It's almost May?

Tomorrow is the first day of May, and of course I haven't even touched this blog since August. I guess that simply defines how busy the life of a teacher is...I still plan on updating this blog throughout the summer and adding ideas/themes/projects etc. that I had done throughout the year. Needless to say, check back in June! :)

The Classroom

After a hectic morning of getting paperwork filled out, I received an email from my principal stating that my room was ready and that I could come and get my key. This exciting stepping stone in my teaching career soon turned into a 3 hour planning period with the kindergarten team leader. Ideas kept bouncing through my head as we talked about anything and everything from placement of desks in my room to organization ideas to even the first day of school. She was so helpful and presented me with many great ideas that I will use in my classroom.

After we properly placed all of the furniture in my room, I knew it was time to take another step: BUY stuff. I had already been collecting and buying over the summer but there is still so much that I need to have a complete classroom. I immediately went to a local teacher store and shopped till I dropped! And I am not kidding when I say that as I literally was exhausted after those hours of classroom preparation. Afterwards, I collected all of my belongings and headed back to my school where I was going to start putting things together. I finally felt like I had my head on my shoulders, but little did I know, this was just the beginning.

I had everything in the room, but where should it go? What posters did I want on what wall? What borders did I want to put up? Where did I want to place my centers? This just goes back to my last post and mention that organization is huge. I immediately made a list of things that needed to get done first and went from there. I knew that I had to start somewhere. I decided to focus on one area of my room. After 3 hours of organizing and placing things, I decided that it was time to head home. Tomorrow is a new day.

It's only the beginning...

There's the passion. There's the excitement. There's the anticipation. There's the ideas. Where's the starting line? The hardest part to planning as a first year teacher has been the starting line. Ideas are floating around in my head, but I need a solid starting place. Organization is what has been grounding me. I started making a list and prioritizing. Some of the things on my list include supplies for the classroom and of course, the first day of school. With this in mind, I have been able to plan without getting too overwhelmed. I've been finding myself starting new projects, but even though it's the beginning I've learned that I need to finish one thing before going onto the next.