First Day, First Week

No amount of training or schooling can ever truly prepare you for the first day and first week of school. The time is spent going over procedures, as specific as this is how we get out of our chairs to line up at the door. Needless to say, I spent what seems like the entire week TALKING! As tiring as it may be, it is very necessary. Until procedures are in place, learning cannot take place.

I am so looking forward to Monday, when I will be able to see the fruits of my labor from this first week. I LOVE teaching (procedures were TAUGHT as well, but it's nothing like teaching a great reading lesson!) and that is exactly what will be happening starting Monday. We will be diving in head first to the 3rd grade curriculum and I know that the students as well as myself are looking forward to a normal routine where reading is taught during reading time, writing during writing time and so on.

The following are the objectives for next week:
**Click on the subject for a review link
Reading/SSR- making text to self connections, how to partner read, story elements: characters, setting, problem
Writing- The Editor's Checklist: formatting, capitalization, ending punctuation, misspelled words
Math- addition review: 2 and 3 digits, subtraction review: facts, 2 digit with regrouping
Working with Words- cheering words, using words in context, identifying vowels and consonants
Science- parts of a plant

What Does a Teacher Do During the Summer?

I know that sometimes it is hard for students to imagine their teacher outside of the school setting, so the purpose of this post is to show my students some of the things that I did during the weeks I spent not teaching this summer.
We went on a lot of walks with friends. This is one of my favorite things to do with my kids. They love being outside, so it is a bonus that I am getting to exercise while they hang in the stroller. We usually go on trails that have playgrounds near by so that Amelia can play when we get done. Austin usually snoozes on our walks. This picture was taken at Nathaniel Green Park in Springfield (Duck Pond is what we call it) with our friends that we love walking with!

On almost every Monday, we would meet some of our favorite friends at Splash Time. This picture was taken on a Monday that James happened to have off, so he joined us. Amelia loved going to Splash Time on our Mondays. We usually followed up the swimming with a picnic at the Nixa Park.

This is in downtown Springfield at the Jordan Valley Fountains. We didn't discover this fun place until the last few weeks of vacation, but we got to go three different times. It was a fun time and usually really crowded with little ones running around in the streams.
You can take the classroom away from a teacher but you can't take the teaching! This is Amelia, showing off her letter "R" crafts. She created (even cut them out herself) a "R"acoon mask as well as a "R"obot puzzle. She loved having a school time during the day and I had fun doing alphabet activities to help her start to recognize the different letters. I can't believe my baby is growing up! Below is the last thing we did before I headed back to work and that was to celebrate Amelia's 4th birthday with a swimming party.

Did I do some of the things that you've done this summer? I bet so! Now you can see that Mrs. White really does have a family and really does things outside of the classroom! However, here I am back to school already this August ready for a new year to start. I look forward to meeting all my new students and parents in the next few days.

Home Away From Home

I went up to school on Tuesday for the first time since Summer School ended. As I walked into my room that was completely packed up (picture boxes from the tops of bookshelves stacked up to the ceiling with nothing on the floor), I got a quick rush of nervousness as I wondered if I would really be able to get all the work done in time. I quickly realized that because it was my fifth time setting up my classroom, I had gotten pretty good at it! I had my room physically ready in about two hours. Not bad, considering nothing was in its home.



At this point, I thought about leaving school because setting up my room was all I had planned to do. With my kids at their babysitters, I thought about all the fun things I could be doing with myself...going to the gym, laying by a pool with a book, cleaning my house (okay-not so fun!) but I couldn't do it. I kept telling myself, just one more thing and then I will go. An hour later I would find myself with my hot glue gun completely immersed in a new project that I swore would be my last for the day.



I guess what I am trying to say is I LOVE THIS PART OF THE YEAR! I love organizing, cleaning (strange), and decorating my room. You see, this is my home away from home and I like it to feel comfortable and warm. I love the nervousness that this time of year gives me as I wonder what my new students will be like and what kind of changes I will be able to make to my lessons to make them even better this time around. Teaching is a job that is constantly changing. An effective teacher does not do the same thing each year. An effective teacher makes changes each year as new strategies are learned and students learning styles differ. Every day is a little different than the last, which keeps me on my toes and loving my job! I am so looking forward to the new school year. I am all set with my new school supplies (I forgot to mention how much I LOVE going to Walmart and picking out new grading pens and folders for my desk...teachers get excited about doing back to school shopping too!) and my room is ready!



Although I have really enjoyed my time at home this summer with my two adorable kiddos, I am ready to start a new school year again. I am excited to meet my new class and their families next week. Here's to a great year of 3rd Grade!!!!