Open House...

I wanted a better post up before today.  I've been working on my room all week, and Open House is today.  My hopes were to have a long detailed post with pictures of what my room was, is, and hopefully will be. Life got in the way.  Finishing up at my old job this week as well as starting my new job has taken some time away.  Bad news? I don't have pictures loaded up yet.  Good news? Things are smooth sailing so far! I have to state again how wonderful everyone at this school is.  They are all so helpful and I am so blessed to be a part of this community.  Hopefully pictures will come up this weekend and I'll be able to give a detailed look into my room.  School starts on Tuesday!

Mrs. Kelly

New Job!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Mrs. Kelly starts a new job on Monday! Phone rang on Tuesday while I was on vacation six hours away from home for an interview on Wednesday morning.  You better believe I was in the car that night leaving my husband and children with hubby's family and driving back home.

I've had interviews before.  Those interviews led to a long term sub position but nothing permanent had happened.  I've walked into unfamiliar buildings before, stomach full of butterflies and my mind racing. Sat uncomfortably at a table with new faces who's job was to judge me and my potential ability, and left knowing that I didn't have a job.

This time was incredibly different.  I walked into a building and felt at ease from the start.  Met with a principal, A.P., and a fifth grade team leader who all gave off a welcoming vibe.  Believe it or not, I enjoyed the interview!  I liked talking to these women, I felt like this was a place where I belonged.  The best part was they felt that way too!  As I began the six hour drive back to my family my phone rang again.  As I pulled over to check my voice mail, it rang again.  HR left a message and another school had called asking if I wanted to come in for an interview.  Not even two hours after leaving the best interview ever I was getting a call saying that I got the job!

Teacher work week starts on Monday.  I have a job, in a school, with my own classroom.  I'll be teaching fifth grade in what I think is a pretty darn good school, with some people who (in my one short meeting) I have decided are amazing.  I can't wait.  I have spent the weekend scouring Pinterest and trying to mentally design my room.  I will be posting pics along the way with my progress.  Once school starts I will update more often, sometimes with quick posts just to let my students and their parents know about homework or due dates, other times there will be longer detailed posts.

See you next time internet!

Mrs. Kelly

Applications, applications, and more applications

There is something about filling out job applications.  It's like you're baring your soul to these (to you essentially faceless) people and seeing what they will do to it.

Don't get me wrong, there's a thrill about hitting that SUBMIT button.  It's exciting, you wonder if this will be the one.  I love it.  I'm positive each and every time, that this will be the one that equals a new job for the fall.

Then there's no phone call.

No return email.

Just blank, stark nothingness.

I'm still positive.  This year is more promising than last.  I have a better resume, more experience. Now it's just waiting for the job where I will be the right fit.  

If I'm not the right person for a particular job then I don't want it.  That's the thing about this career that I've chosen, it's important.  In just about any other industry you can go to work and not love it.  You can go in day after day and hate your coworkers.  You go, punch your time sheet, zone out while you're there, and then you go home where you don't have to think about it until the next morning.

Teachers can't do that.  This job is all encompassing.  You have to have a passion for it.  Is everyday the best day? Probably not.  At some point you will come home and cry over it.  You will have days where the kids are mean, you will have days where you just want to call in sick and sit on your couch in sweat pants eating cake frosting out of the container.  

BUT

 

unlike other jobs, you CAN'T DO THAT!  You have to be there for your students.  Sometimes you might be the only positive they have in a day.  You might be the person that inspires them to do something amazing.  You might teach the person who will one day cure cancer!  

That's why when I fill out a plethora of applications I stay positive.  So what if I wasn't the person school XYZ needed, that just means another person is who they needed to inspire their students.  I get it.  That just means my students are still out there waiting for me.  It's all about fit.  Not every pair of jeans can be your favorite.  Not all people are chocolate ice cream people, I'd rather sit down with a bag of Doritos than a tub of Rocky Road any day.  

Soon, I will be a school's Doritos when everyone else is Rocky Road.

Until then.  I fill out applications almost daily.  It's terrifying and awesome all at the same time :)

Summer and Interview Prep

Hello Internet! As summer begins to wind down (though I hear it's over in parts of the country) Mrs. Kelly is getting ready for the new school year and interview season.

 Things on my prep list are:

• STEM projects for students in varying grade levels
• Small group literacy attack plans (and lesson plans)
• Behavior management plans
• Examples of parent contact sheets
• Interview Shoes (my previous dress shoes are no longer useful )
• Took care of this! Yay for shoes in giant sizes :)

I have been scouring the web and previous materials I have to come up with a great interview plan. For STEM, I remembered a WebQuest that I created for third grade science, although I do have to go through and update it for new SOL material, and double check spelling and grammar.

I also have an online collection of kindergarten math resources. These line up with the Virginia Math Standards of Learning.  If nothing else, these resources will show that I'm not scared to put material out there and make it available to parents and students for their convenience.  

That leaves parent contact, behavior management, and small group literacy.  The good news is that the county in which I am applying has small group plans for all teachers to follow, so that part of the interview should go smoothly.  I've been working with their planning and format for a year and a half now, so it is familiar to me and I see many benefits to it.  I also feel confident in my beliefs and practices when it comes to classroom management.  

I prefer to work with students to foster an environment where students become responsible for themselves.  I don't like to single a student out for misbehavior, and I don't like to be taken off topic to deal with these situations.  What has worked the best for me is to allow opportunities for students to earn "free time" and to use non-verbal correction.  If students work well and complete their work efficiently (and correctly), I let them earn a quick round of SimonSays or a game of four corners at the end of the day.  You'd be surprised how the reminder of those five minute breaks can quickly turn a classroom around.  I also provide students with opportunities to be leaders in the classroom.  If I give everyone a job, then a simple reminder of how misbehavior can cause them to lose their jobs can turn them around.  My favorite tools, however, are some stop signs that I found online.  

They are great!  You don't have to say anything, and I am surprised at how quickly students get this concept.  If a student isn't displaying acceptable behavior, I simply place the stop sign on their desk and leave it there until I notice a change in their actions.  Since I circulate throughout the room as I teach, this is easy to do without all of the students noticing.  I have even stuck them to the board when I need to whole class to change what they are doing.  IT'S AMAZING! 

Parent contact is the last thing I have to talk about.  I need to find a cute template for a weekly newsletter.  Like the blog (which is a form of parent contact!), it will have what we are up to for the week, what the homework will be for the week, and I'd like some cool quotes on it.  Maybe a feature student or a parent shout out section.  If anyone finds anything awesome (with a green/blue theme) let me know.  I'm going to try and work on something and link it up here, but I'm not the most creative person.  We shall see.  

I also like Remind101 because parents can receive notification via text message from the teacher.  I have used it before for homework, field trip reminders, and just about anything you can think of.  You can create different contact groups and send different messages to each group.  So if ten sets of parents want to know the homework, but they all want an update on field trips, or other reminders then it can be customized.  It's pretty amazing.  I haven't had any complaints from parents yet.  

Well, I think that's it.  I'm going to get ready for my vacation next week, that may or may not be cut off for interviews and training.  If anyone thinks of something I may be missing leave me a note!  

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” 
― Dr. Seuss

*I do not own anything to which I have linked.  If you notice something has not been given proper credit, please let me know and I will link it in as well*