So long!

So I said goodbye to my third graders today, and it was harder than I thought it would be. While I know there is so much I can fix and do better next year, I realize now that we really did have a great year together. I've said so many times how "over" this year I am and how I can't wait to get it behind me, but watching them go today, some in tears, I realized how much I'm going to miss them. Some of the things that annoyed me to no end now seem so sweet, all covered in nostalgia. Like the undeniable smell of dog that emanated from them after recess. Or the hundred thousand times a day I heard my name. Or the times they got a little too silly and giggly and I had to reign them back in for fear of losing their attention. Or the million stories they wanted to tell me every morning but I always had to cut short so I could get on to the important stuff.
I had some P in the A's who, despite what I've said in the past, I will miss. I'll be glad to wave to those kids across the hall next year and will be genuinely happy when they come back to visit, but will be completely ok with sending them back to their 4th grade classroom. But then there are those that I don't want to let go of. The ones that were so beyond sweet and caring and eager to learn and such a joy to have in class. The ones that always said thank you, always said good morning, always hugged me goodbye, brought me little treats and left surprises on my desk. It's going to be hard seeing them next year as "big kids" and know that they're not "mine" anymore.
I'll always remember this first group and will probably always compare my future students to them. I saved every little note, every picture, every treat they gave me, something I probably won't do with any other group in the future. But I always want to remember my first group and the special connection I shared with them. Come August, it'll be weird seeing them walk up looking like big, giant 4th graders and then looking at my new little crop of third graders who basically will look like oversized babies to me. I might even feel a little resentment towards my new ones, sort of a "you've got big shoes to fill" attitude. And I'll wish I could have my old ones back (or most of them at least) because they already know all my routines. They know how to write and edit a 5 sentence paragraph. They know their multiplication facts. They get my jokes. That's the blessing and the curse of teaching: getting a fresh group of kids every year, but having to say goodbye to the old ones. But, I gotta send them on their way and hope I taught them enough. I hope they know how much I loved them and how much they have done for me and meant to me all year. I do love them and will miss them so much. I wonder if I'll feel this strongly every year, or maybe it's because they were my first real group. Or because I just happened to have some really great ones. Or maybe I have my graduation goggles on and they're clouding my vision with nostalgia, and maybe summer mode will finally hit and ill be able to say "So long, kids! Bring on the next crew!" I guess we'll see. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my late morning wake ups and lack of to-do lists!

Update + Pics

Soooooooo it's been a while, huh? I know everyone's been dying to know where I've been, right? Right? So believe it or not, my first year of teaching has been pretty cah-razy. Hard to believe right? Can't believe it's almost March! As in over halfway through. As in t minus 3 months till the end of the year. Holy cow how did that happen?? So it's definitely been a roller coaster. I went through the honeymoon phase where I would come home every day and relate every detail of my day to my hubby and tell him all about my little ones and all the cute, funny, adorable things they did and said. Then November hit. And pretty soon I didn't notice all the adorable things anymore. I only noticed the unbelievably frustrating things - like the perpetual missing names on papers, the talking in the hallway despite the hundreds of daily reminders., the constant tattling and bombarding me with questions. Let's just say I was over it. I was feeling incompetent, like there was no way I could ever cover everything by testing in March (yes, March) and that I had done everything wrong at the beginning of the year that it would be impossible to fix.
Well I'm happy to say that the roller coaster has finally evened out. I have bad days, I have good days, I have days I want to cry out of frustration and complete overload, and days I want to cry at how sweet my little ones are and how rewarding my job is. I get frustrated with my kids, but I love them. Each and every darn one of them. I'm ready for May and ready to put this year behind me, but I sure will be sad to see these kids go.

Ok, moving on to the pics I promised in the post title.
The first ones are recent one of my classroom library. I. Love. My. Library. I think back to the summer when I spent hours and hours on my library. Organizing the books and putting stickers on every single cover. My mom and I spending hours putting those Walmart bookshelves together and painting those little polka dots on them, then going to 5 different stores in search of the perfect rug. It was daunting but I'm so glad I put that much time and effort into it. I love my library and my kids love our library. It's definitely a favorite spot in the room. I have kids come up to me all the time and say "Mrs. Merrick, I'm done with my assignment. Can I go sit in the library and read?" Be still, my heart. Anyway, these pics are from last week right after I had gotten a whole bunch of brand new free books (I love you, Scholastic) and had put them all up on display. Needless to say, most of them were gone and checked out by the next day (my plan exactly) but it looked really nice and full for a little while!

