Currently...halfway through October

I'm way behind the ball this month.  Actually I've been hiding from my blog for a while.  But first, I'll link up to Farley's October CURRENTLY.

Listening:  I've been suspicious of my fridge for a while.  I have it on the lowest cold setting right now, but I'm still not convinced that it is functioning properly.  Help!  Someone with fridge experience, advise me what to do or what to look for to know if it's working or if I need to tell landlord to replace it!

Loving:  Yay fall, my favorite season! :)

Thinking: Part of the reason I've kind of been avoiding my blog, and all teaching blogs lately.  I still feel like I'm so under water and drowning in everything that I have to know and do.  It's not just because I've switched schools - I've done that every year.  It's not just because I've switched grades - I've done that almost every year.  It's something more than that.  I'm just... tired.  I always feel like I'm never getting anything done, and I feel like I can never catch up.  Teaching just isn't FUN anymore.  It just feels like a lot of drudge work.  And I know I'm not alone in feeling this.  When I finally decided to look at teacher blogs again, one of the first posts I was greeted with was Farley's post echoing my own sentiments.  I don't know.  I feel so conflicted about everything. And...just lost.  Siiiiiigh.

Wanting: A break.  That's all.

Needing: same same.

Book: "The First Forest" - I'm not up on all my cutesy Halloween books, but this one does talk about the changing of the seasons in a pretty creative way, so we'll go with that.

Featured blogger!

I was featured today on Fun in 1st Grade!  Dana features new teachers every Tuesday, so head over there to check it out!

Finally...classroom reveal!!

Bloggers, I am exhausted.  It's so hard trying to get used to a new building and a new team and new procedures and a new grade and everything!!  And all at once! Kids start on Monday, as I've mentioned, and I'm looking at probably still having to go in tomorrow AND Sunday to try to finish up as much as I can! But, as I promised, I am FINALLY posting pics of my classroom!  Pretty much the only part that isn't finished is my library area... I still have more organizing and sorting and book unpacking that I want to do.  So pardon the fact that I'm not quite done with that area yet! :)

I'm linking up this post with Brigid's Classroom Tours Linky, and with Courtney's Show Off Your Space Linky!

Welcome to my new classroom!!

BEFORE, whole-class view:

AFTER, whole-class view:

BEFORE, entry corner:

AFTER, entry corner:

(Thanks Kristen for the fun numbered supply labels!)

BEFORE, front of classroom:

AFTER, front of classroom:

(Thanks Angi for the lovely birthday stars!)

(I don't have a before of my teacher corner...haha)

BEFORE, math wall:

AFTER, math wall (and new home of kidney table):

BEFORE, library corner and back wall:

DURING (haha), classroom library:

AFTER, back wall:

(Thanks Rachelle for the Boggle letters that look great in my classroom...even though I haven't added the actual Boggle letters yet...the header still looks great!)

BEFORE, back whiteboard (and old home of kidney table):

AFTER, back whiteboard (now CAFE board and gathering area!):

(Thanks Kristen for the CAFE letters, which actually served as the whole inspiration for beginning this journey into the world of teacher blogging!!)

BEFORE, cabinets:

AFTER, cabinets:

(The change here was more internal...and you can now see how many storage containers I have left over!)

BEFORE, sink area:

AFTER, sink area (and now word wall!):

And one more view, from the back of the room to the front of the room:

Still more last-minute things to do before I'm ready for students... but I've worked hard and wanted to finally share my progress!  Hope you enjoy! :D

 

It's 4 a.m. Do you know where your ceiling is leaking?

That's right, bloggers... We had some thunderstorms that passed through about an hour ago (and I DO NOT like thunderstorms) that woke me up, and I kept hearing something that at first sounded like hail outside (which is quite possible).

So I got up and went to look out my living room deck doors...and felt something drip on my neck... and then saw that yes indeed, there was water dripping from my ceiling.  Went into panic mode, grabbed towels and my trusty bucket, and put it under the hole.

**SIDE NOTE** I'm no stranger to water mysteriously leaking into my living room.  At my previous apartment, any time that it rained, or snow melted, my AC unit would drip...no, often cascade... water into my living room.  FINALLY convinced that management to fix it one chilly February morning - which involved removing the whole AC unit, chipping away some of the brick from the building (because it had been installed with the incline draining INTO my apartment rather than down and AWAY from it) and then didn't have any more problems with it.

But anyway, back to my current leak.  Walked away from it for a moment, turned on some lights, and looked again...and noticed that a steady stream of drips was proceeding from a little hole.

This confused me, because the hole was not right next to the outside wall, it was a little further in...and I do not live on the top floor of my apartment building.  There is someone else's unit right above me.  How on earth could it possibly be dripping from where it was?

Went into panic mode x2, texted my mother, who actually called me right back (must have woken her up with my text, sorry mom...), eventually called the emergency line for my apartment complex, got told by an operator that they would contact the repair man, went back to look at the hole...

...and realized that that little hole was the least of my worries.  At least a foot by a foot patch of my ceiling was looking a little, well, bubbled out.  Touched it (where did that bravery come from?!) and it was soft...

Cue panic mode x3.  Waited in a nervous frenzy, repair man finally arrived (but no advance phone call, so that was a fun wait), strolled over to the ceiling, took some little tool and poked my ceiling, and caused a steadier stream to start flowing into a bigger bucket that he brought.

It actually JUST stopped it's steady flow, and he left like 10 minutes ago.  Blahhhhh.

So anyway, he will be back a little later, and I'm here, awake, babysitting the bucket, making sure Libby kitty doesn't get into mischief, and because I'm afraid to go back to sleep for fear of discovering more trouble.  So I leave you with this beautiful picture:

Monday made-it!

