I have the best job ever! I love getting a fresh start every year. (Although it's so bittersweet knowing my darlings from the previous year have moved on.)
I love preparing my room, reorganizing, rearranging, regrouping. Thank goodness for my incredible mother who likes to "play school" with me and spends hours helping me prepare my room each year.
I take great care in making my room feel like home. After all, most of our waking hours during the school day are spent at school. My students and I become a family and I strongly believe that a homey environment helps us create that family bond.
There are many comfy corners and cozy nooks in which to settle in and get lost in a great book. There are open spaces and collaborative places to dig in with pencil, pen, and paper to write and create and share. There are tables and chairs and crates and tubs filled with tools, manipulatives, and reference materials so that we can problem solve,
This is a space, a place to learn!
I've been teaching for many years and every year is so exciting for the possiblities that it holds. I don't even try to imagine any more what the year will bring. Each magnificent and beautiful group of students brings so many surprises, so much personality, so many new interests and passions. I never get "tired" of teaching "the same thing" year after year, because while the standards I teach may be the same (my teacher friends will chuckle at that--common core? state standards? both? Who knows?) because the passions and personalities of each class is so unique the way I teach must also be unique.
So, as I put the on the finishing touches--the nametags, locker tags, bulletin boards--I find the excitement and anticipation rising. What will this year hold? I can't wait to find out!
I love preparing my room, reorganizing, rearranging, regrouping. Thank goodness for my incredible mother who likes to "play school" with me and spends hours helping me prepare my room each year.
I take great care in making my room feel like home. After all, most of our waking hours during the school day are spent at school. My students and I become a family and I strongly believe that a homey environment helps us create that family bond.
There are many comfy corners and cozy nooks in which to settle in and get lost in a great book. There are open spaces and collaborative places to dig in with pencil, pen, and paper to write and create and share. There are tables and chairs and crates and tubs filled with tools, manipulatives, and reference materials so that we can problem solve,
This is a space, a place to learn!
I've been teaching for many years and every year is so exciting for the possiblities that it holds. I don't even try to imagine any more what the year will bring. Each magnificent and beautiful group of students brings so many surprises, so much personality, so many new interests and passions. I never get "tired" of teaching "the same thing" year after year, because while the standards I teach may be the same (my teacher friends will chuckle at that--common core? state standards? both? Who knows?) because the passions and personalities of each class is so unique the way I teach must also be unique.
So, as I put the on the finishing touches--the nametags, locker tags, bulletin boards--I find the excitement and anticipation rising. What will this year hold? I can't wait to find out!