Culture Shock and Donors Choose

I've been at my new school so far for 5 whole days! Three days were designated as unofficial set up days, and 2 days were official meetings and set up days. Everyone warned me that switching to this school would be a change... and they were 100% right, but the changes are in unexpected and surprising places!

Lets start with my room - it's HUGE!! I have two double door coat closets for the kids. Then I have two single door teacher closets. One with shelves and the other is more of a coat closet. I also have cabinets about my sink. I have a teacher desk (WOW! Haven't had one in years!) and a small 2 drawer file cabinet. I also have more book shelves than I know what to do with (no I'm not complaining because I am certain by the end of the year they will be filled to capacity!) I have 6 kiddie tables in the room and theres room to spare! I have a small round table for conferencing and a small extra desk for my computer. Did I mention that I have 12, yes 12 bulletin boards!?!?! Oh and 2 more in the hallway! Do you know how hard it was to cover all of those boards and figure out what to put on them? I still have one blank board and I have no idea what I'm going to put on it!!! The stores are all out of sets I like so that board will have to wait another week or two.

Another huge change - the atmosphere. Everyone seems so relaxed and happy at this school. Yes I realize the kids haven't come in yet and that feeling may change but for now... it's a warm, inviting, relaxed atmosphere. Even the administration have been warm, welcoming and helpful! One of our AP's actually helped me hang bulletin board paper on my hallway boards! I don't think in a million years I would have ever expected that! This same AP has made it a point to remind me that in this school I wont have to walk on egg shells or look over my shoulder wondering if I'm going to make a mistake. He has reminded me over and over again, make a mistake, so what! Learn from it, move on (and never make that same mistake again! HA!) I'm loving this philosophy! They also believe that the weekends, holidays, etc. should be family time... leave your work at the door and go enjoy your family. What an opposite feeling than my other school where the admins would have loved for teachers to stay at least 2 hours extra every day to do work every day of the week! I can feel the tension and stress starting to slip away, the uneasy feelings I used to have of being afraid to try new things slowly disappearing. The eagerness and excitement of a new year is gradually sinking. I'm actually looking forward to a new school year!

The last big change has been a bit of a shock for me. At my old school we were spoiled (I didn't realize this until the last few days). Anything we wanted for our classrooms we got - you need chart paper, no problem, scissors, pencils, markers, pens, computer paper, construction paper, copies, colored copies, books for your library, math manipulatives... we even had laptops to bring home and use for work as well as classroom printers. I spent very little money on my own supplies for my old school - the philosophy was anything in the building should belong to the school not the teachers. Don't get me wrong I bought bins and posters and rewards and fun stuff.... but the necessities were always given to us. Not so much now... I've already spent a couple hundred dollars and I'm no where near ready for Monday! I've had to buy every single supply that you can imagine - chart paper, teacher scissors, staples, tape dispenser, I even have to purchase notebooks for my kids! (Insert shocked face!) This weekend alone to get ready for the kids coming in Monday I need to go buy at least 10 (probably more) baskets from the dollar store for my library which is unleveled and all stacked in piles (did I mention I have to level the entire library on my own time! What a job that is going to be!) I also need to locate a ones, tens, hundreds pocket chart for counting the days in school, I need bins to organize pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, table top bins.... then I need to purchase a ton of ink for my home printer as I will be printing like a mad woman this weekend so I can finish my bulletin boards and have my first day of school papers ready! We can't get everything copied so I'll be paying for copies this year.... which leads me to a question - Donors Choice... has anyone every requested anything? How does it work? Could I request help for the basic supplies I need for my kids (you know like the notebooks, a classroom sharpening, etc?)

I may be spending a LOT more money than I ever intended to for my classroom - but I'm hoping the payoff of working in a nurturing, caring, loving, fun environment is what I will get! I'm excited to see what the year brings and can't wait to meet all my kiddies on Monday!

And So It Begins....

Yesterday was the first chance I had to go and visit my new school since I was hired. To be honest, when I started the process of interviewing at new schools I was a bit overwhelmed. The thought of leaving the comfort of my old school was scary, not to mention I hated the idea of leaving all my friends... but there comes a time when everyone needs to move on, and this was my time. When I interviewed at my new school I asked few questions and didn't even look around the school because I honestly didn't think the interview went that well and I wasn't convinced I would get the job. Silly me! After being offered a full time Kindergarten *YAY* position I realized how foolish I was and spent the whole summer wondering what exactly my new school would be like.

