September Currently and Other Stuffs (could be a tad long)

Hi y'all!!

I can't believe September is already here!!

I love fall! LOVE. IT! Okay, I realize that it's not officially fall but it's coming quick!  Which reminds me...I saw this at the grocery store and thought of everyone who loves this flavor (me? not so much ) I will share the info.

Yes, they make this.

FYI.

Now onto September's Currently sponsored by the lovely Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade  Head over there and join the fun!

Listening

The sound of silence at the moment is really nice because it's been either me talking to kids or being talked to from kids all week.  Not that that is any different than normal but this week seems a little heavier so it was nice to have just quiet for a bit along with the nice weather.

Loving

We all have this lovely 3 day weekend before us and some of us (at least the Cali school system, not sure who else) got Friday off, too due to Admissions Day (juuuust in case you need to know it's to honor/celebrate/take note of when our state was admitted to statehood not all that long ago in 1850).  So THANKS for that!

Thinking

My class overall is a really good class!! I'm THRILLED.  Last year proved to be a difficult one (behavior-wise) so, SO FAR, I'm very happy that it's a mellower group.  I saw a quote somewhere that teachers don't have behavior issues, we have happy little classroom challenges.  I really like that frame of mind :)

Wanting

This is wanting AND needing really.  My shoes are comfortable for the most part but it's my toe area.  I avoid pointed shoes for work and a particular pair is giving me trouble.  It's hard to find shoes FOR WORK at size 5.5.  Many are either cute NOT FOR WORK or just NOT FOR WORK.  I'm going to try going up to 6 and finagle the fit.  My poor feet :(

Needing

I need "organization of my teacher resources". Read: Clean up the dump that is my teacher's desk/shelving area.  It's so not how I usually have it and it's driving me batty but with school having started already, I've not had a chance to begin the tackle.  That's on my list for next week.

3 Goals

Those are pretty self-explanatory.  I know we...err, I won't completely stop worrying/stressing about things HOWEVER I need to learn, and I am, what is WORTH being concerned over and what's not.  The exercise will certainly help my brain in that respect...and my bod-ay!

* * *

So, school has begun for me...we've completed 12 days so far and I really, really like my kiddos!

This is my 20th year of teaching so it feels a little extra special for me and I'm determined to make certain professional goals come to life!  No holds barred!

The following is some random pieces of this year so far...bear with me.

This is what I walked into when I came to prep the week before school started...not bad at all!  Floors were done perfectly and beautifully but student desks were no where near how I had them.  Since that was the only "issue" I'm grateful.  We're fortunate that we didn't have to take stuff off of the bulletin boards/walls.  HUGE time saver!!

And the other side...

If you notice, there is no carpet.  That's on purpose, by me. Yes, no rug.  I did away with it about 2 years ago.  It's not my first choice but with the custodial cuts by the district (little to NO vacuuming, or sweeping or even mopping!) and student accidents (many one year), I thought it best for my students' health and my sanity to remove it.  I know I could vacuum myself but there was ONE vacuum for the entire school at the time and it SUCKED. No pun intended.  I'm not beneath doing but I just didn't have time to vacuum as well as sweep :) It's worked out really well.

I finally wrote out this "poem" that I've seen numerous times and kept wanting to do!  I posted it on my door that the kids enter the classroom from.  There are different versions so I used what I wanted for my kiddos.

Redesigned this part of my classroom. I had maps on here but the paper was faded and things were looking badly.  I will use this for something reading related.  Just to note...there is a mirror, a heavy full length mirror under that.   The mirror was not "allowed" to be removed. 

Only 1/2 a cup gone?!  This is a sign of how busy the first day was.

Another "finally" is that I used that photo prop (courtesy of Miss Nelson at Miss Nelson's Got the Camera! ) to take first day of school pics of the kids. Loved it! I had the photos printed and sent home with a positive note within a few days of school starting (got that idea from Jodi at Fun in First ).

Just some decor that I really like that I did :)

 

 

And we are finally Go Noodlers!!  Here is the FIRST time I've done Go Noodle (shock, right? Where have I been??) and they LOVED it!  I will most definitely be using this a lot!  It looks like they are not moving but they really did get into it!

Here's to a wonderful school year, y'all!