Over 2 Months Later...

I have NO IDEA how all of you teachers out there make time for teaching, family life, AND blogging. There aren't enough hours in the day!! Maybe it is just because I am a new teacher and I am also working another job... but I don't know how you do it. Every time someone mentions to me that I haven't blogged in a while, I feel like punching a wall. HOW ABOUT YOU WRITE IT FOR ME?! I'll just tell you what I want it to say and you can write it since I spend all my free time asleep! Just kidding... but not really.  It has been over 2 months since my last blog post, even though it feels like it was just yesterday. Oops. Let's see... where were we?! Oh yes! I had just finished teaching summer school. I hadn't even started setting up my school year classroom yet. Hahahaha... I had no idea what was coming. Summer school was a breeze compared to what I was about to walk into.  I went into my new classroom on the first day that I could get my keys. I had friends to help and plan to get started on. Boy did that plan go our the window fast. There was SO. MUCH. STUFF. in that classroom. Seriously. It was the entire center of room (about 10ft by 8ft) and it was stacked all the way to my very high ceilings. There was furniture galore, more desks then I would ever need, left over student work, left over professional resources, garbage, dust, geckos and cockroaches. Ew.  The classroom I was moving into had previously been shared by 2 teachers. One of the teachers had moved to a different island, so she had left majority of her stuff. Luckily she had a lot of things that I found incredibly helpful. But it was still a lot of stuff. The other teacher had moved into a classroom that was itty bitty, and couldn't take most of her stuff with her. So she just left it in the room. Along with a lot of garbage (old student work, broken supplies, old food-YUCK). Because there had been 2 classes, there were enough desks for all those kids. I counted over 30 desks. That's a lot when your class size is going to be 8. I'm very thankful for our wonderful and helpful custodian who immediately offered to help me move any unwanted furniture and trash out of my room. Thank you, thank you, thank you! My planned time for going through stuff already in the classroom was 1 day. It ended up taking 1 week. I was tired, frustrated, and hot every day. Oh yes, I was doing all of this in the middle of a Hawaiian summer, in a classroom with no AC... it was HOT! In addition, almost every day more "stuff" showed up into my room for anonymous other classrooms. Although I was grateful for all the resources, it was just more stuff that needed to find a home. Once we got all of the sorting, throwing away, and organizing done, we started bringing in my stuff, setting up the furniture the way I wanted, and decorating!  Decorating was absolutely the fun part. I don't have a classroom "theme" so I just went with bright fun colors. There is a little bit of chevron and polka dot, but mostly it is just solid bright colors. All this work was totally worth it because my room is absolutely huge! I see some of the itty bitty classrooms that some of my co workers have, and I am forever grateful that I have such a giant room. I also got blessed with a very wonderful classroom EA (advantage to being a SPED teacher). She came in almost every day that I was in the classroom working to help me. She did all of the tasks that I didn't want to do, and she always did it with a smile on her face. To this day she is the greatest resource that I have, and I am very lucky to have her help and support.  Here are some pictures of my bright and giant classroom (things have changed a little and gotten more filled up in the 2 months since these pictures were taken!):

^This is my student computer area.

^Front of my classroom/student desk area

^Math manipulatives/dictionaries

^Another view of the front of my classroom

^Teacher area

^Back of my classroom (Morning meeting/calendar area)

^Material storage and another view of the teacher area

^Classroom library

^More classroom library and my EA's area behind

^In classroom bathroom area! 

We had parent night the night before school started. That was terrifying. But most of my parents came. They were all very friendly and loved my classroom. First scary part of being a first year teacher... check! As I went to sleep the night before the first day of school, I was scared, but also prepared. I had extra lessons ready to go just in case. I had memorized my students names and pictures. I knew my classroom was as perfect as it could be. I actually got a really good nights sleep! The first day of school went pretty smoothly if I remember correctly. I only sort of remember it as one giant blur. One of my students never showed up, so I went from a class of 8 to a class of 7. I had six 2nd graders and one 3rd grader.  A few weeks into the school year, we had some issues with the grade level below me, and they asked if they could move the only 1st grader up into my class. I said sure! I had one kid never show up, so I had the desk and materials for one more student. Why not?! Let me tell you... trying to coordinate schedules with 3 grade levels is no easy task! Luckily all of the teachers are very helpful and understanding. They frequently remind me of things since they know I have a lot to keep track of. They are all so great. :) So now, I am officially a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade severe SPED teacher! Now we have been in school for almost 2 months. The first quarter of the school year is coming to an end soon, and I can't believe how fast it has gone. I was really hesitant about accepting this position. I had very little experience in severe special education, and I didn't know if I was up to the challenge. But I can honestly say that accepting this job was the smartest decision I have ever made. I love my students. More than I ever thought would be possible. They understand me, and I understand them. I have eliminated problem behaviors that other teachers have been trying for years to eliminate in these kids. They are calm and relaxed in my classroom, and they are learning more than I ever thought possible. They are smart, and happy, and I can't imagine having any other class for my first year. These kids make me smile every day, and I have never once dreaded going to work. I can't wait for the rest of the year, even if it means I never have time to blog. :)  Now if I can just stay on top of all the meetings and paperwork... :)

