I survived my first year as a Kindergarten teacher!
I can still remember receiving the letter from my school district indicating that my new placement upon returning from Germany would be Kindergarten at a different school than I had previously worked.
I was less than enthusiastic to say the least.
As a first grade teacher, I always thought that Kindergarten students were just so needy. I was not interested.
But, after teaching two groups of little cherubs all year, I have to say that not only did I survive my first year as a Kindergarten teacher, but I loved it!
Loved
It
I had many challenging days and many moments of frustration, but it was so worth it. I was definitely very choked up today reading Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten and watching the end of the year slide show. My AM kiddos were actually pretty subdued (at least until PE) and I think they were very unsure about experiencing the last day of Kindergarten. I got lots of hugs as they left to get on the buses. My PM class was a bit more excited about the last day.
It feels surreal that the year is over. It's hard to believe and as I have said many times, this year feels like it went by on fast forward. It is also weird that it was only the last day for 1/2 Kinder and everyone else still has school tomorrow until noon.
I immediately starting organizing and recycling after the kiddos left and I am pretty sure grades are 100% done. I am still waiting on grades from the specialists, but I am donezo. I am excited to have a day and a half to just fix up my room and organize everything!
I just have that one little hurdle to get over tomorrow and I will be the happiest girl in the world. Ok, I will be happier Sunday when I am in the arms of my hubby, but tomorrow is going to feel pretty good. Hubby officially has a job back in Portland starting later in the summer, so we are really excited for many things.
Happy Summer!
So Close
Today I took both of my classes on a fishing field trip. Yes, that's 41 kiddos out and about with fishing poles and nets.
I was kind of dreading the hour long bus ride both ways, but it actually wasn't that bad.
I had tons of parent help, which always makes field trips much better.
The kiddos were so excited to catch fish, so it was great to see their enthusiasm and their uninhibited enjoyment of nature, worms, fish, and the yuckiness of cleaning their catch.
We got a little delayed due to one of our buses hitting a parked car in the parking lot at school before we got on. But, that was the worst part of the day, so I consider myself pretty lucky.
No serious injuries, no lost children, no illness. Just fun.
It is really funny to see all the kiddos who usually have the most energy and are the most challenging in class completely asleep on the bus ride home. They sure were tuckered out. Thankfully I had parent chaperones for most of my more difficult boys. It was great to have their support.
Since it's a bit tough to stay organized with both of my classes in the classroom at once, I put on a little slide show that I made with photos from the year. It was the perfect way to keep the kiddos occupied during morning check in before we left on the buses. I wanted to show just part of it and save the rest for the last day, but we ended up watching the whole thing since we couldn't get on the road when we had planned. I think I am going to show it again tomorrow because 1. I didn't really get to sit and enjoy it since I was busy this morning and 2. I still need to do a little bit of assessing tomorrow so I need something to keep the kiddos busy. They were so excited to see themselves and their classmates in the photos, so I think they will enjoy watching it again in a quieter setting without all the field trip energy pulsing through the room.
I am almost done with report cards, with the exception of some random things I need to assess tomorrow with certain kiddos. I am happy that reports are almost entirely under my belt so that once school is over tomorrow, I can just focus on getting 100% ready for my core defense on Thursday morning.
Tomorrow is the last day of school! ::big smiles::
(but also some sadness that some of the sweetest kiddos I have ever taught will be leaving me...)
I was kind of dreading the hour long bus ride both ways, but it actually wasn't that bad.
I had tons of parent help, which always makes field trips much better.
The kiddos were so excited to catch fish, so it was great to see their enthusiasm and their uninhibited enjoyment of nature, worms, fish, and the yuckiness of cleaning their catch.
We got a little delayed due to one of our buses hitting a parked car in the parking lot at school before we got on. But, that was the worst part of the day, so I consider myself pretty lucky.
No serious injuries, no lost children, no illness. Just fun.
It is really funny to see all the kiddos who usually have the most energy and are the most challenging in class completely asleep on the bus ride home. They sure were tuckered out. Thankfully I had parent chaperones for most of my more difficult boys. It was great to have their support.
Since it's a bit tough to stay organized with both of my classes in the classroom at once, I put on a little slide show that I made with photos from the year. It was the perfect way to keep the kiddos occupied during morning check in before we left on the buses. I wanted to show just part of it and save the rest for the last day, but we ended up watching the whole thing since we couldn't get on the road when we had planned. I think I am going to show it again tomorrow because 1. I didn't really get to sit and enjoy it since I was busy this morning and 2. I still need to do a little bit of assessing tomorrow so I need something to keep the kiddos busy. They were so excited to see themselves and their classmates in the photos, so I think they will enjoy watching it again in a quieter setting without all the field trip energy pulsing through the room.
