Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses

School starts in less than two weeks for us teachers here in Texas and as a first year teacher I bet we are all feeling the same way... a bit terrified. There is soo much for us to learn and soak in that our brains are constantly hurting. Don't worry your not alone. I mean who  knew principals would speak in txt language throughout our week-long training days, it's exhausting! 

So how do we stay on top of everything we have to do as new teachers and still make time for ourselves?

The answer is simple yet so hard to do: It's about taking those small windows of time you do have to stop and smell the roses. Hannah (aka Ms. Cates) and I recently took a trip to our local Farmers Market to take a little break from all our teaching to do lists. Granted all we did was talk about school and our kiddos the entire time... lol but the change of scenery  and friend time was so worth while. And believe me the work was still all there, untouched when we returned. So let's all vow to make these next 14 days filled with lots of learning AND lots of laughs. "Happy teachers = happy kids" (Or at least that's what we hear!)

Spending a Sunday afternoon at the local farmers marker!

Ms. Cates!

Ms. B!










                                       

 - New Kid on the block Alera



Take your classroom library from 10 to 300 books in no time!

Stocking your classroom library is another one of those daunting task as a new teacher. I mean where do you even begin??? Below are some cheap and easy ways to help make your classroom library grow without breaking the bank.

1. Half Price Books- This is the place that I have gotten the bulk of my books this summer; all you must do is flash that shiny new teacher ID (okay not shiny but as a new teacher, it is like gold) and you can receive boxes upon boxes of gently used books for $5 dollars per box! Some half price books will even give away book boxes for FREE yep you heard me FREE!


My loot thus far! Now the real fun begins... organizing  

2. Garage Sales- CHEAP and EASY. Any time I see a sign while driving that reads the two words "garage sale" I reverse my car and check it out. You never know what you'll find. Maybe 25 cent books? Yep that happened!

3. Ask friends, neighbors, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins...  okay I think you get the point. Don't be shy to ask around, make a facebook status about needing to stock your classroom library and believe me you'll get responses (most people are dying to get of old books that are now taking up space in their house. )

4. Local Library Book sales- Check online and see what kind of sales your local library is having on children's books, it may surprise you!

5. Goodwill- need I say more

6. Scholastic book clubs- I have not done this myself yet but have heard from veteran teachers that this is also a fantastic way to help grow your classroom library.

Veteran teachers let us know if you have an other ways to stock up, we want libraries like YOU!

-New Kid on the Block Alera

Teacher Discounts... need I say more!

I recently found a great article on Brad's Deals full of teacher discounts and let me tell you they're worth looking at! With so much prep going into the upcoming school year I'm not sure what teacher wouldn't enjoy this. Here is a list of over 90 stores that give discounts to us teachers by simply bringing our school ID!

I know what I'll be doing tomorrow... no joke!

http://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/teacher-discounts/

The New Girl In Town

       Moving to a new city is hard, especially for a new teacher. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM- EVER. At the beginning of the summer I was constantly frantic because I had no idea how I was ever going to get anything done since I had no idea where to go.

       I’m from Nashville, TN. So moving to a HUGE, GIGANTIC city like Dallas has been a challenge. Nashville is like the size of an ant in comparison to Dallas. I have absolutely no idea where anything is. I am constantly trying to find my way around on my GPS, and somehow I always miss my exit or end up at the DFW airport. Seriously, I’ve ended up at the airport a ridiculous amount of times and I am nowhere near the airport. At least I now know where the airport is if I ever actually need to go there. Anyways, Texas interstates are the most confusing things ever and there are way too many signs all over the place its hard to focus. (I love you Texas, I really do, just not your interstates.)

       So when trying to find my away around to teacher stores (aka Mardel’s- the love of my life and my wallet), The Dollar Store, Walmart, and Target… you can count me absent for at least a day because that’s how long it probably took me to get there. Not knowing where to go has been a challenge when school shopping and trying to get my materials together. I even got so frustrated once that I ended up driving to Waco because I know where everything is there (went to Baylor). Luckily I have some friends in Dallas already and they have been kind enough to show me around. Now I know where my stores are and can get to them the first try. Which makes it a whole lot easier to get prepared for school.  Besides friends helping me out, I’ve also been online ordering a good amount of materials. If I can’t find them, I’m going to make them find me. Having things shipped to me was so much easier. And you can get some really great deals online and oftentimes free shipping. I’ve ordered a lot from reallygoodstuff.com and other teacher resource websites. Online shopping is the way to go. There's a lot of great ideas online and some great products that you may not see in stores.

       Even though it was a challenge at first, I now know how to go to places other than the airport and things are really coming together. So if you’re the new girl in town- you’ll be ok. And if you ever get lost and end up at the airport, you can contact me because I’ll know how to get you out of there.

-New Kid On The Block Hannah 

My Classroom Is Better Than The Taj Mahal

       So a few days ago I was able to move into my room. You should have seen my face the day I was able to move in- I looked ridiculous. I was so overjoyed. I think I was more excited to enter my classroom than I have ever been entering Disney World. When I first entered my classroom, I thought I had never seen anything so beautiful… I’m pretty sure my classroom tops the Taj Mahal. No lie.

       Right when I got into my classroom, I started decorating right away. I’ve been working on it for the past three days (with many more days to go)- even though there has been no air conditioning- and it’s been 100+ here in Dallas. But I didn’t really even notice the heat due to the fact that I am so happy to have my own classroom! Here’s my first photo of my classroom and I will be posting more as I finish decorating!

Isn't it beautiful???

