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Classroom Reveal!

I am proud to show off my classroom.  It isn't as fancy as most of yours out there.  There isn't one common theme or color scheme. However, I've used the resources I have and really like how my room turned out this year! So, here are the parts I took pictures of.

 This is my rug area.  I quit buying rugs several years ago so now we just sit on the carpet.  In the pocket charts I put my focus wall and weekly vocabulary for our Journeys reading program.

 I saw on facebook, that Literacy Spark had redone her cubbies!  I TOTALLY stole her idea and ran with it!  This obviously isn't done, but we ran out of the cute tape. It's all ready to be put all together tomorrow morning before the kiddos arrive.

 This is my extra supply station.  I've used cups to sort the scissors to make them easier to pass out. And I've sorted the crayons and colored pencils by color.  This will hopefully make everything much smoother when it comes to supplies!  I'm also using Aimee's Jar full of Memories this year.  I can't wait to have something to go back to and review what we've done each day from various students' perspectives.

 I got rid of my teacher desk! YAY! I'm seriously, SO excited about the layout of my room this year.  I moved my writing area from one corner to another. I have SO many resources in this corner. Hope's Writing to the Core unit is the biggest one.

 The white board is pretty empty right now, but will get much busier come tomorrow! Underneath are several different math helps that I'll use throughout the year.

My classroom library. All of the red boxes are all of the books that are leveled according to AR. The green boxes aren't in the AR system.

Well apparently, I did a really great job of taking pictures of various areas... but not of my entire classroom.  I'll do that at school on Monday if I remember and update this post.  Hope you enjoyed the tour of my room!

Linking up with

Back to School Blogger Exchange Goodies

A couple weeks ago I signed up for the Blogger Exchange hosted by Covered in Glitter and Glue and Adventures of Ms. Smith.  

I had a great time shopping for my exchange buddy, Jane, from Learning in the Little Apple (I hope she liked her package and it made it to her in one piece!).  I got my package from her on Friday and it was the PERFECT ending to that long week back before school really starts on Monday.  

Jane must have went back and found one of my many posts when I mentioned my LOVE of the Zebra Flight Pens.  She got me 2 packs!  She also sent me a binder hole punch, stickers, post its (the perfect little square size that I always run out of first), highlighters, expo markers, and M&Ms! 

Seriously!  I got spoiled! Look at all of that good stuff! 

I hope these ladies host again because this blogger exchange was a TON of fun!  Thanks Jane! 

Currently, August

I'm linking up with Farley for another month's Currently. 

I can't believe it's August and time to go back to school already! 

Listening: Johns watching one of his NASCAR documentaries. This one features my favorite driver so I don't mind watching, too.  :) Oh the things we decide to like so we don't always argue with our spouses! 

Loving: I'm going to do a great big post about my teacher planner I designed and had printed, that I'm planning to put in my TPT shop as my first paid product! Exciting stuff! 

Thinking: I'm not looking forward to my summer being over. I've gotten so much done, but I'm not sure it's enough. 

Wanting: I'm fairly certain we've all had those times when nothing feels right about what may be coming in the future. I just need some clarity and a plan then I won't feel so unsettled. Not that I have anything in particular planned, but I'm thinking that may be the problem. 

Needing: to spend some serious hours in my classroom. I'm just not letting myself, until Monday because I don't want summer to be over! 

My b2s must haves: (I'm probably not following the rules here, but these are my MUST haves!)

John...he's so wonderful and spends hours in my classroom setting things up and moving things around and generally helping me out. LOVE HIM! I for sure wouldn't be ready for school in a week if I didn't have him around and don't want to think about ever getting ready without him!

Pens... Every teacher needs great pens. My favs are the zebra flight pens! 

Sharpies... I use sharpies for everything! Can't wait until I get to buy some new ones! 

What I'm Loving Linky

I'm linking up again with Covered in Glitter and Glue for her weekly party.  I LOVE this linky!  It's important to remember the little things... or big things that sometimes we take for granted. So here are the things I'm loving this week. 

#1. John is HOME!  I'm so happy he's back and as you can see, so is Tuffy.

