Chill Bumps and Tears

Nothing but chill bumps and tears when I watch replays of the Auburn game from yesterday. I have listened to my dad talk so many times about "Bo Over the Top" and other iconic Auburn plays over the years. I was so lucky to be in Jordan Hare to witness this miraculous play that will be talked about for years and years. To make it better, I got to witness this iconic play sitting by my dad. My dad, an Auburn alum, raised me right. Growing up an Auburn fan, I didn't apply to any other school. I always knew it would be Auburn. There's something inside of you that just lights up when you become a member of the Auburn family. That feeling doesn't leave when you graduate and come back for football games. I now understand how special it is for my dad to come back and visit. Before attending Auburn, going to the games was something exciting to do. Once you have been a student and experienced the Auburn spirit, coming back reminds you what a special place it is. A piece of me will always be in Auburn, AL where I met my best friends. Watching yesterday's game beside my dad in our favorite place and hugging in pure joy after such a marvelous play and big win is something I will never forget. Our first game together since I became an Auburn alum will forever be hard to beat. 

As great as this weekend was, last weekend was fun as well! Mom came to Atlanta so we could go see The Rockettes. The past two years, mom and I have gone to Nashville to watch The Rockettes. Since I moved to Atlanta and don't have the whole month of December off for Christmas, it was going to be too much to go see them in Nashville. Luckily, they came to Atlanta! We had a great time, even if we did cheat a little by enjoying something Christmas related before sundown on Thanksgiving. We enjoyed spending the weekend at my grandparent's house! One of the best things about going (besides spending time with Bebe and Papa) is Papa's breakfast. It is absolutely my favorite meal to eat. Mom and I tried to start mapping out our Black Friday (Thursday) shopping plan! I am so excited to be home on Friday for the whole week of Thanksgiving!

School has been going pretty well. It has gotten easier as the year has gone on! I am up to 5 girls!!!! I learn something new every day, both good and bad. Can't believe it's already almost Thanksgiving Break! Luckily, we get the whole week off for Thanksgiving! There are school wide activities scheduled for Thursday and Friday, which is genius. Hopefully the week flies by! I can't wait to be in Hartselle! As always, please continue to pray for my kiddos. As the weather gets colder, I worry more about them. So many of them walk to school in the mornings when it can be so cold. Pray I continue to give them the love that they need!

One Fourth Finished

I have survived the first nine weeks (ten now)! It is hard to believe that the year is a fourth of the way over. It is getting easier as we go along. We have added a girl to our class, so I'm now up to 4 girls! Bless their hearts for having to put up with 15 boys all day! I continue to be so grateful for the other 3rd grade teachers, two of whom have a wealth of knowledge and ideas for things I might be struggling with. The other one is brand new like me, and she is such a blessing. Anytime I am overwhelmed or frustrated, I am comforted by the fact that we are going through it together. We have become great friends and have been hanging out on the weekends! Last night we hung out with her college roommates, who were AOIIs at UGA! I am so glad they have included me and are showing me around the city!

I am slowly getting used to living the city life and being in the Eastern time zone. I am still not loving that my shows start an hour later; thank goodness for DVR. Dancing with the Stars has not disappointed this season! I am patiently waiting on Amber Riley to show off her voice like she does her dance moves! Revenge and Scandal continue to keep me on the edge of my seat. Two weeks ago was the Glee episode where they said goodbye to Finn, Corey Monteith. I cried the entire episode. As always, Grey's Anatomy has grabbed my heart. My college roommate, Kali, didn't watch tv at all when we first lived together. After three years of living with me, I managed to turn her into an avid tv watcher like me! I have missed watching the shows with her and freaking out about the crazy twists and turns!

Very rarely do we get to do fun, cutesy things in school anymore. I vividly remember all the fun things from when I was in school, and it makes me sad that I can't reenact those things. There is so much emphasis on Common Core and the CRCT, it leaves little time for cutesy. That being said, when we do get the rare opportunity to treat the kids with something fun, it is a big deal! The kids' extended text for this nine weeks was Because of Winn Dixie. At the end of the book, they have a party with egg salad sandwiches, pickles, and dump punch. We reenacted this for the kids while they watched the movie. Its things like this that make teaching worth it!

Last weekend was a three day weekend for me! Tuesday was a teacher workday, so I only had the kids three days last week! I spent Friday night through Sunday morning in Auburn for homecoming! It was a relaxing weekend being back in my favorite place! I spent all of Monday catching up on tv I had missed. I felt so rested and refreshed on Wednesday to start the second nine weeks! This week we have the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills). This will take time out of each day, throwing things off just enough. The good thing about this is less papers to grade and lessons to plan! 

I can't write this post without mentioning the Auburn game yesterday! I woke up today with a smile on my face knowing that we have returned to competitive football! What a thrilling win that was for us! War Eagle! 

