Some Fun Things Happening!

Hello blogging friends! I hope everyone is doing well. 

Was your week as busy as mine? We had so many fun things happening in class. This week I started using the program Class Dojo with my class and my first graders are loving it. I think this is the best behavior they have had all year. What took me so long to use it? Don't get me wrong, I still have some behavior issues, but they are far less than they were. If you have not tried this site yet, give it a try. You will love it. 

This is such a great classroom management program. I have it set up on my computer or iPad with the projector for the kids to see. I also have it set up on my phone. It is amazing how quiet it gets when the kids see that I have given out points. They even think I am a magician because points were given out, and I never left the back of the classroom while working with a group of students or walking around giving them help. 

We also celebrated our 100th day of school this week. We did some fun things in class on our own, and then we came together with our whole school and did some more activities. It is really fun being in a school with only 54 students in grades K through 4th. It allows us to do a lot more things with the whole school. 

The kids loved coming to school in all their fun T-shirts. They created shirts with 100 things on them. 

Of course we had to make our 100 snacks. This was a favorite of the day for the kids. 

Finally, I am so excited about going to the Southern California Kindergarten Conference at the end of the month. This is my first year teaching first grade and I am so excited to learn tons of great insight from some wonderful teachers. I was also able to just get in on the Blogger Bash before it sold out. Is anyone else planning on attending? I can't wait for this conference and to meet up again with some of my favorite bloggers. 

I hope that everyone has a great rest of their weekend! See you all again soon in Bloggerland!

I am back!

WOW!!!! It has been a really busy last few months and this blog has been neglected. 

I am now finally done with my teaching credential and my masters degree. That means I should a lot more time for blogging. 

Another great thing that happened was that I got a job!!!

I am now working at a small school, teaching first grade. It is different then second grade, but I am really enjoying it. And the best thing is that there are tons of amazing bloggers out there that I can follow and learn from about first grade. 

The last couple months of school we have been doing so many things. This last week we celebrated red ribbon week like a ton of other schools. We had dress up days and the kids had tons of fun. 

On Monday we started out with nerd day because we are too smart for drugs.

On Tuesday we had crazy hair and hat day.

Wednesday was red sock day and Thursday was favorite team jersey day, but in all the craziness I forgot to take pictures. 

On Friday the kids wore all red and we had a whole school red party. Here is a picture of all the kids having tons of fun. 

We had lots of fun this last week. I am so happy to be back in blog land. So until next time, I hope you all have a great rest of your Sunday.

A sneak into my life

Life has been so busy the last couple weeks! I am so sorry that I have not been on much the last week and a half to post. But I am here today. I stayed home with a terrible migraine. I've slept a lot and am finally doing a little better, so I thought it would be nice to get a post together. 

Here is why I have been a little busy... I have been teaching for nine years, but never finished my credential. I finished all of the classes right away, but I have really bad test anxiety and was afraid to take all the necessary tests. Last year I decided, with some pushing from my principal, that I should get it done. So I buckled down and studied really hard to finish up all of the terrible tests you have to take to become a credentialed teacher. The great news is that I passed them all, but then found out that my school was accredited with the National Lutheran Schools Association instead of WASC so I would still have to do student teaching. 

I have been spending the last month or so getting everything ready to submit for student teaching. The new battle I am facing is doing the full 80 days at a public school rather than doing part of the days at a public school, and then part of the days in my own classroom. I keep getting the run around on what to do. I am not able to do part of the days during the summer because all of the districts around me have gone back to traditional schedules. At least my school is really supportive. All of the teachers at the school are really excited for me. They all know this is what has to happen for my future, and they have all been talking to the principal making sure I get to do what is best for me. 

So it looks like this spring I will be taking a leave from my school and working on finishing up my credential. I am a little scared, but also excited about the opportunities that this will bring. Does anyone have any advice for me during student teaching?