The next pics are some of the anchor charts I've made with the kids -- the ones that I was particularly proud of. Enjoy! :)

Full Speed Ahead

So we've been in school for over a month.  A MONTH.  And we are full speed ahead!  Things have been super crazy the past few weeks.  We are closing on our house this Friday (woohoo!) and moving in next Monday...so there's been a lot going on!  Felt like I should update on how everything is going.  Honestly, it's hard to even describe my first year so far.  The only thing I can really say is that it's been a complete roller coaster.  I have days where I feel like I have everything together and my kids and I are really clicking and I just feel like a real teacher and know this is exactly what I am meant to do.  Then there are the days when I feel completely over my head, my kids are misbehaving or are giving me the "I don't get its" about something we've gone over 500+ times, or I feel like my lessons were just completely blah and by-the-book and I start to question whether I'm really cut out for this.  BUT I will say that overall, I am much less stressed and overwhelmed than I thought I would be.  I thought I would be at school until 6:00 every night, scrambling to make copies every morning, writing lesson plans every single night until midnight, chasing my kids around trying to make them behave.  Fortunately, I'm happy to report that's not the case.  I am able to leave school at 3:45 almost every day and am in bed by 8:30 or 9:00 every night.  And my kids are actually FINALLY starting to "get it" and start following routines.  Again, there are good days and bad days, and sometimes they get a little silly and seem to forget everything I've said (I mean, seriously, I'm not sure how many more times I can say "Silence in the hallway" without my head exploding).  But I'm happy to say that I love all 13 of them and I am so happy and excited {most days} to see their faces.  So I guess I'm still in the state of roller coaster-ness where I'm not really sure how it's going and how I feel about it all.  I'm happy most days to be there and I've been getting positive feedback from my principal and parents (did I mention that my first round of parent/teacher conferences last week? Oh my.  Most terrifying experience ever, next to Meet the Teacher night.  Most of the parents had good things to say -- neutral things, at worst.  And I even had one mom tell me this was the best year her son has had yet...that made me feel pretty good.)

I will have to update soon about some of the things we've been doing lately.  I've found it hard to get creative with my lessons, because right now I'm just trying to stay on top of everything else I have to do.  But I have managed to squeeze a few fun things in there -- and most of them have actually been quite a success!

Anyhoo, that's all for now.  Happy Sunday!

2 weeks down...and...um...a lot more to go

So I officially have 2 weeks of real, actual, all-day teaching under my belt.  Woohoo! And I have to say that overall, the past 2 weeks have been wonderful.  I am actually able to leave school around 3:45 and have been going to bed at 8:30 every night.  Which doesn't sound like anything special except that I am typically used to hitting the sack around 1 am.
Anyway, besides the fact that my body is slowly and painfully adjusting to this new sleep schedule (and to the invasion of little 8-year-old germs...but that's a whole other story) I actually ALMOST feel like I'm in some sort of groove.  I am already loving my little ones.  I was talking to my mom after my first day and I told her, "I don't know what's wrong with me...I don't love them!" and she laughed and said, "You just met them!" I guess I thought that when they walked into my room and I knew they were mine, I would automatically love them.  Alas, no.  Not the case at all.  It took till about Friday of the first week to actually start to feel like I knew them at all.  I think what helped most was that I pulled each one aside the first few days and asked them a bunch of questions (When is your birthday? What did you do this summer?  What's your favorite subject? TV show? etc. etc.).  They LOVED that! And it gave me a chance to really get to know them better.  They were so different when I talked to them alone as opposed to in front of their friends.  I also discovered that one of my sweet little girls (who is new this year) wants to be a teacher when she grows up!  I asked her what she liked to do when she got home from school and she said "Play teacher."  Which is exactly what I did when I was her age -- I went home every day, lined up my stuffed animals in front of the chalkboard my parents had gotten me, and taught my little butt off.  So not saying I have a favorite or anything, buuuuuuttttt... ;)

Anyway, my little friends are really starting to learn their routines (slowly...and I do mean slowly...but surely).  They forget a lot, so we have to practice, practice and practice some more.  But for the most part, they are getting it.  Seriously, I wish you could come into my room in the mornings.  They walk in, mark their attendance, unpack, I put on a little classical music, and in just a few short minutes, all my friends are in their desks working on their morning warm-up in complete engaged silence.  I LOVE these moments.  I just sit and smile to myself.  Not to say this magic lasts throughout the day (HA) but for those few magic moments, I am in complete teacher heaven.

So let's just say that my first two weeks have not been perfect.  I have had those "Ohmigosh what did I get myself into? I am SO not cut out for this!" moments.  At one point, I literally curled into a ball on the floor in the little corner of my classroom (no, the kids were not there). But then there are those moments when one of my little ones moves their clip up and gets a huge smile on their face, or I get a little hug when I drop them off at P.E., or they rush into the room in the morning dying to tell me some big news in their life that they just couldn't wait to tell me.  Those, my friends, are the moments that remind me why the hell I ever got myself into this in the first place.

I'm a Survivor (...and classroom pics!)

(Do you have that Destiny's Child song in your head after reading the title? Cause I do.)

