Currently, 8-2-14

It's time for August Currently. I tried to do this last night and I was just too tired. I got up this morning with a fresh perspective and here it is. Thanks Farley for always hosting this! It is one of my favorites. Read what everyone is doing Currently!

I woke to a relatively quiet house this morning. I did not mention that the cat is stalking me because he is "starving." Other than that, I am listening to the golden silence and hammering of nails as they work on the Habitat for Humanity house going up just behind us. I posted yesterday about how excited I am for this family and how it increases my gratitude to watch someone be blessed.

Loving my new school. What's not to love?! First of all.... it is a new bulding. *disclaimer: I say new. The proper term is probably "new-ish," it was completed in 1997. Even though we are currently using only about half of it, it is beautiful, well-built, with large classrooms. So that part is to love. (Check out my Five for Friday post HERE to see photos of my room). And "the staff...." is pretty easy to love. It is mainly going to be me, my teaching buddy across the hall (mentor, partner, my everything, my work spouse.... no pressure)~ Mrs. Addis, the school secretary, the principal, a title teacher who comes part of the day (I have not met her yet), the art teacher (twice a week), a P.E. teacher who I have not met yet, and two paras. I love my partner! She's supportive, intuitive, friendly, and passionate about teaching. She will be a fabulous example of the teacher I want to grow into. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm pretty fabulous when it comes to teaching, but I really think I will be a better teacher the more I stay open and learn from others. And that is the bottom line, being my best for the sake of the kiddos that I teach. I love the autonomy in the district, the freedom of being a fledgling school, and the support of administration. I am thrilled. I am getting to know my principal and his sense of humor, the superintendent and his passion for education, and I definitely feel like I'm in the right place.

Thinking that my lawn needs mowed, but that it IS August in Central Kansas and maybe I should just leave it for now (I mean how much can it grow in the summer heat, right?), because in two short weeks, Sean will be taking over care of my lawn again. This is $30 well spent people. I do like getting involved with some kinds of yard work, but I odn't like mowing and weed-eating. I would rather be putting in my flower gardens, or.... well, just about anything but mowing.

Wanting.... new clothes and shoes for school. I have such a hard time finding clothes and shoes. Shoes that fit and that I can actually stand to wear all day, that is a difficult find. I might have to rename my blog "the barefoot teacher." I will have to look through my contract but I don't think there is a clause about wearing shoes. heh heh. My professional dress wardrobe is tired-- the cami's and shirts are pilled, the khakis apparently are worn out, they keep ripping out in the most embarrassing places, the slacks that once were black are faded and sad. *sigh* Come on first paycheck, I am waiting impatiently!

Needing to figure out what sort of classroom management I will put in place for students in my multi-age/multi-grade classroom. Yes, I will do the things I have always done: sticker charts and cool beans. I will push positive character development and anti-bullying. But I want to add an economic system and I don't know for sure how I want to do that. I know that last year they had checkbooks and that it was time consuming (boo, hiss), but that the students benefitted from it and learned a lot (hooray for learning and real-life application). I think we are going to only do the checkbooks for 3rd/4th grade, and only deal with cash for Kinder-2nd. The thing is... I need to put something concrete in place immediately. I also need to figure out how I can put firm boundaries in place immediately and still allow the students to take ownership of the rules we establish.

We had our community open house the other night, July 31st. But that was not official. I also "unofficially" made myself available during enrollment on Friday and will do this again on Monday. Because we are a small school, and community members are quite concerned about the previous teacher leaving, I think it is good to put a face to a name and put myself out there as much as possible. I have "new teacher" inservice on August 8. August 13 is compact day: meet/greet parents, discuss expectations, conference about our school and kids put away supplies. That is our official first day, but classes begin on the 14th. I can't wait. Seriously. All those beginning of school jitters will fade away once the students show up.

Okay, well, I have gone on and on and on, so I guess I should post this and move on. Punky's birthday was last Saturday (and it was HOT).  However, tonight is the official "party." She only wants one friend over. That is great with me, except if said friend has to cancel for any reason.... (fingers crossed and a prayer has been uttered).