Sunday, August 3, 2014

We're getting there...

So my classroom is still a work in progress.  If I showed you a picture of what it looks like now, you would wonder what I've been doing.  But... there is progress!  Since I'm in a new room I have spent the majority of my time going over in my head what I'll do here, and what I'll do there, where the computers have to be, where the kids will sit on the floor, etc., etc., etc.  I am now down to 4 working days before I have to have it ready for our kindergarten open house, and then the very next morning my little sweeties will be joining me!  Very exciting, but still so much to be done!  One thing that is done (thanks to my WONDERFUL husband) are my bulletin boards.  I included a picture of my favorite one (just for you Pam!).  I totally stole the idea off of another blog but I love it!

My little ones join me everyday when I go to work in my classroom, so I wanted to share a little piece of them and how they are constantly teaching me and reminding me of things I need to know and remember.  In this classroom I have a connecting bathroom which is totally fabulous.  My youngest, Anthony, is in the middle of potty-training.  It's not going too great.  Anthony just doesn't seem to really care about potty-training one way or another.  I have found though that when we're in my classroom working, Anthony always tells me when he has to go.  He goes into the little bathroom like a pro, flushes, washes his hands, and that's that!  I'm hoping he's made the connection with school and not going in his diaper, but I have a feeling he just likes using the little potty and sink.  As much as I am ready for him to go like a big boy, I'm okay with him taking his time to grow up and figure it out at his own pace.  I started thinking on my way home how this very same idea is going to be such a part of my life in just about a week.  While I know as teachers we are constantly teaching hoping our little darlings are absorbing something, there are times that no matter how hard we try or how many different ways we try to teach something, there is that student that just doesn't get it.  As teachers we bang our heads on the wall trying to figure out what we're going to do to get that student to meet that standard (or go potty!), and after so much time when that student is still struggling with the same concept, we decide to step away and give it some time.  Then, all of a sudden on a day that you are teaching something totally unrelated (or working in your classroom not thinking about potty-training at all), that same student makes some connection and that thing you had worked so hard to teach, suddenly clicks!  And we stand there with a puzzled look on our faces wondering how that happened.  I do know that there are many roads my children and students will choose to take that may not have worked for me or they may travel at a different pace than myself or others, but they will get there as long as they are nurtured, supported and loved.  Every little person works at their own little pace even if the state or federal government don't seem to think so. It was a great little lesson for me as my summer is coming to a close.  My other son Jack said today though that we might have to move into my classroom so Anthony will be potty-trained!  Love them for making me a better mommy and a better teacher!

The countdown is officially on.  I promise the next time I will post pictures of my FINISHED classroom... or at least finished enough for school to start!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

This blogging thing is totally new to me so I thought I would give it a whirl.  I guess my purpose for starting a blog is just to get my thoughts out and share little tidbits of my life involving two awesome little boys, a loving husband and my teaching anecdotes.  I'm hoping in this little endeavour of mine that I first and foremost further my computer skills!  Somewhere along the line I have fallen off the face of the planet concerning technology and all that good stuff.  I might still be living in 2004!  I also hope to connect with other mommies and teachers that share the crazy things I face on a daily basis. 

Today I face this.  This messy, crazy disorganized classroom that I must have ready to go in about 9 days.  This is a new room for me which makes it about 100 times harder.  Plus, I am so blessed to have my two little helpers at my feet who give me about 90 minutes a day to accomplish something.  Not working out so far.  I have so many ideas and I just can't seem to wrap my head around everything, but it will happen just as it has for the past eleven years.  Somehow I will pull it together and make it a happy and welcoming place for my little babies to walk into and call their classroom. 

As I feel the summer coming to an end and my heart is aching with the thought of leaving my little men,  I have a feeling of excitement.  First of all, I will only be working in the mornings which makes me so super duper happy you have no idea!  I will be able to be with my own children while also sharing the gift that God has given me to share with the world.  Secondly, I am excited to start something new.  I taught second grade for the past two years and enjoyed it, but the previous nine years, I had taught kindergarten and LOVED it.  This year I get to go back to those sweet little innocent sponges that I seem to understand even though I'm 30 years older than them.  Very exciting.  Very happy.  Very thankful.  Lastly, I cannot wait to get to know my class.  Every year I seem to fall in love with every student who crosses into my room.  While some of them are very talkative, some try to find ways to push my buttons, and others just make me want to pull my hair out at times, they always capture my heart.  I look forward to those little faces and I look forward to the things they will teach me this year.

Hopefully, the next time I post I will be able to share a perfectly clean, organized and manicured classroom... but I doubt it.  Nine days...