Well yesterday I finally got the chance to stop wondering and actually see it. It a relatively new building so that means AC in every room (WAHOO!) and new furniture. My new classroom was imaculate. I have NEVER moved into a classroom that was that cleaned out before. I'm not sure yet if the teacher left the building or moved to a new room, I'll have to find out today. Either way I want to thank her! She did an amazing job cleaning up and cleaning out the classroom. She was kind enough to leave up her bulletin board paper incase I didn't feel like changing it. I'm still undecided about that. Last year I put up fabric using liquid starch but I'm afraid that might ruin the brand new boards and I sooo don't want to do that my first year at my new school, even thought I REALLY want to cover my boards in fabric!!

What shocked me the most about my new school was that they collect the library and math supplies before summer break... so literally the room is completely empty! They wont be handing out the classroom libraries until next week!! Not knowing how many books I have or math supplies it's hard to decide how to set up my book shelves. Another thing that took me by surprise is how many supplies the teachers have to supply. I guess I was spoiled in my old school.... my former principal believed that anything that entered the building should be property of the school so he supplied us with A LOT - down to pens, pencils, dry erase markers/erasers, scissors (for teachers), various kinds of tape and dispensers, staplers, etc. I had to go out yesterday and purchase a stapler, tape dispenser and good teacher scissors for the first time... only to get home and realize I forgot to purchase dry erase markers and a desk organizer for these supplies! Guess I'll be going back to Staples for the 5th time!

Yesterday I spent the day wiping down the shelves in all the closets and organizing the few items the previous teacher had left... todays job - BULLETIN BOARDS! I have so many and I am a bit overwhelmed but I know I'll get it all together and LOVE having so many beautiful boards!! I'll be sure to post some pictures of the before and after later this week.

Brag #Kinderblog13

Brag... I'd lie if I said I don't like to brag. I'm not saying I run around patting myself on the back, shouting from the rooftops every time I do something amazing, but lets be honest... sometimes sharing and shouting from the rooftops is fun! So here is me, shouting from the rooftops bragging sharing some things I've done that I'm proud of!

I've given 2 professional developments in my school over the past few years and I am very proud of both of them! A few years back my principal decided we should be giving every single student in the school individual reading and writing goals. The students were expected to be accountable for these goals, they needed to be able to tell anyone who asked what goal they were working on and there had to be documentation of what goals they had already accomplished. This was a HUGE undertaking! Many teachers I knew were using post-it notes or index cards attaching them to the students reading bags and writing folders. I hate spending time writing the same thing over and over again so I hit the computer. Using the state standards as a guide and a packet of information from T.C. I created goal sheets. I created a version for the students to keep in a goal folder and then another version that was sent home with the students weekly so the parents could see what goals we were working on, what goals their child mastered and what goals they would eventually be working on. Over the last few years we moved away from the individual goals, however my goal sheets have been sought after by most of the staff in my school (and some of my friends who will be moving on to new schools have already requested my sheets for their new grades!) Over the years I have worked on modifying these goal sheets to match the new Common Core Standards. I have also modified these sheets so teachers can use them to write their conference notes on them. I am so proud of these sheets and have found them so useful over the last few years. I enjoyed doing the PD on these sheets!

My second PD that I did was on writing good test questions. It's a funny story how a Kindergarten teacher came to do a PD on writing good test questions. A few years ago I took a college class about assessments in special education. I was expecting the class to focus on how a teacher would modify or give assessments to students with special needs - instead the teacher focused on what is a good test and who do you write good test questions. This was such an eye opening experience! I learned so much from this class that I immediately presented my knew knowledge to my principal and he asked me to do a PD. Over the last few years I have worked closely with our Social Studies consultant and helped him with writing good test questions. Secretly I always wished he would ask me to give a presentation to some of the other schools he does consulting with... but I guess I should have flat out asked him! Oh well!

I really love when my colleagues ask for my help - from help with technology, or creating documents on the computer to sharing my two presentations with them it gives me a thrill to be able to share my knowledge and talents! I hope one day I can share all of this with more people!

Bloglovin' Blog Hop!

As most of you know Google Reader is no more... But Bloglovin' is alive and kicking! I'm lovin' Bloglovin' I find their app easy to navigate on my phone and I was able to organize all of the blogs I follow on the computer. I actually spent a lot of time sorting all the blogs into different categories and I'm in LOVE!

I decided to link up with Tori's Teacher Tips for her Bloglovin' linky and bloghop. Tori has amazing technology tips, including how to navigate and use Bloglovin'. Click on the picture below to go to Tori's linky party. Scroll all the way to the bottom to find over 260 blogs to follow on Bloglovin'!!!

