New School Year, New Attitude!

So I've been in a funk!!!! I didn't realize how bad its been until I stepped back and really took a long HARD look at myself. In taking that look, what I discovered was, I spent a lot of time worried about what other people thought, wondered if I was good enough, and focused on what's wrong in my life rather than what's RIGHT! So, that is going to change in a big way. Part of the change comes from reading the book, Teach Like A Pirate! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend taking the time to read this book.

I also need to realize that I had a really tough year!  Having two students in diapers, 6 of my 28 Cubs had IEP's and challenges with my school administration really took a toll. The great thing is, that year is over and I get to start fresh. YAY! I hesitate to say bring it on, but BRING IT ON! I am so excited to begin my 21st year. It is going to be the best year ever. It doesn't matter how many kiddos have IEP's, what new programs I have to implement, or whatever else may be thrown at me, my Cubs deserve the BEST teacher. They don't care about the Common Core Standards, what my principal has changed, whether we made AYP, or any other pressure that is placed on me as a teacher, wife, friend, mother... My job is to teach my Cubs! I may have 25 or 35 it doesn't matter. They deserve to come to school and have the best teacher and leave my classroom having learned all they possibly could no matter the obstacles placed in our way.

Change #1- Classroom environment: Since going back to the classroom, I have changed my theme each year. The first year, Bears! I love bears and it was a fun theme, just not one I wanted to continue. The second year, Wild About Learning! Again, another fun theme just got tired of all the animal print. So, this year I changed again. Magical Forest -  Hope I like it as much at the end of the year as I do now.

As part of my 21 years of teaching celebration, I wanted to offer freebies so here's another one.

Click to download!