Classroom Update and Linky Parties!

Whew!  I went into my classroom on Thursday and almost finished unpacking.  I keep forgetting my camera, so I don’t have any pictures . Maybe next week.  I have a presentation next week and needed to grab a few things from my classroom, so I spent a lot of time digging through boxes.

I decided to go with the Dots on Turquoise patterns for my classroom!  I am so excited! I’m trilled to find so much of my stuff already matches and think it will look great in my new classroom.

So far, everything is fitting so well into my room.  I have tons of shelving and containers that I have bought for different classrooms and they never seem to fit when I move, but they all seem to be working here.  I am taking that as a good sign!

I am linking up with a bunch of linky parties!

Haley at Following Optimism, is hosting a "Say No to Stress" Linky Party.

The first thing I have done is to leave work at a reasonable time.  I used to stay until 7 or 8 at night, but really try to leave by 4:30 or 5:00. I like to read or quilt on my down time.  Quilting is very methodical and relaxes me. I also have a nice 20 minute drive home and I sometimes stop and pick up a milkshake at the gas station (I know, I know, but its literally the only place I pass on the way home!) It is so bad, I when I taught in a town where we had a McDonalds,  I would stop and get a medium Coke and a Medium Fry with lots of Ketchup!

My guilty pleasure is thrift store shopping!  It has been just a bit out of control lately!  I love clothes and bags and belts and jewelry and book and dishes.  You can find so many great things at Goodwill and keep things out of the landfills.  I know some folks think “eww!”, but really, just give everything a good was in the washer or hot soapy water.  It can’t be any worse than all the stuff that kids bring into our classrooms!  Coffee and chocolate are a very close second and third!

I send a weekly newsletter home.  It talks about what we are learning in every subject, give activities to do at home, and reminders about upcoming events.  My new grade level does a weekly student letter home. I’m not sure about the amount of time this takes.  Is it more beneficial to spend 30 minutes having students write letters to their parents or creating varied and meaningful writing pieces. I also maintain a website with a great deal of information.  I think I will try using it blog style this year with my students.  Maybe we could write a weekly letter together and put it on there.  I try to make bi-weekly phone calls to each family just to keep in touch. It can head off a lot of concerns.

I'm linking up with Traditions, Laughter, and Happily Ever After to share with you what I've been up to this summer.  I’m not really sure what I have been up to! 

I have been spending a lot of time on the computer – hopefully getting some units ready for TPT.

I have been putting together two workshops for next month.  On is a regional conference and I am presenting a 3 hour course on Technology in Literacy Centers.  The other is a workshop for my district and focuses on Hands On Grammar Activities for the the new CORE Curriculum.

I planned a 50th Anniversary party for my in-laws. It was 10 times more complicated than planning my wedding!

I attempted to plan a 15 year high school reunion – which we ended up cancelling.  Say yeah for lots of work for no reason!

I moved my crazy-huge classroom to another building and am getting ready to teach a third grade again.

I am trying very hard to purge and simplify both my classroom and my house.

So, yeah, I haven’t been up to much!

Check back this afternoon to check out the 5th and final part of my teacher story and how I got to where I am now in my career!