DW's class...

This picture doesn't really have some of the cool stuff that I have in my class, but I'm putting it on anyway because you can see the high ceilings, huge windows, and old hardwood from my oh-so-old classroom. The other one is a picture of my door... looks inviting, right?!!

I just finished two days of New Teacher Orientation for all of SPS... I didn't see ONE other SPU Ed student.... Not even that one girl from Hartnett's class! :) Does anyone know of any other SPUers working in Seattle? I was pretty surprised! Enjoying my final weekend of freedom... except for the Welcome Back Picnic that ALL of my parents will be coming to!

school supplies

hey. i am so glad to hear that everyone is getting in to their classrooms, or have already started teaching. weird! in less than two weeks most of us will be teaching full time, if we aren't already.
i guess i have a question too. what are you all doing with school supplies? the teacher i took over for made the list but i am wondering what to do when they get there. are you taking them and making them community or letting them all have their own??
ugh...so much little stuff to plan.
good luck all of you and i am loving that we can keep up this way!

ps. anyone know if eleanor had her baby??

So Much Space...

Here's a picture of all of us at Blakely!

It's been good hearing about all of your experiences so far! I hope that setting up classrooms and starting school has been going well.


Today was my first day in the classroom... it was a little overwhelming, but I'm feeling relatively calm about the whole experience. The teacher who was in my room before me is just taking the year off and asked if it would be ok if she could leave all of her stuff in the room for me to use! It's been such a blessing because I have tons of books and supplies! There's no way I would have been able to purchase all of it on my own. She has been helping me set up the classroom and giving me helpful hints on how to teach kindergarten (which will be a lot different than what I'm used to - 4th grade).

I'm most nervous about dealing with the parents (one already asked if she could meet with me!). For those of you who have started: How are you dealing with parents?

A World of Difference...

Wow, so many things have been changing on a daily basis recently. It's amazing to me how I am about to be the teacher that I've been dreaming about since I was literally in 5th grade... Before it was a distant dreaming, more like a future goal. Now I am actually having dreams (if not NIGHTMARES) about the start of school. I've been going into my class as often as I can, and am just now starting to feel at home in my room. My mom and I painted the walls and trim in the room and let me tell you- it makes a world of difference! The room seemed run-down and old before, but I feel like I'm getting a completely fresh start now- which is how I think I deserve to feel! I had to send home my letter to the parents to announce their child's assignment into my class. It went out on Friday, which probably means that no one got it until today... I've already had three parents respond (I asked for email contact info.) and they've each given me four contact numbers and told me some about their kids!! Oh, bright-kids' parents!! I should come to expect it I guess... For those of you who know her, I've been living off of Julie's (my principal) long handouts with the FYIs and the School Calendar on them. I'm going to post some pictures of my classroom but my mom has them in her camera right now. I'll see if I can get them and put them up for everyone. I hope that all is well with everyone, I'm glad we're able to stay up-to-date at least, even when we're unable to catch up more personally.

Hello!

Hi Cohort A!
I've never done this (i'm like a non-tech grandma or something), I think everyone else in the world has. So just want to see if I can do it correct :). I hope you are all enjoying the last weeks of summer. I've heard it has been pretty rainy in WA. When I take the dog out at 11pm, it will still be 87 degrees, so Virginia is a really big change for me~but no complaints about amazing weather from me. I miss you guys and can't wait to hear about your classes and classrooms, and I would love if you would post pictures for us to see!

what in the world have we gotten into?

So I have spent this entire week trying to figure out how to set up a classroom. mary, mary, dustin, casey, I know you are all doing the same thing. is it as stressful for you?? I just walk into there and it is instantly overwhelming. annie came to save the day today and has way better spacial reasoning so helped me figure some things out. but really what are you all doing?? how are you setting up your desks? in table groups? e's? or rows? i can't decide. plus really, i feel overwhelmed by like 5 sets of curriculum. i just need some help i guess or better how you are all dealing with this same story.
let me know.
hope all is well!