Meet the Teacher!

Over the past several years I have become a teaching blog stalker follower.  This is real professional development folks.  Seeing how real teachers do real teaching in their classrooms.  I learn so much and get great new ideas from all the blogs I follow.  They also make me excited about my job each and everyday.  So today I decided to do a fun linky with Stephanie over at Falling into First.  It's time to meet the crazy cat lady behind this blog!

I am a 30 year old, 17 days till I'm 31, kindergarten teacher.  This is my 9th year teaching (3 in Transitional First Grade and 6 in kindergarten) and I'm in the middle of my third week back to school.  

 We started in July... 

Yikes!  

I teach in a school system that follows a modified year round schedule.  So teachers went back to school July 22 and students followed on July 24.  Starting in July isn't fun, especially when everyone around us is still enjoying summer.  But the 2 week Fall Break, 2 week Christmas Break, and 2 week Spring break make me feel a little better about it.  That and a whole lot of Cherry Coke.

I teach in Tennessee which is one of the most beautiful states I have ever seen, or lived in.  And I've lived in quite a few places, the woes of a military brat.  Spring, Summer, and Fall are all wonderful.  But I do have a little issue with Winter, we don't get along and are not usually on speaking terms.  The only thing that makes Winter manageable is a good snow day.  Growing up, I never had a snow day, I never even lived in a place where it snowed until my family moved to TN.  But for the most part, I love living in TN.

 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Cookies, Cherry Coke, playing piano, figure skating, running at Disney, my fur babies, sleeping in, reading, watching movies, pineapple, Autumn, and swimming.

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

An ice skater with Disney on Ice!

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU

Organized, OCD, Sarcastic 

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________, SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"Oh no problem, you can totally drop your kid off by the gym because you're too lazy to drive through the car line, don't even worry about the fact that there's no one there to watch out for your child and make sure they don't get hit by a car," said no teacher ever!!

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE (DEAD OR ALIVE) TO THE PARTY, WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

 Walt Disney

I went on a behind the scenes tour at Disney World.  Walt was such a fascinating man!

IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

It probably change every day depending on what mood I'm in.

YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT IS IT?

Flying!!

Soaring above the Earth and getting a bird's eye view of God's creation, amazing!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

My new fav is, "The only difference between try and and triumph, is just a little umph." 

IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

"I Want it That Way" - the Backstreet Boys

ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT PERSON

Depends on how early I have to get up the next morning.  

During the school year I typically go to bed between 9:30-10:00 so that I can get up the next morning and run before school.  During the summer, I tend to stay up way too late reading a good book and then running later in the day.

hehehe, this is so me!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

 

I love these schedule cards!  Like most of the items in my shop, I created them for me because I wanted to use them in my own classroom.  I had been using a different set of schedule cards for the past few years, but this year I decided I wanted to make some with really easy to read text and a cute simple graphic so my kindergarteners would be able to read them as well.  The other set I used was not editable, so I couldn't add my own cards for things like classroom parties or additional subject areas.  These just work perfect for me. Plus I've become slightly obsessed with clip art.  It just makes me happy!

Here are some pictures of my schedule cards in action!

 

I just put magnets on the back and I can easily switch them out on my magnetic board.  (I keep the extras in a little mesh basket) Right now I'm teaching my kids how to recognize each picture so that they know what we have going on each day.  

Last year there was a little boy in my room who would constantly ask when lunch was.  One time, a little girl in my room said, "hello, read the schedule...we have phonics and reading before lunch."  Cracked me up!

One of my favorite parts about my schedule cards is this...

I made the little chalkboard editable,  so you can type your own name onto it.  It's the little things that make me happy!

SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU

I started college with the intention of becoming a nurse.  My mom is a nurse and loves it.  I guess I just saw how passionate she was about it, so I decided I would be too.  And I was, for 2 years.  I was even an ambassador for the School of Nursing at my college.  Then one day, I realized I wanted to be a teacher, I think I had secretly always wanted to be a teacher, I was just afraid I wouldn't be any good.  (In college I was in a sorority, and whenever I saw my sisters who were in the teaching program, I was secretly jealous of their teacher bags and cute portfolios)

Finally I decided if a teacher was what God meant for me to be, then I didn't need to worry about being a bad one.  

I was worried about telling my mom because I thought she would be disappointed.  

But it was my friends who took it the hardest.  They actually staged an intervention in the middle of the school cafeteria and told me all the reasons they thought I needed to be a nurse and not a teacher.  It was a bit dramatic.

 But they finally came around and realized that I was supposed to be a teacher, and now they say they can't imagine me as anything else.

Now go check out some of your blogger favorites and some new bloggers, maybe you'll find some new favorites!