Life in Durham

Hubby and I started school back in August. As you may know, there is a lot of newness in our life right now. We each just finished our first quarter of school a couple of weeks ago, and we are already deep into the busy-ness of Q2. Last week was my last full week of teaching before we come back from Thanksgiving break. We had a field trip and Veterans' Day this week, and have a half day next week with assemblies during the day, and then all of a sudden, it's Thanksgiving week. How does that happen? How does time just fly by like that? Wasn't it just August?

August

August was full of things like getting our new house in order. We are renting, so we didn't get to have to paint or anything crazy, but I was definitely in full nest-mode. Target is just around the corner, which is just plain dangerous.

Being in a new place, I had to get all new ID cards. In my first two weeks here, I got a new NC driver's license (that is still hard to get used to), a new teacher's ID through my new school district (or what I like to call my "teacher's discount proof"), and a spouse ID card through the university.  If that wasn't newness enough, I stepped into a brand new school with an empty canvas of a classroom. I will have to do a later post to update on all that has gone on at school and with the setup of my classroom. Starting from scratch in a new classroom definitely has its pros and cons. 

    

      
















And, of course, how could I forget those fun, college theme-parties that kept us out too late. During Orientation, the students throw themed parties for everyone to get to know each other. The first one we went to was a 90's party, and we went as Squints Palledorous and Wendy Peffercorn from The Sandlot, one of my favorite movies. The second one was a nerd party, and we grabbed a couple of my math teacher shirts, our fanny packs, threw on our glasses, and called it a nerd costume.

And at the end of August, we both had our first days of school--the true beginning to this new chapter in our lives. [pictured with our mascot, both the bluedevil and the bulldog]

September

With the month of September, came a bit more normalcy but also more new. We have now been "Food Truck Rodeo" attendees. Not that Houston wasn't, but we now live in a very "foodie" city, which we have been loving! I am still cooking on weeknights, but it has made exploring our new city so fun to try all of the new [and delicious] restaurants! We also have a new football team to cheer for. I'm not going to lie, being in blue was a little weird my first game. I've never cheered for a royal blue team before. I don't hate it, if I'm being honest.

    











I also have this other football team I've been cheering for... hubs is playing on a flag football team. Did I mention he is living the college life right now? No, it is definitely not all play, even if it seems like it. Poor guy works his booty off, and he definitely deserves a little flag football time. Avery LOVES sleeping through watching his games! 

September also brought our first visitor from home. Casey, husband of my good friend Caitlyn at Our Schaefer Stories, was in town for work for one day and came to have dinner with us. We LOVE the Schaefers, and we loved getting to spend time with him, even if for just a couple of hours.

The last thing that September brought was my first trip back to Texas. :) I left on a Friday after school, was picked up at the airport by my mom and sister, and it was non-stop family-time the whole weekend. It was awesome! It was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday a little early.

October

October was an interesting month here, for many reasons. One of those was the weird weather that seemed very familiar. It was anywhere from 38 degrees to 85 degrees on any given day. It also rained about 36 out of the 31 days. Yes, I teach math, and yes, I feel like that's what happened. I have worn my rain boots more in the last month than I have worn rain boots in my life... I think. However, October did bring the fall season. I truly love this season and all that it brings. It brings my favorite clothes; it brings cooler weather; it brings out the most beautiful colors in God's creation; and it brings my favorite holidays. We have family coming to visit for Thanksgiving, and I can hardly stand to wait!

Matt participated in one of Duke University's great traditions--he camped out with more than 800 other graduate students in an attempt to be drawn in a lottery for a season ticket to Duke basketball games this season. Well, he got one! He was thrilled, and he even took me to their pre-season opener. It was our first time in Cameron Stadium. I can't even imagine what it's like for a Duke v. UNC game. Wow-EE!

