I feel like this week has hit me like a freight train going one hundred miles an hour! Summer school and enrichment started Monday, meaning no more sleeping in until 8 and having to be ready to go at a normal school hour. I was really beginning to enjoy those lazy mornings! Although it has been a busier week, here's what I've been loving.

[1.] Take a deep breath! This is the most exciting time where you are finally in the classroom! Although it may be intimidating walking to the office and your classroom that first day, it will soon feel like your second home.

[2.] Take full advantage of your mentor teacher. My mentor teacher was literally the sweetest person I've met. Not only was she an outstanding teacher, but she genuinely wanted to help me get on my feet as a newbie.

• Resources
• I have BINDERS full of resources and materials that either I copied from her lessons or ones that I used for lessons. My mentor teacher also would make two copies of activities she would find. Don't be afraid to ask for a copy if something looks good!
• Connections
• Your mentor teacher most likely knows everyone in the building. Use that to build your professional network as well. 
• References 
• Obviously you're not going to as for a letter of reference the first week your in the class! Build a positive relationship with your students and your teacher. Show that you are motivated to learn and get better. DON'T by any means think you know it all and people's advice/opinions are not valid. 
• Free Things
• I received quite a bit of school and office supplies from the multiple free piles that would show up in the teacher work room or the staff lounge. Don't be greedy and take it all, but do browse and pick up some new materials. 

I've been applying and applying and applying for jobs since districts started posting and I've been at a complete stand still with getting any calls for an interview. Many of the districts I've applied for use Aplitrack, which is an online application process and doesn't allow for any additional materials that would help you stand out. So when a kindergarten position opened up at a school just miles from my home and they wanted your resume, etc. mailed in, I knew I had to add an additional piece to help me stand out. I wanted something simple, yet packed a punch within something simple like a brochure. I could hardly find any examples online, so I wanted to share how I put mine together for anyone else who's thinking about creating a brochure for their future/current job hunt! Enjoy - 

I've been graduated for three weeks now, WHAT IN THE WORLD?! As I'm getting into the swing of adult summer life before I begin teaching summer school, I thought I'd share a few purchases I made this week and what else I've been up to post grad life. 

WOW! It has been since spring break that I posted?! I don't even know where to begin with all the change and updates that have happened since March. Ok so here's a quick run down.

1. The littles are finally here!! They've been officially home for five weeks and life has completely flipped upside down. But, aren't they just the most precious things ever?!



2. I just completed my first week of senior year! Wow, I have been a student for 18 years! I'm in my senior block so I will finally be out in the classroom for a full month this semester, one week in October and three weeks in November. I'm so excited and so nervous at the same time. It has finally all hit me that I'm going to be a real teacher in January and graduated in May. Now that is crazy! At ISU, they require you to have the same section for each class in your senior block. This way clinicals don't interfere with other classes and we're with the same classmates for the whole semester. I'm loving having a core group of friends as it's eased the nerves and we can all get through senior year together.



4.  My blog content won't be changing to much, although I did take a nanny position for the fall since working is not an option during student teaching. I still will be doing daily activities with my little one so I'll be posting some of her art periodically. Look for actual lesson plans as well as reflections from myself (hopefully they won't be major freak outs) when I'm in the classroom, as well as tips and tricks I'll be learning along the way!

Hey y'all! This week has been the littles spring break, can I get a woot-woot!? Even though classes for me are still in, my week has been pretty relaxing without having work. I actually think I forgot what it's like to go to school and not work... 

A little bit about me: I am totally type A, control freak, don't like depending on others when my grade is on the line. This poses quite the problem when you're in a semester full of group work/co-teaching clinicals.

I was getting coffee the other day with one of my dear friends who also is finishing up her teaching degree. We were catching up on the craziness of our semester and I was complaining  about the partners I've kept getting stuck with for these group lesson plans [One partner didn't turn in our lesson plan when I texted/reminded her like 25 times... seriously, her one job?!] My dear friend agreed on the agony of it all but then, gave me some good hard truth [one thing I love about her and our friendship].

