Getting Started!

Hi there!  This week I went into my new classroom on Monday to scope out the scene.  This is what I found:

Room as it was when I walked in.

View from the back of the room.

My desk in the back corner.

View from the front door.

Sink area.

View from the front of the room.

View from my desk.

 I spent some time tearing down old bulletin boards, moving furniture and asking the custodians to get rid of the desks and bring in the tables from my old room.  I went back in today and my volunteer and I got to work!   This is what it looked like by the time I left:

Circle/Whole Group Area.  Still need to put down the rug.

Tables!  Please don't mind the chart stand in the way!

View from the back!

View of my desk area.

So, that's what I've got for now.  I am debating going back in for a bit on Friday....We shall see....

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

I got my call!  I got my call!  I got my call!

Sorry, I had to let it out!

For those of you that do not know, I do not have professional status in my district yet, even though I should. This will be considered as my third full year though it is my fourth year teaching.  Anywho, yesterday morning I was riding in the car with the hubby and my phone rang.  I normally don't like to answer the phone when I don't recognize the number but I instinctively pushed the answer button.  It was like I knew.  A very nice lady from HR was on the other end and she told me I had been recommended for a position at my school and asked if I wanted to accept it. 

I of course said, "YES!".  Hubby instantly knew it was THE. CALL. so he was silently clapping and bouncing up and down in his seat.  As soon as I hung up the phone we both screamed!  WOOHOO!  Such a big sigh of relief. 

This is even more exciting because I am moving rooms!  For the last two years I had been stuck in a teeny tiny room that used to be used as an OT room.  One of the benefits of that room was the A/C, but, I'm not going to miss being cramped up!  The new room that I am moving into is right next door to one of my best friends!  She took me under her wing when I first came to this school and we have grown really close.  I cannot wait to be able to team teach with her! 

My mind has been swirling since I got the phone call.  How will I set up the room?  Have the moved my furniture in yet?  Where do I start?!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  On Monday I am going to head in and take some pictures of the room and see where everything is at.  I really hope the custodians moved my furniture for me!  I will write another post Monday evening with my findings!

Meet the Teacher!

I still have not gotten my call yet, but, I am hoping it comes soon!  I'm joining in on the 2013 Teacher Week to keep my mind off of that....So, today's linky is "Meet the Teacher".  All you have to do is post 10 facts about you!









1.  My hubby and I celebrated seven years married this year!  I still remember our wedding day as if it were yesterday.  It was so nice to have all of our family and friends around us that day.:

 

2.  Our dear daughter just turned four.  I can't believe she is already 4 years old.  Time is passing way too quickly!

 

 3.  My husband and his friends are all either married or attached to a teacher.  It's funny, but, it's great at the same time because we all teach in different states but all teach in inner city schools.  It's fun to hear what it's like to teach in other places!

4.  We have a cat named Scooby and a Chow Chow named Bruce.  They were our babies long before we had our baby.

5.  My husband and I bought my grandparents house from them when we got married.  I spent a lot of time at this house when I was a kid and always said I would buy it some day.

6.  I've always wanted to be a teacher; I think I began my love for teaching in Kindergarten.

7.  I love lots of different kinds of music, but, the one style of music I cannot stand is Country.  Sorry to all of the country fans out there, but, I just can't get into it!

8.  I can unscramble words at an alarmingly fast rate.  My husband thinks this is SUPER weird and not human, lol.

9.  I love to cruise. It is my favorite form of vacation/travel.  I don't even care where the ship stops, i just love being at sea.

10.  I love living in New England.  As much as I loathe the snow/winter; it's the most beautiful place to live!

Head on over and link up so we can learn about you too!

August Currently!

I cannot believe that it is August already!!!  My, how the time has flown.  Farley just put out her August Currently and I am linking up!

 

Listening:  To my daughter's iPad.  She's sitting here on the couch playing on it.

Loving:  I almost have a full month left before vacation is over!  Our In-Service isn't until August 26th and our first official day of school isn't until September 3rd.

Thinking:  I am still waiting to get my official call back from HR.  I hope it happens soon!

Wanting:  I really want to start setting up my classroom, but, I can't without my official notice in hand!

Needing:  I have had so much stress and anxiety in my life for the past month and it is starting to take a toll on me physically.  I need to de-stress somehow...

B2s Must haves:

1.  Pentel RSVP Pens.  These are my favorite to write with!

2.  Brand new Sharpies!  Nothing is more exciting than opening a Sharpie for the first time!

3.  Emergency Sub Plans.  Nothing makes me more nervous than having to call out and not knowing how the sub will manage.  I really like this pack from Clutter-free Classroom.

Hope you all are enjoying the rest of vacation if you are still home!  If not, hope you school year is going well so far!

Let's Get Acquainted - Newbie Edition!

I am linking up with Mrs. Reed over at Flying Into First for her Let's Get Acquainted linky party.  This week's theme is advice for new teachers.  I am entering my fourth year of teaching in the public school setting, but, I spent the eight years prior working in a preschool setting.  So, without further ado, here is my advice:

Buy:

You definitely need to have comfortable shoes!  I know we all want to look our best, but, sometimes we compromise our comfort.  I have some super adorable heels that I love from Coach and they are really comfortable.  But, this year, I totally got into Danskos!  I loooooove my Danskos!