In the middle of October, we took a second trip to Texas. The trip was planned so that Matt could start recruiting for a summer internship during his fall break. I just tagged along, especially since it was his birthday! I left a day early, knowing that I would have to come back really early to go back to school. I did not have the week off like he did. Being there early gave me time to spend with my mom and sister at the Aggie game. I loved being back in College Station for a day! 

We celebrated Matt's birthday the next day with a lunch at my parents' house with some more family. He has been working so hard all semester, I was hoping he could just relax for a few days. It never ceases to amaze me how driven and motivated he is.

November has already been a great month, and I think the rain may have actually stopped for a while. We have so much that we are looking forward to this and next months. I can't wait!

Highlights of Summer + First Weeks of School

Why the month of no posting? You probably could have guessed. School started. And may I say TGIF?! The first few weeks are hard. New students, new expectations, new curriculum, new year. Before I get too far into the start to school, I want to share some highlights from the summer.

We spent time in Galveston, in Dallas, going out with friends, having reunions, celebrating weddings, serving the inner-city, playing/watching softball, and spent lots of time with family. It was really a great summer. But, as all summers do, it came to an end far too quickly.

The end of the summer brought the beginning of school. The first week back was full of setting up my classroom and attending staff development and planning for the year. I had told myself that I didn't need to make any changes to my classroom decor, but once I stepped foot in there, I couldn't help myself. I started by updating my bulletin boards to keep up with the constantly-updating apps.

One for birthdays, one for studying tips, one for reminders, and one for housing those dear iPhones (that all the middle schoolers have) and graphing calculators.

A few other new things were added this year, because once I started, I just couldn't stop. So, a few more pictures to pull it all together for you!

 For two weeks now, those empty desks have been full. Oh so full. Full of life and laughter and energy--teenagers. And this bright-eyed, year-3 teacher is exhausted. These teenagers are hard work sometimes. They are thirteen going on thirty, so impressionable, and it's wonderful and scary all at the same time. They can so easily fall for temptation. I pray every day that they don't. I pray that they stay young and pure and use their youth to set an example for others.

I pray 1 Timothy 4:12 over them every day. I pray that they enjoy their time in middle school and don't look back one day with regret. I am so thankful for my job and for the kids I get to teach each day.

Happy beginning of school!

Leave an Impression: Tips for Teachers

After almost three weeks off from writing a post, I am not even really sure where to start, so I'll start here and see where it takes me...

 I am reminded every day that I am doing exactly what the Lord has planned for me to do- teach. I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, not all teachers can say that, but I can say it very proudly and very truthfully. The kids I teach are between 12 and 13 years old. They are hysterical, outspoken, overly confident, quirky, mature, impressionable. God also added being a volleyball coach to my plan this year, and that is where my challenge has been and the reason for the three-week-no-post. I have been given the opportunity to coach girls that I taught last year when they were in 7th grade, and now as 8th graders I love that I have been able to get to know them in a different environment. Yes, coaching is a different environment from the classroom, but no less impressionable.

When people think of "coaching," so often winning and losing comes to mind. I played volleyball when I was in 8th grade, too, and I remember that being important to me. But now, as a coach, it really doesn't seem like the deciding factor. Of course I want my teams to do well, but recently I have felt other priorities being placed on my heart. These kids, my classroom students included, need a place in which they feel safe, they need to feel cared for, and they need to be encouraged. Those are my priorities. I want them to succeed, but winning the game, or making a 100 on a test may not be attainable for some, so I want them to succeed at something that is attainable. I love nothing more than the face of an athlete who has worked so tremendously hard at trying to over-hand serve in practice, and she makes it over the net for the first time in her life. My goodness, God is so good! What a success! That's a "win" in my book. I love seeing a student practically jumping out of his seat because he couldn't wait to show me that he did all of his homework the night before, and then when he realizes he didn't miss a single question! To me, another "win."

