Why Do You Love Teaching?

Our state department of education is encouraging teachers to share what we love about teaching this week.  Please consider sharing what you love about teaching too!  If you have a blog you can post about it there, share it on Instagram, tweet it or post about it on Facebook.

The number one reason I love teaching is simple...kids!

When your day is filled with this kind of enthusiasm, it is hard not to love your job.

It is easy to feel lucky.

It is easy to feel loved.

It is easy to feel like you have a chance to make a difference.

Education is a gift.

We give and receive the gift of learning each day as teachers.

Since I started a new job as an instructional coach this year, 

I am able to collaborate with  teachers about instruction and student learning every single day.

working together = more brain power = increased learning for adults and kids

Not gonna lie. I also love organizing things, which is a constant process for this teacher.

As a teacher, my world is full of words.  Some people love numbers. I love words.

As a teacher, I can share my love of schedules with students (and now teachers).

 "Is that lady reading a book in her kayak in the middle of the lake?"

It's easy for my family to explain - "She's a teacher. She has a book with her everywhere she goes."

Another reason to love being a teacher...

you get to purchase a back to school outfit and an open house outfit.

(My personal stylist from Stitch Fix chose these for me.)

When you are a teacher, your days and your life (and your goal spreadsheet) are filled with...

This year, I am part of the Instructional Support Team in my Dexter.  

I love my new team!

I am learning so much from each of the talented members of our team.  

One is a data expert, one is a technology expert and one is the dynamic leader of our team.

I love teaching because now I have this opportunity to learn from my team.

Together we are excited, challenged in a positive way

 and on a mission to be as supportive as possible.

There is so much for teachers to celebrate at the end of each year!

And...still we feel like this when someone says that summer is almost over.

Then...the backpacks fill up. 

Buses arrive.

The bell rings.

We welcome back the little ones 

who count on us to LOVE teaching 

and LOVE each of them 

as we learn together.

#loveteaching

Classroom Photos and Big Fat Change of Plans

My school has open house (kind of like meet the teacher night) before school starts.  The Michigan public schools don't officially start until September 2.  Our open house was last week on Wednesday.

Twas the day before open house and my room was unpacked (I moved to a new room this summer), set up for 2nd grade (to loop with my class from last year) and finally finished.   

All the book bins were labeled and put on the shelves.

I was ready for open house.  I'll leave you in suspense until the end 

about the big fat change of plans.

Welcome to my new 2nd grade classroom!

This is my family photo board.  

Since I had these students last year, I kept their family photos and hung them up for open house.

I use this board for anchor charts related to writer's workshop.

(My alphabet cards are from Marsha McGuire - A Differeniated Kindergarten.)

The bins on the top are for chapter book series. The bins on the shelves below are for single copies at each level.  This shelf has a "twin" with different level bins on it.

You can find my book bin labels here. I also use them on my word wall.

You can find my schedule cards here.

This is just a piece of fabric that I found that has a map on it. 

I hang it on the wall, so kids can refer to it and touch it throughout the year.

This is what my room looked like the day before open house. 

Then I received a phone call from one of the administrators in my district 

offering me a position as an Instructional Coach.

A

Big

Fat

Change

of 

Plans

Luckily, I am flexible and good at packing.

Seriously... 

As you can imagine, this kind of change of plans

 is a sensitive issue when you were planning to loop with a class. 

I'm not going to go into the details of how that went down.

Tears were shed by me, by many of the parents and again by me.

Parents talked to their children at home, 

but I will talk to them again on the first day of school next week.

I'll be teaching the class for two weeks until they hire another teacher.

I will be brave and keep things positive.

I am confident that the children will take the news just how I present it...in a positive way.

Children cope better than an adults in so many ways.

And, I'll cry on the way home because I absolutely love these kids and all of their parents. 

As for the new job...

I truly am excited for this new adventure!

It is an incredible opportunity to learn and grow as an educator.