I am almost done with report cards, with the exception of some random things I need to assess tomorrow with certain kiddos. I am happy that reports are almost entirely under my belt so that once school is over tomorrow, I can just focus on getting 100% ready for my core defense on Thursday morning.
Tomorrow is the last day of school! ::big smiles::
(but also some sadness that some of the sweetest kiddos I have ever taught will be leaving me...)
Almost There
Wow, it's hard to believe that next Sunday at this time, I will be fast asleep in Germany right next to my very cute husband! This year has flown by and I am in disbelief that the school year is almost over. I am officially done with classes and homework until next fall (pretty psyched about that!) and I am only taking one course per term next year and that class only meets once a month (one weekend per month I should say), so it is quite the big relief to leave behind the year of 13-14 credits each term while also working full time and missing hubs.
I have three days left with the kiddos before it's officially summer break. Monday is a regular day, Tuesday we are going on a fishing field trip, and Wednesday is the last day. I brought their journals home this weekend and am trying to get report cards mostly completed so this week I can focus on just enjoying the kids, getting through my core defense, and then just cleaning and organizing in my classroom Thursday afternoon and Friday. I have my room at home almost entirely packed up and put in storage with the exception of the two bags I am taking with me to Germany and some other stuff I need for the week, so I am feeling pretty ready to go. I honestly do not have anything planned for my kiddos, so I need to put a little something together so there is some structure in the classroom up until the end. I know we have several post fishing trip activities planned, but I need some stuff on the agenda for tomorrow so I can do some final assessments, listen to kiddos read, and make sure everything is in order in terms of wrapping up the year. I am pretty much done with teacher led stuff and will probably have them make some father's day cards, work in their journals, and wrap their father's day gifts. It's always fun to involve them in some end of the year clean up/organizing as well.
I got a manicure and a haircut this weekend. I took one last load to my storage unit. I celebrated a birthday with my dear friend Jilly. I am in the middle of baking a cake for some cake pops. And, I am learning what it feels like to have free time again.
5 more days in PDX before a fabulous summer in Europe enjoying my tiny German apartment, walking everywhere and not using a car, running the trails in the woods near where we live, sleeping late, and most importantly feeling married again!
can.not.wait!!!!
I have three days left with the kiddos before it's officially summer break. Monday is a regular day, Tuesday we are going on a fishing field trip, and Wednesday is the last day. I brought their journals home this weekend and am trying to get report cards mostly completed so this week I can focus on just enjoying the kids, getting through my core defense, and then just cleaning and organizing in my classroom Thursday afternoon and Friday. I have my room at home almost entirely packed up and put in storage with the exception of the two bags I am taking with me to Germany and some other stuff I need for the week, so I am feeling pretty ready to go. I honestly do not have anything planned for my kiddos, so I need to put a little something together so there is some structure in the classroom up until the end. I know we have several post fishing trip activities planned, but I need some stuff on the agenda for tomorrow so I can do some final assessments, listen to kiddos read, and make sure everything is in order in terms of wrapping up the year. I am pretty much done with teacher led stuff and will probably have them make some father's day cards, work in their journals, and wrap their father's day gifts. It's always fun to involve them in some end of the year clean up/organizing as well.
I got a manicure and a haircut this weekend. I took one last load to my storage unit. I celebrated a birthday with my dear friend Jilly. I am in the middle of baking a cake for some cake pops. And, I am learning what it feels like to have free time again.
5 more days in PDX before a fabulous summer in Europe enjoying my tiny German apartment, walking everywhere and not using a car, running the trails in the woods near where we live, sleeping late, and most importantly feeling married again!
can.not.wait!!!!
Disappearing Act
I disappeared again....
I had such a nice little blogging streak going, but then four days in a row of class happened, a little celebration shopping happened after the last class of the weekend, and a busy Sunday ensued.
Here's a recap:
Wednesday: Last Proseminar class of the year! Done and done!
Thursday: Tore out of my classroom at three to get to campus in time to practice my core presentation before my actual class. Left my classroom in total disarray and left for the weekend without a single thing written on my lesson plans for next week. Did my practice presentation for some friends, had class until 7:45, went to my other weekend class that happened to be scheduled the exact same weekend as my writing class until 9, hung out with some friends from class until 10:15, stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get a snack to bring to class the following day, got totally lost in choosing father's day cards, got home at 11:15, stayed up until 1 creating slides for my presentation on Saturday.
Saturday: Went to class from 9-2. Decided to treat myself and went to the outlets. Bought some baby gifts and a new Coach bag (which was totally on sale by the way!), caught up on some TV namely Glee and How I Met Your Mother. And, I have to say I was pretty disappointed by the finale of Glee. Considering they were in New York at Nationals, I was totally uninspired by the music and fastforwarded through several of the solos. This girl does not have time to waste. I was so tired after being up so late so many nights this week that I took a sleeping pill and crashed early.