A Teacher Without a Class and Teaching is a Gift are working together on another blog hop. This one is very specific to only Elementary Teachers who blog about Teaching! Click on the button below to find over 60 teaching specific blogs!

Oh and of course don't forget when you are exploring and lovin' Bloglovin' be sure to follow me MaMa Goose's KinderGarden! Help me reach 100 followers and I'll have a super-dee-douper fun giveaway!

Confessions #Kinderblog13

I've decided to spend my summer taking the #KinderChat blog challenge and today is the official first challenge! This year the challenge is focusing on one word, todays word: confessions.

Hold on to your hats because I'm about to confess all the crazy things you never knew about me and probably didn't want to know! Happy reading!

Let's start with a silly confession from my childhood:
As a kid I HATED when my crayons weren't sharp and pointy. If they broke or the paper was torn I would be devastated! What did this result in? Me hoarding crayons - I mean hundreds of crayons because I would only use them for a short time so that they would always be sharp and pointy... what happened to this collection of crayons? Well Hurricane Sandy taught me a very quick lesson about hoarding crayons - DON'T DO IT! Unfortunately my collection of slightly used crayons was trapped in a desk drawer at my parents house under 2 feet of water, sewage and oil. I can proudly say that I threw those crayons out and now I let me daughter break her crayons, smash her crayons and love her crayons until they are itty bitty teeny tiny pieces! I'm so proud of myself!

I have a shopping confession:
Most people women love to shop for clothes, shoes, handbags, etc. and I have plenty of friends who can shop until they drop and buy and buy and buy... I can't do it. I really don't like shopping that much. Clothes and shoes are so hard to find for me that shopping becomes quite frustrating! BUT I do have one shopping addiction - school supplies, especially from the Target Dollar Bins! Yeah I tend to over buy and then I never know what to do with the stuff I purchase so it sits in a box or a bag or the floor of my office collecting dust! (I'm hoping that all changes this year! I'm hoping that the new school I'm in will give me the freedom to use all of those fun supplies and put them to good use!)

Here is my last confession... my teaching confession:
If you read my post from the other day, My Story you know that I am beginning a new adventure in the fall. What you don't know is how terribly hard of a year I had. A while back I read (or saw, not really sure which one it was) an article about how as children we often received a "gold star" for a job well done. It didn't mean you got the highest grade but rather that you were recognized for just doing a good job! The article went on to state that adults need that same type of "gold star" system! I have to say I totally agree. I'm not going to lie, I'm a teachers pet... I always have been. I liked to be at the top of my class, I hated to fail, and I thrived when my teacher's complimented me and told me I was doing good. I HATED when I was called out on anything in front of others, I hated being wrong and I couldn't stand when I didn't get recognized for doing a good job (which is ironic because I was the quietest, shyest student in my class by far!) I haven't lost this desire/need to be at the top, to get that "gold star" but I'm not a very flashy showy type of person. I don't go out seeking recognition, I do my best work quietly behind the scenes but I still like to get the pat on the back when I do show off my work. This year instead of pats on the back I often felt knocked down. I won't get into all the details BUT I often tried new things and was often left feeling weathered and frustrated. I wasn't encouraged or given a "gold star" or an A for effort this year. By the end of the year I was left frustrated, hurt and very discouraged. I was tempted to take a break from teaching... BUT I gave myself a "gold star" and surrounded myself with friends and family who support me and I picked myself up and went out and have hopefully found a new school in which I will be able to earn "gold stars." My fingers are crossed that this upcoming year will be filled with lots of positive experiences and I have learned to make sure I give compliments whenever I can.

My first compliment goes out to all of you reading this - thank you! Thank you for taking some time to read this and share in my experiences!

So there you have it my friends... my confessions! Now what are you going to confession? Leave a comment below and share one of your confessions! :)

The Adventure Begins

Last year at the end of June I was introduced the wonderful world of teacher blogging... I was excited to embark on this new adventure. I couldn't wait to share all that I was doing in my classroom and was looking forward to meeting new people. But things changed this year. I had a very difficult year at my job. While I loved teaching and I loved working with my little ones I was struggling day to day with actually getting myself to work. I no longer enjoyed the environment/atmosphere that I was working in. I was compromising my philosophy and beliefs each and every day to meet the high demands of the curriculum and administration. Yes the children were blooming and thriving and learning a lot... as an educator I was feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders and having trouble keeping up with it. After many months of struggling I decided that I needed to do something... I needed to take things into my own hands. I needed to make a change!

