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!

August Currently--Only 20 Days Late!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...chuckle if you want. But at the beginning of August, I was living on an airbed in a completely empty apartment and driving around a town I'd never been to, relying on a GPS to get me everywhere--including to my new job (which happens to be 40 miles away from my apartment). I even went almost THREE WEEKS without internet or cable. So yeah, I have an excuse to be 20 days late on my August Currently.

Nevertheless, here it is....

And just so you know, if you don't already, the monthly Currently's are from Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade.

What a difference a month makes!

Looking back on the last entry I made on this blog makes my chin quiver a little bit. I was so depressed because of the bleak job search that I was immersed in at the time. I'd been on 6 interviews at that time and, although I'd had principals tell me I'd impressed them in my interviews, I did not have a job yet.

Thankfully, I never gave up and kept on praying. It's been an incredibly hectic few weeks since then so I haven't had much time to get on here and give an update on the situation. About a week after that blog entry, I had a FaceTime interview with a school down in Georgia for a 6th and 7th grade special education position. I was officially approved for the job on July 23rd.

In less than two weeks, I went from searching and searching for a teaching job to moving into an apartment by myself--sleeping on an airbed for almost two weeks with no other furniture except a camping chair. Then Chad was finally able to move everything down in the moving truck on the 8th and 9th. It still seems completely unreal that we are here in Georgia. It's an 11-hour drive from Memphis to where we are. Oh, and by the way, I should mention that I am literally 10.5 miles away from the perfect spot on the beach (and that is an exact number...I just Google Mapped it)? I love this new life we are creating here in Georgia.

I will try and post more on here in the future now that everything is settling into a routine. Thanks for not giving up on me, ya'll!

July Currently

Hi everyone. It's been quite the summer so far. I wasn't exactly planning on my summer being this crazy, but you know what they say about plans...."If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans."

That couldn't be any truer than it is for me right now.

I am currently in the throes of finding a teaching job. I've interviewed for 6 positions so far (I think...I've pretty much lost count by now). It seems to really be getting down to the wire since new teacher training for the area starts in the next couple of weeks. Teachers are already going in to do pre-planning since the switch to Common Core is in full effect this year in Tennessee districts.

I keep trying to keep a positive attitude but I can't help but get a little down in the dumps. All through grad school, I've had SO MANY people tell me that I'll have "no problem" getting a job since I'm middle grades. Uhm...yeah. So where are the jobs?

Anyways, that's pretty much where I've been this summer. Plus I took a week off to go to Florida. I badly needed a week off from the stress of job hunting and everything else.

So....anywho...I'm back into the blogging for now. Here is July's Currently from Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.

Listening--"Does He Love You" by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis. I've been in such a 90s Country mood lately. This is actually on my Spotify playlist called "Selena's 90s Country," which is just a playlist of songs that remind me of my childhood, when I really didn't even know music existed other than country music.

Loving--I got some really great deals at Staples and Office Max today. Staples had some 1 cent deals and Office Max had some really awesome $1 deals (4-pack of Expo dry erase markers for $1!!!!). I spent around $35 at both stores, but saved close to $70, between my School Supply Savings Pass and Staples Rewards at Staples and the sale prices at both stores.

Thinking--I have to get up for work in the morning so I really should be in bed right now.

Wanting and Needing---They go hand in hand. I had an interview with a middle school principal Tuesday for an 8th grade math position. I'd LOVE to get this job so I'm hoping I'll hear from him soon.

Tips--This is something I have seen on Pinterest and other teacher blogs but I just cleaned out the basket that sits on my desk at home today. I have pens, pencils, markers, and other little supplies in it but at the time, I only have one cup to keep the pens in. The markers were just laying horizontally in the basket and everything else was just thrown in willy-nilly. I happened upon these little plastic cups we got at Walmart when we were out of town a few weeks ago (we had a 2-liter of soda from the pizza place we ordered from but no cups to drink from). The cups were just sitting on a table in my bedroom so I figured, hey, I can use these! They worked out great in my basket! I don't have a "before" picture, but here is the "after" picture:

So I think I'm going to take my own advice and head on to bed. I hope to be on here at little more in the next weeks.

See you soon!