2014-2015 Classroom Tour

Happy Sunday ya'll!

So I'm a tad bit late, but I figured I'd go ahead and give you all a tour of my classroom. A little bit of background: This is my 2nd year of teaching in this classroom. It is about 1/3 the size of a normal classroom at my school. I'm on the "connections" hallway (where students go for their electives classes). I teach math resource, ELA resource, and reading resource in my room. Then I go to the 7th grade hallway for math and ELA inclusion for 5th and 6th periods.

I actually love my tiny classroom. The only problem is that I don't have much wall space or space for activities. But it works for us (me and my kids).

Be prepared for lots of pictures :)

My filing cabinet message board.

My pretty painted bookshelves, courtesy of my fiancé, Chad. He spent two days during preplanning painting this beast.

I like for things to be orderly and matching. These data/info/lesson binders are the first step in my quest for organization.

A little piece of me on the bookshelves. I love the ocean and the Georgia Bulldogs. And then there is a picture of me and Chad at Disney World.

This is my calendar/Meet Ms. Haler board. Pretty much, whatever I need to see daily (schedules, memos) plus some things that make me happy (UGA stuff, cards from friends, a picture of my dad [who passed away in 2006] and my autographed Jason Aldean picture--LOVE HIM!!)

Materials storage. I actually like having class materials out on the bookshelves so this is the easiest way to display them without the kids being able to have too much access to them.

This spot is still a work in progress. I keep bottled water and paper towels in the milk crate. The egg cartons in the WalMart bag are for a math game I have yet to make. And the posters on top of the microwave will eventually get up on the wall.

My desk. It's a little beat up, but I love it. I'm thinking about painting it next summer.

Ticket Out the Door spot. 

A huge standard in 7th grade ELA is learning and using Latin and Greek affixes. So my resource students have five vocabulary words per week.

This is also a work in progress. I'm not happy with the current agenda/daily standards set up I have. But this is where students can always look for info.

This is a new addition to the classroom this year. I always had these books but they were in washtubs and milk crates and totally annoying. So I brought stole an old bookshelf from home (Chad wanted to use it for DVDs...although all of our DVDs wouldn't even fit on it). I'm also storing markers, tissues, cap erasers, pencils, the pencil sharpener, digital clock, and the "I'm Not Finished" box.

This pocket chart is where I let my reading resource kids know what they need from the materials shelf each day.

This is the materials shelf. Last year it was an entire table but this little bookshelf is much more space-efficient. The tubs on the middle shelf are for the reading resource class. Then the tubs on the bottom are for each class period's materials.

I had a HUGE problem last year with students not writing their names on papers. So this is a Pinterest idea I'm trying out this year.

Class Rules.

My unfinished bulletin board. I've still gotta get some standards and student work up. Remind me to do that!!!

This is my Math standards wall for the first chapter. 

The entryway to my classroom. It's a little dark because I took these pictures at like 5 PM when there wasn't much natural light coming into the hallway.

My Wayne County Yellow Jackets-inspired wreath :)

A reminder for all students....plus my Uga head. :)

Welcome sign and room number. This year, our school theme centers around what's next for students. We want them to make good decisions now so that they will get to college once they graduate from high school. So the administration decided to post pictures of where all the teachers went to college. Since they didn't want all four of my colleges posted up, I settled for UGA, since that's where I had my "college experience" at.

August Currently

It's that time again to link up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's Currently. I'm not feeling too well today, so I'll make this short and sweet.

1.) Listening...You know I love me some Jason Aldean! I have the Music Choice channel on and my favorite country artist just happens to be on!

2.) Loving...Chad, my fiancé, painted my built-in bookcases at school Thursday and Friday. I happen to think they look AMAZING. Look for a post about them soon!

3.) Thinking....I have so much left to do at school. My room is a complete disaster. I also need another beach day before the school year officially starts. An old friend from Memphis happens to be at Jekyll Island this weekend so I might see if I can meet up with her tomorrow!