So many things in my life were changing - we sold our house, we bought property to build on, we moved in with my MIL... I felt it deep inside that this was the year, this was the time for a change! So I did it! I made phone calls and hunted online and applied for new jobs. I scheduled interviews and emailed administrators to follow up all with the hopes that just maybe the grass would be slightly greener on the other side. Many people thought I was crazy - they said you know your administration, the expectations and the neighborhood - why change. Just suck it up and deal with it... Funny thing about that, the longer you "suck it up and deal with it" the more stressed, anxious and unhappy you become. I could no longer suck it up and deal with it, I HAD to make a positive change for my own sanity!

After 6 years at my school it wasn't an easy decision... but I was a necessity. My interview skills were a bit rusty so I was nervous that I wouldn't do good, but I figured I had to take the chance. First interview was with a Superintendent... OH MY! I was terrified, but it went so well. Unfortunately nothing came of it, which I'm still a bit confused about but for anyone out there going on teaching interviews (at least in NY) that seems to be the way things work. Next up an interview in, well as the principal put it, an Urban neighborhood. I was there for over 2.5 hours and left being told I was in the top two... what a boost to my confidence, however, yet again, I never heard anything from that school again! Again I was a bit surprised to be left hanging but there was no turning back. The next interview was with a school much closer to where I live and again an Urban school in which I was told about 85% of the students have little to no parent involvement with the school. I was there for less than an hour and walked out feeling like I failed... BUT GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?! They called and offered me a Kindergarten teaching position! NO WAY! I couldn't believe it. I was baffled, shocked and super dee-douper excited!! Of course I said yes!!

So here I sit, the whole summer ahead of me and I'm beginning a brand new adventure in September. Today I received a confirmation email stating that I will be reporting to my new school in September. I'm excited, and scared, and hopeful all mixed into one! I'm proud of myself for taking a stand and doing something to better myself. I'm a bit scared because my new school is the exact opposite of what I am used to. Parking is a bit hard and the neighborhood is very different. My old job was in a pretty affluent neighborhood where I'd say almost 90% (if not more) of the parents were fully involved in the school and the children's education. I had tremendous and wonderful support from almost all of my parents each year! My new school has the opposite ratio - most parents aren't involved in their children's education and it is a lower incomer neighborhood. BUT call me silly, call me naive I have that first year teacher feeling that I can change the world! I'm hopeful that with the right atmosphere I can reach out to my new kiddies and their families and truly make a difference!

This summer while I may share many things that I have done I will also begin sharing about my new adventure! Come take the ride with me....

Back to School Giveaway!

I can't believe the summer is coming to an end... many of you have already went back to school and some of you, like me, will be starting soon. It's hard to say goodbye to summer... BUT there is something exciting about the beginning of the year. Decorating my classroom, new school supplies (yes I love new school supplies), and meeting my new group of kindergarten kiddies! As sad as I am to see summer come to a close I'm excited for this new adventure... 

This is a big year for me, after 5 years in my classroom watching it go from a small room to being fully rebuilt to a very large full sized room I am moving next door to a new classroom. I am taking over my good friends room since she is switching grades. This "new" classroom has so much potential in it and I  can't wait to get started with organizing and decorating it!!! I'm still teaching Kindergarten so I'm super excited about that. My little princess is also starting school for the first time this year, I know she is going to love it and although I'm a little sad to see her growing up so fast I'm so happy and excited. She asks every day to go to school and she loves doing "homework" (a.k.a. workbooks). I know she is going to love it and that makes it all the better. 

To celebrate the beginning of the school year I thought I would give away one of my clipboards. (Please be patient with me, this is my very first giveaway and I am sure there will be some hiccups along the way..) I made them last year for all the teachers on my grade and they LOVED them!!! You can choose from one of the designs I already have or request a color/theme and I can do my best to accommodate (I don't have a Silhouette Cameo or other cutting machine, although they are on my must have wish list! So keep that in mind if you are a winner, everything has to be either hand cut OR I have to find awesome scrapbook paper!)

Here are the clipboards I made last year:

 

Now here is the best part... I currently have 16 followers! If I hit 25 followers by the end of this giveaway I will give 1 clipboard away, if I hit 50 followers I will give 2 clipboards away, if I hit 75 followers I will give 3 clipboards away, and so on!! So the more you share my giveaway and the more people who follow my blog the more clipboards I will give away! The possibilities are endless, and so is the amount of clipboards I will give away!!

After you enter don't forget to leave a comment on my blog with your email address!! I need a way to contact you incase you are the lucky winner :)a Rafflecopter giveaway