don't take cold meds before school...

Well I made it 5 weeks of school without getting sick....mostly because I am constantly using hand sanatizer and I am also constantly spraying my entire room (and sometime my children) in lysol! I guess I was bound to get sick sooner or later. I decided I would still try to go to school today, yeah not such a great idea. I took my "daytime" cold medicine, which apparently can still make you sleepy, I wont ever do that again because it pretty much made me feel like I was in a cloud all day. During small group time I had a group of 2 kids at my table reading, I laied my head down just for a sec and about a minute later one of my little boys tapped my on the shoulder and asked if he needed to go to the office to call an ambulance they could make me feel better. So, I stopped things right there and called the doctor. It was pretty much pointless for me to go to school today, it just wore me out even more and its not fair to my kids for them to be stuck with a sick teacher. So the diagnosis is....bronchitis! Well, im certainly not suprised. For those of you that dont know, I had that in college about 7 out of 8 semesters that I was there, there is just something in this Arkansas air that does not agree with my system.
Needless to say, Im feeling a little better now that I have meds. Still havent decided if Im going to call in sick tom or not...I really dont want to because I hate having a sub and missing a day, I think it makes me feel more out of wack than it does my kids.

Sorry for the lack of updates....basically I have no life now and I guess im starting to get used to it. I never thought I would bring stuff home and work all night and still not have things done like I want. Im honestly looking forward to next year because I hope I will feel so much more prepared. Hey, I guess thats a good thing, that Im looking forward to next year; so after this year I will actually want to teach again.

I'll try to update again soon this week, with more pictures too.

i've made it to week 4!!

Again, Im sorry for not updating this weekend. Im just waiting for things to slow down a little bit so I can finally feel like I can get some things down, but Im beginning to realize that I dont think that is ever going to happen...oh well! Things are going well though, despite this very busy week. I have spent the entire night since I got home working of interims and sub lesson plans. Tomorrow night is our first PTA meeting and Open House. Then I will be gone all day Wednesday for ELLA training, Im not even sure I remember what that stands for but it has something to do with Early Literacy. Then I will be out again on Friday because I have to go to Memphis to go to the dentist, but I am really looking forward to coming home for a few days! So this is another busy week.

My kids and I are still adjusting, I guess that is the best way to put it. Overall things are getting much better, but I think I can say that now because I myself, is actually getting used to teaching and to the routine. Its really weird, I still feel like this is something that I go do everyday, not really like its a job. I enjoy it, although some days my kids do drive me crazy and their are still many days when I just want to cry but I think Im finally getting used to being a teacher so that makes things easier. The whole transition into being a teacher is very differently that I thought it would be, and honestly I cant even say why. Student teaching and all the experiences I had at Harding were great, but I really believe that NOTHING can actually prepare you for having your own class. And as wonderful as Harding is, the kids you work with in that part of the state are TOTALLY different than the children I work with, but I wouldnt have it any other way, I love my kids! And they are mine, I guess thats part of the reason why I do love them...and its not always easily, trust me...some days I have to try really hard to love them!

Im going to try to put up some pictures from our Book Character Day parade. It was a lot of fun, the kids really enjoyed. Their mask turned out really cute. I posted the other day saying that we all dressed up as the girl in the Book, Bad Case of Stripes. Basically the story is about a girl who wakes up one morning covered in stripes! Its a cute book. So I actually painted my face and arms with stripes, I never thought I would do that, but all the other teachers were doing big things so I felt the pressure! I looked crazy of course, but my kids reaction was totally worth it!
We also have grandparents day this week...see, I told you it was going to be a busy week!

Overall things are good. I had one student transfer to another school and then 2 of my problem children were moved to another class, thanks goodness! So we are adjusting to our new class of 15, which is a good number I think!
I still keep thinking that im going to go back and start classes at Harding soon, but im not...its werid! But im loving life in Little Rock, Im thankful for my school and all the people I work with! If I didnt have such a great group at school, Im not sure I could handle the problems i've had! I dont really feel like I have much of a life anymore but I do get to see my favorite people :-) and if it wasent for them I may have never ended up staying in Little Rock.