Without intending to do this, I guess I just want to give a couple of tips to new teachers. I am a new teacher myself, so by no means am I saying that I have it all together. These are just my thoughts typed out:

Encourage. Be your students' greatest advocate. They need your support. Set goals for them, or help them set goals, and give them reminders of the fact that you are confident in them and in their abilities. Encourage them to do their best and be their best. One wall of my classroom is devoted solely to this...

Celebrate the small victories. Just like I stated above, a victory does not have to be perfection, but a small goal that gets accomplished. Remembering his/her spiral every day for a week. Being the first one ready to work one day. Finding his/her own mistake rather than being told. There are so many small victories that you can celebrate in your classroom if you will just take the time to notice.

Talk to your students. I mean like REALLY talk to them. There are so many students that will walk the halls all day long without ever being greeted or talked to by an adult. They want to be talked to. They want to be noticed. You get them on your side when you talk to them. When they walk into your classroom, greet them. It is easy to sit behind your desk between passing periods, but try not to. When the bell rings for the end of class, I tell all of my students to "have a great day!" and mean it. I now have it posted above my door (as suggested by a student last year).

Establish routine. Kids work better and do better when they know exactly what is expected of them (and let's be honest, so do you). When they have down time, you can lose them. Every day when my kids walk into class, they have the same routine--put their cell phone in its assigned holder on their way to their desk, then they write in their agenda, get out homework from the night before prepared with questions, and then "Title and Date" their notes for the day. This is every single day.

Have I mentioned that I love what I do? Here is a picture from the first day of school that I never had the chance to post. Go Eagles! I hope you are having a great week, and remember that in everything you do, you are leaving an impression. Make it a good one.

Classroom Bulletin Boards

The countdown is now at 3 days. Wow! This summer really flew by. I have been up at the school all week with all the other teachers for Staff Development. Today was our last work day before kids come Monday, but let's be real... I'll be there tomorrow, too. My to-do lists (yes, plural) seem endless. When I cross off one thing, I seem to add at least two more. That being said, I am very excited about my new classroom, and I am excited to reveal a little bit more of it.

My Technology/App-themed bulletin boards...

The Instacram and iCal boards are inside my classroom, and the Notes board is right outside my classroom and is a place to put schedules, tutorials, etc. For each of the boards, I backed them in black butcher paper and then with black burlap. Since burlap has holes, I didn't want the board to be seen through, hence the butcher paper behind it. For the borders, I used a thick (probably 3 inch) burlap ribbon. My hopes are that they do not get worn and torn as quickly as paper borders do. The apps in each of the corners were painted by yours truly in attempt to recreate the apps we all (including my students) know and love to use on a daily basis. The Instacram was penciled on white poster board and then cut and glued on blue poster board. All the contents on the boards are laminated, again in hopes of preventing wear and tear, but we'll see how they hold up all year.

I have also been very good about trying to link-up when ideas come from another source. This idea, however, came to me one morning while driving home from church. I must have been praying for good classroom ideas that morning. I wanted the boards to have some sort of theme, and the goal was to have something that they could relate to, so hopefully this theme has accomplished that goal.

There will be more to come on classroom specifics and the first week of school soon. Happy Friday! :)

All the Small Things

Blink 182, anyone? Don't judge.

Today was my first official day back to work. To recap a little, last spring I taught 7th grade science, and I found out on the last day of school that I would be moving to 7th grade math. I loved science, but math just clicks. I have always been a math person, and while teaching kids is my passion, getting to teach kids math makes it even more fun. So, with the moving of content area comes the moving of classrooms. This week, I have been up at the school trying to get a head start on my new classroom. Everything seemed to be getting decorated very slowly... until today. I really got quite a bit accomplished today, but I am still not totally finished, so I will not post everything now. For now, I am going to showcase some of the things that I believe are either essential or just plain cute. Whenever I am asked about my philosophy of teaching, I want to respond like this...

