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!

Back to school jitters linky party!

I'm exhausted!! I've been in my room every day (yes, including weekends) for the past week and a half or so.  It's sooooooooo close to being set!  And that's a very good thing, because today was the first teacher institute day, and our kids start on Monday!

Next post, I PROMISE to have some pictures finally!!  But in the meantime, I'm linking up with A Turn to Learn for the Back to School Jitters linky party! And believe me, I have plenty of jitters!

My teacher story - linky party!

We all come to the classroom with a story. Some are similar to others while some are very distinctive. What's YOUR teacher story? How did you get to the classroom? Has it always been a lifelong dream or did you come after being in another profession?

My teacher story is pretty straightforward, but how I got into bilingual education is an interesting path.

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, ever since I was really young.  I loved all the teachers I had year after year, and knew that I wanted to follow in their footsteps.  I worked in a daycare as an afternoon/summer job in high school, and declared my education major as soon as I started college.  Well...I guess there was like ONE week in High School where I considered going into psychology (because I found that class fascinating) but even just IMAGINING not going into teaching left me with an unsettling feeling inside, so I quickly nixed that idea. :)

My journey toward becoming a bilingual/ESL teacher, however, is a little more interesting - mostly because it seemed that I tried resisting it every step of the way.  But for that story, I have to start with why I wanted to learn Spanish in the first place.  Growing up, my best friend's family spoke Spanish.  She didn't speak it much, but the idea of learning another language fascinated me.  I decided that when I had the chance, I wanted to learn Spanish, so that I could understand what her parents were saying.  My first opportunity came in 8th grade - I loved the class, so I took every possible Spanish class that I could during high school (which even included sacrificing a semester of band to do so!).  

Entering college, I decided that I wanted to at least maintain what Spanish I had already learned, and decided that I could probably pursue a minor in Spanish (because my first love was education).  However, during my sophomore year, I chose to take a Spanish course called Spanish for Service Professionals, which was a more personalized class of how you could use Spanish within your given major.  It was a difficult class, but very enjoyable - I told myself that if I survived that class, and thrived in it, I would consider changing from a Spanish minor to a double major with Spanish and education.  So, that happened, and I adjusted my course path to include more Spanish along the way.

That same semester, I took an education course which linked my class up with 5th grade pen-pals from a nearby inner-city school.  I learned that my penpal was in a "bilingual" class (which I look back on today and realize it is more ESL than bilingual) and was fascinated by the idea.  I got permission from my professor to go visit the school for a day, to see how that classroom looked, and I was intrigued.

Fast forward to senior year and student teaching - I made the decision to pursue a bilingual teaching placement, and landed in a "bilingual" kindergarten classroom (again, I put that in quotes, because while the students all were native Spanish speakers, this school was not teaching them first in their native language, it was only expecting them to learn to read and write in English.  Yet the school still called it bilingual...).  I loved the experience.  

So when I started sending out applications, I didn't discount any bilingual opportunities.  I wasn't necessarily seeking out only bilingual opportunities, but I didn't want to snub my nose at any offers!  And the offer that I eventually accepted happened to be for a bilingual second-grade classroom.  Taught bilingual second grade for two years, and then bilingual first grade for one.  I also took all the required classes to earn both my bilingual and ESL endorsements.  This year I made the decision to move to a different district, and accepted an offer to teach Bilingual/ESL 4th grade (how it exactly will end up being, I'm told will be based on the needs of the students.  Which makes perfect sense to me). 

While I love Spanish, I am actually really excited for the opportunity to actually teach in English this year, while still using my Spanish to keep it from getting rusty!  It can be exhausting, though, trying to remember all the vocabulary for teaching each concept in your non-native language, not to mention having to find alternate ways to explain concepts when your vocabulary is limited.  I am in the unique position to know EXACTLY how my students can feel at times, when trying to master a new language, and I cannot wait to see what this year will bring. :D

Newbie blogger hop!

Still on vacation, blogger friends, so haven't been doing much yet by way of creating. But I love a good blog hop, and this one is especially for newbie bloggers!! So link up and tell everyone:
1. What state you are in: Illinois
2. Your current teaching position: 4th grade ESL/bilingual
3. Your teaching experience: I taught bilingual 2nd grade for two years, and bilingual 1st grade for one year
4. When you started blogging: I started my blog sometime during the last week of June 2012... So I've been blogging for almost a month now!
5. Share a blogging tip or resource: As simple as it sounds, I have found a lot of tutorials and how-tos just by googling "how do you...". :) Link up with Janis at Grade three is the place for me and join her blog hop!

Blog hoppin' around the Internet!'

Came across a blog-hopping party on Amanda's blog and wanted to join! So here is my attempt to link up. Check out some of the amazing blogs below! :)

Classroom theme linky!

I was so excited to find Corinna's classroom themes linky, and to see some of the other fabulous ideas out there!  I want to share what I will be doing in my classroom this year, too!

I decided to go with a polka-dotted theme, using mostly black and white, but throwing in some green, blue, purple, and probably the other colors as well.  So here is a little bit of what I have worked on so far:

Some letters to use on my word/vocabulary wall

Close-up on my clip chart, so you can see the tiny polka-dots on each color!

The header for my "Cranium Club" display - more on this in a later post!! :)

 Some fun things I picked up at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Target!

Unfortunately I can't share any actual classroom photos, because I haven't been able to move into my new classroom yet!! I can show you this though:

The current location of my classroom materials!! (And that's only half the closet - the other side is just as packed!)

