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!