4.) Wanting...Seriously, what has happened to my amazing tan I had this summer? This is another reason I need another beach day.

5.) Needing...Obviously, I need to get my room finished. But more importantly, I need to meet my coteachers. I'm pretty blessed this year to have two amazing math coteachers, one of whom was my SPED mentor teacher last year. He switched over to regular ed, but I think we are going to be a great team. I don't know either of the language arts teachers I'll be working with, though. They're both new so I really have to get down to their classrooms to meet with them and come up with a plan for the year.

6.) 1st day...My first day of preplanning was yesterday, but luckily we have three more days before the kids come back on Thursday. School seems to start earlier and earlier every year!!!

Tip #2: Don't be afraid to make mistakes

As a first-year teacher, you will make A LOT of mistakes. Hopefully they won't be too terrible. Hopefully they won't be detrimental to your career or to the education of your students. But you'll mess up some on your classroom management plan. Some of your lessons won't go exactly as planned. You'll probably have a mini-freak-out on a student a time or two your first year.

But, repeat after me..."It'll be okay. I am not perfect. I am human. I will make mistakes. But I will also learn from them, exactly like I tell my students to do."

The gist: Don't be afraid to make mistakes. But always, always, always...make sure you learn from them. And if you make a mistake that affects a coworker or student, own up to it. Apologize. And next time you are in that situation, remember "that time you messed up," and take a different approach.

Monday Made It (on a Tuesday)

Well, I wasn't exactly expecting the end of the summer madness that I've had recently. My parents came down to Brunswick for a couple days in the middle of July and I decided to go up to Atlanta with them to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and best friend. Then I traveled "home" to Memphis for a few days, with a stop in Nashville to see another one of my best friends (yes, I totally embrace the "best friend" status like my middle school students do). I came back home last weekend and it has taken me a full four days to get back to a normal, non-traveling, me. I've put at least a good ten thousand miles on my car this summer with all the trips to Florida and Tennessee I've had. But it was a good first "teacher summer," nonetheless.



For my Monday Made It, with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics, I'm actually just going to show you my new bulletin board. I put these up when my parents were here, but I was traveling to Memphis last Monday so I didn't get to show them to you. I absolutely LOVE my new color scheme, and don't worry, there is MORE TO COME. I haven't been back to my classroom since this day so it's still a complete MESS!!!

That's all I have for this week, but I will have MUCH MORE to come, once I actually get back into my classroom :)

Tip #1: Coworkers or Life Buddies?

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with going to work from 9-5 (because teachers do the whole 9-5 thing, right?), then having zero contact with coworkers from 5 PM-9AM. But, I promise you, you will have a much better time, in and out of school, if you try to make friends with some of your coworkers.

I live the next county over from where I work. I drive 40 miles to school and 40 miles home every. single. day. And luckily, there are some other people that do the same. We're pretty much known as the "Brunswick crew." Those crazy people who would much rather make the 80-mile round trip every day than live in WC. For me, when I moved back to Georgia, I was more interested in Chad being able to find a job easily than me being close to work since he didn't have a reliable car at the time. Plus, being only 10 miles from the beach rather than 50 miles is a pretty good deal. :)

Having said all that, I've found some pretty great people who share my despair over leaving home at 6 AM just to make it to work on time. One of these people was also a first-year special education teacher (first-year in WC, but a 15-year teaching veteran). We shared so many experiences during our first year, both good and bad. We commiserated over the lack of true inclusion classes in our school, and we went to all kinds of professional development together. Because of, or maybe despite, the fact that we shared so many experiences together, we became inseparable. We had administrators, other teachers, and even students ask us if we were sisters. Our principal even told us one day that she thought we'd known each other for years, instead of just meeting each other a few days before the first day of school.

Me and Stephanie at Florida Country Superfest in June, 2014. I don't know what I'd do without her!!