Please continue to pray for my kiddos. It seems like each week I learn something about them or their home life that breaks my heart and makes me so thankful for what I have. Hug your loved ones and let them know you appreciate them. This job is a daily reminder of putting my faith in The Lord and trusting His plan. I can only hope I am letting His light shine through me to reach these sweet children who need His love more than anything.

Long Time No See

As you can imagine, I have been a tad busy! This whole teaching thing is hard work! Not that I ever thought it was easy, there are just so many things I never thought about! I am so thankful for such a supportive team of 3rd grade teachers to keep encouraging me and remind me of everything I should be doing!

I am up to 18 now, 15 boys and 3 girls. I regret being so excited about having mostly boys! My poor girls are constantly complaining about the number of boys, at this age they don't realize what a good thing it could be =). It just so happens that the majority of the new students in 3rd grade have been boys, and since I had the smallest class I have gotten the new students. Only 6 of my kids were at the school last year, so it is tough to have so many new students. They don't know each other very well, so it is causing some aggression to come out. We are working every day on how to express our emotions in better ways. It is less and less overwhelming everyday! Getting hugs from the kids is the quickest way to dissolve any feelings of uncertainty!

I have been fortunate to see and talk to several of my friends that graduated with me in elementary education lately! It is encouraging to know we are all having the same struggles and going through our first year together! I had the absolute best group of girls to go through the elementary program with, and I miss them everyday! I miss carpooling to school and sharing our experiences with each other!

I went home to Hartselle for Labor Day, and what a change of pace it was. Even for only living in Atlanta for a little over a month at the time, the fast pace lifestyle quickly becomes a part of you. It was extremely relaxing to drive through downtown Friday night with so few cars around. I did a lot of yummy eating and being lazy with family. It was the perfect Labor Day weekend after 3 long weeks of teaching!

The past two weekends I have spent in my home away from home, Auburn. It killed me not being there for the first game, so I made sure to be there for the next two. I can't describe how weird it was to drive into Auburn for the first time as an alumni. It is the same Auburn, only I'm not living there anymore. I got to see many of my best friends and eat at some of my favorite places! Not many things are better than gameday in Auburn. I was on the verge of happy tears so many time that first Saturday, because it is the perfect place with so much love for its students and alumni. One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing my sweet Mary Alderson! I got to hear all about first grade and how much she loves it! And of course I always love catching up with her mom, my fabulous boss from college!

My sweet little and one of my best friends! We are so much alike it is weird!

This past weekend my dad and brother came to Auburn too!  My dad gave me my love for Auburn, and for that I am so thankful! For that reason and many more, I love getting to tailgate with him! 

We spent the day with one of my best friends and her family! Frances and I spent just about every game day together in our four years at Auburn, and oh my how good it was to be back together! 

This is the cutest picture from our first football game freshmen year!

Here we are on Saturday! Love this girl and her full of life personality! There is never a dull moment with her and her family!

I loved getting to spend time with Kali, my roommate for three years! She was sweet to let me sit with her at the Arkansas State game and go with me to some of my favorite places! Sadly, we didn't take a picture to document.

This past weekend I spent with my sweet friend Jennifer! Jennifer and I were pledge sisters and also had all of our classes together! She is constantly encouraging and sweet as can be! I must say she was quite the hostess!

Although I have had so much fun the past three weekends traveling, I am looking forward to a weekend in Atlanta! I will do lots of sleeping and cooking! Keep praying for my sweet kids and that I have the patience to teach them the coping skills they need. Pray that I continuously give them love regardless of their behavior! 

Last but not least, WAR EAGLE!!! Maybe we can keep our undefeated streak alive!

Survival

The first two weeks of 3rd grade are in the books! Thankfully they have flown by! I am now up to 17 students, 14 boys and 3 girls. Let's just say after P.E. and/or recess my room smells so great =). Our first unit for science this year is habitats. Mainly the habitats of Georgia. This has brought back great memories of the huge rainforest unit we did when I was in 3rd grade! That is one of the most memorable things I did in school. Unfortunately with common core and all of our time constraints that isn't something we can do. I'll be honest, these first two weeks I have just been surviving. Thankfully I have the weekend to sit and plan out a couple of weeks so I'm not panicing each day about what we will be doing the next day! I do have to brag and say that my class got an intercom shoutout from the principal yesterday for being the "model class" during our firedrill! At least I know we're doing one thing right!

I'm so excited to be going home next weekend! Nothing beats being spoiled for a weekend by mom, dad, and grandparents! And of course I have to mention that Auburn football starts one week from today! It's a strange feeling not being there for the first game, but I will be almost just as happy to watch it with my dad and brother! Thank you to everyone who has been praying and supporting me along the way! Continue to pray for my sweet kids and their families!

