It's Been Awhile!

I'm so sorry I've been neglecting this lil blog! I guess I should say that being a first year teacher is EXTREMELY busy and EXTREMELY tiring! What am I saying...being a TEACHER is extremely busy and extremely tiring!

 I love all of my little firsties! We have gotten our little routine down and I have already seen so much growth and improvement from them. My favorite time of the day is the Daily 5. I love sitting at my table with my small group and glancing up and seeing the rest of my students completing their Daily 5 rotations. Are they whispering the entire time? Usually not. But they are on task and having fun so I'm not going to be picky!

Tomorrow I'm introducing some new Fall themed centers into our Daily 5 Word Work and Work on Writing stations. I'm really loving Fall Literacy Stations from The Teacher Talk. These are so cute and I can't wait to introduce them to my kids tomorrow! I also love Printables for Fall by Miss Kindergarten.

I promise not to abandon this blog anymore! Next time I'll post some pictures as well as a few classroom management tips I've come up with this year! Have a great day!

First Grade Teacher...at Last!

Yes, you read that correctly! I am officially a first grade teacher! I don't think it's officially set in yet. I'm teaching my favorite grade at an AMAZING school. Seriously, I'm so blessed. I'm trying not to go too crazy in buying things for my classroom until I actually see my classroom. The teacher I'm replacing is moving up to 5th grade so I imagine that she left some books behind that would be too "little" for her 5th graders. I am eagerly awaiting the TpT back to school sale...I've already put a million 1st grade related things in my cart! I'm going shopping this weekend to pick up a few things and I will post pictures after I do so! Thanks to everyone that nominated me for the Liebster Award! Is it too late to answer the questions and nominate people? I'm a terrible blogger...but I was too worried if I started blogging I'd spill the beans about my job before it was "official!" Thanks again for nominating me and HELLO! to all my new followers! More to come! :)

Discouragement

Hi all, just thought I would update you all. I have not found a teaching job yet. :( I am starting to get pretty discouraged that I won't find a job for this upcoming school year. The district that I want to work in hasn't even posted jobs yet! Many people have told me that they do not start posting jobs until end of July and beginning of August, so I guess there is still a chance of getting hired. I did email my resume to the principals of schools I substituted at the most. I have a feeling that if I do get hired it will be the week before school starts. That is such a scary thought! Of course, I'd be happy to have a job but that would leave very little time for me to prepare for my classroom. Since I'm a new teacher, I'm starting out with nothing so I'd love to have time to make and plan things for my classroom. I hope all of you are doing well! Hopefully my next post will be announcing my new teaching job! =D

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Summer Bucket List!

I'm linking up with A Cupcake for the Teacher, Miss Kindergarten, and A Modern Teacher to share my Summer Bucket List!

1. GET A JOB!!!! I'm hoping that I know something very soon. If all of you could keep your fingers crossed that everything works out for me, that'd be great!

2. Buy more children's books. I have about 330 children's books. That seems like a LOT but I don't have many chapter books. Since I'm hoping/planning on getting a job teaching a primary grade, I need to buy early readers like I Can Read, Step Into Reading, etc. Ebay always seems to have large lots of early readers for sale.Yesterday I saw where you could get 98 early readers for $89! Pretty good deal but I'm holding out until I know for sure what grade I'm teaching.

3. Purchase items from my Really Good Stuff wishlist! I especially have my eyes on the Durable Book and Binder Holders with Storage Rack. I want to use that to hold all of my lessons, activities, books, etc for the week! I'm also considering buying book baskets from RGS, but I'd like to see if I can find cheaper ones.

4. Get into grad school. Maybe I'll be putting a lot on my plate next school year if I DO get into grad school but I'm determined to do it. I filled out all of the paperwork, I'm just waiting to see what kind of financial aid I can get. First year teacher and first year grad student....hopefully I'm not making a huge mistake. Ha! All of the classes are online so it'll be a bit more flexible. Classes are only 5 weeks so pretty intense but I know I can do it! :D

5. Relaxxxxx. If you can't tell, I have the tendency to work work work myself to death. In fact, when my university supervisor observed me at my internship, she said that I "work too hard." Honestly I took that as a compliment at first, then realized that she meant it as a "grow" not a "glow." Oops. I do need to relax and make time for myself. I plan on doing that this summer by reading, sleeping in (as much as I can since I'm working summer camp at a school), and spending time with friends.

What are you planning to do this summer?

What I Bought!

So I thought I'd join Blog Hoppin's linky showing all of you what I bought from TpT's Teacher Appreciation sale! Mine is a bit different. Since I don't have my own classroom yet or even know what grade I will teach, I didn't want to go too crazy buying items that are grade-specific. I'm fairly certain I will teach Kindergarten, first, or second. Hopefully first but I'm trying not to get my hopes up! Anyways, on to what I bought!

1. Erica Bohrer's Classroom Job Labels
I recommend this product because it has pretty much every classroom job! However you can also add your own jobs!

2. Reagan Tunstall's Classroom Library Labels
I love Reagan Tunstall's blog! Her classroom is my inspiration. It's so warm and inviting! Just like Erica Bohrer's job labels, Reagan Tunstall's classroom library packet has pretty much every label for every type of children's book! I also love this because it gives me more of an idea of the types of books I should have in my classroom library.

3. That's So Second Grade's Favorite Author Posters
These posters are so beautiful and colorful. They will definitely brighten up my classroom and inspire my students to read books written by the authors!

4. A Cupcake for the Teacher's editable behavior calendars
I love the idea of sending home a behavior calendar with my students. My cooperating teacher used this system and I knew I wanted to use behavior calendars in my classroom. What I love about this product is that it has space at the bottom to add behavior codes!

So that is what I bought! I hope that the next time I purchase something from TpT it will be more grade-specific....because that will mean I have a job!! :D My district STILL hasn't posted openings yet. :-/ I know it's still early but I'm so eager to be in a classroom! Other teachers have told me not to stress because they didn't get a job until the week before school started! I really hope that's not the case with me. I'd like to have a job by end of June, or at least July! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Sub jobs have really picked up for me the last couple of weeks. I worked every day last week and have a job for every day next week! I've been subbing more frequently at a school that I lovelovelove and that will definitely have openings next school year. They will need a few teachers in the grade I want to teach. The district hasn't posted job openings yet so it is not official yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! A teacher friend told me I should give my resume to the principal but I just don't know about that! I haven't even met this principal and don't want to seem desperate or over-bearing! Have any of you ever handed your resume to a principal? What was the response? What do you think your principal would think of someone doing that?

 I have another question for you all! Teacher Appreciation Week is this week and I would really like to take advantage of some teaching/school supply deals. I've tried googling but everything I've found is for last year. Do any of you know of any stores (Staples, Office Depot, Target, etc) that are having Teacher Appreciation Week sales? I really want to start stocking up on post-its, Expo markers, pens, and other things that run out every 5 seconds in a classroom.

Have a good weekend!! :D