"Get ready because kids will cry"

A few days ago I decided to run my behavior management plan over with my 6 year old niece. She told me she thought the clip chart was the way to go but cautioned me "Get ready because kids are probably going to cry if you move their clips down... Are you ready for that? "

Then she wrote me this note for my desk just so I wouldn't EVER forget her wise words of wisdom.

"Are you ready for that?"

It's true... sometimes kids say it all!

 

-The New Kid on the Block Alera

Classroom Management

       Have you ever seen the movie “Kindergarten Cop?” You know the whole first day when the Governator was losing his mind and the kids were running around creating havoc. Or have you ever had the dream where no matter how many times you tell the kids to stop destroying the school- no one even looks your way or acknowledges your existence? Or have you ever had an experience where you walked into the classroom and had no idea how to become an authority figure? Classroom management is key. As a student teacher, I struggled with it at first. But by working through it and observing my mentor teacher, I have some ideas on how to implement classroom management strategies. A classroom needs structure. Kids need a safe environment.

      

       Here is what I’ve learned so far about classroom management. Every kid is different. Perfect Sarah may never have to move her clip. Crazy Sam may move his clip religiously. Some behavior systems/incentives will work for one kid and may not work for another. In my opinion, you have to constantly be orchestrating new ideas for classroom management throughout the year. Every teacher is different, and there are so many different ways to implement/do classroom management. Every classroom will look different. Classroom management needs to fit your personal needs along with the kids needs.

Here are some, not all, of the classroom management ideas I am implementing in my classroom this year:

1.) Behavior Chart-My kinder team already has a set list of colors we use for our behavior management: green, yellow, orange, and red. At the beginning of the day, all of the students start out on green. Then throughout the day students may have to move

There isn't any white space in
between mine, but here is
my clip chart! TPT

their clip down if they are acting up or not being respectful, and so on.  This chart will be on the white board and students will be responsible for moving their own clip when I tell them to. This way I am hoping students will take responsibility for their behavior and try to make a positive change. (I of course will also speak with them about what I expect their behavior to be, and the fact that I know they can change their behavior from negative to positive. Later in the day when I see them doing something positive, I will make sure to address it- to encourage the positive behavior.) As far as consequences, if a student moves their clip they will have to miss out on something. Maybe a few minutes of recess- I’m not sure still working on that. If students move to red though repeatedly, I will contact their parents and discuss with them their child’s behavior and what we can do to improve his or her behavior. I got my classroom chart off of teachers pay teachers.

She has such great ideas! Go to
her blog to see! Cute coupons!

2.) Incentives-On Teacher Pay Teachers I found some Alphabet Money and some classroom coupons! During the day I will pass out alphabet money to the students who are working well in teams, following the rules, doing their best, and so on. When a student collects 10 alphabet dollars, he or she will be able to trade in to get a classroom coupon. (The students will make the trade in at the end of the day.) Students will get to choose between coupons such as: no homework pass, wear a hat to school, show off a talent, show and tell, bring a stuffed animal to school, stinky feet, etc. I decided on coupons because stocking up a treasure box COSTS A LOT. This way I can keep reusing the coupons, and they are no charge to me. I am hoping these incentives will encourage students to do well!

3.) Routines/Procedures-Obviously on the first day of school we will practice routines over and over and will continue to do so throughout the year. Obviously, first model what to do. Then have students practice. It is important that each time the students practice that ALL OF THE STUDENTS DO THE RIGHT THING. If Crazy Billy is over there running around flapping his wings as he gets in line. Stop him right there and have the class all go sit back down. You do not want to encourage poor behavior. I would then have students tell me how they should line up and say, “Great! I’m glad you remembered! Now let’s show me how to line up the right way!” Then have students practice the procedure a few times the right way. To reiterate what I expect. (Learned this during student teaching and reading the book, “The Daily 5.”

4) Line Up-For my line up procedures, I will have numbers all lining up to the door so that students will not fight over where they are in line. All students will have an assigned number for the week. I will have a line leader and a door holder each week. After each week, students will move up one place in line so that every student can be the line leader for a week. (How our kinder team handles line up procedures.)

5.) Desk Arrangement-When arranging my students’ desks, I will have four desks placed together for each table. In my classroom, I will have desks. Now for kinder I am sure that the inside of their desks will be like Narnia for them and they will continually want to look in them and search for who knows what. So I will have all the insides of the desks in the middle of the table so students can’t go inside of them. Then I will zip-tie all of the desks together so the desks will not constantly be moving around from one side of the room to the other! I will also make sure that there is plenty of room for the students to move up and about and will seat students based on their needs/behaviors. (Got the ideas from veteran teachers.)

6.) Classroom Jobs- I am not going to have classroom jobs for now. Besides a line leader/door holder. I will introduce classroom jobs later on in the semester as the kids get use to school and learn about responsibilities. (Based on what I have discussed with veteran teachers.)

7.) Blurt Chart-I am making BLURT CHART. I am not one for interruptions. If a student blurts out they will have to remove their sticky note. (I will provide some leeway depending on the blurt.) No sticky notes left? Move your clip. (Pinterest)

8.) Cool down in Australia-If one of my kids is having a melt down or just needs some space for awhile… I will have a little corner- Australia- for them to escape to. I will introduce the corner by reading, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Students will be able to go over to Australia and write or draw about how they are feeling and will get to cool down for a few minutes and come back to their desk. I will have a little box for them to place their drawings/writings in that only I will view later after school.

9.) Voice Level Charts-I am also implementing voice level charts. There are 4 voice levels. I will place an arrow on which voice level the students can use throughout the day.

That’s all I have for now! I will post more once I figure out what all I will be doing as far as classroom management! I know everyone is different; these are just some of my ideas. Would love to hear your ideas!

-New Kid On The Block Hannah