Finally an update

I finally decided to update so this doesn't turn into my summer camp diary... So today is the 11th day of school! Thank goodness we do the calendar every morning so we're keeping painstaking count of the days.

I'm getting more into the swing of things, but it's still hard to do certain things that I never did in student teaching. First graders are so much tinier than fourth graders! It's hard to teach phonics especially because the last time I had any sort of phonics-related instruction was sophomore year of college, and having a real job was such a distant pipe dream at that point anyway.

I had back to school night last week--I think I blacked out just like I did when it was time to walk on stage to get my diploma. I was rewarded for BTSN with a payday--I'd forgotten I was actually going to get paid for this!--and we got to wear jeans!

I think the children are trying to give me Chinese water torture. Every time they leave the room, one of them leaves the water on just a little bit. Forty minutes into my prep later, I realize why I'm so annoyed and finally get up to turn off the water.

We had our first whole school assembly today. It made me think of student teaching and camp--I was temped to dive into the middle of my class to be better able to control them. At least I didn't have to wrestle flash lights out of their hands!

I completely forget everything else we've done every day, so the rest of this post will be 100% pictures!

TEN MINUTES AND 30 SECOND RECORD! <3 <3 <3

Heart maps to help us think of writing topics

Everyday Math Games!

An actually cleaned off desk in time for BTSN

I realized today I leave incredibly dangerous things ALL around the room...

Chinese Water Torture

We <3 No, David!

Survived week one!

So after a much needed break, I'm back. I did officially survive my first week of teaching, despite several moments there when I was sure I would make a much better waitress/secretary/summer camp counselor forever (still my back up plan.) Thank goodness for Megan and AnneMarie for listening to the sob sessions.

My kids are ADORABLE, still complete babies, but oh so cute! One boy even told his parents he loves me and always sits next to me in our circle.

I finished my plans for this week at 4:00 this afternoon and was even able to go out to dinner and the movies last night and lunch today. Hopefully I won't be as tired/manic this week, too, since everything should hopefully be done.

I have Back to School night this Thursday night and I keep laughing, thinking of student teaching. I was completely terrified for Back to School night--silly now, because looking back I didn't have to do anything!!

We launched our writer's workshop last week and it required me to come up with some stories to model for my little writers. I wrote about feeding the goats at camp--no mention of the goat photoshoot-- and my second day I had to revise my work. I added a stick figure AnneMarie (completely forgot to take a picture of my beautiful illustration) and then modeled how that made me think of another story. I told the firsties that one time AnneMarie and I were creek stomping and fell into the creek. Well, they went absolutely wild and couldn't talk about anything else for the whole day. Every question they had to ask was how we got out of the creek, if we got hurt, did we get muddy, did anyone take a picture of us, etc. If I had been in a fourth grade, one of the kids would have been like, "Miss Smith, that's crazy," and that would have been the end of it. Maybe the first graders care more about my safety?!

On Thursday morning, our first full day of school, I got a new student. Lucky number 13!

Friday we wrote notes to put in each other's buckets. We are bucket fillers in my class, based off the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today?. Their notes to each other were adorable! They mostly talked about how they liked each other's shoes, we'll have to work on complimenting people for their personality and actions, not their clothing. I even got a few notes in my bucket: my little boyfriend said that he liked my hair and my watch.

I know I haven't uploaded pictures in forever, so here are the latest shots (stay tuned this week for adorable photos of our classwork!)

Overtaken by schoolwork...

Books for the first few weeks

To Do list #4237505623

My new homemade planner

Yes, complete obsession with planners.

Reading corner first day of school!

Our first morning message

this area has already been rearranged...

Have you filled a bucket?

Job chart we're starting this week

Check in for lunch so we can maximize learning time

Ready and waiting for kiddies

Chunking wall

Classroom rules, we need to add one voice at a time!

Fight or flight?

My day was better today, but I need to work on my lesson plans for next week. I think I should become a waitress instead. New student tomorrow, full day, haphazardly put together plans, no morning prep. Cried and threw up when I got home, but at last I made it 48 hours. SJU lesson plans ruined me and it took me like 11 hours to write plans for two days. Hopefully tomorrow will not be the train wreck I'm expecting it to be. Wah wah wah and pinterest's servers have been down so I havent even been able to stare at pictures of cute puppies while I'm freaking out.

Oh, and our first fire drill is tomorrow! Yayyyyy

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Okay, so this is going to be really short because I'm trying to do last minute things--as usual--but I am happy to say I SURVIVED THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

I could barely sleep last night, so even though I went to bed at ten, I couldn't fall asleep until around two. That being said, my first thought this morning was that I was soo looking forward to taking a nap after school--which didn't happen, sadly.

Impressions from my first day:

• First graders are so TINY!
• First day of school outfits are adorable--I had girls in tutus and pigtails
• I need to work on giving directions a step at a time!
• I completely forgot that they would be bringing in school supplies to school--their desks were a mess at the end of the day with glue sticks and unsharpened pencils everywhere
• We learned 1, 2, 3, eyes on me really well today. I did a lot of modeling and practicing with that, so I need to keep that in mind for the future skills
• First graders have tiny bladders
• Planning all of my student teaching lessons the night before was a horrible routine to get used to
• The SJU mile long lesson plan is not ideal when I need to write 10 lesson plans a day
• I miss having roommates to talk ideas out with
• I forgot that whole-body exhaustion feeling from student teaching where my body would feel like it was shaking for hours after school because of the adrenaline
• I need to keep drinking water and not talk so much!