Always:

You must always be flexible.  You can't always stick to the lesson plan.  Sometimes you'll be interrupted, sometimes the students will take the lesson to a whole different place and sometimes the lesson just won't work out.  If you are able to just "shift on the fly" you'll be better off.

Never:

Never underestimate your students.  I know we are sometimes afraid to set the bar high, but, you need to do it.  How else are they supposed to reach their full potential?  Also, never underestimate what behaviors they are capable of, they just might surprise you!

Find:

This is one that I still struggle with, but, you need to take time for yourself.  It's easy to get caught up in your plans, projects, blogs, etc., but, you need to take care of yourself too!  Otherwise, you'll be unhappy and burnt out!

Make:

Make professional connections!  Meet and try to maintain a relationship with the staff in your school.  I've worked in three different schools in the last four and a half years and I have made a ton of connections.  It's definitely come in handy sometimes!

Be:

Be fun!  Be silly and have a good time with your students.  It's all a part of your bonding experience!

That's all I have for today.  Head on over and link up too!

Shopping!

My good friend and colleague and I decided to take advantage of a rather unsettled weather day to do some classroom shopping.  We went to our nearest Lakeshore Learning Store to check out the 20% off deals!  Upon arrival we discovered that there was a Dollar Tree right next door; a teacher's dream!  We decided to start at the Dollar Tree and started to shop with our theme in mind.  See if you can guess what our theme is this year!  Here is what I got at the Dollar Tree:

I looooooooooooooooooove the Dollar Tree!  I only spent $6!!!  Here's a breakdown of what I got:

Aren't these cute?  Not sure what I will use them for yet.  Maybe for some sort of center game....

I just couldn't pass these up.  These will go with our theme (and my black Danskos) swimmingly!

Grabbed these wall decals too.  We didn't realize they were double sided until we checked out!

I also grabbed this alphabet chart (even though I have a few already) because it goes with our theme.

Once we did some damage at the Dollar Tree, it was time to move on to Lakeshore!!!!  I was like a kid in a candy store!  I wanted to buy the whole store!  Here is what I got:

Don't mind my dogs paw in the background, lol!  I was able to escape the store with spending only $44.44!   Here is the breakdown of what I got:

 We grabbed this awesome tropical foliage fadeless paper.  We saw it in their flyer a month ago and couldn't wait to get it!  Now, I cannot wait to put it up!  I also grabbed a 4 pack of animal print borders to go along with it.

 Got some more cut-outs.  Again, not sure what I'l be using these for yet.

 

Uppercase and Lowercase magnetic letters for working on the easel!  These were 50% off each!

 

 A new weather chart!  Need to get this laminate at school before I use it!

Check out this adorable height chart!  Can't wait to measure those kiddos!

 I got this reusable shopping bag for free when I signed up for their text alerts.  How cute is this?!

And, my free lesson plan book for spending $20.  I usually do my plans on the computer, but there are some components of this that I will use.

As if I hadn't already bought enough, I picked up these items in Target's Dollar Spot:

That's all for now!  I have a few more pictures from another Dollar Tree trip to post soon!  Can you guess our theme this year?

Let's Get Aquainted!

I am linking up with Mrs. Reed over at Flying into First.  She's hosting an awesome linky party! 

 

So, what does this linky party entail?  Well, you have to take a look at this Tic-Tac-Toe chart and choose three of the categories to discuss.  They must line up  as they would if you were playing Tic-Tac-Toe.  This is a great way to get to know some of our fellow bloggers!  Here's the chart:

I'm going to go with the third vertical column.  I'm a little sad that it has nothing to do with school, but, I like these categories!  So, here goes...

Dream Vacation:  This one I am having some trouble with because I have SOOOOOOO many!  I love to cruise, but, I think I am going to go with something else here.  My dream vacation would be to spend one whole month in Europe!  There are quite a few countries that I would love to visit in Europe.  Here is the list in no specific order:  Portugal, UK, France, Ireland and Italy.  To spend at least one week in each country would be amazing!  I would love to visit Portugal because I am half Portuguese.  I would love to see where my grandmother was born and grew up.  I am also part Italian, so beside the historical aspect of Italy, I'd really like to see the culture.  Ireland and France are on the list because they both have such beautiful aspects about them.  And, I am also part English, so visiting the UK would also be intriguing.

Books I'm Reading:  I am currently reading Francona: The Red Sox Years.

 

  I am a huge Red Sox fan and I am fascinated with Terry Francona.  He was such a great coach for the Red Sox, so, reading his account of the years he spent in Boston is really interesting.  I am about half-way through the book and am hoping to have it finished by the end of the month.  Once I am finished with that I am moving on to the Kingdom Keepers. 

 

 I am a huuuuuge Disney fan, so I am very interested in starting this series.  My co-teacher actually bought me my first book in this series.  I can't wait to get it started!

Hobbies:  My two favorite hobbies are photography and cake decorating.  I love, love, love to photograph things!  Here is a photo of one of our poppy flowers:

My other hobby is cake decorating, although I have been doing a lot of cupcake baking.  Here are some of my goodies:

So, that's about it for me!  Head on over and link up, too!