FRIDAY

Yes, I may be skipping down the halls like this today. IT's FINALLY FRIDAY!! I am so excited and in need of a break. I've had the best week that I can't wait to recap a little later. In the mean time I have my old roommate coming to town for the weekend, a band playing at my favorite hangout tonight, and the first ECU football game of the season tomorrow!!

This is one happy girl(: 

Enjoy your Friday! 

I made it!

I made it through the first day as a teacher!! I'm still not sure how or where the day went but we all survived! I cannot lie though.. the day was CRAZY. I don't think I sat down one time, took a sip of water, used the restroom, or even blinked all day. My day seemed to go by in a matter of minutes. As chaotic as the first day was I'm telling myself it can only get better from here. I'm so excited about my group of students this year. They are absolutely darling. I know they are going to be a joy to work with! If they are anything like they were today the rest of the year I know I'm going to have my work cut out for me. We had two spilled drinks, one spilled lunch, and one lost kid. Yeah a lost kid. no joke. not okay. The cutest (and smallest) boy in my class sat beside me at lunch where I saw him the entire time. Somewhere between throwing his trash away and lining up (a few steps away) he managed to get lost, walk to another first grade line, go to there class and sit down. I was definitely in major panic mode but found him quickly thank goodness. What a way to start the school year, ha. 

First day outfit! 

Loving my new JCrew pants! 

I wanted to share some pictures from the day but there was zero spare time. Hopefully tomorrow our schedule will flow a tad bit better!

Check out this video of whats to come in our new future this week. (; 

This is surreal

TODAY'S THE DAY!! 

Today is very surreal and emotional for me. It's the first day of the new school year and my first day with my students as a teacher. I honestly cannot believe this morning I will be walking into my very own classroom that I've worked so hard in and have 21 students ready for the school year. I have dreamed of being a teacher for so long that it has always been something that would just happen "one day". Well today is the day and I just can't believe it. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. I know my students have high expectations for their teacher and I hope I can live up to it. My nerves are on edge and I'm a tad bit emotional however I am also VERY EXCITED!! 

I have so many fun things planned for this week that correspond with some classic back to school books. 

Yesterday I had a strong urge to attend church and pray for the upcoming school year. This is the start of a HUGE new chapter and I know the Lord will be with me every step of the way! 

So, cheers to the start of a new chapter. 

Let's hope it goes well!

Week 1 Survival

I survived the first full week and my first open house! I honestly did not realize it was possible to work as hard as I have the past few weeks. It's a-okay with me though because my classroom is ready and school starts Monday! (now lesson plans are another story.. ) For the past week I have dreamed of bulletin boards, curriculum guides, to do list and everything school related. Thursday was open house for my school and I could not have asked for it to have gone better! I was beyond nervous for it to start but as soon as the first parent walked in it was non stop from then on. I had all but two kids show up. I can now officially say I have the SWEETEST little babies ever and I know for a fact we are going to have a great year!! I loved seeing the enthusiasm of my students. Unlike my college friends who are dreading the start of another school year, my first graders can't wait. One mom told me her daughter asked to wear her special dress and bow because she has been waiting all week for open house. How p.r.e.c.i.o.u.s.  I gave out these little treats to thank them for "popping in."

In between all of the meetings and trainings I had time to finish my room and am very pleased with the turnout!! 

I also have a side with all windows but forgot to take a picture! 

Now that the decorating aspect is complete I am focusing on back to school lesson plans. I have written more lesson plans than I can possibly count over the past few years but NEVER one for the first week of school. I'm soooo nervous what I'm planning is too much curriculum, not enough, not enough procedures, too many, too easy, too difficult, not enough for the day, too much, blah blah blah. Any other teachers out there that would like to share advice I'll gladly take it(:

I wish I had more to share other than classroom news but that is literally the only thing that has been occurring in my life at the moment. I guess I'm off to keep lesson planning, happy weekend friends! 

Crunch TIme

I have been wanting to post for the past few days but have been so busy I haven't had a moment of spare time. I'm okay with being busy but I'm going to have to make myself have some blog time!! Blogging is my brief moment to unwind.

Last Friday was the first official teacher workday. I've been in training for the past two weeks but that was all new teacher kinda stuff. I spent the entire day Friday working in my classroom. What I didn't expect was that I would spend the entire day cleaning out all of the OLD stuff from my room to make room for new things. I left the school that evening tired and overwhelmed with everything that still needed to be done. Thankfully when I left my mom and sister were in town waiting on me!

