This Blog is totally just for me, so I can look back at it one day and fondly remember the good times, maybe cry over the bad, and (mostly) so that I can see what I did in the past. What I liked, what I didn't. Also, I think that I annoy my husband when I tell him everything that I want to get off my chest from the school day. So this is me giving it a try.
Now, this is my first year teaching, and I am sure that I will eventually put up pictures, but for now there will be no pictures.
Something that I have noticed now that I have my own classroom is that I am a little crazy. I tried not to go overboard or anything because hey I'm a first year teacher so A. I have nothing (except what my sweet cooperating teacher gave me before I left my student teaching) and B. I am poor. I just graduated college and didn't work the last two years of school so I could just focus on school. Really my classroom is sparse compared to most every other teacher. But back to my craziness, everything EVERYTHING is labeled. and each grade level is their own individual color. This is actually the greatest thing, and it kind of happened on accident initially. I teach at a really small school and so I teach all of middle school, 6th ,7th, and 8th. For sixth grade, they are green. Seventh grade is blue and eighth grade is red. Everyday when they walk into class they pick up a folder with their name on it (each grade has their own color). This is how I take attendance and give them their missing work when they are absent. Really though, the kids haven't been good about completing their absent work. This is also how I return their work and how they turn in their work. It's nice because even if they forget to put their name on their work, I know who's work it is because of the folder. The biggest problems have been students not doing their work from when they were absent, and picking up their classmates' folders. The "Where's my folder!" needs to stop, and I have talked to them about it, so hopefully it ceases to exist.
My school is also really big on the standards, and the teacher before me left behind the standards all laminated, they are a little small though so eventually I want to make big standards. One day that will happen. Fantasizing about making bigger standards. That's where I am at right now. Yup.