She was in the middle of a week long teaching process at a school where they focus on team teaching. Her cooperating teacher [CT] and the CT's co-teacher are two very different personalities. The CT is laid back and more care free, while the co-teacher is bit more stern and things need to be her way only. They had the classes in the library picking out one autobiography each. The CT had told her students they could also pick out one other book for pleasure, the co-teacher, had strictly said no. As students were getting two different responses, the co-teacher came storming up to the CT and said, "I specifically said we are only checking out the one book, and thats what we're going to do." My friend said that the CT just said ok and that was that. But more so the lesson was in between the lines.

As educators, we will be working with other teachers, whether that be co-teaching or team teaching a specific grade. It will be like one large group project, whether we like it or not. We can either be miserable and angry when others aren't doing things the way we'd like, or we can suck it up and make the most out of working with different types of people.

My sweet friend gave me a dose of reality. I may hate group projects now in college, but it is just the beginning. I need to be more focused on the product we're producing then the way it's getting done. I need to be more like Jesus and have compassion on people who maybe don't view grades the same way I do, or work in the same manner as I. I need to be a bit more kind and a bit more flexible.

I was inspired by Lizard & Ladybug's post, Pot 'O Gold Game but wanted to obviously tweak it to fit more of the needs in aftercare. Let me just tell you, the kids have LOVED this game, even after St. Patricks day. I'm going to need to create a similar game for the upcoming weeks.

First, I loved how she used colored clothes pins and the pot of gold was too perfect! I decided to draw my pot of gold, just because I have smaller numbers and sometimes I like the look of hand made things. I also just colored with crayons on our clothes pins. Which, in the future, I'm going to laminate my playing cards as well as paint the pins.



I knew I wanted to incorporate dice rolling but also make it more educational and throw in some math. I work primarily with pre-k and kindergarten students so we stuck with basic addition and subtraction. The procedures of the game are also very similar to Lizard & Ladybug's game.



To start, roll both dice and then either add or subtract them up.
Then, look on the chart to see what color corresponds with the sum or difference you rolled. If you haven't used that colored pin, pin the answer! If you have, your turn is over and its the next players turn.
The goal is to get all six of your rainbow pins on the pot of gold before the other player.



I found myself playing this game one on one with my littles. When it was just two players, I gave us all an extra six pins so we could make numbers up to 12. In the future, I'd love to allow this regardless of the number of students playing. But, with the resources we have, this will do.

Since its the beginning of spring break, I'm planning on creating a new set of this game - non St. Patricks day over our week off. Keep your eyes open for it! :)

Oh! And please go over to Lizard and Ladybug, give her some love and check out her amazing blog!

This week we kicked off our crafts centered around spring and St. Patricks Day! I also tried some fun, new art techniques found on other blogs and Pinterest that ended up turning out great! 

As many of us teacher folks are aware, this past week was Dr. Seuss' birthday! Horray! At my work, the littles don't celebrate Dr. Seuss until Earth Day... why, I have no idea. So, regardless, I wanted to celebrate our favorite author by reading our favorite books and of course, doing crafts! I found all of these inspirations on my Pinterest board.

Ok, I've been horrible at blogging the past few weeks so today I'm doing a quick recap of life.

Well y'all... WE'VE BEEN OFFICIALLY MATCHED!!

Hello Friends!
Horray for another episode of High Five For Friday! This week as been the first full week of school/work since Christmas break, how crazy is that!? I'm more than ready for the weather to get nice again, the snow to melt and warmth to come back to the midwest.

I love love and I love February because it gives you a whole month devoted to all things love. We have had crazy winter weather this month resulting in a few snow days which has delayed some of our after care activities, obviously.

Up first: Heart People
This is my all time favorite valentine craft, an oldie but a goodie. I stretched this out over the course of the week as some littles wanted to do it on one day, others on other days. But this one, I had to grab a picture of - what a hoot!

Bug guy? What animal is this?!  The question I'm asking myself...