It does not seem possible that I should be typing up back to school posts already, but yet here we are. It has been a bit of a rough week here trying to get back into the swing of things. Elliot has been having a hard time adjusting, and it’s breaking my heart more and more every single day. She has been crying, reaching for me, and pitifully calling “mama” as I’m about to walk out the door each morning which in turn makes me cry all the way into work. She’s become a stage 5 clinger when I get home each afternoon (I don’t mind in the least), but it makes it hard to get anything accomplished in the evenings (which explains our mountain of laundry, dirty dishes, etc., etc.). Her sleep schedule is also regressing, which is just perfect timing…not! This has made for some laaaaate nights, which does not mix well with early mornings. Wow I sound whiny…my apologies. Other than our hardships on the home front, things look optimistic on the school front. Thursday night was our Open House, and I got to meet almost all of my new students and their families. I’ve got some really sweet kiddos that seem eager to get the year started. That always makes things easier! I had one student comment, “I really like what I see in here,” referring to my classroom. Of course, this makes all the hard work on my classroom totally worth it! Oh, I also want to mention how awesome our building looks. Over the summer a former parent/artist designed some murals for our hallways and along with some teacher volunteers (not me because I’m a slacker 😉 aka I was in Traverse City) brightened up our walls. It looks so cheerful and inviting and I’m so proud to work in that building!
Here’s some photographic evidence of my room before things get messy and unorganized:
I got a little crazy with the chalkboard spray paint on my bookshelves…
My classroom “theme” is technology hence the giant iPad bulletin board. P.S. Last year my mom hand drew all the apps. She’s awesome, I know!
Might as well start corrupting the kiddos with social media…jk jk it’s our “Student of the Week” profile.
I painstakingly created this chart that I will fill in with daily objectives with masking tape and sticky letters. This is a nightmare for a perfectionist such as myself. If something looks crooked, please don’t tell me 😉
My goodies from Open House:
I designed, copied, cut, and assembled these flip books for parents all on my own, with no help from Teachers Pay Teachers. Be impressed 😉
Not sure where I got the idea that I have to have a little something for the kiddos to take with them. And of course it has to include a play on words. Not sure where this rule is written, but I abide by it every year (thanks for this year’s idea Colleen)!
There ya have it. My classroom in a nutshell. I was hoping to take the weekend off from school, but *cackle, cackle* that’s not happening and I will be back to it bright and early tomorrow morning.
Happy Labor Day weekend friends!
Lesson Plans and La Leche Meetings 