Teacher Thoughts: Return to Work

While I run the risk of getting berated for complaining sharing what it's like returning to work after a summer off, I'm going to do it anyway.

Going back to work after a summer off is not for the faint of heart.

Imagine that you are going to run a marathon.  Most people put in months and months of training to build up to that big race.

Going back to teaching after a summer off is like running that marathon without training.

I'm not joking.

I'm perpetually exhausted.

You're going from 0 to 60 in seconds, and it's a hard readjustment.

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Things that I must do now that I don't do all (or most of) summer:
*Set an alarm
*Get out of bed without lazing for an hour or so
*Pack a lunch
*Wear real clothes
*Put on makeup, do hair, and generally attempt to look presentable
*Be on my feet for most of my day
*Talk almost all day long
*Know the date, time, and day of the week

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And on top of that, there's all of the daily home chores that still need to be done.

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I also always forget that it takes FOREVER to accomplish tasks at the beginning of the school year.  Lessons take twice as long to present and for students to DO because I forget that my expectations and processes need to be explained before each new task.  And if I'm trying something new (which I almost always am), we're ALL figuring it out together.

I've made a mental note to stop having my first two weeks of plans done.  I had to rewrite last week's plans anyway.

But alas, there's nothing that I can do to stop time and keep my summer suspended indefinitely.  So we'll just keep chipping away at the days on the calendar instead.

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173 to go....

Back to School Nightmares (aka #teacherproblems)

Those of you who follow me on social media may have seen me mention having back to school nightmares.

Becky Dougherty

July 15 at 6:35pm · Bellwood, PA · 

In the latest news, I had my first back to school nightmare last night.....‪#‎teacherproblems‬

Recently, I was asked what exactly these nightmares are about.  I don't know what nightmares other teachers have, but I can certainly tell you about mine.  Here are some things that typically happen in my back to school nightmares.

1) No one is listening or paying any attention to what I'm teaching.

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2) We'll call them....challenging....students from the past show back up in my classroom

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3) Nothing I try to do goes right!

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4) Parents come in and yell at me.

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I would say those are some of the main things.  They may not sound that bad, but in nightmares, it's all terrifying!  Some of these things DO actually happen in real life, but fortunately, they're not usually as bad as they are in the nightmares!  

Fellow teachers, what are your back to school nightmares about?

A Comparison

All this week, I've been sharing school-related things.  On Monday, I shared the Top 5 hits from 1988--the year I started Kindergarten.  Tuesday was my classroom set-up for the 2014-2015 school year.  Wednesday was my book review of The Chronicles of Narnia, and yesterday, I shared some tips that parents should know about teachers.  Today, as I'm mere days away from returning to my 6th grade classroom, I thought that I would share some of the differences and similarities between being a first grade teacher and a sixth grade teacher.

Note: ALL of the following pictures are from Pins I've pinned to my "The Life of a Teacher Board" on Pinterest.  You can find the links to their original homes there.  

Some things are true of teaching both 1st and 6th grades:

Yes, this happens to me, and yes, it happened in both first and sixth grade.  And yes, I usually immediately regret this decision.  Therefore, I almost always pick partners FOR my students, thereby crushing their hopes and dreams.... ;0)

Here are some things that are true of teaching first graders:

Celebrating the 100th Day of School is a BIG deal in first grade!  It was always a day of fun activities.  In sixth grade, I acknowledge the 100th day of school, but the day continues as usual.  I do, however, start my end of school countdown on this day!

That would be "hand sanitizer" in case you don't know.

I loved doing cute and fun science lessons with my first graders.  I thought this one about the butterfly life cycle would have been really cute!  I am not (and do not want to be) the sixth grade science teacher.

This was one of my first grade pet peeves.  I would often tell students that I would call on students who were sitting in their seats quietly with their hands raised.  In contrast, sixth graders would prefer that I stay as far away from them as possible.  ;)

I do miss teaching first grade sometimes.  I miss how excited they are at Christmastime.  My last year in first grade, I had an Elf on the Shelf, and I had so much fun placing him in the classroom for the kids to find when they arrived.  I miss that I could use the simplest gifts as rewards, and they thought they were absolute treasures.  I miss that they loved me unconditionally!  But I don't miss runny noses, the reading curriculum, or how I had to go-go-go to be "on" for these little ones.

I like that sixth graders are independent.  They don't need me every single second of the day.  I like that they can work independently with mostly guidance from me.  I like that we can carry on great conversations and that they understand my sarcasm.  I do wish they cared a little more about their grades, and that I didn't worry they may call me nasty names behind my back when they're unhappy with me.  But overall, I am truly happy to be preparing these students to head off to junior high.

Stuff & Things: Teacher Edition

My last week of freedom summer vacation is almost at an end.  As I head back to work next week, here are a few things that teachers want parents to know and keep in mind!