I'm linking up today with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for her weekly Monday made-it!

This week I worked on my classroom rules display. I was inspired by a pin I found on pinterest of a teacher who had hung her rules vertically on ribbon, and was intrigued! I thought it would match my clip chart if I made mine in a similar fashion, so this is what I came up with! :)

Here's what the whole thing looks like.

And here are some close-ups.

And here are the files for my signs if they strike your fancy as well!  I printed them out on white cardstock, and then glued them to blue cardstock and laminated them.  Then I hot-glued them to the ribbon.  I love how they turned out!!

Another element of my Monday made-it is my new blog header and my new blog button!  I'm so excited with how they turned out, and think they look a lot more polished than my previous ones.  Hooray!

And FINALLY my most exciting Monday made-it item of all... a dress!!  I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas this past year from my parents, and have just finally started using it with a passion.  My mom has incredible sewing skills - she made just about all of my sisters' and my Halloween costumes growing up, and she made all of my homecoming and prom dresses.  I'd been hoping that I inherited some of her talent!  I finally found some really easy tutorials online of how to make some dresses without needing to use any patterns (basically just sewing the fabric to the top of a tank-top) and finally took the plunge and am so proud of how this dress turned out!! 

This is actually my second dress - the first one I made with a different fabric and a shorter length.

I knocked it out in a day - something around 9 hours altogether, with sizeable breaks between working on each part.  And I also added something that the online tutorial didn't call for - lining, since the bottom fabric is a really light color.  And I finished it!  I even wore it the next day to my friend's bridal shower, and got some compliments on it!  I can't wait to attempt other dresses and skirts - this was a huge confidence boost for me and my growing skills! :D

I'm hoping to be able to get into my classroom sometime this week to start the unpacking/decorating process, so cross your fingers for me, and stay tuned! 

 

New Orleans!

Good morning bloggers! Posts will be sparse for a bit cause I'm on vacation right now! First stop: New Orleans! Beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast today! :)

All moved in, and my first DIY

After a crazy weekend of moving to my new apartment, I'm pretty much settled in now!  The weather was interesting, but I'm so glad it cooperated with the move!  This is what the sky looked like on Friday:

Needless to say, I packed my car up pretty quickly!  Thank goodness the rain only lasted the duration of the drive, and stopped by the time we were unloading!  And then Saturday was clear, but the crazy storms on Friday night definitely did some damage around my new apartment building - huge branches down all around, and even tore off a section of the roof of the building next to mine!  Yikes!  

So here I sit, in my new home.  Libby kitty is alternately running around and hiding, trying to figure what on earth is going on.  But she'll get used to it soon enough!

ANYWAY, time to show you my first DIY project!  I had some help with my grandma for this one. :)

For my classroom this fall, I want to try to stay closer to a theme that only uses a few colors.  I have a small cart with three plastic drawers of various colors that I like based on its functionality, but was not excited that each drawer was a different color: 

I know the lighting quality is poor in this picture (it was taken outside at dusk) but one drawer is pink, one is blue, and one is purple.  I decided that I wanted all of them to be the same color, and wanted them to be black.  So I went to the hardware store in search of this spray paint that I'd heard of specifically for plastic, and picked up a bottle, color black.  And here is the finished result, after it has dried and the drawers are back in the cart: 

So much better!! :)  And even had enough spray paint left to do two small flower pots and a candy dish (or whatever it is - both were violent shades of orange, of which I was not a fan!)

So hooray for spray paint made specifically for plastic! You are a hero in my eyes. :)  And hooray for being all moved in!  Now hopefully I can start posting some of the teacher-y projects that I'm working on this summer!

Shiny and Brand New

Buenos dias!  I'm back in the blogging world... I kept a blog when I did my student teaching semester, mostly for the purpose of being able to remember everything that happened and reflect on my teaching, and also to let my family know what I was up to (because I attended an out-of-state college).  Got my first teaching job, and intended on continuing with blogging, but didn't even make it past orientation week when I got busy and forgot about my blog.  But here I am, about four years later, and figure it's a great time to pick it back up again!

This fall, I'll be starting in a new district, and a new grade level.  This week I'm in the process of packing up all my belongings and moving them to my new apartment.  So much to adjust to!

My poor Libby kitty is really nervous lately, as she watches me slowly take everything out of my current apartment, and then I have to leave her alone for hours on end while I transport each load to my new place.  But I'm sure she will be excited to have a new apartment to explore, and new favorite hiding places to scout out!

A little bit about me:
*This fall I will start my fourth year of teaching.  I taught bilingual second grade for 2 years, and bilingual first grade for 1 year.  Now I'm moving up to bilingual/ESL 4th grade, and am absolutely thrilled about it.

*The above picture is my Libby kitty!  She just turned 2 this month.  She loves to eat, sleep, and chase her tail in circles.  I thought maybe she would grow out of that, but nope.  She persists.  But she is adorable and I love her bunches!

*Some of my favorite hobbies include reading, photography, riding my bike, and laminating things.  No, really.  I bought myself a little laminator finally this year, and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever.

*I'm hoping that with this blog, I can keep in touch with some of the teacher friends I'm moving away from (here's looking at you, Mrs. Manalli), make some new teacher friends, and share ideas with everyone!

That's all for this morning.  Moving one more load of stuff today, and then renting a truck tomorrow to haul the big items, and then that's it!  After tomorrow I'll be all moved into my new apartment.  I'm looking forward to decorating my new space...and, in a month or so, moving into my new classroom!  Oh the fun! :)