Five for Friday {First Time!}

I am trying to link up with as many linky partys as I can that way people can see and maybe even follow my blog! So here is another one... 

It is time for five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

 I finally got some student work up on my boards in my classroom. So now it doesn't look so bare! Yay!

Wednesday was a holiday here in Hawaii so we had the day off from school. I went with a group of friends to get breakfast from this place in Kailua called Cinnamons. They have THE BEST guava chiffon pancakes. They are so incredibly good. Like dessert but for breakfast. Yum! That was great.

22 Jump Street comes out today. I am pretty excited. I want to go see it today, but I don't have time. So I am going tomorrow. :)

I spend one of the days earlier this week organizing all of my photo albums and backing them up to drop box. I found baby pictures of all of my 3 fur babies. I am glad they are now backed up and going to be saved for ever! Here are some of their cute baby pictures.

I made it all week without going to Starbucks. I made my own drinks at home before I left for school. But this morning, I caved. I went to Starbucks and got a bagel AND and and Oprah Chai. It was wonderful, and well worth it. Made this Friday go by much faster!

Monday Made It {First Time!}

Yesterday was my FIRST DAY teaching summer school, and my FIRST DAY having my very own class with out a mentor teacher. It was so much fun yet so incredibly terrifying at the same time. Luckily... it went really well! My kids were well behaved, they followed my directions, they told me they loved my class at the end of the day, and they got their work done! I call that a success! Having my kids enjoy this class is really important to me. I am teaching summer school at a fine arts summer program, but my class is reading class for students performing below average. So they go to all these fun classes (like dance and ceramics and PE), and then they come to reading. If I can keep them interested and having fun- my job is complete!

Time for my first Monday Made It! I know it is a day late, but better late than never! Thank you to 4th Grade Frolics for putting this together! 

I'm pretty excited about the one thing I made this week... but it has a lot of parts. I made.... MY CLASSROOM!!

Yes my first every classroom is decorated and ready! I'm pretty proud of it. It started completely blank with all the furniture stacked. I had no idea how much I would have to set up for summer school, but now I love it! So here are all the pictures of my new classroom. 

^This is the front of my classroom. It has the alphabet at the top (which I made), the 1-2 grade library on the left, my READ table on the right, and the behavior chart. 

^These are the birthday sticks that I made for my students. They are just crazy straws, and they get to pick one when it is their birthday. 

^This is my desk area. I LOVE that the bookshelves were already painted yellow, considering it is my favorite color. It's kind of organized, and kind of just stuff thrown in bags... oops. :)

^This is the student work wall for my 3-5th grade class. They each have a folder hanging, and as they finish work, they will add it to their folder so it can be displayed. Also, this shows my 3rd-5th grade library. 

^My READ table! I made the letters myself. They are just wooden letters covered in scrapbook paper. This is the table where our pencils, erasers, and highlighters live. Each student picked a folder when they came in on the first day. Each folder had a parent letter and an "about me" paper for the students to fill out. 

^This is where I have my rules posted. I am using the whole brain teaching rules with my class this summer to see how they work out. The rules are:

 1. Follow directions quickly.

2. Raise your hand for permission to speak.

3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat. 

4. Make smart choices.

5. Keep your dear teacher happy. :)

^This is my anchor chart bulletin board and my behavior chart. I am planning on leaving this anchor chart up. In my reading class, we are doing close reading as our "curriculum." These are just the basic steps for close reading so that my students can refer to them. 

The behavior chart I got from That's So Second Grade. I love it! The levels say: Parent contact (red), teachers choice (orange), make better choices (yellow), ready to learn (green), great choices (pink), and outstanding day (purple). All the students start on green, and can move up and down the chart through out the day depending on their behavior. 

^This is just another view of the front of my room. The display folders for my 1st and 2nd grade class are located below the white board. 

^Another view of my 1st/2nd grade library. 

^The view of my room from the door! My roommate made all of the pom poms for me that you see going across in the back.  That's it! I hope you all enjoyed my room tour for my first ever Monday Made it!