My [crazy] room

Hello. I realized I've been gone for a while... Not much has happened. Just the usual. Wake up, work/teach/work some more, go home and sleep. This year, I feel like I have less time to work....

Anyways here's my room.... Maybe I'll periscope a live tour soon.  

Here's the view from the back

Here's the view from the front

I got my sit spots a couple weeks ago and I LOVE the colors! Unfortunately, I've been rearranging them every week. I thought the purpose of it was for it to act as a carpet with squares. My kids in the back can't see and I haven't figured out a logical way to make it work without reconfiguring my desks.

I LOVE this little corner of my room.  {hint hint: the pink} It's still a HUGE work in progress.  I kind  of slapped on the pink butcher paper without knowing what I was going to put back there.  The two "dead" spaces kind of annoy me ... and it's not enough room for me to post student work.  I use the "empty" pocket chart to do spelling word sorts with my students and occasionally put up posters there. 

Teacher VS Alarm clock

I am NOT a morning person.

ARGHHH!  This morning, I finally rolled out of bed at 7:15.  It's NOT good enough.  Eventually I wanted to get up by 5:30 without hitting the snooze button.  This year, we added 8 additional instructional minutes to our work day.  Our school is starting 5 minutes earlier and ending 3 minutes later.  But before we get into that, let's have a little review on my start time  in the last 2 years...

2013-14 8:15 start time and primary grades ended at 2:00; intermediate ended at 2:35

pretty perfect if you ask me...

2014-15 8:06 start time (additional 9 minutes) and end time was the same 2:00/2:35

Every Thursday, we got out at 1:30, as our prep time.

Now... here is our new start/end time for 2015-2016....

8:01 start time and primary grades end at 2:03; intermediate end at 2:38

We also added an additional 3 minutes to our Thursday early out day to 1:33.

End of rant.

Anyways, I plan to wake up wake up 30 minutes earlier each day.  Tomorrow, hopefully by 6:30, Wednesday by 6:00 and by Thursday and Friday (since they are teacher work days ...) I plan to be up by 5:30 and get to school by 7:30ish......

Did your district add more minutes to your work day?

Happy Friday

I think I'm physically drained... I've been working on my classroom all week. A lot of unpacking, organizing, on the constant hunt for colleagues who would need items I no longer need.. And of course, when I get home, I'm on the computer- reading blogs, or on my phone on IG or Periscope (yay for happy PD that doesn't "count") and finally crawl into bed by midnight and start the process all over again at 7:30.  I think my BFF were all the Vanilla Lattes I've had ... mmmm..

I am happy to settle on a color scheme in my classroom. Two years ago, when I was hired as the TK (transitional kindergarten) teacher, I knew I wanted a calm classroom with primary colors for grouping students. Fast forward and 3 grade levels up, I am ready for a modern classroom that makes me happy. 

View of the front of my classroom.  I decided to group my students the E 3 way.  I originally wanted 4 groups, but I wanted to leave some room for the carpet area in the back.

View of the back of the classroom.  I love my hot pink bulletin boards!  Kidney table is for small group, the long table next to it will house my 4 new Google Chromebases (coming in late September).  Please ignore the lopsided bookcase on the left.  It actually fell apart when the custodians came by to remove it.   *insert sad face*  Remember the two bookcases from these photos.  I will refer to it in a bit...

Here, is my beloved desk area.  I know how many teachers decided to get rid of their teacher desks and such, but I can't ... it was built into the building!  It's quite functional for lesson planning and chit chatting with your neighbor before and after school. Anyways, this area makes me so happy!

Remember the 2 bookcases I told you to keep note of?  I did a little bit of research and found out Target was selling book cases in their RE line for $17.99.  I rushed out and carried those 25lb x 2 suckers and dragged them into my car (almost didn't fit in my trunk!!) and back to school.  I know ... the reviews say they're not great ... but they will be functional.  I don't forsee any of my students putting their body weight on the bookcases.

It's 9pm on a Friday.  I would be out, but I'm exhausted.  Maybe I should read more blogs, catch teachers on periscope/ IG, or read...