I couldn't pass it up...even though the timing is not great.

In my new job, I'll be partnering up with teachers to help them reflect on their teaching.

I'll be doing lots of reflecting on my own work as a coach as well.

In the spirit of reflecting, 

I'm going to start by trying really hard to participate in the 

30 Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers hosted by Teach Thought.

Day 1 - My Goals for the School Year

(and a few of the most important things for me to focus on in my new role)

I'll still be blogging here...since something has to stay the same in my life. Ha!

Funky First Grade Fun almost turned into Funky 2nd grade Fun at the beginning of the summer.

Thank goodness I didn't change the name then.

Funky Instructional Coaching just doesn't sound quite right. Funny though...

All this moving, setting up, packing up and moving again (to an office in our high school) business caused me to order another Stitch Fix. Ha! I seriously love Stitch Fix.  You can read about it here.

 Oh...and it caused me to return to my Dt. Dew habit

 after completing 3 weeks with no Dt. Dew cheats.  

Don't judge...it's my coffee.

Holy longest post ever... Happy Labor Day!

Michigan Teachers - Happy Back to School Eve!

It's Monday and I (FINALLY) Made it!

I finally conquered the laundry mountain from our 15 day camping trip!  Yahoo! Go me!  Before you congratulate me for surviving 15 days of roughing it...you should know that we camp in a camper. We are blessed to live in a state with fabulous state parks and hundreds of quaint little towns on our beautiful lakes.  So, we "camp" every summer.

Pictures from our trip...

My favorite boys...

The best blessings in my life...

Now that we're back home, I finally have some time to make a few of the things I've been wanting to make.  I'm linking up with Tara, from 4th Grade Frolics, for Monday Made It.

I found these fancy letters at Hobby Lobby to make a sign for my reading corner.  All of my furniture is piled in a mountain in the middle of my new room at the moment...so I can't show you a picture of what it looks like in place yet.  I'm too scared to go there and face the mountain, so I've been working on some things at home.

I found this old straw jar at a resale shop for 50¢ a few weeks ago and I knew it was perfect for my favorite pencils.  I am a proud Ticonderoga pencil snob!  I added the vinyl letters by making use of my Silhouette.

My husband made me a wooden bench for my classroom and I decided it needed a few pillows.  I forced myself to dig through my scrap bin and look for fabric (instead of going to the store to buy more when I promised myself I would try to use some of the craft supplies I have before buying more).  I'll include a picture of the new pillows on the new bench when I get brave enough to face the mountain.  Excuse the dark picture, but it was pretty much dark by the time I finished.

I'm also working on another sewing project, but the big reveal will have to wait until next week. Hopefully, it will be finished in time for the next Monday Made It.

Head over to visit Tara to see other Made It Monday creations!

Happy Monday!

Photos from Camp Read a Lot

My students went to Camp Read a Lot again this year!  

I'm packing this post with photos.

If you want to read more about Camp Read a Lot, you can visit my previous posts (which can be found in my sidebar under Camp Read a Lot).  I host Camp Read a Lot in March, but it also makes a fun end of the year activity.

Welcome to Camp Read a Lot!

Parent volunteers work at the registration desk on the first day of camp.

one of our teepees and one of our campfires (outside the room)

Keepin' it simple with 3 rules.

I only have 3 for my classroom as well (be kind, work hard, have fun).

The campfire in our meeting area.

Camping Graph (pieces included in my Camp Read a Lot pack)

Campfire Stories

one of our camp crafts

Each day of camp we had lots of letters (from parents and staff).

Campfire cupcakes

Seriously, how cute are these? 

My parents ROCK!

Read Under the Stars (one of the daily themes for camp)

The resources I use for Camp Read a Lot and more ideas about the crafts, daily themes, literacy activities and a list of books that I use are included in my Camp Read a Lot pack.

Camp Read a Lot was a huge success again this year!

And...this camp director is glad she pulled off another week at camp.

It was so worth it!