1. Teachers are HUMAN.
This means that we will make mistakes.
We can't see and hear everything that happens every minute of the day.
We can't read minds.
We care about your child or we would not be in the teaching profession.

2. Teachers DO have your child's best interest at heart.
We know that your child is the most precious thing in the world to you.  We know that you are trusting your child to our care, and we will do our best to be kind, courteous, respectful, and to teach them what they need to know.  In return, we expect that your child will be kind, courteous, respectful, and to work hard to learn what they need to know.  We also need your support.

3. If there is a problem, let the teacher know.
Remember up there in #1 where I stated that teachers are human?  Remember where I said that we can't see and hear everything that happens?  It's really, really true.  If something is going on with your child and he or she doesn't tell the teacher, how can the teacher help?  Please don't assume that we are just ignoring the problem or not doing anything.  Contact us and let us know about the situation.  Odds are good that we don't know about it.

Did we make a mistake?  (See #1...again)  Let us know.  We have a lot going on.  Mistakes are bound to happen.  Be kind.  Be gentle.  Make us aware, and give us time to fix the situation.

4. Please, please, please, don't go over the teacher's head!
If there is a problem, ask yourself the following question:  "Did I talk to the teacher about this?"  If the answer is, "No."  See #3.  If, and ONLY if, the answer is, "Yes," should you go to the principal.  Talking to the teacher's boss is the same thing as a child tattling to a grown-up before trying to resolve an issue on his/her own.  If you haven't spoken to the child's teacher about the issue, please do so.  If you have spoken with the teacher, and you are still not satisfied with the results, then it's ok to take it to the next level.

5. Be respectful! 
If  you come into a conference with your mind set on raising hell, no good will come of it.  Did your child fail a test or a class?  This is not the teacher's fault.  We don't fail people for fun.  We don't like to see our students fail.  Students fail as a result of not doing the work required of them.  Please don't be these parents:

If you are respectful, your child will be respectful.  If you are respectful, WE will be respectful.

6. Together, we can help your child to have a successful school year!
Teachers and parents are NOT on opposing sides.  We ALL want your child to have a fun, successful, and wonderful school year.  We ALL want your child to learn what is required.  We ALL want your child to feel loved, safe, and to be happy.  If we work together, communicate respectfully, and remember that we are all human, this school year can be amazing!

Transformation Tuesday

As I mentioned yesterday, this week is my last week of summer vacation.  To "celebrate" going back to school, this week is full of school related posts.

For Music Monday, I shared some songs from 1988, the year I started Kindergarten!

Today, I'm going to show you my classroom set-up.  I was chatting a bit about school with my friend, Ashley from A Party of Four, and she mentioned seeing my classroom set up.  So, at the very least, I know that she will appreciate this post!  Haha

Just in case you're new around these parts, last year, I moved from first grade (after 6 years) to sixth grade.  I will be continuing in 6th grade this year.  I will teach one math class, a language arts (writing) class, and all of the sixth grade reading classes.

Let's start in the hall...

I like to start the year with a welcome back bulletin board.  I just think it's fun, and frankly, if I didn't, this bulletin board would be blank for awhile.

This bulletin board changes each month.  For this one, students will write (and color/illustrate) the title of a book they read over the summer on a blank picture of a book.  In October, they'll do a book they recently read on pumpkins.

This welcome sign is on a support pole outside of my classroom.  The circle and stripe design is a theme in my classroom.  Last year, I became obsessed decided I really liked the idea of my classroom accents matching.  This theme is called Calypso.  It's from Carson Dellosa.

This set-up is right inside my door to your right.  It's all taped to the wall, and it's cleverly covering all of the ripped off paint spots that they never seem to fix.  The calendar, birthday chart, and class chart (that I'm using to keep track of AR- Accelerated Reader points) are from the Calypso Bulletin Board Set.  Students actually start school on August 27th, but I just go ahead and set up the calendar for September so I don't have to change it on the first Friday back to school.  The border is orange on the back.  

When you enter my room, and turn left, you will see these pencil punctuation guys!  This wall also has unsightly chipped paint spots.  Since I'm teaching Language Arts this year, I decided that they would be useful for more than one reason.

Above the cabinets next to the wall with the punctuation pencils, I have some storage boxes.  Some of them are empty, and others hold holiday decorations.  I was so tired of looking at ugly cardboard boxes so I bought some fun duct tape, and voila!

This blank poster was part of the Calypso Bulletin Board Set.  I decided to use it for writing the classroom rules, and I took down the one I had that didn't match the theme! :)

This is the only thing in my classroom that isn't totally finished yet.  I have to create the chart that I'm hanging here.  It will be a classroom reward system.  Students who earn a 100% on a test or receive a good behavior slip will get to sign their name in a binder, and choose a square from a 10 x 10 square.  Each square will reveal a small individual or class prize.  When they get 10 in a row, we will have a big class reward like a pizza party or a 30 minute extra recess period.  The border is purple on the back.  (You will see this shortly).

