Three days down...some motivation too!

I finished my first three full half days of school.  We start off the year with three half days to get the kids (and teachers) used to school.  We have our students until 12 pm each day and then we have meetings through the afternoon.  I have to say I had a great first three days.  I loved learning about my kids and seeing them interact with each other.  I also got to meet the other fifth grade class, who I will teach math and science to.  They are a fun bunch of kids too!  I have to say I am pretty pleased with how everything went!  Today, I am linking up with the fabulous Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Sparking Student Motivation.  Today, I am going to go against the rules and not Spark Student Motivation, but Spark Staff Motivation.  (I hope she doesn't get mad!)

This year is turning out to be a crazy one at my school. We have a new principal (he was our assistant principal last year), a new assistant principal (she was a 6th grade teacher) and 90% new office staff.  You can only imagine the craziness we are dealing with, but God is good and the teacher are being patience.  

I am known for having chocolate in my desk all the time.  It is there for those times when you just need some.  Last year as a staff we were going through a hard time and I brought my box of candy to a staff meeting placed it on the table and told everyone to take some because it helped!  

Well with the start of school, I knew some of our staff needed something to get through the first week.  I made little chocolate emergency treats and placed them on teachers' desks in the morning.  Some teachers told me they were bound to have an emergency before the afternoon and were pretty sure it was going to be gone that day.  It was nothing major, but a little something to show them that I care and I am looking out for them!

Here is a picture of my emergency chocolate!

I did stock up on some candy for my desk drawer today.  I hope to be able to spread some cheer when times are tough at school with some chocolate because chocolate makes everything better!

Do you spread cheer to other teachers in your school? If so, what do you do?  I feel I am placed in a school not only for the students, but for the other staff members too.  God has me there for a reason, it might only be to provide chocolate!

Check out Joanne's blog for other motivating ideas!

Rosie

A New School Year!!!

Well...today was the day...a new batch of students arrived at my door for me to teach!  I am so super excited to have this bunch of students.  They are terrific and I am beyond blessed to being intrusted to teach them this year.  I have a sign outside my door that says, "Through this door walk the world's greatest students."  I beleive I do have the "World's Greatest Students" this year.  (I am sorry everyone else!)

Here is the reveal of my classroom!  I am proud to say I actually put my room together in about two days.  Yes, I am still not sure how that was done, but I did it and my room had nothing in it when I started!  I had to car loads with things to move into my room!  I really prayed that God would multiply the minutes in my classroom and I would work efficiently.  My mom and a friend were big helps in the set up! I hope you enjoy this tour!

Outside my door!

My hallway tree with little birds on it with all of my kids names on it.  I bring this tree inside the classroom around Thanksgiving for my tree of thanks!

A view from the door.  I only have fourteen students, but I have sixteen desks set up.  Sometimes there is a students who needs a little extra space.

A view from the back looking at the front of the room.  The verse in big letters above my board reads, Do everything with out complaining or arguing.  Philippians 2:14.  I often point to it when a students is complaining about their work!

My "We Believe" statements from The Brown Bag Teacher.  I plan on using them when talking about rules and how I expect them to act in my classroom. 

Another view of the front of the room.

My homework, jobs, no name and missing work area.  I also have our homework bin and my pencil sharpener area.

I have these offices on one and a half sides on my room.  They were once used for older grades.  I was not sure what I was going to do with them because I don't do a lot of work where students need to be sectioned off.  I decided to make them into cubbys.  Two students share a cubby...I called them their "Cubby Buddies".  They are responsible for keeping them neat and could be rewarded by the Cubby Fairy every once in a while!  My students were very excited about them and even asked if they could decorate them!  I use the rest of them for storage.  It is nice since I don't have any closets or cabinets.

My desk area.  You can see how I used the cubbys for my teacher resource storage.

My classroom library area. (I am sorry for the glare.  I get really bad sunlight in the afternoon into my room.)  My students could not believe all of the books I have in my classroom.  They were very excited to check some out today!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of my classroom!  I am very happy with how it came out.  I don't have a theme, I just like to set up my classroom fun!  Bright colors and fun posters!  Tomorrow is day two!  I need to see what I did not cover and what needs to be done tomorrow!