My principle asked the staff if anyone would be interested in coming to the school on Saturday to work in our classrooms. Surprise surprise, all of the new teachers were the first to respond to the offer, ha. I couldn't have been happier because I left Friday very stressed. I have decided I am the luckiest girl in the world because my mom and sister offered to spend there ENTIRE day Saturday working in my classroom with me! They are lifesavers.. I could NOT have gotten everything done without them. Thanks again mom and Ginny!! I still have a ton of things to do like adding more labels, moving in my rocking chair, organizing the storage closet and file cabinet, etc. BUT at least the appearance is starting to come together- just in time for open house Thursday!! Oh! and did I tell you I got my class roster?! I have the sweetest babies this year. I'm so excited!!

Here is some of the progress made:

The gum balls have my students name in them 

My word wall. 

I decided to place it directly on the wall to save bulletin board space 

My behavior chart. These are the steps my school requires but I decided to jazz up the actual chart. Clothespins with students names still have to be added! 

Some of my labels from TPT

For above my class library 

My room is coming along but there is still ALOT to do! 

After we finished up on Saturday my mom, sister and I went to dinner and to see the new movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Have any of you seen it?! It is the sweetest movie ever!! I couldn't help but cry once or twice or three times. Even the grown men in the theatre were teary eyed. If you're looking for something to do I suggest going to see it!! 

A Million Miles a Minute

This is my motto this week. 

I have a million things running through my head right now. How to organize my classroom, Common Core, open house, workdays, bulletin boards, lesson plans, Daily 5, classroom library, more Common Core, orientation and the list just goes on and on. This is week number 2 of training and it's safe to say my brain is on information OVERLOAD. The coffee is flowing because I don't see the madness going away until my classroom is fully ready. 

Speaking of coffee- I am in t.r.o.u.b.l.e! I've talked before about my love for pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks in the fall. I try to refrain from drinking them every day like I would like to because it gets expensive but look what I just came across.. 

I see very little hope for my addiction going away this fall. Oh well! 

Monday Monday

It was so hard to get out of bed this morning! I'm still not used to waking up so early and once school officially starts my morning will be even earlier. I don't know about you and your friends but last night this girls twitter and Facebook only contained one thing: 

+ 

Spice Girls and Shark Week.. 

I kid you not for a good hour and more no one on Twitter or Facebook had anything to say that didn't involve one or the other.

I thought it was amusing but anyway, on to more important stuff! 

I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was nice but went by way too fast. Remember TechFest I said I was going to last Friday? Remember all those door prizes and raffles? Yeah, so there were over 100 gifts given out. And not just any gifts, I'm talking iPods, IPads, Nooks, Mimio Boards and more. Over 100 and did this girls name get drawn? Nope. I don't know how that happens!! Worst luck ever! Some amazing teachers won though so it's A-Okay. I'm now spending my time dreaming of a Nook. I've decided it's my newest "must have" obsession. (So if you're reading mom let's add that to the Christmas Wish List) 

This week I am attending an educational conference all about Common Core. I'm still nervous about the new standards so hopefully this week will be able to clear things up. Annddd.. one more exciting thing happens this week. My sister moves back to town!! Yay! I'm so excited-- I've missed her! She has been working at a summer camp all summer and loving every minute. As much fun as she had I couldn't be happier to have her back in the same town as me. 

Isn't she cute?!

Happy Monday Friends! 

Finally Friday!

I survived my first full week in the work world! I'm still kicking but I sure am glad it's Friday! Even though Fridays are still a "work" day I think they always seem to be a little more pleasant. We finished with all of the sessions at New Teacher Orientation and today we have something called TechFest. I'm not sure exactly what to expect but I know it's supposed to be fun! New technology to play with, raffles and food. Honestly all they had to say was free food and I would be there in a hurry. Ha, just kidding. Kinda(; 

I have a board on Pinterest titled "Things I like." Normally what I post there fits into no other category and may or may not be useful .. I just "like" it. Since everyone likes Fridays I thought I would share some of my fun pins today! 

This is actually the ZTA house at ECU, someone pinned it. I lived here for a year in college! 

So True! 

Happy Friday y'all! Enjoy the weekend! 