Okay, just kidding (kind of). I really am into cute classroom decor and if you know me at all, you know I am into organization. Now if my husband was reading this, he may beg to differ--sometimes I fight with my closet, but I say it's an ORGANIZED mess! :) My organization mostly comes from being a planner and having many planners. (See what I did there?) These two items are two things that I believe are absolutely essential. I have to give a shout out to Erin Condren for making merchandise that speaks to my heart. Her desk calendar and her teacher's lesson planner are the two things I am talking about.

If you are wondering, these are NOT the only two calendars I keep, but maybe that's for a future post. However, these are two of the most important. The desk calendar brings just the right amount of color and uniqueness to your desk without being over the top. As for the lesson planner, it is every teacher's dream. It has tabs, two-page monthly spreads, pocket folders, zipper pouches, graph paper, notes pages, and on top of all of that, it is customizable. Perfection. Next on my list of small things in my classroom is my assignment board. You will get a full view of the board when I post more of the classroom, but going along with the "small things" theme, here are the cute days of the week printables I found. Once I printed them off, I laminated them, and cut out magnetic strips to put on the back of them.

 Have you seen this pin on Pinterest? It is called a "teacher's toolbox." You buy this small, plastic toolbox from Lowe's or Home Depot, and instead of filling it with nails and other manly stuff, you can store highlighters, staples, and paper clips (and whatever else!) A friend of mine made one first and told me I should, so I did, and I really like how it turned out! There are lots of templates you can find online by searching "teacher's toolbox," but I had a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to create my own labels using scrapbook paper that I had. Here's the finished product:

Are you starting to notice a theme in my classroom? I promise I really didn't go over the top with the seafoam color and chevron print (I hope). This next thing may be nothing new to teachers, but I love it and think it is great for classroom management. My mentor teacher had them, and I thought they worked great, so I borrowed the idea from her. Start with empty and washed out aluminum cans and color code them according to your different classes. Then, place popsicle sticks in them with all of your students' names on them (one student on each popsicle stick), and during class instead of choosing the same three students that continue to raise their hands while allowing the rest of the class to get away with not working a problem on their own, you choose a stick out of the can... randomizing! These are very easy to make, and another "essential" in the secondary classroom.

One of the last things I am going to preview before the classroom reveal is some of the cute posters I have hung. They really all speak for themselves. 

I literally laugh out loud when I see the "Please raise your hand if you 'mustache' a question." AND "Chill." Gets me every time. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite things from my classroom so far, and I am excited to reveal more in the days or weeks to come. Good luck to all of my fellow teachers who are also setting up classrooms! 

DIY Pencil Vase/Blog Changes

The blog is currently under construction as I will be the sole writer now. As you may have already been able to tell, I kind of took over the blog. So, be looking for more changes to come, but for now...

Where my teachers at?? Are you ready for August? I know I am! Looking for an easy Back-to-School project? Here's an easy one. Have you seen this on Pinterest? I think it is supposed to be a teacher's gift, but I liked it and wanted one of my own, so I made one. The link on Pinterest takes you to a page that no longer exists, so instead of trying to find a tutorial, I decided it looked easy enough to just do myself. So I did. And it was!

What you will need:
*Empty aluminum can (cleaned)
*Unsharpened pencils (I used 42 of them)
*Hot glue gun
*Floral foam
*Flowers
*Ribbon

Steps to make your very own:
1. Lay all the pencils out, take the first one and put hot glue EITHER directly on the pencil (which I found to work better) OR directly on the can (but make sure you have a very steady hand and can make a straight line).

2. Press and hold pencil down on can until glue is dry. (FYI: Be generous with the hot glue, because you don't want these pencils falling off.)
3. Continue hot glueing each pencil around the can until you have no empty spaces.
4. Take the floral foam you have and put it into the can. You can also do this in the beginning- I just chose to wait.

5. Put the flowers that you have inside your vase.
6. Tie the ribbon you have around the pencils. You can even put a dab of hot glue to keep the ribbon in place.

Teachers, I hope you are enjoying your last few weeks before going back to school!