Have a great night!

Rosie

It's September...and Currently time!!!

Well, it is that time of year...September.  Back to school time in the northeast (sorry southerners, you have been back for a few weeks!).  I cannot believe it is that time again.  I feel like I just got out of school, but there is no turning back...ready or not here they come!

I am linking up with Farley for her September Currently.   I really enjoy these once a month blog posts!  I enjoy reading others and thinking about what I love, want, need, listen to, etc.  So here is mine...

Listening-  I love Undercover Boss.  I am the type of person that likes to go behind the scenes to see how things work.  Undercover Boss is a great show for that.  I also like to see how humble the CEOs are. 

Loving- My mom is the best.  She is so supportive of everything my siblings and I do.  Going into this school year, I am going to be commuting more and she is willing to talk to be early in the morning when I need someone to talk to.

Thinking- I cannot get this new year off my mind.  I am scared, anxious, excited, nervous and overwhelmed.  I am teaching the same grade and same subjects, but have a new co-teacher.  I know that God has placed me at this school for a reason.  I need to just surrender everything to him and he is going to guide me through this school year because I am not going to be able to get through it without him!

Wanting-  I like to see the big picture, but God only gives me small little bits.  I want to know how everything unfolds, but I know I need to trust him because I cannot handle the whole picture!

Needing- My room is a mess and has been on my to do list for the past couple of days, but it never got done!  Hopefully this week-end I will make some progress on it!

Love- I want to make sure I put my devotions first and make it a priority when I wake up.  I am not going to get through this year with out God so I need to make sure I start my day with him.  I also want to be good about picking out my clothes the night before.  I am pretty good about making my lunches the night before, but having my clothes picked out would be awesome.  I am proud to say that I have my clothes for the week picked out!  Hopefully this will last!

Well, I must go finish the muffins that are in the oven and make my smoothly for the morning.  Five o'clock is going to come very early!  Must go to bed so I can stay awake during our meetings tomorrow!

Rosie

Five for Friday...Saturday Edition!

Hello Blogging Buddies!

I hope you all are having a fantastic Saturday!  I cannot believe I go back to school in less than two weeks.  This summer has flown buy and I am not sure if I am ready to go back to school.  I have to admit I have not done anything in my classroom yet...I know I am a bad teacher!  It actually worked out ok.  My classroom as of Friday was still not ready for me to move in.  They had not finished the floors yet.  I am praying it will be done Monday because I am coming whether it is done or not!  I have one week to put everything together. I have assembled my my team of helpers to come with me.  I am just praying I have motivation and do not get side tracked while working.  I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for their Five for Friday.

Last week was Vacation Bible School at my church.  It was an exciting week with many fun activities each day.  Our theme was Kingdom Rock.  We talked about Standing Strong for the Lord in everything we do.  We transformed our church to be the inside of a castle, which was lots of fun!  Here are some pictures.

Draw bridge the kids had to walk over in order to get inside,

The chandeliers we made to hang throughout the church.

A chandelier waiting to be hung!

Banners hung around.

Registration was set up to be outside in the courtyard of the castle.

We even had a horse!

The kids brought in coins for missions and raised $1000.88!  Because they raised so much a few people got some pies in their face!

The kids had a blast and I enjoyed serving at church a lot.  I was a little sad to see the week come to an end because it ment school was coming soon and summer was over! 

Well, I must go help my mom in the kitchen...we are making about 15 quarts of tomato sauce and some other yummy foods!  Be on the look out for a back-school giveaway in the near future!

Rosie

Happy Monday...don't forget

Happy Monday!  I hope you are having a fantastic day!  I spent today with Vacation Bible School at my church.  We Rocked the Kingdom for sure!  I will have pictures at the end of the week, but here is one!

These are the chandeliers that we made...30 to be exact!  We decorated the church to look like the inside of a castle!  It looks so cool!

