Keep moving forward

This week my principal announced he was leaving. It was a sad day for all the staff at my school! I'm not sure if I have ever blogged about how I got into teaching. Teaching is a second career for me. I have a Fine Arts degree and I worked in marketing prior to teaching. When I had my daughter, I decided to stay home full time. During this time, my husband told me this was my opportunity to go back to school part time. I decided to go back for a teaching certification.

After 5 years of going to school part time, I was ready to do my student teaching. My adviser called me up one day and mentioned I was the perfect candidate for a "new" teacher preparation program that the school wanted to pilot. I went to several job interviews and ended up at the school I am currently at.

I thought my principal was crazy for taking a chance on a person that was going to skip the student teaching phase. I'm not going to lie, it was probably the worst year of my life. I was juggling family life, still taking classes and teaching full time in a class full of 26 kindergartners!

I remember going into my principals office two weeks after school started and just crying hysterically - I don't consider myself an outwardly emotional person however I have noticed in the last 5 years I cry when I watch any Disney movie...

I'm fairly positive I told him "I wasn't cut out to be a teacher and I made a huge mistake!" He just patiently listened to me and told me he never would have hired me if he knew I couldn't do it. Well, with a lot of coaching, perseverance, and a lot of pep talks by my principal I survived my first year. It was a tough first year but it really molded me into the teacher I am today. I learned so much that year that I don't think I would have learned otherwise had I done the traditional student teaching route.

I will forever be grateful for the opportunities my principal has given me over the last 7 years. This year I had the chance to work with him in a leadership role. This year was another year of learning, challenges and struggling but I was fortunate to have such wonderful support. Change is never easy and I know there will be a lot of change in the upcoming school year. Not only with leadership at my school but also transitioning to the Common Core. Keep riding that bicycle and keep moving.

May Currently

Every month seems to be going faster than the month before! I'm linking up with Farley from Oh'BoyFourthGrade.

I am not an American Idol fan however, I've been watching it for the past three seasons. This season I'm not really loving it but since I already watched most of it, I might as well see it to the end, right?

I was the test coordinator for my school's state test this year. Talk about stressful! In the middle of the testing, my mom had an unexpected triple bypass (Super stressful). I think I was being tested on how much stress I could take without going over the edge! Thankfully everything went well and she's home recovering. I'm also very fortunate that I only live 10 minutes from her house. It's been cute watching my dad turn into a nurse overnight!

I blogged about my foot in the past. I injured it 14 months ago and it's improved but it still bothers me on almost a daily basis. I finally went back to my podiatrist last week and he still believes it's a torn peroneal tendon. I'm just waiting for my insurance to approve the MRI. In short, he told me the conservative approach is to cast it for four weeks! I was told way back when I saw him almost 10 months ago to come back if it didn't improve and well, I just never made the follow up appointment. Did I mention it's in the mid-90's here?? I can only imagine how bad that cast will stink in four weeks! And how am I going to drive to work since it's my right foot? Ugh! Also, we are planning a family trip to Disneyland with my whole family and it sure would be nice to be able to walk while I'm there. My summer vacation starts in 23 days!!

Currently April

I'm linking up with Farley again from Oh'Boy4thGrade! The year is just flying by, isn't it?

Tomorrow, I'm back to work! The next few weeks are going to be crazy! I'm the test coordinator for the annual state mandated test for my school. 

TodaysMeet

Looking to integrate a little technology into your lessons? TodaysMeet is an online tool that allows you to have a backchannel discussion with your students.

The best way I can describe it is instead of students using a whiteboard and pen to interact with a lesson, you use TodaysMeet with computers and students can engage in a "real time" discussion. The teacher gives a question and students type in their responses on TodaysMeet. The students and the teacher instantly see on their computer the responses. TodaysMeet is very easy to set up and there is no email required to set it up.

Math problems of the month

This website was shared with me today by another teacher. It has a lot of different problems of the month  by content standards. It's worth checking out.

I Make Stuff Pinkback Button by Barrel of Monkeys

I've mentioned before in previous posts, I like to be crafty in my free time. I started a craft blog but I haven't shared it with too many people because I wasn't ready. If you have an interest in scrapbook type crafts or Project Life, please check out my craft blog.  

Currently March

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly currently.

My daughter really enjoys watching clips from Ellen on Youtube. She's a funny lady! I loved her in Finding Nemo. After two months of not feeling so great, I can finally say I see the end of the tunnel with this illness. My chest pain is finally feeling better although it still hurts first thing in the morning but it's nothing like how it use to be. I'm so very grateful! My Spring Break is at the end of March but it's been on my mind. I could sleep in everyday! By sleeping in, if I could just sleep until 8:00am that would be good enough! The like, love, and hate was a little challenging since I had to choose items that started with the letter "C" but it worked in the end. I do admit, I have a small addiction to purses. It doesn't even have to be a designer brand. I just love purses and bags in general. I do like Coach purses and although they are pricey, I have to admit they are made to last. I think I have blogged about my love for coffee in the past. I had a tough time with hate. I like things to be in control so I think craziness really does drive my a little looney.

Exhausted!

This week has been so exhausting! It's benchmark testing week. Part of my job is to organize, schedule, print  tests, scan tests, and oversee the grade levels to make sure all the testing gets done and completed with accuracy.

 That's about how I feel right now!

It's usually tiring to begin with but to top it off I'm doing online student surveys for third, fourth and fifth and my good teacher friend at my school is on unexpected bed rest this week for her pregnancy so I have been running all her copies and setting up her room all week (I'm happy to do that for her because I know she'd do the same for me if I ever needed it). I'm worn out! Luckily tomorrow if I can keep my eyes open after work I have my monthly scrapbook night with my scrapbook chicks! I think I will need some caffeine before I go!