First Day

The first day of school went off without any complications....said no teacher, ever.

Of course, that is just the nature of the first day of school. From a last minute schedule change for our class periods, to students showing up the morning of the first day to register, to lunches being held late and going into our team planning time, the first day was full of challenges for a first-year teacher. I started out energetic and hopeful that things would go smoothly. I quickly realized that this was not what the first day had in store for me. While the day was not bad by any means, it was simply chaotic and somewhat exhausting. I enjoyed getting to know my students and the quick faculty meeting after school with our new principal to "debrief", but I was overjoyed when it was time to go home.

I got home, crashed on the couch, asked my husband if we could do take out for dinner, and watched our wedding ceremony video to celebrate our anniversary.

Too little sleep and not enough coffee later, I'm back at my desk, ready to roll with another day, surprisingly actually excited to see my kiddos again!

New Beginnings...

It has been so long since I've written! I've had two and a half years full of craziness in my life.

I graduated, started graduate school, got married, taught in a few different positions, and moved three times!

After graduating in January 2014, I moved to Quakertown, PA where I substitute taught and started attending West Chester University (online) to gain my Teaching Certificate and Master's Degree in Special Education. I eventually was hired for a 3rd grade long-term substitute position for a couple of months. On August 8, 2015 we were married and then moved to Rochester, NY. I was a building substitute at a wonderful middle school in Spencerport, NY for the entire year. I was blessed with an amazingly supportive administration, staff, and students at that school and will forever be grateful for all of the experiences and growth I went through there.

This May, my husband commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant and we moved to Columbus, GA (outside of Fort Benning) in June. This year I will be teaching 7th grade mathematics at a local middle school. I am teaching two compacted 7th/8th grade math classes, two 7th grade magnet math classes, and one 7th grade traditional math class. The past couple of weeks I have been busy moving into my classroom and getting ready for the school year. The teachers all went back to school on August 1 and we officially start school with our students in a few days! August 8, 2016 will not only be my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY (!!!), but will also be my first day teaching in my VERY OWN classroom!! Talk about a BIG DAY!

If you would have asked me my "dream job" growing up, I would have told you it was to be a 7th grade mathematics teacher. I am ecstatic that I get to live out my dream job this year and look forward to getting back on track with this blog and updating it with all of the new things I am sure I will experience this school year.

~~Talk soon! :)

Technology and Literacy

Why is technology so important in classrooms today? 

How technology be useful and helpful in today's classrooms?

Enjoy this Prezi presentation that I put together on integrating technology into a literacy curriculum!

Fun with Graphing

Someone recently shared with me a very neat website of a graphing activity for students. There is a handout on the website that you print and give to students. Then you play one of their 15 second "stories" and the students graph what happens in the story. The items range from time, air pressure, height, balloon length, ponies in the frame, and even more! This is a great way to engage students because it is a real life connection to what they know. You can let them choose videos that interest them too. The activity makes graphing more fun than telling students "Graph the coordinates (1, 3) and (6,4)." Click HERE to navigate to the website.

Rock Candy Experiment

www.sciencebob.com

I recently came across a really cool experiment that students will LOVE
(Thanks to www.sciencebob.com!)

The experiment is making your own Rock Candy and can be accessed here! This is a fun experiment for students because who doesn't love some candy?? The experiment can be tied into a lesson on solutions or reactions that take place during heating and cooling.

This is probably better done as a small group experiment or a demonstration because it does require hot liquids. If you are in a high school, depending on your students, this may be an experiment that they could handle on their own.