Don't forget there are just a few hours left for the BIG Teachers Pay Teachers sale!  My entire store is on sale for 20% off and if you use BTS13 you receive an additional 10%.

Now I am off to go clear out my wishlist!

Rosie

Sparking Student Motivation...A Test on the First Day

Hello Friends!  I hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer or the first few days of the new school year.  I am deep in Vacation Bible School planning right now.  My church's VBS is next week and I am trying to get all of the last details finished for that, while trying to get things ready for school.  I am not sure when I will start decorating and getting my room set up for school.  I am thinking not until  the last week of August, which will give me one week.  You are probably thinking this teacher is crazy...how is she going to do that????  Well, I am not sure!!  I am trusting God that he will give me super natural energy to set everything up and I will be very focus when doing it. 

Today I am linking up with Joanne from Head over Heals for Teaching for her Sparking Student Motivation.  If you have never check out this linky, I suggest you do because there are wonderful ideas that are usually very simple. 

On the first day of school I give my students a test.  Yes, you read it right...a TEST!  I am the meanest teacher in the world for doing this.  I tell them this will be the least prepared for a test you will be all year.  I don't want them to worry about it, but I do love seeing them sweat when I tell them they are taking a test!  I go over the procedures on how we take a test.  I then hand out the test.  This test is about their teacher, me, it is ten multiple choice questions about me.  We take our test in silence and when we are done we go over it!  Here is the test I gave my students last year.  Can you answer any of these questions?

After we go over the test, I tell my students that they will never be unprepared for a test.  We will go over the subject matter for each test they will take and they should feel prepared to take each and every test throughout the year.  

My students actually enjoyed this activity last year and found it to be a fun way to learn about their teacher.  I do think the highest grade was a 40% last year!

What fun ways do you introduce yourself to your class?

Don't forget tomorrow starts the super huge sale at Teachers Pay Teachers.  My entire store will be on sale for 20% off.  I hope to hear many cha-chings on my phone over the next two days!  You can also get an additional 10% off by using BTS13 in the coupon code.  I hope you are able to score some great deals!

Rosie

Teacher Week '13- Let's Talk about Me!

Hello blogging friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Monday.  I am just a few short weeks from going back to school.  I am trying to enjoy the last little bit, while trying to get stuff done that I did not do all summer.  I am also preping for Vacation Bible School at my church next week.  It comes at a not great time, but I am going to push thru!

Today, I am linking up with Blog Hoppin for their Teacher Week '13 linky party. Each day is a different theme and today we are talking about ME!!!

1. I have run three half marathons in my life.  My dream is to run the Disney Marathon one day.  I would love to start training again, but being in the car commuting a distance does not make a running schedule very easy!

My best friend Kate and I running our first half marathon!  

2. I love Disney World.  It is one of my favorite places to go.  When I lived in Florida I had a season pass and would often go with my sister for dinner.

3. I love to watch sports.  I follow the Olympics had core.  I also enjoy college sports over professional sports.  I like to watch, read, listen to almost any sport!

4. I spent a month in The Netherlands last summer visiting my sister and her family.  They are missionaries in Nord Holland (North Holland).  It was an amazing adventure.

My nephew Charlie!

5. I love to quilt.  I have made close to 50 quilts.  I prefer to give them away, then keep them.

Two quilts I made...the one below some one paid me to make with their dogs bandanas.

6. I work on a lot of theatre in college.  I was the resident House Manager because it was the easiest job to have while being an education major.

7. I love to bake.  When I was stressed in college, I would bake.  I would sometimes spend eight hours on a Saturday baking.  

8. I have been in twelve weddings and not one of them was my own!  I have amazing friends that I am more then willing to be a bridesmaid for!

9. I worked for two years as a private tutor for a family that has 14 children.  They homeschooled all of their children and I worked with one of them.  It was an interesting experience, but wonderful for where I was in life at that moment.

Mary Theresa was my buddy!

10. I collect DVDs of TV shows...Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, Parenthood and Grey's Anatomy.  I watch them over and over.  They are perfect background noise when I am working on school things.

I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about me!  Don't forget to link up!

Rosie