Meet the Teacher

It was so incredible to meet ALL of my students and their families tonight! So many big smiles and so many hugs! I can already tell that we are going to have an incredible year together! Princess Peach is very excited that FINALLY someone will be around to read to her! Peach misses the classroom as much as I do each summer. Sleep tight everyone! I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

QR Codes

According to Wikipedia, QR codes stand for "Quick Response" codes. QR codes are a matrix barcode first developed for the automotive industry for fast readability and the large amount of data that can be contained within them. You probably feel more familiar with the UPC barcodes on groceries but I am sure you've seen at least a few QR codes in magazines, museums and at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. To use QR codes you need to have a QR code reader app installed on your smart phone or iPad. I have i-nigma installed on my phone but there are many available and most are free. You might want to install one if you don't have one already since we'll be using QR codes this year for many things. Some of the ideas I have already are: scavenger hunts, animal facts, a classroom tour, writing, and math facts. I have no doubt that the students will come up with some clever ideas on their own after we use them a few times as one of my goals this year is to integrate technology into the curriculum in ways that students can easily replicate and improvise. QR codes are fun and a bit like "spy stuff" for kids. That's always a great learning hook! ;) To get you started, here's the QR code that is outside our classroom door. Click on the QR code to find out more about me!

Room 205

Here it is folks... This is where the magic happens... but it doesn't happen looking like this...

I'd better get to work...

Introduction: What is Remind?

A New Year

Believe it or not, summer is over and it's time for a new school year to start. This year, I am going back to my "roots". When I first started teaching 20 years ago,(REALLY??) I started in First Grade. When I moved to central Texas, I, again, started in First Grade. Well, after a few years in second grade (and the library), I'm back in First Grade.

I'm excited to begin a new year. I've had a wonderful summer with my family but I'm ready to be back in the classroom. Of course, setting up a classroom can be some seriously hard work. Especially when changing rooms! It's been a busy two weeks and all I can really think about is that I am happy I have two more days before the students come because my To Do list is getting longer instead of shorter! Here's what a classroom looks like when a teacher first enters for the new school year...

Everything is stacked up against the walls. It's time to take it all down and set it into place. Well, at least a place you think it might work in at first. There's a lot of moving around to be honest.













After working for a day or so, it looks like this:

You're feeling good because things are starting to come together. You're envisioning what you want your classroom to look like and sound like with little ones in there happily at work learning and having a good time.




Then it starts to look A LOT worse because you start dragging things out of closets and boxes that you used to store and move things in! This is when you want to throw up your hands and go to work at the local 7-11, but eventually you get to this:

You know it'll get better the more you work (and throw things out).





It's time to sit down and plan your first few days. What will the students do when they come in? What activities do you want to kick off the year with? What routines do you want to start right away? And that's when you realize that your cute room doesn't work AT ALL and you have to get back in there and move things around to create an even better room that functions efficiently... AND, if your lucky, you'll have lesson plans as well....

and another list of more stuff to do. TOO MUCH more to do.

But it'll all get done. And what doesn't get done? Well, somehow things work out and you discover that what doesn't get done really didn't NEED to get done after all.

That's amazing... just like teaching!