#2. I LOVE this face!  After 35 days without it all I want to do is stare at him. (and his patchy beard if you can see it in this picture)

#3. I'm thankful that I've gotten a ton done in my classroom already.  If I had to, I could spend maybe only 2 more hours in here and teach. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be workable. However I realize how lucky I am to not be locked out of the building until the week before school starts.

#4. Brad Paisley's Wheelhouse album.  I'm not a huge country music fan, but I am a huge Brad Paisley fan and I can't wait to go to his concert next month!  This new album is awesome. I've been listening on Spotify since my birthday, but we finally bought the exclusive Cracker Barrel version on Monday. Beat this Summer, Outstanding in our Field, Mona Lisa, and Officially Alive are my favorite tracks so far. Music is for sure one simple thing that can make me happy! 

10 Things I've Learned from Teaching Linky

Today I'm linking up with Miss Kindergarten for her:

1. Some things that are funny will always be funny.  For example: I like to play on the monkey bars was written:"I like to play on the munchy bras."  by one 2nd grader several years ago.  Makes me LOL every.single.time.
2. It is hard to train yourself to use the restroom only at appropriate times.  It is even harder to untrain yourself each summer to go whenever you want to!
3. Administrators experiment on teachers just as much as teachers experiment on children!
4. Children have a very warped sense of reality. This is especially evident in their drawings of me.  See picture below: With me on the left and the student on the right.   (also see #1)



This was a gift after I was out of school when I had swine flu.

5. Teaching buddies are the best.  I LOVE my teaching friends.  In fact, some of them are besties for life. They're stuck with me! 
6. The hands down best part of my job is the children and families I get to become part of for a year (or more if I get to teach siblings).
7. Closing my door and doing my thing is the best decision I ever made! March to the beat of your own drum.  There's no bigger disappointment then letting yourself down. 
8. Teaching for a career means learning is my number one priority!
9. Small towns means everyone knows more about me than I do.
10. There are children out there that will do more for me than I will ever do for them. 

Lets Get Acquainted:Advice for New Teachers Linky

I'm Linking up with Latoya again for her weekly Get Acquainted linky party! This week it's all about advice for new teachers! So, here's mine:

Buy:

I know, I know there is SO much out there to buy.  

There are SO many cute things. 

There are SO many practical things.  

I have spent the last 9 years teaching.  I've had to get rid of another teacher's career's worth of crap that she left behind and it's taken me the last 8 years to finally have *most* everything in my classroom be things I USE and not crap (mine or hers).  I feel like I work with a bunch of hoarders and have become one.  (I know that sounds mean, but we all have SO much crap! Me included.) 

You don't need it.

You don't have to spend it.

Just stop yourself even HALF the time from buying STUFF and I promise, you'll thank me in 10 years! 

Always:

You will NEED the secretary and custodian, more often than anyone else in the building, to do things for you.  Know their favorite candy bar, candle scent, or just be willing to HELP them out while they do you a favor.  I've been known to file papers while my secretary finds me a certain form or report or pick up garbage bags while my custodian adjusts desks in my classroom. Cookies also help! 

Never:

Complacency is a downfall of every teacher.  No two children are the same, no two classes are the same, no two lessons will accomplish the exact same thing or work in the exact same way.  You have to know your kids, what they need and PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.   Complacency is when kids get lost in the "but it has always been this way".  

Find:

Even after 9 years in the classroom, I still have teachers in my building I look up to and go to for advice. You HAVE to have a mentor.  You also have to find someone in the building to have mutual trust with whom you can confide in, vent with, and commiserate with. There are going to bad moments and even some bad days.  You'll need someone to talk with who can keep your frustration between the two of you, but also allow you not to take it home. 

Make:

You will spend more time in your classroom then at home for a better part of the year.  You need your classroom to be a place you LOVE to be. Fill it with things that make you happy. Make it comfy, keep your favorite snacks hidden somewhere, and have a space that is all your own in it.

Be:

I cannot tell you how many times a day something will change with your schedule, with your assignments, with your students.  You MUST be flexible. Learn to roll with it and not let it frazzle you. That will be the number 1 way you will get stressed is when you can't just roll with it.