Catch Up!

Well, Christmas break was absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed my two-week vacation from school by spending time with my family and friends, and of course celebrating the holidays. As if two weeks weren’t enough, we had Monday and Tuesday off the week we were supposed to go back to school because of the very low temperatures. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a “cold day” before, but I wasn’t complaining.

Last weekend we were in Indianapolis celebrating my cousin’s wedding…and what a FUN wedding it was! My cousin and his lovely bride looked amazing, and both the wedding and reception were absolutely perfect. It was a great celebration of the love of two very special people.  This marks the second of four weddings this year for the boy cousins (and my brother) on my mom’s side of the family. The first one was in September in our beloved Hilton Head and was an absolute blast. The next one will be in June and my brother will finish it off with his wedding in September. So much to look forward to! =)

This past Tuesday, Scott and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. I lucked out with a snow day and was excited to spend more time with him (however, it ruined his plans of surprising me with roses at school…I will remind him that my birthday in March is on a Monday – hint, hint =) ). We had a great day together and enjoyed dinner at the Cheesecake Factory later that night…mmm!

This past year has definitely been the hardest on us – going from long distance for 4 years to finally being back in the same city, not to mention entering the real world and dealing with the changes/stresses that come along with it. Things are much different when you are 22/23 than when you are in high school, without a care in the world. We have overcome the obstacles that have come our way so far and I have complete faith that we will continue to do so in the future. Scott and I always say the bad times only make us stronger as a couple, and I firmly believe that. And with the bad, comes the good…and we have had a LOT of great times in our relationship. We have had 7 wonderful years together and I am excited to see where the next 7 will take us.

As for a school update, I am LOVING teaching middle school and am head over heels in love with the school where I am teaching. Everyone always asks how my first year has been, with the anticipation that I am going to say “hard” or “difficult,” but honestly it has been awesome. Sure the first month or two were pretty overwhelming, but once I got in my routine and had a little bit of an idea as to what I was doing, it was great.  My students are outgoing and always keep me laughing. I am happy to say I love what I do and enjoy waking up every morning to go to work (however, with all the delays we have been having lately due to weather, I could get used to sleeping in just a little bit more each morning =) ).

Hope everyone has been having a great start to the New Year! It’s hard to believe in just a week it will be February! Woah!

My Classroom: The Finished Product

Here it is!!!! The pictures from my room with all of its finishing touches (taken before the first day of school…which was 4 weeks ago…sorry I’m behind)

What do ya think?!

Class Rules

I have been putting off creating “class rules” for my classroom. I wasn’t sure if it was too young for middle school or if by sixth and seventh grade the students already knew what was expected of them…

BUT I finally found some examples that I liked and used those as a starting point in creating my own. I knew that I wanted my rules to be simple and to the point…and not too baby. I also didn’t want to create too many rules for fear that students would just forget them…nor did I want the rules to be super wordy and end up confusing my students. So here is what I came up with:

I feel as though these rules cover pretty much everything and clearly state what I expect of my students. I will post these rules in my classroom for all to see, as well as go over them with my students at the beginning of the year. I will refer back to them as needed.

I am happy that I decided to create my own rules, especially since this is my first year of teaching. No matter what age students are, they need to know what is expected of them and know that they are held to a high standard.

Only 22 more days until the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! =)

Click here to download this poster –> Class Rules

Classroom Craft

The other day I was feeling crafty and decided to make something for my classroom.


I stumbled upon an unused frame and some leftover fabric from when I made my  jewelry board.

I had seen on Pinterest using old frames to make dry erase boards so I thought I would give it a try.  I taped the fabric to cardboard and placed it inside the frame (with the glass in it).

And voila, a cute, decorative, little dry erase board in minutes (…it literally took me 4 minutes)!

Not sure exactly how I will incorporate this into my classroom but we will see =)

What fun & creative classroom crafts have you come up with?

My Classroom!

It’s official! I have my very own classroom – something I have dreamed about ever since I was a little girl. I have made some progress in decorating it but still have a little ways to go…

[BEFORE]

[WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NOW…]

Thank goodness I had the help of my mom and Darla, Scott’s mom! They were the queens of the bulletin boards. I still have some more work to do but I am excited to see everything slowly coming together. =)

Classroom Decor

“To teach is to touch a life forever”

As summer is starting to wind down I have started setting up my classroom and getting organized. I received this adorable canvas from Scott’s mom (who is also a teacher). She found it at TJ Maxx – LOVE that place!

I have the day off from nannying tomorrow so I’m going to go to my classroom with my mom and try to do my bulletin boards. I will try to remember to take pictures and post them! Can you tell I’m a first year teacher and VERY excited? Who sets up their classroom in July when the first day isn’t until August 21st?! =)