I know that not all first-year teachers will find someone who they click with as easily as I did. Sometimes it is really hard to fit into a school where everyone knows everyone but you know no one. But my advice is to really try. Invite your co-teacher out for a drink after work on Friday. Trust me, she will need it just as bad as you will. Volunteer to help out at the basketball games and chat it up with the computer teacher who always runs concessions by himself. I truly believe that simply putting yourself out there and not waiting for other people to ask you out to lunch is the best way to meet people. And even if they don't become people you go on vacation with, at least you have someone other than your husband or girlfriend (or cat) to talk to outside of school.

Monday Made-It AND New Color Scheme

Good morning lovelies! I'm officially on back-to-school countdown. Not including today, there are 24 days until I see my babies again (okay, they're 12 and 13 years old, but they're still my babies). And there are only 16 days until I go to my first pre-planning workshop. It's INSANE how the summer has flown by!

So for my first-ever Monday Made-It, I'm going to cheat a little. Chad and I went to Daytona Beach for...well..let's just say "awhile," so I have ZERO money left in the bank account to do any DIY with. But back in June, I visited my parents in Tennessee and well, whenever I visit my mom, we always get into some kind of sewing situation. I wanted to get my color scheme down pat before I got bogged down in the summer craziness, so I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. I always have to wait to visit either my parents or Chad's parents to get to a Hobby Lobby since, of course, we have NOTHING here in Brunswick.

In May, I was browsing through some Vera Bradley items online and found this pattern, which I'd always loved, but hadn't really thought twice about. But then it struck me...it's a GREAT color scheme for my classroom! It has red, white, and blue in it, which is kind of preppy and nautical (and...'Merica!!). But then it has that lime green pop of color, which is totally unexpected with red, white, and blue. So, all in all, I LOVED it and knew immediately that it was going to be my color scheme for next school year.

Vera Bradley pattern that inspired my new color scheme.

So when I went to Hobby Lobby, I knew the colors I was looking for but I had no clue what pattern(s) I wanted. What I found, though, exceeded my expectations.

My 2014-2015 classroom color scheme.

I saw the red and blue pattern from across the fabric aisle and just KNEW that was the one. Then the other three patterns just popped up here and there afterwards. This fabric selection will be going on my bulletin board in the back of my classroom. This bulletin board provides a backdrop for the entire room since I have such a tiny room. I can't wait to get back to school and get these up on the board. I'll post pictures once I do that. :)

Now for my Monday Made-It with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics.....

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I always get the sewing machine out when I visit my mom and this visit was no different. Even though I had my bulletin board fabric ready to go, I needed a table skirt to hide all the junk underneath my "materials table." I have such a small room and zero storage space for the students that the only option I've found is to store their textbooks, binders, and pencil boxes on this long folding table on one side of the room. Since every student goes to this table at least twice every day, I needed a fabric that wouldn't show a lot of dirt or stains (hey, with middle schoolers, you just NEVER know!!).

For the second half of last year, I had this table skirt that I just attached to the table with velcro. It is easy to pull off whenever I need something out from under the table. I made it from leftover material from my curtains, so it was a bit short on the sides and I had this perpetual crease in it along the top since I wasn't sure how tall the table was.

Last year's table skirt.

However, this year I took measurements before I went home for summer break. I haven't been back to my classroom since making the table skirt so I haven't gotten it up yet, but here is the finished product. Because I will have SO MUCH going on with the bulletin board, I wanted something that would coordinate, but wouldn't draw any attention away from the bulletin board.

New table skirt. Better picture to come soon. :)

The photo is horrible so I will post a better one once I get it on the table. The fabric is a dark royal blue and the ribbon is the same lime green that I will have on the bulletin board. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong kind of ribbon so it's all bunchy looking, but at least it's like that all the way down. So maybe everyone will think I meant for it to look that way. :)

Next is my hallway curtain. Our classroom doors are set back in an alcove with several windows around the door. There is a lot of empty space above the door so you can either put a welcome sign up there like my across-the-hall neighbor does, or you can opt for curtains, which is what I like to do. Last semester, I had the same black and white fabric as my table skirt for my curtains. It looked great, but I wanted something with a little more pizzazz this year. Our school colors are yellow/gold and black (Go Jackets!!) so I scoured Hobby Lobby for something that would fit with that color scheme. Here is what I found....

