T-2 Days!!

School starts in 2 days and I am a ball of nerves and excitement!! We had a Convocation today, where all of the certified district staff (and many non-certified) gathered for a "Pep Rally" of sorts. I cannot even count how many of my former teachers I have run into over the last couple of weeks. I am still making adjustments to not calling them by their last name, but it is definitely going to take some time to address them as COLLEAGUES...wow!!

My classroom is complete!!!!! In my mind, it is never complete, but it is ready to go for my kiddos on Thursday.

Student Work Display Board: "Steps Toward Success"


Word Wall


Small Group Teaching/Teacher Work Space


Computer Station/SMART Board


Organizers for Guided Reading Groups


Span of the Room



I am laughing to myself now as I look at the class schedule my principal requested from us. The funny part is that she only asked for one, but I made THREE different versions of the schedule, which each one containing more specific details than the last one!! I am so detail oriented that my version must be very explicit in what I would like to be doing every minute of everyday. Even though I know it will almost never turn out that way, at least I have an idea of where we would be in a perfect world.

Today, we gathered as a school to discuss our Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). PLPs are a part of a district initiative to push teacher to set their own PD plan and to collaborate with others who have the same goals to make it more effective and ultimately result in increased levels of student achievement. I have teamed up with my other 2nd grade teachers and the 1st grade team to provide students with authentic literacy experiences to increase student reading achievement by using The Daily Five framework. After our group collab meeting on Sept.10, I will post more details about it. I am excited because I have the book, but have not been able to read it. It sounds like an incredible framework for use during the literacy block and I cannot wait to get the ball rolling with it!

I hope your preparation and/or initial days of teaching are going well!!

Teacher Camp

Right now, I am away at "teacher camp" as I call it. It is a summer internship that is a component of one of the teacher scholarships I received during undergrad. This is my last summer requirement and it is a little awkward since the majority of the 4 weeks is geared toward preparing us for student teaching and the interview process....double check for me! It is my personal goal to humble myself as much as possible and take away as much as I can.

On pretty cool thing about the program is that we will be tutoring middle school students in the inner city in reading/writing/math. I, along with 7 others, volunteered to spear-head the tutoring program. In other words, we are planning the structure and format for the 4 week tutoring program. We will then meet with the other 50 interns and present our proposal for how the program will run. I was a little hesitant after volunteering for this role because I was turned off by some of the "larger-than-life" personalities we have in our planning committee. I totally respect and appreciate the experience and knowledge that other colleagues bring to the table, but I absolutely detest when others feel that their perspective is superior to that of others in the group. There is one girl in particular who seems to feel like she should be calling all of the shots and we should all be following her lead. Collaboration is essential in teaching and I just get annoyed when people don't seem to have received the same memo.

So, in keeping with my philosophy of self-reflecting after a long venting session, I have learned a great lesson in the importance of respecting all work styles, even when I may not feel like mine is being respected. Arguing never did anything to solve an issue and I'm sure it won't start now!! We have a meeting of the minds this evening, so I am praying that as educators we can stay civilized, open for collaboration, and respectful. The main goal is to tutor students in their areas of need and we most certainly cannot achieve that if all of those responsible for the program are bickering the whole time about how things should be.

Lastly, during one of our seminars today, our presenter left us with a great quote:
"Complaining is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but doesn't get you anywhere". I love this quote because when we as teachers complain about what is not working or who is not doing what, we spend are time doing something, but not getting anywhere. I will continue to strive to use my time trying to actually get somewhere rather than complaining about it....I challenge you to try it too!!