First Week on the Job

Well, I actually survived my first week teaching. First day- I wanted to cry by lunchtime. One of my mentors (the first grade teacher) gave me lots of encouragement. She said she had a horrible day as well. For someone that has taught 30+ years, I took that as a sign of hope. It’s not just me. First days can be hard. The second day was much better. I changed things that didn’t work, and the kids seemed to be better listeners. Thursday was another rough day. It made me realize that I have to stay on top of those kids the whole time. If I let my guard down or lose my cool, I lose control. With determination, Friday was the best day yet. I had structured and hands-on activities for the kids to enjoy and the nerve to stay in control of my class. It is hard though. I know what it takes, but it certainly is draining to be a good teacher. Emotionally, physically, and mentally- I’m already exhausted at the end of each day. I’ll be glad when it doesn’t take as long to plan because I’ve taught the material before. So…without further ado, I’ll try to include some pictures of my classroom.

The first few are what it looked like when I got the keys to Room 11. The last several were taken the other day, after my first week was over. Enjoy.

I’m a picture person…

This is my little area of the classroom, including my desk, bookshelf, and computer/T.V. that I don’t quite know how to work yet.

This area is mainly used for centers or lessons where the kids team up in small groups. Very handy.

This is where I keep most of the books and supplies. The long purple bookshelf is also where the kids turn in their papers.

This is the view of the front of the room complete with “Welcome, Star Students” bulletin board on the left and Calendar Time area on the right!

Miss Jessica’s view from the front.

My new hero. Horton visits students that are listening and working very well. It seems silly, but it works (so far).

Hello world!

Well, this is it! My first big girl blog! I just moved into my first apartment last weekend, so I felt the need to start a new chapter with a new blog. Hopefully, this will be the place where I can rave about how well school is going in the fall or just complain about how crazy my students are making me. I will be teaching second grade. Woo…it will be a challenging year.

For now, I’m just working at the public library, which is about a two minute walk from where I live. It’s kind of a boring job sometimes, but it’s awesome in terms of stress. A lot less than working with kids like I have done for the past three summers!

Earlier in the summer, I went on several trips. The first was to RUF Summer Conference in Panama City Beach, FL. It was amazing!! Beach, Bible, and babes (as Justin says). After that I stayed with my friend Julia in Memphis one night. We went to a local Theatre Festival, which was pretty neat. Something small towns don’t have much of. Soon after that, I went to Chicago to check out the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. Then of course, I had a 10 day trip to Ukraine and Austria with my church college choir. It was busy, but lots of fun! Since I love taking pictures, there are hundreds from these trips alone. I’ll just try to attach a few below to give you an idea of my summer thus far. Enjoy

We ate out during Summer Conference at Margaritaville!

We enjoyed lots of free time on the beach!

I got this done at the Theatre Festival in Memphis.

They had facepainting too!

David & I took several pictures of the bean at Millenium Park in Chicago.

Here’s an ad for the Harry Potter Exhibition inside the museum.

These are a few of the kids we worked with all week in Ukraine.

Our choir’s last concert at Hope Church in Dnipr

This is the Belvedere Palace in Vienna.

This is a shot in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

We had lots of fun in Europe and even saw a symphony!