One Week Left

I officially only have one week left before the first day of school. This summer has gone by so fast. I felt like I was on top of everything but now that I'm really in my room and working on stuff I feel so behind. Today I was able to get caught up and feel more prepared for Meet the Teacher Night which is Wednesday. It was hard to work in my room since all last week I had orientations and trainings all day. Starting tomorrow I again have trainings and meetings all day.
When I got my room assignment and was able to check it out I was not too excited. It was full of stuff, a lot of it being junk or too outdated. I spent days cleaning it out, sanitizing things and organizing the items I kept. It was great to get materials and supplies left behind but it was a lot of extra work. So here's some pictures of my room after the cleaning stage

The pictures above are from the first few days I worked in my room. I was still taking stock of what was left that I could use but also bringing in stuff that I had. The tables had been stacked on top of each other and I asked the custodian to help me move them. 

Now I'm at the stage where I've got all my furniture setup and my supplies put away. I've been able to start decorating and making it my own classroom. I still have a lot that I want that I want to put up but most of it is going to be projects I do during the first week of school. I also didn't want to have an overwhelming amount of stuff out that the students didn't know the procedures for using. 
Looking back over the summer I think I could have worked on more stuff at home so I would feel more prepared now. But it's all a learning process and now I know what to do before hand and what could probably wait. I would spend more time working on getting a welcome letter and data folder setup and wait on getting displays planned. I had found my masters for the first week but I waited until today to make copies and separate into folders and by days. But I am happy with what I've done and I like how my room is turning out. I like the activities I have planned for the first week and think I will learn a lot about my students and their families. But I still wish I had just a couple extra days!

It Takes a Village...

Over the past week I have gotten more settled in Phoenix and also started to get some bigger projects done.  There is no way I could have done these projects without advice and help. 

The first project in this picture was pretty easy and only took a few minutes. I bought empty paint cans at Ace for maybe a dollar and then covered them with duct tape. It was much cheaper than buying pre-decorated containers at a store. This is a project I did on my own but if I was going to make a lot of them I would probably have asked for help to cut back on time. I like them because they're not the normal container that other teachers will have and if they get ruined I won't be upset at money wasted.
The milk crate seat project was the Pinterest project I was most excited to try. It started in May when I asked my boyfriend to try and make it and he found out after going to a number of stores that these colorful crates come out with school/dorm supplies at Target. Two weeks ago I bought a crate and the plywood at Home Depot. The man was very helpful and made sure the wood fit right into the crate and left room for the fabric. Then this week my great aunt who was a home ec  teacher for 27 years and my mom helped me to make the seat parts. The first one took about 15-20 mins but by the last one it only took a few minutes. I love how colorful they are and that they will be something different for my students and also give me extra storage space. They cost more than I would have thought but it was mostly because I didn't already have a heavy duty stapler. 

Adding a ribbon handle made it easier to get the seat on and off. I also used the same color on all three to tie them altogether and it was the only ribbon I had.

The next project I finished were these cork board crayons. My boyfriend got a sheet of thin cork board and then cut out crayon shaped pieces. The edges of the cork start to fall off so he put a border of electrical tape so they would hold their shape. I had left over fabric from my seats so I used that to start covering the cork. My great aunt made a pattern and helped me cut out the fabric and then we just folded the edges over used tacky glue. Crayons are my theme so these will be a cute decoration but they also will be great to put in areas where it would be hard to hang things. I was thinking about putting them near my turn-in tray and putting no name papers on them. I have 3 of each size so I also was going to use them to hang pictures on of school events. 

I could have done these projects on my own, I'm more than capable of doing them. But they might not have turned out as well and it would have taken much more time. As a new teacher I think we want to prove we can do this and don't need any help to setup and run our classes. Even going to Home Depot I wanted to be able to act like I knew all about lumber but I had to admit I needed help to figure out what would work best. I think teachers both new and old need to always be willing to ask for help and let someone else teach you how to do something. I can't say that I will always be this willing to ask, but I hope that I am able to be more open to getting advice from other people. 

