Feeling A Little Overwhelmed

 Okay, I haven't forgotten that I was supposed to post some new photos of my classroom, but......

I am STILL in the process of working on it.  Wow, getting a whole new room up and going from that totally bare canvas... well let me tell you, it is overwhelming!!!  I am not only exhausted, but my mind is fried from all the decisions about bulletin boards (which are not even up yet), where the Smart Board will go, carpets, do I have to much furniture? not enough furniture? is the Monster Theme going to be to scary for 4/5 yr olds? What about specials, here come the special teachers asking when I want to have Art, Music, Science... but of course they only have 20 minutes 1 day a week ;)  so it isn't really what time I want to have specials, they are just trying to be nice I guess.  All of this and I haven't even got the cubby tags up yet and all my little TKers will be here on Friday for student orientation!!!

Oh My!!!  I still have lots to do!!  Although, when I look back at the photos on this here blog... I realize all I have accomplished and know I will get it done, and it won't look half bad either ;)

I'll take photos before I leave tomorrow and post!!!  Since it had better be done before I leave tomorrow or I'm in trouble!!

I hope everyone else is doing a better job at organizing and getting those rooms ready!!  I can't wait to see pics of what your doing in your rooms!!

A Peek Inside the Classroom...

I came into school this week to work on my classroom.  You see, I had shared a room last year with another teacher and since our enrollment went up, I was given my own classroom this year, Woo Hoo!!  Which is GREAT, but it comes with a lot of stuff to do!!!

 

I have an empty canvas!! 

 

 This is the view from the door as you walk in. It is a large room, but I'm bummed because my windows don't open.  I love fresh air and wind blowing through the windows... but, oh well.

All my furniture needed to be ordered, as well as curriculum supplies.  I had boxes of furniture in my room, but no curriculum stuff yet.  Hoping it will come before school starts.

 

 Here is the wall next to the door.  That is where my desk will be and that door leads to the bathroom.  It has the cutest little toilet!!

 

 I have this weird bump out on the next wall... It will hold my cabinets, water cooler, and fridge.  I inherited an awful fridge from our concession stand that is huge.  But, I need it to store lunch boxes so I will take what I can get :)

 

 That is one of my wonderful sons, who gave up his whole day to help me unpack boxes and get situated.  He was a real Godsend!!  Over on the wall is all our nap mats... they are brand new and smell like rubber, so we need to air them out.  I'm glad I remembered from last year.  Those large boxes are my new shelves and my desk. 

 

 Just another shot of the back wall...

 

 This wall will house my Smart Board and white boards.  I was thinking that it will take up a lot of wall space and I am worried I won't have any space for bulletin boards, kids art work, or some of my curriculum materials.  Oh the dilemma's!!

 

  

 Now we are back where we started... 

 

 

 I am losing sleep over trying to imagine in my head the best scenarios for where all my centers should be.  How do I utilize all the empty space and yet keep the flow of the room going.  You will have to stay tuned to see how the room progresses :) I will be going in on Monday, hopefully I will have some more of my ordered materials come in, and I can get things going .

 

 

 

 

I Teach K!!

 

Ok, I know that it has taken me a long time to get this blog post up, but man I have been busy!!  After the I Teach K! conference I was home for about 18hrs, when I packed up my boys and traveled to Long Island, NY to visit Grandpa!!  Then when I got back, I pretty much turned around and started getting my empty classroom in shape (photos to come)

I loved the I Teach K! conference!!  It was awesome.  Better than any other educational conference I have been to!!!  I met so many new friends, shared so many new ideas, and came home with to many ideas to even use.   My brain was, and is, swirling with ideas I want to implement in my classroom this year.  Yet, I know I cannot.  I need to pick 1 or 2 ideas that I can actually do, and will meet the needs of my kids this year. 

 

Before leaving for the conference, Tracy and I linked up with some fellow bloggers on Facebook who were going to the conference alone.  We made plans to meet up for dinner the first night and hopefully we would all hit it off and we would have people to "hang" with during the conference.  Well... it was great!!  I made friends for a lifetime!!  We all had so much in common and everyone was so easy going, it was easy to get a long.  I don't think we had breakfast, lunch, or dinner alone the whole time we were there.  We also were lucky to have at least one person to sit with in our workshops.  It was great.  They all have blogs, so pop on over and check them out!!

 

In the picture above...

Tracy - Tales of a Kindergarten Classroom, Me, Susan - Teaching Doodles, Cara, Holly - Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections, Amy - Teaching in Blue Jeans, and Elizabeth - Kickin It in Kindergarten

 

A highlight of the trip was meeting Debbie Clement.  Those of you who do not know this quirky, fun, and wonderfully talented person you need to pop on over to her blog, Rainbows Within Reach, and read up!!!  She is amazing and is one busy person!!!

Tracy, Susan and LC were lots of fun at the Blogger Meet Up!!  We had drink, snacks, and lots of give aways!!  What teacher doesn't like a give away!!!  Lcie is from Germany and her blog, The Beezy Teacher is great!!  



One of my favorite workshops was by this guy, Matt B Gomez!!  A kindergarten teacher in Texas, who is so tech savvy, I am jealous!!  I wish I could get some of his ideas off the ground. I went to his Virtual Field Trip workshop and WOW!!  I was blown away with what can be done in just a few minutes a day with the kids.  It opens up their world to so many things and that Smart Board won't collect to much dust!! 

 

There was so much going on that week... workshops, speakers (Ron Clark was wonderful by the way, but needs his own post!!), friends, and the exhibit hall (which I spent way to much time in!!)  We also got to do some sight seeing.  I loved it all, but while on Freemont Street we found this guy below...

 

He was really cool... I had to take a picture. Well, I don't know if you have ever been to Vegas, but he has this little sign, with a container, that says, I dance for tips!! or something like that.  Well, I didn't want to see him dance, I just wanted a photo.  So... I snapped away and as I started to walk away, he pointed at me and said, "You don't want me to come down there do you??" and then proceeded to point to his tip jar.  Come ON!!!  Really.  So I grabbed a couple quarters and walked away.  Interesting.  The Vegas Strip was mobbed with these type of people.  Girls in Show Girl attire taking photos and getting "tips", heck I even say an old Bert and Ernie, complete with Rubber Duckie... but11' man their costumes were mangy.  So, be aware if you go!!!  If you want a photo... be prepared to "tip!!"

 

Ok, this post is way to long now!! I really need to say goodbye!!!