How was your week??

Have a great weekend.

PlayinPrimary

Hmmm...

A month later, I finally realized Hello2ndgradesuperstars was too long ... 

why didn't anyone tell me?!

After a day of thinking (while setting up my new classroom), I decided to change it to ...

PlayinPrimary!

It's a shorter handle

(hopefully) people can remember ...

And it makes it easier when I switch between my teacher and personal IG accounts.

Here's my new classroom.  Please ignore the carpets.  They are literally 20 years old ... this year!

(my school was built in 1995)

Day -11. We weren't allowed on campus yet. I was tired of driving around with a full trunk, so I stopped by school and found some helpful friends who let me in. I unpacked 21 boxes in the 4 hours I was there and organized my construction paper and astrobrights. I was relieved to have a head start!

I'll update more tomorrow!

I made my own #teachertoolbox but I have to decorate it with washi to make my little heart happy when I see it. Good night!

Summer Reading

I have 13 (week)days until school begins.

I want to go into my classroom and drop off all the stuff I've hoarded from Target, Walmart, Barnes and Noble and Michaels.  I still have Lakeshore, Ikea, reallygoodstuff.com and amazon.com to visit.  My wallet is not happy.

I decided to pick up Ron Clark's 55 Essential Rules.  It was a quick read!  I finished it in less than a day.  I'd be walking around my townhouse with the book stuck in my face.  Very easy and fun read.

Now, I'm reading Teach like a Pirate.  I remember seeing this book at the book area at the SDE conference at Vegas.  It looked cool, so I picked it up, flipped through some pages and put it back down.  After I got home and started listening on #teacherperiscope I realized this was a book I needed to read to increase my students' engagement!  It's been a day and I'm half way though with Part I.  (Mainly because I've been driving around town, running errands and getting the essentials ... like food).  I also feel like this book requires more reflection, therefore I find myself sitting by my Mac with a notebook and my colored Flair pens.  I hope I finish the book before Friday...

Do you have access to your classroom?  How do you feel about the upcoming school year?

Welcome to Hello 2nd Grade Superstars!

Hello.

Here is my formal introduction...

My name is Edna and I teach in Northern California.

I volunteered in my old child care facility when I was in High School and loved it!

Then, at the young age of 17, I was hired to become an Enrichment Teacher (afternoon) in a private school in San Francisco.  I looped up with my students from 2nd to 4th grade and stayed in 4th grade until I was completed my double BA.  

After passing the CBEST and CSET (argh, I hate you CSET!), I got accepted into the credential/Masters of Ed program at UCDavis.  There, I did my student teaching in 5th and 1st grade and I got hired as a Transitional Kindergarten teacher in the district I did my student teaching.  

I taught TK from 2013-15, for two years.  I loved every moment of it.  It's amazing to reflect on the growth and progress my little 5 year olds have made in the 9 months I had them.

Next year, I'm heading to 2nd.  I'm excited for the change and I'm ready to challenge my new students.  

What grade do you teach? And are you on #periscope? #instagram?

periscope: @imednagee (same as my twitter account)

instagram: HELLO2ndgradesuperstars

Sunday Sunday....

Happy Sunday!

I have a million errands to run today, but instead, I'm sitting here at my computer procrastinating, sipping on my iced milk tea and munching on cinnamon toast crunch.

I'm so tired.

I want to go back to school shopping, BUT I don't want to hoard stuff until I am able to physically walk into my new classroom.  

I want to paint my new classroom, BUT I don't know if I'm staying in that room permanently.  I know there are teachers out there that literally pack their stuff and move classrooms every year.  I totally understand you.  2015-16 will be my 3rd year teaching.  The last 2 years I resided in Room 5 and made it my own room.  I can't wait til I get my keys to my new room!  Room 11.

LOL.  So true!

Anyways, I'm going to keep this short and start working on my list. 

What did you enjoy doing this weekend?

I missed my kitties so much!  They are always by my side when I'm at home.  And I can't wait to pick up my little Buster.  He's been with our friends since I started teaching summer school.