I'm a Survivor!!

I can't believe it but I made it through my first full week and have been a real life teacher for 8 days now! It's still taking me some time getting used to the fact that I have this big girl job, but I think I'm fitting in nicely. Lots of things have been happening... Which is why I haven't had the chance to write a new blog. I've been trying to keep up with the 274628495728299574 emails I get a day and the 27563847484872 papers I get in my box. Not to mention the 375729572985 meetings I have to schedule also. I'm thankful that I have tennis practice to keep my mind from constantly thinking about what I need to do in my room. If not for that, I would probably lost my mind by now!

I have a few good stories from my short adventure so far.... Two Mondays ago was meet the teacher night and I got to meet 9 of my 20 students. One parent told me about their recent move from Columbia to our area. She asked me a question in an all serious way... " is it ok if my child gets picked up by her grandfathers  on his tractor in the carpool lane?"      True story.... Needless to say I asked my AP the next day... She thought I was kidding... Only in Pelion folks, only in Pelion. Hopefully I'll do a better job at keeping all you readers up to date on what's happening in my exciting life. Now that I've gotten the swing of things, I can spend some time thinking about things that don't have to do with school, school, school!

--Nicole 

LOVING IT!!!

So, school has been in session for a whopping 2 days now. And I am having a blast!!

I had this irrational fear that I was going to be so stressed out that I ended up hating it once I actually got started. Hallelujah, it didn't come true!

I am looooooooooooooving what I'm doing!!

Granted, it's SO very much work and the hours are SO extensive. (Whoever thinks teachers get to school at 8 and are home by 3:30 OBVIOUSLY haven't met one who's doing it for the first time. I know I'm going to have to force myself not to stay there forever so I don't get burnt out.)

It just feels so worth it, though. Even though we're just getting started, I love my 20 kiddies so much already!

Some highlights from the first 2 days:

I got invited to a birthday party.

I got a video of my bus riders having a rap battle. (They stay after school with me for about 30 minutes or so til their bus is called.)

My babies truly believe that the reason they're not allowed to lean on the wall when we're in the hall is that the younger kids wipe their boogers on it.

Everyone seems to get along very well! One of my very shy girls was quickly included by my other 4 girls who already knew each other from kindergarten. I was so glad to see her having fun with the other kids!

(Yes, you read that right. I only have 5 girls! Needless to say, we do LOTS of movement and brain breaks.)

Even though it wears me out, I am having FUN!

Say a prayer for me that it continues to be an awesome beginning of the year!

Yay, first grade!

-Lily

Classroom Sneak Peeks!!!!!

School officially started back for teachers this week! 

Which only means one thing. 

I FINALLY GOT PAID. 

It's nice to be able to eat again. 

Just kidding. It's been so great being back!! My team is WONDERFUL and super helpful. They're all 1st grade experts, so they pretty much know all there is to know. The advice they've given me has made me a lot more confident in what I'll be doing for the first 7 or so days of school. 

I'm equal parts excited and nervous. You know when you're at the part of the roller coaster when you're fastened in the seat and it starts *tick* *tick* *tick* ticking its way up the incline and part of you is thinking "OH MY LANTA PLEASE GET ME OFF OF THIS DEATH TRAP" but the other half is thinking "THIS IS GONNA BE SO COOL A;DSKJF;IEJA;LKD YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!" 

That's how I feel, and I think that is very healthy. :)

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my classroom so far! I've been busybusybusy decorating and planning, so neither of either are completely done yet. I'm pretty happy about what I've got so far, though!

 My little library :) There's more books behind the curtains that I'll switch out periodically. This blasted shelf was quite an ordeal. It took like 32422987 tries to get it cute, but I really like it now!!

 The library book labels up close. Yes, I did chevron. Sue me. You know you love it. 

 A close up of my classroom goals. I'll start this a couple weeks in. Students choose a goal in the morning and we talk about how they did in the afternoon. If need be, we'll hold ourselves accountable with a recording sheet. I'm going to see how they do without that first. 

 Class goals!!

 My other bulletin board. (I have 3!!!) I'm not sure what I'm going to put on it yet but I think the border is fabuloso. 

Table supply boxes. Chevron again. If you haven't noticed, my "theme" is bugs/yellow/blue. Every table has crayons, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, and whatever else I deem necessary. 

That's all I have pictures of for now! :)

-Lily

First Official Work Day!

Today was the first day back for teachers... even though I've been working in my room for weeks. It was filled with meetings, talking, and more meetings. We did have an AWESOME lunch provided by the PTO. We ate great food off of china plates and drank from wine glasses (filled with sweet tea). Even the dessert plates were glass! I felt so special! I know the faculty and staff appreciated the PTO for what they did for us today.

 Even though I sat in a chair for about 7 hours, I feel accomplished and a little more at ease about the upcoming year. I got my final class list with all 20 of my students listed and some other surcies from my school. I also got my first check today too! Soon I will get my PES t-shirt that I get to wear on the first day of school and on Panther Pride Fridays. 

I am so happy to be apart of the school that I grew up in. Hopefully my students will have the same great experience that I did in elementary school. I'm feeling more and more confident and competent (woot woot C2!) as next Wednesday approaches quickly.  Now let's just hope my nerves don't take over!

~Nicole

Too Early for a Countdown?

I think not!

Nicole and I both have less than 20 days til a bunch of wild animals come stampeding into our lives, leaving us utterly disheveled, fearing for our lives, and lamenting about "the good old days" when we could pass the buck to the "real" teacher when things hit the fan. 

Oh dear.

Okay, Okay, in all honesty, I'm excited! I am a very excited, really happy ball of nerves. Eeeeee!

I wonder if that's how my best friends Gabby Douglas and Missy Franklin felt before the Olympics. 

(Yes, we are actually best friends. Duh.)

If so, then that probably means I'm on the right track for this to be a gold medal year, right?

Awwwwwwwwwwww. :)

-Lily

My Classroom So Far!

First of all, Happy move-in-to-your-apartment day Lily! It's official that we"re big girls now! I can't wait for you to come see my room now that you're closer to me!
I've been working in my room A LOT lately trying to get my furniture just right. I think I moved the cubbies about 80 times (and I learned I got another set yesterday...) and my desk 40 times. Needless to say, I THINK I have everything where I want it. If you've read up on earlier posts, you know that I have an owl theme in my room this year. So here are some picture of my room before and after!

My room before. Some of the previous teacher's items were still there.

Before. My back wall with cabinets and a sink.

Before. My little corner of my things.

After. My door!

After. My bulletin board and tree in my  classroom library corner!

Sorry for the scattered pictures. I still haven't quite figured out how to make them go where I want them too. I'm still working on my room so more pictures are to follow. I think I'm gonna go make some more Pinterest crafts now :)

-Nicole