More than "just" a teacher.

So many people think we went into this profession for the weekends off, summers off, and leaving work at 3:15.  I've heard it so many times...oh "just" a  teacher.  "Those who can't teach." It always bothered me when I would hear that. We are more than "just" a teacher.  I'm a nurse, counselor, mom/dad, custodian, mentor, an encourager, an interpreter, a referee, an investigator, a warm smile, and a safety net.  I never felt like I was "just" a teacher.  It was "just a teacher" that led many fourth graders to a safe place and gave them crayons and paper to keep quiet.  It was "just" a teacher that locked her students safely in a bathroom and told them how much she loved them so they wouldn't be scared.  It was "just" a teacher that had her kids  sing Christmas carols to take their mind off of what was happening in the school.  It was "just" a teacher that shielded her kids and gave her life for them.  It was "just" a teacher that sacrificed not that day but everyday.   I've never been more proud to say that I'm a teacher.  I'll admit I was uneasy about going to school today, and did not know what to say to my seventeen first graders about what happened.  I didn't know if they knew of what had happened at Sandy Hook, or if they would even understand.  I gave my kids a bigger hug as they came in and left today, and I was thankful for their talkative little personalities!  I like to think I would know and have the courage to do what the three teachers at Sandy Hook did on Friday, December 14, 2012.  "God is their refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble."  Psalms 46

My Heart Breaks for Sandy Hook Elementary

 

A Little Therapeutic Therapy...

I'm back linking up for Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin'.  I have learned how to de-stress very well as some may say!  Here is a peak at how I unwind after a *long* day at school!

A number 5 eight count with a Dr. Pepper and extra Polynesian and Chick-fil-A Sauce always makes this girl happy!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...and yes...I have been known to eat a whole pack in ONE sitting!

 

Hanson!  I know, I know...Hanson!  MMM Bop is STILL my all time favorite song!  Whenever I am sad or stressed I just pull out my Hanson CD {circa 1997} and I sing along and it puts me in a better mood!

My favorite shows...Pretty Little Liars and 90210.

Thrifiting...I like to turn trash into unique, one-of-a-kind treasures!

My newly adopted cat, Louella Mae.

My super awesome friend Heather that just *happened* to move to Mississippi the same time I did!  It's always good when you have a friend from home to talk to!  {I'm the one on the right.}

I'm off to see what everyone else does to unwind...go link up if you haven't!  Happy Long Weekend Ya'll!!!

Where It All Goes Down...

Hey ya'll!  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I blogged!  That has got to change!  Yesterday was a month that we have been in school.  Here in Mississippi we are waiting for Hurricane Issac to make his mark.  In order for people to evacute, school is closed today and tomorrow.  I know many of my students moved here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, so needless to say I had *a few* tears yesterday.  They were babies when Katrina hit, but I guess they have heard stories from their families.  So I'm using today to play catch up on putting in grades, lesson plans, and centers...and watching my newly adopted cat Louella Mae swing on the curtains of course!  Before I get started on school stuff, I need to  catch up in Blog Land-- seeing as how I totally missed Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week!  Total sadness!  I'm going to start off with Where I Teach Wednesday.  I love looking in to everyone else's classrooms. 
My very, very, very organized and leveled classroom library!  I think this is my favorite part of my classroom!




Here is the area above the board.  I have added a multiplication and division sign up there, and a math focus bulletin board since then.


My small group area...I love small group time!


My reading center area....I don't teach reading but they still get to pick out a book to read if they finish their work early.  The window is my Wishing Well (more on that later).




My Rick Morris Behavior Clip Chart...Hollywood style.  Please excuse the mess, my friend Heather took these pictures when she was helping me get my classroom together.  :)



If you haven't linked up yet, go and join the party!

Currently....

It's that time again...time for Farley's Currently Linky!  For once, I'm joining kind of early!  I can't believe that school starts tomorrow!  I *wigged out* and spent $20.00 on copies...yes...copies.  So after a few whole bag of Reese's and $20 bucks later, I feel much more prepared for the first day of school!

A Freebie for You....and Ryan Lochte Too :)

Hey ya'll!!!  Of course I had to stay up and watch the Olympics last night and today,  I always get so excited when it comes on.  So my sweet thirdsters will be having all kinds of Olympic fun in my classroom when school starts.  I've got lots of ideas, more on that later!  :)  I went to school super early this morning for a School Wide Work Day.  Well, I was hoping to meet some more of the teachers I'd be working with...but they weren't there.  I spray painted paw prints again....and ptl that all the halls are finished!  Then I watched the guy's swim meet.  I mean... Ryan Lochte is super cute....and could possibly be my future hubby!  HA!  ;)  It only helps that I was a fan before he won gold!  Swoon...So anyways back to why I'm posting... while I was doing that I finished these multiplication and division key words to go along with my addition and subtraction key words I got from The Teacher Wife.  I got some poster board and made a big multiplication and division symbol, then cut out the words.   Hope some of ya'll can use them!  Click *HERE* to download.

 Who else is excited about the Olympics?  And I leave you with this...   :)

Tell me more, more, more!!!

I'm arriving fashionably late to Amy's Linky Party.  I love a good linky, so it's about time I showed up for the party!

1.  I have really, really loud sneezes!  Seriously, whenever I sneeze at school my kiddos jump!  They never get use to it either.  People always say "Wow, that's such a big sneeze for such a little person!" HA!

2. I will NOT eat buffets!!!  A long time ago I witnessed a kid picking his nose {and a buger}...and then...he TOUCHED the food with his HANDS!!!!  EWWWWW!  I've been scarred ever since! 

3.  I don't eat anything off of a bone.  It has to be a filet or boneless if I'm gonna eat it.  Does anybody else out there get grossed out by the little blue part on the bone?  Let's just say that I hate dread days when the cafeteria serves chicken legs!  Those little babies just gnaw the daylights off those things!

4.  I just moved from Alabama to teach in Mississippi.  Can't wait to meet my third graders!

5.  I secretly like to make up rap songs.

6.  When I am getting gas it has to land on an even number.

7.  I own every Hanson CD ever made, and I seriously STILL listen to them!  I can sing every line of MMM Bop.  That will always be my all time favorite song!  If I'm having a bad day or sad I listen to that song and it makes me super happy!

8.  I love to repurpose stuff.  I love to turn the ugliest stuff into one-of-a-kind, unique pieces!

9.  Dr. Pepper and Reeses are important food groups on my diet.

10.  I'm a big germ-a-phob.  I Lysol off desks, doorknobs, pencils, and book baskets after school every day.