I was hoping to have my plans for the rest of the week finished today before I left school. Which turned into when I got home. Which turned into tomorrow after school I will have Thursday and Friday planned--because they need to be posted by Thursday morning!

Thanks to everyone who sent me kind messages today and asked how everything was going! I'm sad and sorry that I didn't get a chance to answer everyone yet. My main victories for today: I did not throw up or cry! Here's hoping for another no tears day tomorrow. 

The final countdown...

Long time no post, by as evidenced by the time of this entry, I've pretty much been working around the clock trying to get ready! Thursday and Friday were incredibly stressful--the knowledge that I would not be able to get into my room again until the students actually came + all of my other worries made me freak out like never before just a little bit. I may or may not have called AnneMarie from the Walmart parking lot in tears because I was charged the wrong amount of money for binders. (Thanks again AM for your advice--which I unbelievably did follow--and calm tone of voice during my breakdown. I guess all of that practice in the back of Arts & Crafts did some good!)

My roomies (can't bring myself to say ex-roommates yet, I'm totally in denial that college is over) did so much work in my classroom on Thursday for me and were definitely bucket fillers to the max! Here they are hard at work:

Meg covering the old mailboxes

Cait's favorite things--lamination and photo shoots

Lauren managing the library

I wish I had taken pictures of the room before I left on Thursday, but again I was escorted outside promptly at 8:15! I guess I'll have to sleep outside the door on Monday night to make sure I can get in bright and early to finish up the final touches!

Speaking of bright and early, I have been attempting to tackle my scheduling/planning/reviewing the curriculum since around 6 Friday night... Twelve hours later, my bed looks like this:

Annnnnd I finally finished my schedule, updated my website--complete with a non-horrible picture, maxed out the number of library books on whick you're allowed to place a hold, downloaded 1st grade common core standard placards, and cleaned off my bed--all with no tears! Successful day!

AHHH

Tomorrow (oops, technically today) is my first day of school with all of the staff. Inservice starts tomorrow morning at some undisclosed time--I'm hoping 8:30 because that's what time I will be ready. Meg and Lauren and Caitlin came to help today and they were a godsend. After what felt like moments, however, they had to go back to Philly and I started freaking out again. Tomorrow afternoon is the lat time I'll be able to be in my room before the kids come and I am worrying out of control. I feel like I have so much empty wall space and so many things still left to do and zero time in which to do them. I know I should be sleeping now, but I am zipping around as a result of too much caffeine and just general craziness.

Everyone keeps saying I'm going to be fine, which just makes me worry more. I don't want to do a poor job and I want to be a great teacher. I know I'm my biggest critic and it really doesn't matter if I don't have my books organized by topic, I don't have the right bins and baskets to put my books in, I don't have the right binders for my parent communication logs, I've never spoken a word of Spanish in my life, I haven't planned any of my lessons yet, reading terrifies me... Okay, pictures and a general sense of calm will come tomorrow. (I hope!)

Baskets, Bins, and Buckets

I never thought I would EVER say this, but if I have to go to Target one more time in the next month, I am going to LOSE IT!

Needless to say, I have been hanging out in my room 24/7--or until the custodian escorts me out to my car--and I am beginning to go crazy! Luckily, I think the crazy is working because I feel like I'm getting closer to being finished. It better be, because tomorrow is my last free day; I have inservice on Thursday and then school starts on Tuesday! (WAHHH it's going so quickly!)

Yesterday I made Truffula trees for my Seuss-themed room. I was nervous at first, but I LOVE them!

Can't believe they've stayed up so far... I guess they don't have any firsties pulling on them yet

My vinyl is supposed to come tomorrow, so I can finally finish my quote!

I also made schedule cards for what I hope will be every possible event we will have in school...

And to work on number sense, an estimation station of candy/prizes. (Stole the idea from Caitlin's cooperating teacher!)

(Cookie jar from Target... of course)

I worked on my behavior management system, too. Still deciding what I want to do--especially after a very confusing conversation with Caitlin today. I want to have positive behavior rewards, not just negative, but I don't want things to be too confusing.

Behavior catalog- what you can earn (wear a hat in the classroom, have a recognition sent home, etc.) 

I've seen this clip chart all over on pinterest, and teachers seem to love it. I don't know if 7 colors are wayyy too many, I'm starting to think so. 

In Glenside, the gym teacher read a book about filling other people's buckets by doing and saying nice things. Apparently, that book has swept across a bunch of schools. We are apparently also a "Bucket Filling"school!

My gorgeous bucket sign-with creepy smiling buckets (I'll have to fix them tomorrow)

Shoe organizer? Nah, bucket depot. (All from Target)

Pennant (from Target) to celebrate almost beginning school!

And finally, it is official!! The custodian hung my sign outside my door today and I got my contract yesterday-I'm actually a real teacher!

Ms. Smith, I guess so if I marry someone with the last name Smith, they don't have to get a new sign!

The entire Education Dream Team is supposed to be stopping by tomorrow, I hope my school is ready for all of my roommates. (And I hope they are ready for some decorating!)