A bad case of the stripes!

Im sorry for not updating over the 3 day weekend but I'll update tonight and this weekend, alots beeing going on!!

As I speak my kiddos are making mask for our favorite book character parade tom. We read David Shannons, A Bad Case of the Stripes and now we are making mask to wear tomorrow. They are cracking me up with the masks! I'll have to take pictures tom and put them up. And if you havent read that book, you should...its too funny!!

Oh, and to Amy Smart....thank you for your comment :-) and yes, i know myspace has a blog section, but I cant log into myspace from school, you know....they like to block some of our internet sites like the good ole days at HU!

i hate ants!

this will be a short update because I am really wanting to get in bed early. Well today, to sum it up...one of my children was suspended, another spent the whole day in the principals office and 3 others were removed from my room and spent the rest of the day with other teachers because they were so out of control in my room. And on top of everything else going on, my room has been taken over my ants!!!! That was actually my breaking point today believe it or not, I was holding it together until I saw the ants all over my bag and then came the tears! So I called my mother during lunch and told her I wanted to quit (for the 10th time im sure) and she of course told me I couldnt. The day got a little better and my fingers are crossed for tom!

Better late than never...

Im sorry Im just not updating but this last week has been a busy rollercoster!! I added a few pictures, since im just now finding out how to work this blog thing out so im not sure how the pictures are going to post so I couldnt really figure out how to add captions. But, you get the idea. There are a few from before and some of after. There is one I took this week, its of the kids from my class and my friend joannas class next door. We got out classes together and read the book chicka chicka boom boom and then we had all the kids color and cut out letters to decorate the big tree outside of our rooms and then we went out in the hall and sat under the tree and re-read the book, the kids loved it!

Well, week one! Well let me just start off by saying the first week of school was so much different than I thought it would be! One of the biggest things i've learned this week is no matter what I learned in college, experienced during student teaching etc...NONE of that can actually prepare you for your first day of school when you're sitting there with 18 little kids around you looking up to you to see whats going to happen next! Oh my goodness, im still trying to figure out this whole teaching thing and its still weird for me to think that this is my job. That these are my kids and will be for the entire year, and to them I am an adult and when I send letters home for their parents its actually real! But at the same time its pretty exciting bc it doesnt really feel like a job to me, its just something I get to wake up and do every morning. The first few days were pretty tough. I'm not going to lie. My first morning of teaching was so overwhelming, during the lunch break I walked into the room with my other first grade teachers and couldnt help but start crying, thank goodness I wasent the only one! But out of 5 days I only cried 3, and im sure tihs next week will be better. The first day was just rough, not that anything bad really happened but I think it was mostly overwhelming, I remember just sitting there thinking, what have I gotten myself into! I dont want to come back tomorrow, and is it too late to get out of this! Now looking back it was a little silly, im sure though some days I will feel like that again. But through out the week things got much better!

Let me just tell you a little about my class....I love them, but they are a handful!!! Oh my goodness, Im not just making things up, just so you know everyone thats come into my class has told me, "wow, you've got your hands full!" and do I ever!!!! I've got about 6 of them that will prob cause me to have no hair by the end of the year! I also have 4 ESL (English as a Second Language) kids which is a little difficult for me because I've never had any training before with ESL kids. I think this year is going to be a big challenge for lots of ways! But I know i'll make it!
I should be getting in bed soon, but hopefully I'll be able to update again soon. This week should be alot less stressful, I hope! I hope everyone has a good week!

im sorry for the lack of updates this week...needless to say, im not sure i have ever been more exhausted in my entire life. Things are going ok though, the first day was much harder than I thought it would be. I've got some pictures and lots to tell, just not tonight. Its 9pm and im going to bed! I promise I will update soon, if not tom or fri for sure this weekend.

P.S.

I know I said I was going to post pictures, and I really did have every intention of doing that. But when I got to school yesterday I took my camera out and realized I left my memory card at home, but dont worry i've already fixed that so I'll take plenty of pictures tomorrow and post them asap!