School has started! Now, back to blogging...

Whew!  What a couple of weeks it has been!  The school I am at this year has undergone some construction this summer, so teachers were not able to get in their classrooms until August 10. Well, wouldn't you know that that was the day that new teacher training began for 3 days! UGH!  It was pretty frustrating because I just didn't have the time I felt I needed in my room. I was able to go after training until 5:00 when I had to pick up Clancy.  Clint was still working evenings last week, so he was not able to help with Clancy.  I do have a wonderful friend here and she kept Clancy one night while I worked in my classroom and that was a HUGE help!  Needless to say, this past weekend I was in my classroom the WHOLE time.  Clint was an awesome daddy and he and Clancy got to spend some much needed time together.  They rode horses and Clancy lead Sug around for 30 minutes or so.  

Yes, to see him with this HUGE horse following him made this Momma nervous, but I have decided that I just can't worry when they do horse things.  I do know that Clint would never put Clancy in a situation where he would get hurt, yes, accidents can happen, I just choose not to think about them :-).

I was able to get my classroom in the order I was hoping it would be in before students came on Thursday. When I entered my classroom, it was FULL of boxes...nothing was unpacked and on top of that I had all of my stuff to move from my house as well.  All the teachers had to pack up all of their things for the construction this summer, so I was not alone, but I had no idea what was in all of the boxes, so it was a slow process going through all of it. I did not get a before picture of my classroom.  It is not really something I want to remember! :-)  I do however have pictures of what it looks like now and I think it turned out pretty good.  This is the biggest classroom I have ever had and I even have 5 student computers, which is amazing!

 Each student has an assigned place to hang their backpack and a mailbox for important papers.  This closet was a disaster when I first entered the classroom!

 Against the back wall are the computers and my word wall will go on the wall as I introduce new vocabulary.  The wall where the map is located is brand new windows!  They are SO nice.  I just turn a nob and the blinds in between the 2 panes opens.  They are also VERY tinted so the sun isn't too bright. SO nice!

 You can see the windows better in this picture.  This is my desk area and also my classroom library.  I have collected quite a few books for my kiddos over the years.  My library is one of my favorite things about my classroom!

 Front of the room. Nice bulletin board space and a white board with a Mimio (makes the white board interactive).  Mimio's are wonderful!

You can see the entrance to the room here.

The first 2 days of school were GREAT!  I have 21 students this year and I can't complain yet. I do realize that the first few days of school can be the honeymoon period, but so far I haven't seen any students I can't handle.  They are a sweet group of 4th graders and I can't wait to teach them all they need to learn this year.  My school is wonderful and the people that work there are so nice and helpful.  My principal has been so helpful and is very involved with the students each day.  I am looking forward to a fabulous year!  I love to see pictures of other people's classroom (that is how I get most of my ideas!), so if you are a teacher and blog, post pictures and let me know so that I can go take a look!