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16 June 2016
It's been a long time. Too long. All I can say is..... well..... I've got nothing. No excuses. So I've posted this on my YouTube page but I haven't officially given the announcement on my blog!
At the beginning of the school year (August 2015) my husband and I made the decision to move our family. I am originally from Houston, Texas and although my mother and father live in Alabama we kind of all know that Alabama is not our home sweet home.
So we thought long and hard about where we wanted our boys to be raised and Trent and I knew that hands down we wanted them to have all the experiences that he had as a child. Growing up on a farm with space to ride dirt bikes and play in the creek and just be boys is what we want to give them and it's just not possible to do that in Alabama.
So we decided Pennsylvania would be home sweet home in a year. I told my principal at the beginning of the year and I think she almost didn't believe me because she brushed it off. I got started on transferring my license and in March, during my spring break, we made the trip up for me to start the treacherous job hunt.
I feel as though it was meant to be because on the night before our last night I received an email to interview for a fourth grade position. I WAS ECSTATIC!
The interview went fantastic, although I left nervous and following the next couple of weeks my hopes were beginning to fade. Then on a Sunday night I received the email for the second interview which was a demonstration lesson.
I planned for two weeks and flew up. I was't nervous about interviewing. Really, I was nervous about flying on my own. I had always had the comfort of my husband or family to trudge me through the airport. Never had I had to do it all on my own. Luckily, I made it there in one piece.
The demonstration lesson went fantastic and I was so excited for the possibilities of fourth grade. Now, I am preparing for my fourth grade classroom. I went back up after school was out (my kindergarten class) and was able to meet with my future class (more details to come... promise) and I snapped some pictures of my bare classroom.
My mind is in over-drive thinking of all the possibilities.
I am only teaching ELA (Reading and Writing) so I started thinking of my classroom design. I wanted something different than anything I had ever done before. I want this to feel like a home. So I turned to flexible seating. I have a few drawings that I have made that will hopefully help to give me that feel of home and relaxation.
When you enter into my room I have a large whiteboard that covers the right wall. Notice the apple tv in the corner????? Can I just express how excited I am about this! Everyone in the school has one-to-one iPads and all I can do is think about all the possibilities!
Left side of my classroom...
Back of my room...
Right side of my room...
View of my door...
I have tons of storage space which is very exciting, but what I love the most is the store that is located in the front of my room.
Initially, I was going to build mailboxes for my students but I think I am going to have them use these cubbies as their area. Since I am thinking of flexible seating in my room I wanted something that would allow students to keep all of their materials in an area of the room that was out of the way but would allow them to access it easily. I like these cubbies for just that.
Students will keep their backpacks in the two closets in the back of the room.
I am also excited about the writing space that I have. My thoughts is to add three stools for students who want a little more privacy during work time.
I am really excited about the space and I have some really awesome ideas that I am excited to start. My theme is Harry Potter and I've already started collecting some of the must have items for my room.
I feel like the second color matches the cabinet color nicely so I am working on the other four colors as my decorating colors. I am boring. I know it. Well! I will be back soon to share what I did with my class when I met them in June!!!!