First Day of School

Well, yesterday was the day!!! It is a day I have dreamed of for many years now, and I can't believe I finally have a class of my own! I only had 10 kids yesterday, and they were wonderful! We did many "getting to know you" activities. I even had them do some guessing about me. (It is always fun to see what your kids think about you!) Of course only having 10 kids couldn't last, so I had 15 today. They were still just as great! Twelve boys and three girls. I know many of you are thinking, "Oh no! How horrible!", but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have found that girls bring drama, and I do not have the sass to handle them! I babysat a great family of four boys throughout high school and most of college and ever since I have found them easier! All except the sweet six year old girl, Mary Alderson, I babysat this summer! We had the best time together! She always kept me smiling with her singing, dancing, and writing songs! Oh how I miss her!

After two weeks of soaking up information and being overwhelmed, it felt good to have kids in the classroom to remind me why I became a teacher! Third grade decided to team teach this year! At first I was a little hesitant, but I have become very excited about it! I will be teaching math and science and switching with another teacher who is teaching reading and social studies! We will teach our own kids writing and health. While I love to read, math is by far my favorite subject to teach. I just love numbers! Science is very easy to make fun too, so I can't wait to get started!

I have had so much fun decorating my classroom! It still needs a little "cuteness" but that will come as time goes on! Here are a few pictures of my room!

This is where we'll do small groups and where they hang their backpacks. Many of the posters on the wall came from Mrs. Amy Bates!

Trying to make homework look fun thanks to my sweet friend Kellie!

This is where I will keep calendars and newsletters!

Love this calendar Mary Alderson helped me pick out!

Fun, fun colors!

This is my favorite spot in the room! I call it my "reading nook". It needs some decorating on the wall, that's next on my list!

More bulletin boards for student work!

The front of my classroom! 

So thankful I started buying children's books a few years ago! Also, my aunt just retired from 3rd grade and gave me all of her books! 

Bright "Happy Birthday" board that Mary Alderson also helped me pick out!

As you can tell, I have a million bulletin boards and a huge room! My room has a partition in it with the talented and gifted classroom on the other side. It is a much bigger room than any of the other 3rd grade rooms! It still needs a little work but it is coming along! Please pray for my sweet children that they will be able to leave any problems they have at home and come to school ready to learn! Also pray that I will be able to give them the love that they need! Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and encouraging of me! Have a great week!

Hitting the Ground Running

It has been a busy busy week! My parents got to Auburn on Friday, and we went to eat at Shrimp Basket! (This completed my week long list of places to eat before moving.) Then we started loading the U-Haul! My fabulous friends, Jennifer and Kali, helped us! With everyone it only took about an hour to get everything loaded and situated! I think it was probably midnight before we got to sleep. Although, I will admit that I barely slept. I was excited and anxious all in one! We woke up Saturday morning and got started painting! Finally we were on the road to Atlanta! Let me just say I am one lucky girl! I had nine people helping me unload/unpack in Atlanta! On Sunday, instead of unpacking like I should have, I spent the day doing fun things! I went to the Sweetwater Brewery and the Braves game! It was a perfect weekend!

Then the real world came knocking. I spent Monday and Tuesday at New Teacher Orientation for Fulton County Schools. Monday afternoon all the new teachers at my school met with the principal. She answered a lot of our questions and gave us a tour of the school! This included showing us our classroom!!!! It is extremely weird having a classroom of my own. I promise to post pictures when I have it all set up (aka late next week)! Wednesday we were all trained in DIBELS, which is the reading assessment we will be using. Today was the first day for all teachers. We are going to have the best 3rd grade team! I am so relieved to have met the other 3rd grade teachers and see how supportive and encouraging they are going to be! 


So I am not too sure how I am going to like this whole Eastern time thing. If you know me well, you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE my tv shows! Well they all start an hour later in Atlanta, many of them past my bedtime. I do have DVR and it will become my best friend! Something I had not thought about with Eastern time was how late the sun is out. Most people would say they love the sun being out until 9:00 at night. Not me. I like to get in bed around that time and read, watch tv, play on my iPad, etc., but when it is still light outside it makes that hard. On the reverse, it is also still dark when I get up in the morning. It's a lose lose situation! I'm sure I will get used to it and learn to love  it!

Change of Plans!

I received an email today, and I will be teaching 3rd grade instead of 2nd grade! I am so excited about this news! I was in a 3rd grade classroom last fall and couldn't have loved it more! Having an experience in the grade I will be teaching will be a huge help as I start my first year! My aunt also just retired from 3rd grade and has given me many things from her classroom! It is all working out perfectly!

Speaking of 3rd grade, I just want to mention how wonderful my own 3rd grade teacher was! Mrs. Sarah Ann Evans was such a blessing to me in school! I learned so much, and she is a huge part of me wanting to become a teacher. She had the perfect balance of being fun and meaning business. I can only hope to be half the teacher she was!

Just a little heads up of what my schedule will be like the next few weeks. I move in on Saturday. (woohoo!) New teacher orientation is Monday, July 29th-Wednesday July 31, and all teachers start August 1st. Kids start August 12th! I will see my classroom for the first time on Monday!!!!!! I literally cannot wait! I will be posting pictures and telling you all about my first day this time next week!