Sunday: This morning I skipped my weekly Sunday run and slept in! It was so nice to wake up without an alarm. I went with my roomie to see her new place, got Starbucks, hit up the adidas store, then came home and immediately went back out to do errands. I got some storage boxes at BBB, came home and started packing and organizing since I am moving back to Germany in TWO weeks. I only have one more weekend in PDX.... I got pretty organized, but I just have a lot of stuff, so there is still lots of work to be done. Finally at about 5, I went to school and tried to get stuff ready for the week. Unfortunately my first nightmare happened while I was there working alone and both of the copiers got jammed. Not good for productivity considering we are supposed to have our office staff deal with that stuff so I was afraid to really try to fix the jam because it would be very likely for me to break it in the attempt to make it better. Actually, setting the alarm off is really my biggest fear, but I already did that earlier this year, so since that was already off the table, jamming the copiers is the runner up. My roomie and I watched a movie and I spent the whole time cutting out the things I laminated and alphabetizing kiddos' letter books so they will be ready to go home this week.
This week is our last full week of school, but I am taking Thursday off for an appt, so really it's only a four day week and then we have three days next week. I tried making a cool slideshow with pics from the year for my kiddos but it didn't really work and I was too tired to try harder.
Now, it's time for bed because I was a walking Zombie all last week from not getting enough z's!
I had such a nice little blogging streak going, but then four days in a row of class happened, a little celebration shopping happened after the last class of the weekend, and a busy Sunday ensued.
Here's a recap:
Wednesday: Last Proseminar class of the year! Done and done!
Thursday: Tore out of my classroom at three to get to campus in time to practice my core presentation before my actual class. Left my classroom in total disarray and left for the weekend without a single thing written on my lesson plans for next week. Did my practice presentation for some friends, had class until 7:45, went to my other weekend class that happened to be scheduled the exact same weekend as my writing class until 9, hung out with some friends from class until 10:15, stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get a snack to bring to class the following day, got totally lost in choosing father's day cards, got home at 11:15, stayed up until 1 creating slides for my presentation on Saturday.
Saturday: Went to class from 9-2. Decided to treat myself and went to the outlets. Bought some baby gifts and a new Coach bag (which was totally on sale by the way!), caught up on some TV namely Glee and How I Met Your Mother. And, I have to say I was pretty disappointed by the finale of Glee. Considering they were in New York at Nationals, I was totally uninspired by the music and fastforwarded through several of the solos. This girl does not have time to waste. I was so tired after being up so late so many nights this week that I took a sleeping pill and crashed early.
Sunday: This morning I skipped my weekly Sunday run and slept in! It was so nice to wake up without an alarm. I went with my roomie to see her new place, got Starbucks, hit up the adidas store, then came home and immediately went back out to do errands. I got some storage boxes at BBB, came home and started packing and organizing since I am moving back to Germany in TWO weeks. I only have one more weekend in PDX.... I got pretty organized, but I just have a lot of stuff, so there is still lots of work to be done. Finally at about 5, I went to school and tried to get stuff ready for the week. Unfortunately my first nightmare happened while I was there working alone and both of the copiers got jammed. Not good for productivity considering we are supposed to have our office staff deal with that stuff so I was afraid to really try to fix the jam because it would be very likely for me to break it in the attempt to make it better. Actually, setting the alarm off is really my biggest fear, but I already did that earlier this year, so since that was already off the table, jamming the copiers is the runner up. My roomie and I watched a movie and I spent the whole time cutting out the things I laminated and alphabetizing kiddos' letter books so they will be ready to go home this week.
This week is our last full week of school, but I am taking Thursday off for an appt, so really it's only a four day week and then we have three days next week. I tried making a cool slideshow with pics from the year for my kiddos but it didn't really work and I was too tired to try harder.
Now, it's time for bed because I was a walking Zombie all last week from not getting enough z's!
dunzo
Paper
is
in
41 pages representing two years of hard work, endless hours of homework, weekends that passed me by as I sat in class, evenings overshadowed by highlighting and post its, and year number three of my marriage spent away from my hubs as I worked hard to catch up with my colleagues who were not off living in Germany last year.
It is 11 pm and I feel like partying! Who's with me?
The hard part is over...
yet it's not.
I still have to present and defend this baby of mine in front of my advisers and anyone else who wishes to subject themselves to what will probably be a very nervous person talking about scripted core reading programs and culturally and linguistically diverse students.
But, for now, I have a little bit of reprieve until my defense date [June 16]. Am I going to enjoy that?
Hell yeah!
Am I temporarily ignoring the fact that I still have a book review to write that is due on Friday and I haven't even finished the book. Oh, yes.