Guilty Pleasures

You know those little things you know probably aren't the best for your mind/body/soul/wallet/etc but you love them so much you just don't really care? I have so many guilty pleasures I enjoy so much that little else matters. I've done this post a while back but some of my old addictions (such as criminal minds) have faded to new addictions. FYI though- I still have a weird love for Criminal Minds, however, I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode so it just isn't as fun anymore :( 

Number 1: Coffee

I think it's because fall is getting closer and because my days are busier. Whenever I drink coffee I become so much more productive! Coffee isn't the problem however, it's the quantity. If I let myself I would drink two cups in the morning, two in the afternoon and depending on my work load more at night. That's n.o.t  o.k.a.y I'm doing pretty good limiting myself to mornings but it's hard. Is it really that bad for you?! 

How true is that? Which brings me to Number 2. 

A Good Book

This isn't really a "guilty" pleasure just more of a current obsession. The book I'm currently on is The Daily Five. Unless you are in education you probably haven't heard of it. It's a professional book teaching you how to set up daily reading centers. I won't bore you with details but I plan on using the system in my classroom and am trying to soak up all the information I can. Does anyone else use this method? I would love suggestions! I'm worried about not having enough time (we're encouraged to have 90 minutes of guided reading groups) and also wondering do students have to hit every station every day or is only 4 okay?

Number 3: Peanut Butter! 

What gives?! I don't get it.. I used to hate peanut butter! I was never a Pb&j girl growing up nor did I like peanut butter cookies, etc. All of a sudden I am wanting to eat it by the spoonful. How bad is this for me? I'm obsessed. Weird, I know. 

Number 4: My Shows

Every season is different when it comes to the shows I am watching. Right now you can bet I am DVR'ing The Bachelor Pad, Pretty Little Liars, Suits and Political Animals. Political Animals is brand new and so so good!! I love it! 

Number 5: Black Dresses 

I have way too many solid black dresses. I'm not going to give you a number because it's kinda ridiculous. I bought a new one last weekend from Banana Republic outlet and my mom was quick to remind me I already have a billion similar ones. Why do I keep buying them?! Well, they are easy, can be paired with anything.. boots or sandals, scarves, necklaces, the list goes on and on. I can wear them anywhere, school, out, dinner, shopping. They look good. I just like them and they are ALL different. Believe it or not they are! My explanation is really to convince myself it's okay that I have them all but hopefully you agree.(:

That's it for today, anyone have the same guilty pleasures as me? Hopefully they aren't too bad! 

360

Well it's safe to say my summer has officially come to an end. No more days of nothing to do except babysit and enjoy the sunshine. I have officially started my teaching career this week! To be honest I was rushing this week to get here. Don't get me wrong, having nothing to do is nice, very nice.. however, after awhile it gets old. I have been ready to have a schedule and feel productive during the days. This week marked the start of New Teacher Orientation. We are half way through and I'm already worn out. I better get used to it since this is just the start, ha. I have orientation and training all of this week and next week before the official school year begins next Friday! 

I'm going to try to keep a good balance on here as far as topics go however right now teaching is what is consuming my life and all I can seem to think about! Here is my classroom update: I got into my classroom last week and was able to see the room and move desk around. The teacher that was in the classroom before me still had all of her materials in the room so I couldn't do much else. She has picked them up since then but I haven't had a chance to get back to the school since I have been in training! That doesn't mean I haven't been planning though! I can't wait to get in my room and make it come to life. 

When I first saw my classroom I couldn't wait to send this picture out to all of my friends. I'm SO excited!! I still can't completely grasp the concept that this is MY classroom. Yay! 

I know I get the award for worst blogger ever. When I don't have a set schedule I can't ever find a good time to sit down to blog. This summer I also didn't feel like I had much to share on a daily basis. However, one reason I like to blog is because it's a stress reliever. I can already tell that this is going to be a good time to start back up. It is the start of a whole new chapter for me so why not document it all?! 

A few things you missed while I was gone:

- I had a birthday! I had friends come to town and 

we had SO much fun celebrating my 22nd! 

- I made some very fun tax free weekend purchases 

that might even deserve a post of their own

-I picked up my great grandmothers rocking chair and

 started painting it for my classroom! 

- I bought a new Mac computer!

- and I had my last day babysitting for the family 

I have worked for the past three years :( Bittersweet!