Classroom Jobs!

All I can say about this is I wish I had done it sooner... Such a time saver and really gives the students a sense of responsibility. I had then fill out applications, make silent appointments to interview one another, and even vote for who would get the job after they explained their qualifications. The eighth graders were not all about the whole activity but they are more than willing to help out with the jobs.

Haha who was I kidding???

I can't believe that it has almost been two whole months of teaching! What a wild wild roller coaster! I can't say that I have loved every minute but at this moment looking back I am really happy (good thing you didn't ask me a few days ago). Definitely no time to keep up a blog, which I really shouldn't even be on right now!
But no matter how difficult it is and how thin I feel that I am being stretched, I know that all of my kids deserve even more than my best so I have to keep trying the best I can. 
Plus, somehow they always bring a smile to my face. 
Teaching three grades, going to school full time, being in charge of student council, helping out with this that and everything in between, while still trying to be myself somewhere in there is A LOT! But hopefully I will make it through and only cause minimal damage.

     

Between some energy boosters, vitamin c, snacks, and my students silliness everyday... I think I just might be able to make it through the year! We might even have a little fun and learn something along the way!

Even though I did not have time to actually post... I took tons of pictures along the way. So now I  will backtrack a bit and overload the blog with my first couple months of teaching!

First Day!

Nerves, excitement, stress, fear, more excitement... Pretty much every possible feeling rushed through me as I stayed up all night and then finally entered my classroom for the first day.
Are they going to like me?
Will I be able to get through to them?
Should I be myself or try to be tough?
Did I really prepare enough? HAH never!
All of these questions and emotions, but somehow you make it happen...

I can't believe that I really made it through my first day. I must say it gives me a feeling of accomplishment and excitement that I have never felt before. All this time I have worked so hard, but now it is REAL!

I do not think that you can possibly plan out your first day perfectly but the more you plan, the easier it is to make adjustments. Be prepared and also be flexible and ready to meet your students where they are with the constraints given.

Basically, I had them come in the room and handed them each a pencil with a little tag that I made. Once they came in there was a survey for them to get started on. We went around the room and each student shared one question and answer from their survey. I introduced myself with a small powerpoint that had lots of pictures. They asked me some questions. Then I showed them a funny lab safety video and had them create a do and don't paper for lab rules.


I also got to go out and hang out with the students at lunch while they showed me how to play double-dutch and basically just got to know them a little bit better.

I could probably write an entire blog just covering first days but I will stop here with some pictures and on the TPT site I have uploaded all of the activities that I took them through along with the actual "lesson plans." However, be aware that because the school that I work at is very CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE these documents fit our specific curriculum and as with anything need adjustments depending on your site and your style. I feel that many of the viewpoints and theories that CLAS implements are positive and could be used throughout a variety of educational settings but I will leave a post covering more of that for a day when I am less busy and more knowledgable.

The first day was awesome! I love my students! Can't wait for a great year!

Science Classroom Set Up

Yayyyy! My very own classroom!

As anyone who knows me should know... I tend to go a little overboard on decorations and such for parties and I am also a little "OCD" when it comes to organization.

My classroom was definitely not going to be any exception to these personality traits.

When I first walked in it is safe to say that it was an absolute MESS as far as I was concerned. Not only did it lack that certain amount of BAM that I wanted to bring, it was pretty filthy and unorganized. Trash and old projects lined the rusty dirty countertops, science materials spilled out of the cabinets, desks were all shoved to the back of the classroom, and it looked much more like a junk room than a science classroom.

After a couple of days of scrubbing and organizing I finally felt that I could begin decorating! Luckily, I  decided to have a Mad Scientist graduation party so many of the decorations from there fit perfectly! I set up a few boards to display student work and also created displays featuring the CLAS content that is culturally responsive and necessary in my fabulous school! Anyways, a week and a half later, by the time Open House rolled around, I have to say I am pretty happy with the way that my room turned out! Check it out, give me feedback, and feel free to steal some ideas!

My huge room! Super intimidating!

Some of the mess...

My door! One of the first things I decorated... Thanks to Pinterest!                                   Some more decorations finally feeling like a classroom

Hip! Hip! Horay!

Yay! Finally, a job! I've been placed at an awesome school in Westchester, Los Angeles called CLAS (cultural and linguistic academy of success)! I will be teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science! Yikes... Nothing like diving right in. But the staff seems incredibly supportive and I got a really good vibe while I was there. So excited to embark on this wild year ahead of me! Wish me luck!

Click here to see where I am working at!

Reflecting...

Taking time to look back on all that you have learned and how you have changed is such an important part of life. With today being our last real day of class we participated in a reflective activity and I a so thankful for the experience I have been through over the summer. Time flew by incredibly fast but I have learned an enormous amount and grown in both professional ad personal ways. I am thankful or the great administrative staff that I have to lead me and mostly the diverse teachers who are going through this experience with me. Although we all have such different opinions, personalities, perspectives, and pasts... We all have the same heart for teaching and passion to help our future students achieve greatness...

Tonight I am just thankful.

The Job Search Continues

Ughhhh!

Let's just say I am a bit discouraged... I have honestly turned in about 25 applications and have yet to receive even a bite. Honestly, I think it might be more exhausting than going on interviews and being denied... It makes me feel like maybe it just won't happen. It is really tough to WOW someone and prove to them what a great teach I would be just by squeezing it into a single piece of paper...

Hopefully there will be a post later (soon) that is completely different and excited about my new position...

But if not I just have to stay positive and realize that, NO, the world actually will not fall apart. This might not be my ideal plan... But I know everything will be okay.

Just the beginning...

Finally, I am about to really start my teaching journey! I am really excited about being able to be able to live out the one goal that I have always had and gas really lead the journey of my life so far. Although I am often nervous facing new things... In this instance I feel completely ready and confident! I want to keep this blog because it is most definitely going to be the most meaningful experience of my life and without someway of recording it all I am sure it will just fly by... Maybe I can even offer a bit of my experience to help someone else out! Wish me luck!