Almost August?!?!

I told myself I wasn't going to think about school until August. (mission impossible).  I am planning a wedding (aka: spending a few hours per day pinning things to my "I Do" board on pinterest) and was just in desperate need of some recharging after my sweet but very challenging group of kiddos this past school year...so AUGUST was my goal.  However,  the back to school aisles at Target may have persuaded me otherwise... :) 

Darn Target, does it every time!

I am one of those "lucky" teachers who doesn't go back until the end of August...but don't you worry...when the middle of June rolls around and I am STILL going to school, you can laugh at me all you want while you are sunning yourselves by the pool.  And I will be super jealous. Promise.

So now that August is actually here and I'm "allowed" to think about school...my wheels are turning! Unfortunately, sometimes my mind (and pinterest) tells me that I need to do things that I don't *actually*know how to do.   So my "DIY" board actually becomes my "Will you please make this for me, sweet fiance?" board. 

Luckily, I have one of those...sweet fiances that is.

This is Andy.  He is amazing.  Seriously.  Not just because he is building me some book shelves to replace the wire cube shelves (think: college dorm room style) that I've had for the past five years...but for lots of reasons.

I am marrying this handsome guy in May and I am pretty stinkin' excited.  I am equally almost as excited about these new shelves.  Seriously. Excited.

Those darn wire things were all I could afford my first year of teaching and they have served their purpose but last year they started to go downhill fast....and I started to not be *overly* nice when a kid leaned on them for the 23'rd time in one day....and they crashed...and bent...and the little round connecter things popped off in many directions...and children cried...and the teacher cried.  OK, maybe a slight exaggeration.  SLIGHT. Bless their hearts....and mine.
Bottom line...I needed new shelves and Andy agreed to make them for me. Yay!

They are still a work in progress and I cannot, for the life of me, decide what color to paint them but I am excited nonetheless.  Can't wait to show you the finished product and hopefully add some pictures of my room soon! Summer school was held at my school this year and they (gasp!) used my room.  I know, it was traumatic for me.  I think all teachers can relate to why this was such an issue for me.  People in my room...with my things...without my OCD self to monitor.  The horror!  Any non-teachers reading this right now think I'm out of my mind.  But I know my teacher friends understand. ;)  Anyways, once my room is cleaned I will head in to take "before" (If I'm not too embarassed by them) and "after" pictures. Stay tuned....

Welcome to my little blog :)

To find out more about who I am...click the "Meet the Teacher" tab on top of this page. :)

Welcome to my little blog! I have been wanting to start a blog for quite a while now...after being completely and totally inspired by the awesome things I have seen on so many of your blogs!  I have used SO MANY ideas from "blogland" the last two years and it has made my days with my firsties SO MUCH FUN!

Well...most of them. ;)

My color ink budget has been a bit inflated (yikes!), and I'm pretty sure I have used more than my fair share of lamination...but when I get excited about doing new things at school, it rubs off on the kiddos for sure! So completely worth it.

I was lucky enough to join an amazing team of first grade teachers my first year of teaching (5 years ago now?!?! really?!?!) and they have hung in with me as I have introduced them to blog after blog...after blog.

I have taken a lot of what they were already doing before I came along and infused it with some new ideas and although everything is still a work in progress...I finally feel comfortable tackling some new things and sharing what's happening in my room. At least that's what I think now...because it's July...and I am tanned and refreshed and am drinking a glass of wine (truth!).  So ask me again in November... and it just might be a different story. :)

Anyways.... It's been pretty cool to see our teaching evolve (and I'm not gonna lie...we kind of love to hear the "oooh"'s and "aaahh"'s about the cute craftivities hanging in the hall that go along with some of these awesome lessons!)

So I hope I can share some ideas to inspire another teacher...and I thought a brand new school year was a perfect place to start!

I do realize I am basically writing to myself right now. I guess my mom will probably follow my blog, and I will probably force my fiance too as well...but other than that...

echo, echo, echo...

anyone out there?? :)

It would seriously make me pretty darn excited if you would follow my blog...pretty please!

If nothing else, this will be a cool way to document the learning taking place in my classroom this year. Also..confession...it will be another outlet for me to share random pictures of my dog...because I don't have any kids so I might be (slightly) obsessed with his wrinkly face. I mean...look at him.

Exhibit A:

B:

and C:

Happy August!!