drawing large circles that resemble a Venn Diagram on the board - this is probably a great buy for you!

(3) Word Wall Alphabet Photo Cards!

I originally thought I would make the letter cards for my word wall, but after stumbling across these Photo Cards at Lakeshore, I gave in and decided to buy. I love how clean and clear they are, and they also provide a great example picture/word for each letter. Can't go wrong with the traditional manuscript!

More pictures to come with completed projects!

Teacher Clothes

While this may seem like a frivolous post, everyday as a teacher you must wake up and decide on something to wear that will be both comfortable AND will somewhat reflect your personal sense of style - a very difficult task.

While exploring Pinterest today, I came across a great image from Atlantic-Pacific's blog that, in my opinion, reflects the perfect teacher combination of comfort and personal style. Skirts and tops are the way to go - and I happen to love mixing patterns. Now on to find some affordable options.

On my eternal quest for affordable and adorable "teacher clothes," one of my first stops to shop is Anthropologie's sale section --- Rarely will I ever even think to buy something full-priced from Anthro, but fortunately for those of us on a limited budget looking for great floral patterns, they frequently have amazing sales. Check it out here!