Ta-da!

Here are pictures of my classroom...as promised.

Welcome to Room 9
These are the self portraits I talked about in a previous post.

The view of my room when you first walk in.

A close up of my classroom library...parents love this!

Our Meeting Area

More of our Meeting Area

There you have it!!! I tell you...it was a lot of work!!!

The Talk...

So it happens every year. You don't know when or where or who will bring it up, but eventually one of your students will ask you.
It happened to me today. Day 13 of school. This is how it went.
My class and I wee out on the playground when a flock of my girls ran to me and grabbed me to help save them from the boys that were chasing them. One of my girls screamed, "Save me, Mommy." To which I replied, "I'm not your Mommy." Then another one of my girls asked, "Do you have any kids?" "No," I tell her, "no kids." "What?! You don't have any kids?" Then those 3 joyful words came out of her mouth..."Are you married?" "No, I'm not married." "Why aren't you married?" "I don't know...you better go play because we only have 10 more minutes of recess left."
Oh joy!!! I love being reminded of my singleness by my students.

There's always one!

So last Friday, my class had it's first Fun Friday activity. We had been working on creating our class mission statement that week and I decided it would be cute to post our mission statement on the door with self-portraits of our faces. So each child picked out a skin colored circle (we had 2 choices- a tan color and a brown color) and then had a choice of white, yellow, light brown, or dark brown yarn for their hair. (or any combination of those) Most students pretty much created a face that looked very similar to what they actually look like. But then there's always that one child that tries to be silly. I am walking around the room, and lo and behold what do i see...facial hair. I quickly announce to the class, "None of you should have facial hair on your self-portrait because none of you HAVE facial hair." I partly feel bad because I don't want to hinder creativity, but really...that's crossing the line! This activity was a great way to see what kind of students I have this year. I'll post pictures of my classroom soon...I promise!

Whole Brain Teaching and Back to School Nightmares

So I have been a very busy girl!
First, I went out of town a week ago to West Palm Beach for a Whole Brain Teaching Conference. Whole Brain Teaching is a new method (not quite the word, but don't really know how else to describe it) of teaching. It is totally fun and kid-centered and it's for all grade levels from Pre-K to college. The website is fabulous with lots of videos and FREE downloads. I recommend it to all teachers.
Anyways, I attended one there conferences last Tuesday and it was really great. The first part of the workshop dealt with classroom management...which what teacher doesn't need fresh ideas with that? The second part of the workshop discussed some super fun educational games that will help move students and get students motivated in all subjects. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but if you want to know more check out the website. www.wholebrainteaching.com It's worth it.
I got back in town last Thursday and have basically been working in my classroom ever since. Will post pictures of it once I'm through.
Now. One way you know the year is about to start is when you have your back-to-school nightmare. At least I have nightmares. This year I had 2. Unfortunately, I can only remember one of them at this point. It happened a week ago. Teachers were supposed to start back on August 17. When I arrived, I had the harrowing surprise of a messy classroom full of 20 students running around. Apparently, I was confused and missed the week of pre-planning. On top of this, I was at my old school and my old principal was making her way to my room. Total panic set in as I looked at my unorganized classroom and my unruly class. Luckily, I woke up and it was just a dream.

New Classroom=New Troubles

There are 3 extremely difficult times of the year for a teacher. From Spring Break to the end of the year. From Halloween to Christmas Break. And the month before school even begins.
I remember reading an editorial in the Florida Times that basically said teachers should stop all their whining about being underpaid and enjoy the easy job they have. I mean we do get over 8 weeks off in the summer. We do get every weekend off. We do get almost every holiday, 2 weeks during Christmas and a week during Spring Break, plus 5 Weather Days off. So why are whining? Simple...you need all that time off so you don't kill a child! I'm just kidding. Whoever wrote that editorial really has no clue how much work goes into being a teacher.
For me, the month before school even begins is the most challenging. It's also the most fun, because (a) you get to be creative and (b) you don't have to worry about keeping your students pre-occupied.
I really do love getting my classroom ready. It is a LOT of work, but it's fun. I don't think it's supposed to be that hard. I've had the added challenge of moving rooms every year, so there has been lots of packing, moving heavy boxes, unpacking(and driving this year), and conceptualizing where everything will go in addition to everything else that has to be done. Common emotions for a teacher to have, and ones that I experience frequently, are being overwhelmed, besieged, inundated, stressed... Here are some "before" pictures of my room so you can understand why a teacher may feel these things...




And this is after working in my room for 12 hours!!! Yikes! I have a LOT of work still to do. Another emotion...fear...will I have enough time to get my classroom ready before school starts? We shall see...

The things we do...

So today I went to Build-A-Bear to build a bear for a project I am going to do with my class. I went in to see if they had a stuffed animal size backpack, and ended up building an entire bear because they had a special. It was very interesting. First, the people that work their must pop pills all day because they are way too excited about being there.
Now, I am an adult. I understand that building a bear is not this magical experience and that the bear will not have any sort of soul or emotions. I'm not entirely sure that the people that work there understand this. I would have been perfectly happy with them just stuffing the animal and giving it to me, but nooooo...I had to go through the whole build-a-bear motions. I had to step on the peddle and fill my bear's body with fluff. I had to pick out a heart, make a wish, kiss it, and put it in the bear's body. I felt completely ridiculous the entire time, and drew the line when asked to name it and give it a birth certificate. I think the salesgirl was surprised I didn't want a birth certificate for my stuffed animal. I wanted to be like "Lady, I'm 29!" She also offered the Build-A-Bear rewards program to me. Seriously...do I look like someone that's going to come into B-A-B frequently enough to join an rewards program? The most awkward part was carrying the big B-A-B cardboard house around the mall. Not only is the thing bulky, but when an adult carries one and there is no child in sight, there are lots of stares. I bet people thought I was special.
It's amazing the things we do for our class. Hopefully, the project will go well and this experience will not have been in vain.

Here's the end product! He is ready for school, and he does look really cute!

Those who can't do...teach?

Well here I am. About to begin my 5th year of teaching. I'm excited because I just got transferred to a new school (at the beach!!!!). This is a big deal because my previous 4 years of teaching have been at a tiny, urban school in town. I have many stories to tell about this school. Stories that, as I reflect back on my first years in the teaching profession, I will post here on this blog, which is the true purpose of this blog. However, this post is more of a reflection of what is to come.
It has been said that those who can't do, teach. Well, what if you became a teacher because you didn't really know what to do. And what if the teaching experiences you have had thus far, have been those of sheer terror. I'm really quite surprised that I have had the resolve to stick with this profession for 4 years. And, to be perfectly honest with you, I probably would have quit had it not been for the lovely transfer to a wonderful beach school. Of course there is a huge part of me that is very reluctant. How different can it really be? Aren't all kids pretty much the same? Do socioeconomic differences really make a difference? I ask these questions because if I have the same type of experiences at my new school then teaching is not for me. And if teaching is not for me, then what is?
If you can't teach, what can you do?