Three WEEKS Down

Hey y'all!

I am flummoxed as to how three weeks have gone by already. It's crazy, isn't it, how it flies by? Here are some things I've learned so far.

1. Teaching is physically and emotionally exhausting. I'm on my feet all day, and in my bits of "free time", I'm going to the guidance counselor's office, to the main office, to the copy room, to team meetings...I barely have time to breathe. And my room has a lot of adults in it, which, for someone who needs her alone time to get her head in the game and sort through things, is very much a source of frustration.

2. Kids! They go crazy at the full moon. I have nothing further to add to that.

3. Other teachers will provide advice. Sometimes, you want the advice. Other times, it's less "advice" and more "condescending and unhelpful". I'm good about asking for help. Still figuring out how to kindly tell someone to stop with the commentary.

4. Math fundamentals are SO key. I've spoken to secondary teachers who work in math. They tell me their content is hard to teach. I bet it is. My kids struggle with basic math concepts, and if that backslide has started already, higher level math must be a beast.

Anyhow. I'm slowly finding my footing, and I still love what I do. It's just really, really hard.

xoxo

Miss Zee

Three Days In: Let's See...

Hey y'all!

Three days into teaching! Woo! It's...exhausting. My lower back is a mess of knots from standing, bending over small desks, or squatting to listen to a child read. I got my first spontaneous hug today, a child asked me a question I could not answer (birds...bees...you get the idea), and we spent a long time practicing going from carpet to tables and back again.

I know everyone said teaching was all about behavior management. To me, it's classroom management. I'm not a teacher - I'm a classroom manager. I manage time in a way that everyone gets to pee, eat food, move around, learn to handle petty arguments, get from Point A to Point B in one piece, and learn. Teaching in the purest sense is just a part of my job.

I'm trying to call parents to say hello, and start our relationships on a positive note. Five calls today, a few more tomorrow, and hopefully knock out the rest before our Back-to-School Night. Parental attendance is typically low, so I'd like to get a happy hook in so that they want to come to my classroom. I'm starting with the kids who I feel certain will be the recipients of less-positive calls later on, and it's amusing to hear the surprise in the parents' voices when I say "Nothing's wrong, just calling to say hello and how happy I am to have ___ in my class!". For some parents, I explicitly mention a great thing I've seen their kid doing - just to be sure they know that, despite reputations, their children have wonderful qualities, too.

How about you? What are you doing to reach out to parents?

xoxo
Miss Zee

First Day!

Hey y'all,

Did anyone else sleep oddly last night? I feel well-rested but I definitely woke up a few times, and I also was up before the sun, which is horrifying to a girl who still loves to sleep in till noon.

For many of us, today is the FIRST FREAKING DAY. I've spent the past week nesting in my room, having class lists change once, twice, three times, and planning like a crazy lady. I think I'm ready - my to-do list just has a few last-minute laminations, stapling one more thing, and taking a deep breath.

Also, figuring out where I can find a working projector cart, setting up the SMART board, and a few other things that are important...

Sigh.

Anyhow. I'm really excited to start school today, and I cannot wait to meet all of my kids. I'll be back with a much longer update later on - and y'all better let me know how your first days go!

xoxo
Miss Zee

Classroom Set-up, Revisited

Hey y'all!

I spent a long time over the weekend organizing my classroom - and discovering that the previous teacher (who retired, or moved to another school...I cannot recall which) left a load of supplies in the cabinets. I love her, it's safe to say. I put up the alphabet strips, laminated everything possible, and generally left feeling a bit less frazzled.

Here's a sketch of how my room looks. Let me know if you have suggestions, or just drop me a line regarding your own classroom set-up. Also - we will have two adults in the room the entire year, plus another for a month or so, therefore space is scarce.

xoxo

Miss Zee

Orientation Week Reflections

Hey y'all!

Last week we had district-wide new teacher orientation. Good grief, it was exhausting. Over one thousand of us met in a high school and dug into what it means to be a teacher in our district - learning about the focus for PD that the district has selected for the year, what goals have been set, and an overarching theme of "you guys totally got this". We also broke into much smaller groups to discuss the nitty-gritty details of being a teacher - behavior management, classroom set-up, ideas for building a community within the four walls we're assigned, and so on.

I really enjoyed learning a great deal about the district and meeting the women (and handful of men) who I'll be attending monthly seminar meetings with to support us in our first year of teaching. However, I'm not a big fan of crowds, and this was not only jam-packed, but hectic, and I ended each day feeling as if I had run a marathon.

We spent Friday at our own schools, and I don't know what everyone else did, but we had lots of meetings and get-to-know-you things. My school is one that is in need of a turn-around, at least when it comes to testing results, so there's a lot to do in terms of revamping and rehabilitating instructional practices. In some regards, I'm glad to be a new teacher here - it's all new to me, not a change from something old, just fancy and new. I'm a little more open to the ideas being sent our way, I think, and maybe that will help.

Stay tuned for a room set-up post tomorrow and a "what we did the week before school" post later on!

xoxo

Miss Zee

Ready (or...not) - Room Envy 101

Hey y'all!

Well, I've finished our first week of teacher orientation - focused on us newbies - and I am so tired that I cannot use words anymore. I am grateful for the weekend, I have to say. Tomorrow I'll do some work in the AM in my classroom with my co-teacher, and get some things up, and I'm hoping that having a second person in the room helps me visualize how it will all come together. Right now, I have a large box of a room with furniture and leftover things from a previous teacher (she retired, so I inherited an assortment of items). I have tables for the kids, a desk/small group table for me, a filing cabinet, some rolling carts, and the things for my co-teacher.

The problem is that a lot of my friends at other schools have their rooms set up and they look amazing. I tried yesterday to get started, with visions of Pinterest dancing in my head, and ended up leaving after 45 frustrating minutes trying to get my stapler to actually staple. And I couldn't use the laminating machine. And I used the wrong marker (sleep deprivation leads to not looking at things, apparently) on my job cards, so they all smudged. And I was basically in tears on the drive home, convinced that my room would be in shambles forever.

I know it won't be. I have ideas now, and I'm going to get some stuff done tomorrow. But it is hard to look at other teachers who are all set up and feel so, so behind. I want this room to reflect my philosophy of teaching - that an education is a powerful tool for building your future, and you should enjoy your education in order to get the most out of it. I want the room to be warm and welcoming, informative, busy but not overwhelming, a safe space for my kids to learn and take risks and grow and become stronger people. I want them to love the space, school, and me. And I have to remind myself to slow down, that my room will come together, and that it's more about what I do with them than what's on the walls that will help them achieve everything I hope for them.

Are any of my fellow new teachers feeling worried about this? Or feeling the bite of envy when it comes to room set-up?

xoxo

Miss Zee

A Quick Update

Hey y'all! I am in the midst of new teacher orientation and have MANY thoughts and takeaways. I'm focusing my energy on the work we are doing for now, and plan to write a long post over the weekend.

A few general things: the first weeks of school are SO important, and we are learning a lot of procedures to teach students. A lot of other new teachers are equally nervous, excited, and confused, which is good for my own sanity. And working for a big district means lots of rules we need to follow in terms of how we present ourselves to the world - social media, alcohol consumption (DO NOT DO IT IN SCHOOL SHIRTS), and bumper stickers...oh my.

xoxo

Miss Zee