First Week of School

Chris and I made it through the first week of school ... barely. It was rough, at least for me, and after all of these years of teaching the first week has never gotten that much easier. I have taught for seven years -- and if you have ever taught, then I bet you can relate. Basically, it is trying to learn names (and this year for me I have 47 kids (2 classes)), learn what your kids will be like, getting into a routine, going over rules again and again, and saying the same things so many times, you start to sound like a broken record. You even start to wonder, "are these kids gonna catch on?" And then you start to miss some of the kids you had from last year, who of course by the end of the year did get it! So, each and every year has its new challenges, and getting back into the swing of things all takes time and patience, so I am working on it. 

Chris had a pretty easy first week because he has a new job at his school. He is the math and science instructional support teacher, so he does not have an actual class this year. He will be pulling kids to tutor and helping the teachers at his school, but for the first week he just helped out where and when it was needed. He's really enjoying it.

I took a few shots of my classroom, because I realized not many people have had a chance to see my room. I am in a portable, and I have only taught in the main building of our school once. I like the portables because you can control your own air! In the main building, the school district controls the air so it is either freezing or way too hot. That is one perk of being in a portable.
  

 

Got to have those helping hands! Kids LOVE helping the teacher. Some of my jobs for them if you can't see are, "Errand Angel", "Line Leader", "Hand-Out Hero", "Door Dude"-you get the point...

 

My great bookshelf, that is now even better because Chris gave me a whole bunch of chapter books he was not going to use this year. 

And last but not least ... our lil' miss Coco. She had a rough week because she missed us so much. Every morning we would try and say goodbye to her and she wouldn't even look at us. BUT when we got home she was SO excited to see us! To make her feel better I gave her this Hawaiian lei to chew up. I got it at a new nail place in town I tried out called Hawaiian nails - ha! But I told her that while she was chewing it up she can be dreaming of the day when Chris and I can retire and we will all move to Hawaii to live happily ever after. Hopefully that will help her not to be sad while we are gone. She seemed to like the idea.      

 

 

Now if only we can all get through week two...

Love,

Chris, Carrie, and Coco