Here is the view of the front of my classroom.  (The 100 Club bulletin board is cut off on the left.)

The smart board from the above picture used to be on this side of the room for some insanely stupid reason.  I requested that it be moved to its current location for this school year.  To cover up the horrible mess of a wall now that it's moved, I taped white paper to the wall, framed it with the purple side of the polka dot border you saw before, and hung up this reading strategies set.  Below this is my mail center.  The white paper has my students' names with their assigned number.  The mailboxes are numbered from 1-20.  I used black binder clips, cut white file folder stickers to fit, stuck them to the binder clips, and labeled them with numbers.

I learned a lesson last year about the classroom computers...particularly during recess.  The same students use them all of the time, and I can't keep track of it.  Therefore, I created a sign-up sheet.  (And at some point, I hope, my monitors will be returned....)

Here is my classroom library.

Here's the striped border AND its reverse side.  This is my supply station.  When I started 6th grade, I wanted to still have students do classroom jobs without them seeming baby-ish.  Student earn points that they can use in my classroom store.

The bottom shelf has items that students can "buy" with their points in my classroom store: erasers, notebooks, pencils- regular & mechanical, pens).

I used my fancy panorama feature on my iPhone to take this view of the seating arrangement and front of my classroom.  I decided on this arrangement so students can easily see if I'm teaching from the smart board or from the white board at the back of the room.

So there you have it!  What do you think???

Music Monday: Back-to-School Edition

This week, my blog is all about going back to school.  This is my last week of summer vacation, and I thought I'd get you all myself in the right frame of mind.

I promise you that I am not going to talk cheesy school songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" or anything.  Actually, I thought I'd take you on a trip down memory lane to 1988.

I began my school career in the fall of 1988 when I started Kindergarten.  Since then, I have only had ONE year in which I did not have a "back-to-school season."  (That was in 2005.  It was my first year out of college, and I didn't have a teaching job yet.  I started subbing in October of the year.)

In the spirit of my 26th anniversary of starting school, I thought I'd share the Top 5 hits from the year I started Kindergarten.

#5 "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses

#4 "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley

#3 "Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison

(And yes, that's former Beatle, George Harrison.)

#2 "Need You Tonight" by INXS


#1 "Faith" by George Michael

And yes, I know every last one of these songs.  
What year did you start school?  What's the #1 hit from that year??  Please share it with me in the comments! :)

Stuff & Things: Random Thoughts

Here are some random thoughts:

1.  Water is a catch 22.  I get that we're supposed to drink a lot of water each day, and I mean, A LOT.  It's good for you, but seriously, having to pee 100 times a day is REALLY annoying.  And, of course, we all know that waiting too long to go is not good for you either.

2. Ok, this one is also about water.  Scott and I bought the variety pack of Propel powder packets the other day.  Since I have been trying to drink water with my lunch AND dinner AND throughout the day, I've been getting pretty tired of the lack of flavor in my life.  I really do like these things, and it's a nice way to change up the whole water thing without adding calories to my day.  And at least, there's a variety of these to keep that from getting boring.

3. My first day back to school is August 25th.  The kids come on August 27th.  Next week, I will have a series of school-related posts.  (One of them will be my classroom set-up!)

4. Have you heard of/tried Vinted.com?  It's a pretty cool website where you can sell your clothes and accessories.  The prices are similar to yard sale prices (at least MINE are).  Buyers pay the shipping, so once you sell something, you ship it off.  Once they get their item(s), you get paid.  You can also buy items from others, or you can swap things!  I did manage to sell a Thirty-One purse, wallet, & key chain.  And I've had lots of people mark my items as favorites.  I haven't had a ton of luck, though.

5. My parents' and their neighbors are having a yard sale this weekend.  I've been trying to purge all sort of things around here: clothes I'm not wearing (because they don't fit or I don't like them any more), appliances, and other items we're not using.  I have stuff on eBay, Amazon, Vinted, and a bunch of local yard sale groups on Facebook.  I just hope I can get rid of a lot on Saturday!  I'm tired of our house being cluttered!  I'm even going to set up a table with my Celebrating Home stuff.  I have items that aren't in our current catalog and aren't ones I want to keep that I can sell on the spot, and I also plan to try to get some leads on parties and fundraisers.

6. Finally, the above just reminded me.....Celebrating Home offers AMAZING fundraisers.  We have two that yield up to 50% profit for your organization!  You don't have to live near me for me to help you or your organization with a fundraiser.  I would simply have forms shipped to you.  There's also an online component, and once I receive all of your orders, everything will be shipped to the location you specify sorted for each seller.  It's SO easy!  If you need to raise money for ANYTHING: personal, trips, schools, sports, dance, gymnastics, day care, medical bills, charity....ETC (the possibilities are endless!), contact me, and I can share more information with you!

So what Stuff & Things are on your mind today?