New hallway curtains!!

Again, I'll have more pictures when I get to school and actually get this stuff up in my room. But I love these curtains. Since I couldn't find anything yellow and black, I opted to sew a black ribbon across the bottom of the yellow and white fabric. I make deco mesh wreaths whenever I have spare (sike!!!) time, and my first wreath on my classroom door will be a school spirit wreath for football/softball season that will go perfectly with these curtains!

Whew! Another long post! I have a habit of being long-winded, don't I? Have a wonderful day bloggies!!!

UPDATE!!!!

Good afternoon lovelies,

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted on this blog. I've learned so much since then, and I hope to continue posting on the blog once a week or so to give advice to all the first-year teachers out there who find themselves suddenly thrust into a whole new community and lost amongst the meetings, professional development, and evaluations that is a part of being a teacher.

Just an update on where I currently am...

I will be starting my second year as a middle grades special education teacher at a rural public school in Coastal Georgia. My first year was...ridiculous. I learned so much about the education of students with special needs in my first year, not to mention dealing with the paperwork and MESS of being a public school teacher. Last year I taught 6th and 7th grade reading resource, as well as 7th grade inclusion math and language arts. I absolutely adored being a reading resource teacher. I saw the program working in several of my students and I hope that I can continue working with those students this year to make gains in their reading comprehension and fluency.

Being an inclusion teacher was remarkably underwhelming last year. Being a first-year teacher, I was both naive and self-conscious when it came to working with my co-teachers. I love both of my co-teachers immensely and they're both great teachers, but I don't feel like I ever got to that happy spot where I felt effective in the inclusive environment. However, a new year is coming and hopefully I can take what I learned last year and make it work better this year.

The crazy part of any special education teacher's job is, of course, the paperwork. I actually enjoyed doing IEPs last year. I learned a wealth of information about my students and their parents while completing the IEPs and conducting the meetings. So, although it takes a LOT of time and concentration, the IEP process was not something I disliked about my job.

Finally, some excitement came my way at the end of last school year. Because the county SPED instructional coach, SPED director, and my school administrators saw how much I enjoyed teaching reading resource and how I learned about the program as much as I could, I was asked to be the direct instruction lead teacher for my school! There's no prestige that comes with the title, no extra money or anything. And it's actually not like I DO much of anything as DI lead teacher. But I guess that it's the confidence that the administration and SPED coordinators have in my ability to teach the program and really make a difference in the education of my students that gives me the best feeling. Plus, being a first-year teacher and asked to take on any sort of responsibility like that is pretty cool.

In addition to becoming DI lead teacher, I will also be heading up a recycling initiative at our school this school year. In February, I helped with the Math and Science Expo and did a recycling and recyclable craft "lesson" in my classroom. The kids had so much fun and they made some really interesting crafts. Stemming from that, my principal asked me to head up an end-of-the-year recycling drive that coincided with locker clean-out during the last week or so of school. Locker Leftovers was a huge success!

Over 1,200 math textbooks were donated to the Locker Leftovers drive. These are JUST the 8th grade books! Every student in the school had two math textbook/workbook combos this year. Think of all that paper that we saved from going into the landfill!!

We had donations that benefitted a local women's shelter, as well as the Boys and Girls Club. And I still have stacks and boxes of paper, dividers, and other school supplies that will be used within our own school. Because of the successes of the Recycling Wars activity in February and the Locker Leftovers drive in May, my principal asked me to head up a permanent recycling program at our school. So again, it feels great to have the confidence of administrators as a first-year teacher.

I know this was a super long post. It's actually the first time I've sat down and really thought about last year in detail and the challenges and successes I met along the way. Again, I hope to post on the blog every week or so. So keep checking back...you never know what you might find!