Ok, so today was my very first day with the kids.  If I had to sum it all up in one word....I can't.  So I'll use 3.  Scary.  Hectic.  Awesome.  It was a noon release day, so I tried to shove as much procedure/routine instruction as possible (poor little things' eyes were glazing over after a while).  But they were troopers and even when I forgot to let them have snack time (ok no one told me we were supposed to do that...and come on, third grader snack time? really??) they still stuck it out and pulled through.  And we all got through the day, no mishaps and no tears (not even on my part!)  I spent most of the day talking TO them (seriously, there are so many procedures to teach...how to walk in the room, how to line up, how to walk in line, where to put your backpack, etc. etc. etc. etc....snooze) so I can't wait to actually start getting into the fun curriculum-y stuff so I can really get to know them.  Because honestly, they all seem like really good kids.  I couldn't spot any troublemakers (remind me to come back and read this post in October for a good laugh...)

Anyway, as promised, I am posting my classroom "After" pictures.  Now, I'm also including the Before pictures.  If you've been paying attention, you know that the before pictures I took were of a completely different room -- the room across the hall which is now fourth grade.  But it's ok and still accurate because luckily, all of the classrooms are designed almost the exact same way.  So let's just pretend that it's the same room, k? K.

So here. we. go.

Front of the room/board - Before

Front of the room/board - After!

View from the front of the room - Before

...and after!

View from the back of the room - Before

...after!

Window wall before...

Turned into our classroom library area!

And just a few of my favorite little parts...

My door

Our Helping P.A.W.S. ("Providing Assistance With a Smile") and my attendance board.  Are you catching on to my theme yet?

My desk corner and our birthday wall

Hanging in my classroom library.  I made that little guy over the summer.  I'm very proud of him!

Clip chart and motivational posters I printed from Technology Rocks. Seriously.

So that's it, guys! My classroom.  My home away from home.  Took a lot of thought, time, effort, money and help.  But it turned out so well, and I love it! Couldn't have done it without my wonderful mom or hubby. 

Oh and speaking of hubby...found these little guys on my desk today when I got back from carpool duty.  Ain't he the greatest?

OMG y'all

I have followers...two of them! And I'm not related to either of them! Nor do I know them personally!!  Shout out to Megan (my very first follower) at I Teach. What's Your Superpower? and Tammy at Groovy in Third!  I kind of feel pressured to come up with good stuff, now that I know it's not just my mom and brother reading it.


Also, more exciting news. Got word today that...wait for it.........I officially have my room! For reals this time.  Hubby is coming with me to start setting up tomorrow.  Oh man, I've been working on so many things and have so many fun things I'm excited about.  I can't wait to post pictures, but I want to wait until {most} everything is set up and looking all cute together.  So stay tuned. Fun things to come!   

Breeeeathe, juuuust breeeeathe.

Ok, so at this point in the summer, my vision was to have a classroom with colorful bulletin boards in place, desks arranged with ample walking room in between, a super organized desk with pictures and alma mater memorabilia, and my beautiful library with the 300+ books I've accumulated, all organized in neat bins with colorful pillows and a cozy reading spot for my little friends.  Sounds wonderful, right?

Want to know what it actually looks like?  Piles and piles of books, Dollar Tree baskets, and an assortment of random classroom items scattered about the guest bedroom and living room in our little apartment.  Pillows, bookshelves (still in the boxes, mind you), pocket charts, lamps, and a {super cute but still rolled up} IKEA rug, all shoved into a little corner in my fellow 3rd grade teacher's room at school.  You could say that things have not exactly gone according to plan.  Why, you ask? Well turns out, the room I took pictures of.  The room I had sat in and rearranged and planned out where everything was going to go.  Yeah, it's not my room anymore.  They moved me.  Now, all of the rooms in the school are pretty much the same, so no big deal, right? Just put everything in the same place and start getting your stuff in there! Yes, that would be great, except that at this point, I don't have a room.  That's right.  I meet my kiddos and their parents in less than 2 weeks, and I have not been assigned a new room.  Oh, and it gets better.  My amazing mom came to my rescue to help me load and haul everything to school and help me set everything up, only to find out once we got to the school that we wouldn't be able to do anything because I didn't have a room to do it in.  So now, I am patiently waiting for my room assignment and key while all my crap valuable teaching and learning materials are shoved into the corner of my wonderful coworker's room, all the while seeing pictures of my fellow teaching friends posting pictures of their adorable classrooms already set up and already looking adorable.  Le sigh.

Ok, complain session over.  I completely understand that there are always unforeseeable changes over the summer.  And some teachers don't even know what or even where they're teaching at this point.  So I am still counting my blessings that I even have a job and that it's at a wonderful school.  And that I get to meet my little ones in just a very short time! Plus, my mom  is coming back to help me once I finally do get into my room.  Seriously, I told her a million times that she didn't have to come because I felt terrible that she had already come once and we didn't even get to do anything in the room. But being the wonderful mom she is, she insisted.  Have I mentioned how amazing my mom is? 'Cause she is.

So anyway, that's why I have yet to post ANY classroom pics.  I've just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for word.  HA! Yeah right.  I have been making posters, organizing my library {good gracious, that's an exhausting job}, writing my classroom procedure book, etc. etc. and lots more etceteras.

Hoping to hear something by tomorrow -- just cross your fingers that I get to see my classroom before my kids do ;)