Back on Track (Almost)

Well I am back in Phoenix and trying to get back on track with my planning and preparation. I'm able to go in my classroom but I can't move my furniture for a couple more days. They moved my projector but the actual smart board still needs to be put up. This is what I've been doing for my class

*I went through the art supplies left behind and got rid of the materials that were taking up space, too old or falling apart/almost out. I then sanitized all the scissors, markers and containers that I was able to save. 
*I attempted a Pinterest project where you use duct tape to add a decorative edge around plastic bins. It didn't work for me, the tape kept peeling off so I just ditched that project.
*Today I filled out all my official new hire papers. A little overwhelming but also nice to feel like an adult. 
*I wrote a list of my procedures and information I want to type up for parents that I can hand out during Meet the Teacher Night. 
*I bought a milk crate and plywood to make a seat, haven't finished it but I'm feeling pretty good about it working out. 
*A Pinterest project I did really enjoy was taking paint chips and using them to write sight words on like the picture shows. I didn't stick to one color like the picture shows and I also hand wrote my sight words. But I love them and it was worth all the trips to take paint chips. 

I would like to start working on making decorations for my theme (crayons). I have templates made for labels and crayons for a bulletin board so I need to actually start using them. I'm hoping that if I can get some of these done now then when I can move my furniture the setup will go much faster and be easier. 

A couple days ago I saw that Target was starting to put out their school supplies. It was tempting to buy a ton of stuff I saw but I was able to walk away and wait until more of it goes on sale. I also didn't want to buy anything without having my list and coupons. But I am getting that excited new school supply feeling!

And The Roadbumps Begin....

So far my journey into teaching has been pretty easy, busy but not too many bumps. Until today. I haven't seen it and really in a way don't want to but while installing my projector for a smartboard the roof broke. From what I gathered the panel broke and it and the projector fell and shattered. They need to fix it so it can hold and also reclean my carpet so it will be clean and safe. I know it isn't the end of the world but it was so frustrating since this was going to be the week where I started really getting into my room and setting it up. So after driving up to Phoenix I am driving back home to Tucson for awhile and will just work on stuff there. I guess this eventually had to happen and it's better to get that first roadbump out of the way now then when I have kids in the room. I think this was such a blow because I haven't experienced something like this and I kind of panicked and had a rush of frustration all in one. But it'll all work out and I will still get stuff done even if I'm not in my classroom. But seriously make sure your things are installed correctly so you don't have any freak accidents!

Monday Dear Me

I'm linking up again with The Teaching Tribune. Today I wrote a letter to myself, like an advice to a new teacher from a new teacher. I'm thinking about printing out my letter and rereading it when I'm feeling overwhelmed and defeated throughout the year.

This is the day, instead of being 90 minutes away from my school I will now only be 25 minutes away. It's a little overwhelming to be moving but it also is exciting to do something more on my own. 

Besides that I have been working on planning out my first days. I will explicitly teach the rules and procedures but I also wanted to reinforce them through literature studies. I'm hoping that they will help to make the rules more "real" and give the students an opportunity to discuss and work with the rules. Since I start on a Monday it has been difficult for me to decide how many days I should use as my "first days" and when I should really get into the curriculum. I want to have time to start building a community but I also don't want to waste time and not get my curriculum done.

Monday Meet Me

Happy Monday! It's my last Monday in Tucson, I have so much to do in this last week!!

 

Today I'm linking up with The Teaching Tribune to meet some new bloggers

I'm Official!!

This morning I went and got my teaching certificate!! For a new teacher in AZ you get a provisional certificate so you have three years and you need to teach full time for at least two years. Once you have done your two years you get a conversion and get a certificate that lasts for six years. It is also much easier to move to another state and get reciprocity once you have gotten your conversion. So here it is...

This is that last step in my college path where I'm now able to go out and start my career. It's very exciting and a little scary. So far I have been working on labeling all my personal materials and books that I'm taking into my classroom. I have also started collecting resources for my first couple of weeks of school. I know those first few days will be absolutely crazy but I'm hoping to dial down the chaos by being well planned. I'm back in Tucson, but I took a lot of pictures and inventory of what I have in my room so I also have been thinking about the layout of my room. During student teaching you get so many amazing ideas but then you realize maybe you have too many ideas to fit into one room. I want a lot of different areas but I don't want it to be cramped. 

When I tell people I'm going into teaching a lot make a comment how it'll be nice to have summers off. Seriously, I have worked harder and been more stressed now then I ever was in school or with any of my other jobs where I actually "worked" during summer. I wish that more people could see the time and work that is put in over summer. You can't walk into a classroom the first day unless a teacher put some work in over summer.