Thursday, August 23, 2012

Year 2 and I'm fastening my seatbelt

Well, it's August and the first full week of my second year of teaching has come and gone just as quickly as my first year went.
A quick recap of the summer...Lex summer school in June for 4th grade reading and math as well as 2-4 Art. Went to island oasis with friends, the lake, and to Lincoln to meet up with college room mates (we went to Lincoln Saltdogs game and stayed over in Exeter). Watched a lot of Olympics, completed a lot of crafts (framed jewelry holder, living room end table, various posters, signs etc. for my classroom---as well as other teacher's classrooms).

As August slipped under my feet, I began to "redo" my classroom. Not that I didnt' like my classroom last year, but last year it was "a classroom I taught in," a feeling associated with being a first year "rookie" as my principal calls it. This year I will be teaching in MY classroom. I rearranged 4 filing cabinets that were side by side to create a "reading nook." I made signs inspired by pinterest, I bought fabric to use on my 2nd bulletin board, removable wall stickers, quotes, plants and flowers, etc. etc. I love it and as one of my sophomore BOYs said, "Miss White, I love what you've done with the place." I'll admit I struggled staying on the secondary side of the line with risk of falling to the elementary side, which is easy to do when incorporating a lot of color. But, I think I was able to pull off a tasteful, inviting, and age appropriate learning space. I will take and post pictures sometime very soon.
Yet again, I am teh Freshman class sponsor and assistant tennis coach (assuming we have enough girls...12...to need an assistant coach). I'm teaching 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and a 7th grade writing class. I also have a study hall, which did have 32 students, but thankfully they made a another one that hour so I only have 16. The biggest change for me is going from having 1st hour as plan, to 8th hour plan. Though I'm not entirely used to it yet, I think I will really like it. I like thinking "I'm done teaching at 2:45 every day". As I stand in the hallway between classes I realize that I know all the students 7-12 except for many of the 12th graders. That being said, if I don't know them they are either in elementary or in the senior class. This is really pretty nice because last year I didn't have a clue who students were between the jr and sr classes.

This Saturday is the Hershey fall fest. Last year I was in the parade, but this year I think I will watch from the comfort of my bedroom. Frankly, I have the best view in the town, so I might as well use it! I'm excited for football and volleyball to start next weekend, both high school and collegiate. I will be going to a Husker game late in October, which I'm very much looking forward to.

Well there's a brief update. I hope to upload some pictures sooner rather than later. Stay fresh everyone.

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