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!