But, right now, this is my moment to just sit back and smile...soaking in the relief that comes with turning that paper over to my three committee members who now have the next two weeks to pore over it and prepare some tough questions to fire my way on 6/16.
Mrs. Sneaker is having sweet dreams tonight people!
is
in
41 pages representing two years of hard work, endless hours of homework, weekends that passed me by as I sat in class, evenings overshadowed by highlighting and post its, and year number three of my marriage spent away from my hubs as I worked hard to catch up with my colleagues who were not off living in Germany last year.
It is 11 pm and I feel like partying! Who's with me?
The hard part is over...
yet it's not.
I still have to present and defend this baby of mine in front of my advisers and anyone else who wishes to subject themselves to what will probably be a very nervous person talking about scripted core reading programs and culturally and linguistically diverse students.
But, for now, I have a little bit of reprieve until my defense date [June 16]. Am I going to enjoy that?
Hell yeah!
Am I temporarily ignoring the fact that I still have a book review to write that is due on Friday and I haven't even finished the book. Oh, yes.
But, right now, this is my moment to just sit back and smile...soaking in the relief that comes with turning that paper over to my three committee members who now have the next two weeks to pore over it and prepare some tough questions to fire my way on 6/16.
Mrs. Sneaker is having sweet dreams tonight people!
Can I get a....
Woot woot!
18 days people.
18 days until I am in Germany with my cute husband sipping lattes and reading like it's my job because I literally want to make relaxation my job this summer as I have pretty much forgotten what it feels like (with the exception of sitting in the steam room this past weekend after working out in California).
Pure bliss...
I feel like so much is going on in the next 18 days and I am going to be 12 kinds of busy. (totally stole that line from Babbling Abby...love her!)
I feel like I am in a race to complete my core paper and now that I can see the finish line I am just in an all out sprint to eek out every last drop of mental energy that I have left. I stayed up until about 1 AM doing work last night, then promptly got back out of bed after getting in so I could plan math for this week. Then, upon returning to my bed, I was awake for what felt like the entire night unable to sleep because visions of core papers were inundating my brain. So much for good night's sleep. Needless to say I am really tired today and wish that it was feasible to get in bed and go to sleep at 5:00. But, alas, I need to keep trucking away on my paper so that a really truly honest to goodness final copy actually materializes!
Fairy godmother....magic wand...where are you?
My mind is so focused on this giant culmination of all my hard work over the course of the past two years, I feel like I am in denial that it is almost the end of the school year. In two weeks, my kiddos will be leaving me and that just sounds bizarre. Not to mention that we have a field trip that I need to prep for, I have to assess, alphabetize and bind 43 alphabet books, make thank you gifts for parent volunteers, make sure I have taught every little thing I need to teach this year, and clean/organize/sort through my classroom and put the rest of my personal belongings back in storage before heading to Germany. Just writing this is making me even more tired.
Time for some food and maybe a teeny tiny nap before I get cracking on my paper once again. I think champagne is in order when I finally click send on the email to turn it in because it feels like a celebration!
18 days people.
18 days until I am in Germany with my cute husband sipping lattes and reading like it's my job because I literally want to make relaxation my job this summer as I have pretty much forgotten what it feels like (with the exception of sitting in the steam room this past weekend after working out in California).
Pure bliss...
I feel like so much is going on in the next 18 days and I am going to be 12 kinds of busy. (totally stole that line from Babbling Abby...love her!)
I feel like I am in a race to complete my core paper and now that I can see the finish line I am just in an all out sprint to eek out every last drop of mental energy that I have left. I stayed up until about 1 AM doing work last night, then promptly got back out of bed after getting in so I could plan math for this week. Then, upon returning to my bed, I was awake for what felt like the entire night unable to sleep because visions of core papers were inundating my brain. So much for good night's sleep. Needless to say I am really tired today and wish that it was feasible to get in bed and go to sleep at 5:00. But, alas, I need to keep trucking away on my paper so that a really truly honest to goodness final copy actually materializes!
Fairy godmother....magic wand...where are you?
My mind is so focused on this giant culmination of all my hard work over the course of the past two years, I feel like I am in denial that it is almost the end of the school year. In two weeks, my kiddos will be leaving me and that just sounds bizarre. Not to mention that we have a field trip that I need to prep for, I have to assess, alphabetize and bind 43 alphabet books, make thank you gifts for parent volunteers, make sure I have taught every little thing I need to teach this year, and clean/organize/sort through my classroom and put the rest of my personal belongings back in storage before heading to Germany. Just writing this is making me even more tired.
Time for some food and maybe a teeny tiny nap before I get cracking on my paper once again. I think champagne is in order when I finally click send on the email to turn it in because it feels like a celebration!
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