Now it's YOUR turn!! Share your classroom theme and some of your creations/decor for the upcoming year!

Great giveaways and a sweet site!

Let me mention two great giveaways that popped up on my blogroll this morning!

Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts added more items to her package of "Brain Breaks" and is holding a raffle for a $10 certificate to her TPT store as a celebration!  Go check it out - you won't regret it!

And Sara at Fourth Grade Fanatics is celebrating her blog and holding a raffle for a $10 certificate for TPT as well as a $10 Target gift certificate!  Another give-away you won't want to miss!!






Finally, although this one isn't a give-away, Kate at EduKate and Inspire posted about a website called Scootpad that offers students the opportunity to practice the Common Core standards in a really neat way!  She is much more eloquent in her description of what the site can do, so you definitely want to go read her post! :)




Enjoy, friends!!

Another blog award!

Holy goodness, it's becoming hard to keep up with these (in a good way, though!)  These blogging awards really make me feel more like a member of the community, even though I've just started this blogging adventure!

The lovely Sara at Fourth Grade Fanatics awarded me the Liebster Blog award, which is an award designed for blogs with less than 200 followers, in order to give them a bit more exposure. Thank you so much, Sara! :)

The rules for this award are:

1. Copy and paste the award onto your blog

2. Thank the giver and link back to them 

3. Nominate 5 other bloggers and let them know by commenting on their blogs.

So I, in turn, will award the Liebster to:

1. Mrs. Castro's Class

2. Fancy Free in Fourth

3. First Graders From Outer Space

4. iTeach 1 to 1

5. The Gypsy Teacher

Keep up the great blogging! :)

One Lovely Blog!

Many, many thank-yous to Steph at The Quirky Apple and Julie at The Hip Teacher and Mrs. Slocum at Teachers Don't Steal - They Share for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog Award!

The three rules to follow for this award:

1. Follow the person who gave you the award

2. Link back to the person who gave you the award

3. Pass the award along to 15 new bloggers

So now I am passing this award on to the following:

1. Classroom Snapshots

2. The Polka Dotted Teacher

3. Adventures in Room 5

4. Forkin 4th

5. First Graders From Outer Space

6. iTeach 1 to 1 

7. Life As A Teacher

8. Adventures in Teaching

9. Teachery Tidbits

10. Teaching Little Apples

11. I Teach Dual Language

12. Fabulous Fourth Grade

13. Tales of a Teacherista

14. Jack of all Trades

15. Read and Black and Learning All Over

Your blogs continue to inspire me and other readers with all your great ideas!  Keep it up! :)

Versatile blogger award!

Oh my!  Thank you to Amy at Adventures in Teaching for awarding me my first blogging award!

The rules for this award are….
1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image to your post.
4. Include the award image on your blog.
5. Give 7 random facts about yourself.
6. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.
7. When nominating other bloggers, include links to their sites.
8. Let those bloggers know they have been nominated.

Soooo...seven random facts.  Here goes!

1.) I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I was young.  The only time I briefly considered an alternative - psychology - was in 11th grade, but I felt so empty inside to think of not teaching, that I immediately scrapped that idea after about 3 days.

2.) I have been bitten by the travel bug - hard core.  And I usually end up taking crazy trips in condensed time frames.  For example, in the summer of 2008 I traveled to both Argentina and Zambia.  And then in the summer of 2010 I traveled to both Hong Kong and Guatemala.  I broke the trend this summer though, because I don't have any far away adventures planned. :/

3.) I'm really, really afraid of tornadoes, even though I've never been in one.  I don't even think I've managed to watch the movie Twister all the way through.  *shudder*

4.) I go through phases where I try to teach myself how to play the guitar.  So far I've had about three phases.  I even took a basic guitar class at my local community college one semester!  But inevitably I get busy, and then I forget to practice, and poor guitar just sits.  Maybe I'll bring him out soon and try again!

5.) I am absolutely terrible with directions.  I've gotten lost in my hometown city before.  My GPS is probably close to my best friend.

6.) I had to wear braces twice.  Twice.  And that included having them on for my senior picture, and during graduation giving my valedictorian speech.  I only /just/ got them off the week before I moved away for college.  But looking back now, I am incredibly thankful that I had them, as my teeth look so much better!

7.) I love to re-read favorite books and re-watch favorite movies.  Some of my friends don't understand why I would read something again if I've already read it and know how the story ends...but I feel it's not so much just about the conclusion, but about the development of the plot along the way too.  Am I alone in this thought?

And now...for nominations!  I nominate:

Cassandra at 

Heather at 

Teri at 

Amanda at 

Steph at 

Teresa at 

Lorraine at 

Layla at 

Miss Nelson at 

Molly at 

Sara at 

Katie at 

Courtney at 

Angi at 

Lita Lita at 

I chose your blogs to nominate because I love so many of the ideas I have seen from each of you, and always look forward to your new posts! :)

Linking up!

In an attempt to start connecting with other teacher bloggers out on the internet, I'm linking up to Fabulous 4th Grade Froggy's upper elementary linky party!  I love reading other teachers' blogs to find new ideas, or a fresh approach to any given subject topic that I probably wouldn't have thought of on my own.  Such a fantastic idea to have a central place to connect teachers of similar grade levels!  So... come find me here, or I'm sure I'll see many of you on your blogs too! :)