Oh la!

 Thursday, quit acting like Friday! Sheesh this is a long week! I know it's because of the three day weekend, but man Friday is taking years to get here. 

 Yesterday was exhausting. Half day with the nuggets, half in meetings and a night with the parents. I think my open house was successful! This year is already so different than last year! Praise Him! 

 Today was an exciting day. I had a nugget with "juice poo", those seethe exact words I was told. I had to hold back an audible laugh! That was the first time I had ever heard that term! I sent my poor nugget to the office to call home. I hope he is feeling better and can make it back to school. Oh the things that are said by five year olds! 

 I'm not sure if you know this or not, but I'm sort of a celebrity. I am Rhonda-Faye. Did I just blow your mind?!? A volunteer at our school, whom I'd never met before stopped and asked me if my name was Rhonda, to which I didn't even think she would be talking about my alter ego. I politely told her no and showed her the real Mrs. Rhonda's room, but she said oh no, you just look so familiar! So then I asked if she were referring to Ms. Faye and she excited said yes! Haha, local celebrity sighting at school! 

 My nuggets were well behaved and we got through our lessons just fine! So far I've had a wonderful but long week! Here's to hoping tomorrow is effortless! 

Today's pockets:

Highlighter

Snack napkin

Paper clips 

Beverly Cleary said it best....

 "Exasperated" would be the term to describe how I feel right now. 

 Please read the following in Romona Quimby's voice: (she's 4) "my feet hurt, my knee hurts, I have a headache, I'm hungry, I can't find something I need annnnnd a man almost ran directly into me in Walmart". 

 I feel better now! I just could not get my mind to wrap itself around the fact that today was only Tuesday. I'm guessing that since yesterday went by so quickly I thought two days had passed. Sadly, they had not! 

 Today wasn't bad, my nuggets and I had a good day. Today was just long! My babies went to stations and they did a fabulous job, yay them! And you know what!? Yay me, I taught them that! Haha.

 Tomorrow is a half day, but why would we get to go home? Followed by an afternoon of meetings, is our open house. I feel ready and over-whelmed at the same time. That's basically how I feel everyday though! 

Today's Pockets:

Only writing utensils again. So boring! 

 

Noteworthy

 I'm trying something new this school year. I made a weekly goal for myself. Now don't judge me, promise you won't?  I made the goal of painting my nails every Sunday night. Sounds silly doesn't it? But I think it's important I leave time for myself this school year. Last year I was utterly consumed by school, this year I want to keep the balance! 

 I'm rocking some pretty cute purple nails today! The nuggets enjoyed it! And I enjoyed my day with them! :) I can't wait until all the schedules are finalized and we are in full swing! 

 We haven't started stations yet, but we've been talking about them everyday, so hopefully we'll get into those soon! I have a feeling that this year's centers will be great! The nuggets are so excited about them, and I am too! 

 Today I received an amazing letter from a parent that reassured me of my professional choices. In it she stated his her child is excited about school and our classroom! That's all I really want to do, make children love learning! Learning is the one thing we can all do, so why not love doing it? 

Today's Pockets:

All kinds of writing utensils! 

So far..

So far, so good! 

So far from last year. 

So far from the weekend still! 

I am having such a fabulous week it's freaking me out. It's like I'm certain that lightening with strike me or a building will appear and fall into the classroom. Despite the greatness, this has still been a lonnnnnng week.

 My little brand new nuggets worked in partners with cubes! CUBES! One hit the floor, that is all! For you non teachers, this may seem like no big deal, but nay! It is like a Christmas miracle!!! I was totally amazed at how well they worked with their "neighbors across the street" (their face partner)! I could have moon walked all around the room, but I can't show the nuggets that I'm too hilarious yet or they'll learn to break me. 

 I did get my first "I hate you and I hate this class" today followed by a tearful " sorry, I miss my mom" and a hug. It's hard being five years old some days. 

Today's pockets:

Highlighter: working on making this letters. 

Scissors: just incase things get cray and I need to defend myself...kidding of course (kinda)

Puffy sticker: I'm not sure how that got there

Magnet and regular tape: from one of my custodial nappers 

 

Whatdaya know?!

 I'm sorry I didn't blog yesterday! I was exhausted from all the awesomeness my boys brought to the class! I am amazed at the difference from last year to this year! 

 I thought that today would be all out anarchy, because last year it was! I had already arranged for reinforcements to come in, aka my mom, because surely I would be lost in a sea for nuggets. I wasn't though! Having my mom there to stuff folders and pass out snack was awesome, no doubt. But I wasn't crying and needing to "use the bathroom" (cry in the bathroom, talk to myself in the mirror, splash water in my face and repeat). 

 I'm hoping that this year is everything last year wasn't! I have a feeling that I will get to be the teacher I want to be! How exciting is that? 

 I'm sure you're annoyed that I haven't had any hysterical mishaps, but I have to admit I love it! I do have a funny quote though " I'm getting weak" was said yesterday by one of my nuggets who was tired! 

Today's pockets:

Pencil friend coupon: pencil management 

Highlighter: so bright

Promethean pen: magic

Penny: for your thoughts

Pins: of all kinds!

  

Adjectives!

 Great, good, grand, lovely, pleasant, far-out, stupendous! Those are all the adjectives that could describe my day with my girls today! 

 I was equally parts nervous and confident this morning. I knew how I wanted things to go, I just wasn't sure I how I was going to get that to happen. Once I was in the classroom though, things just happened. 

 The girls listened so well, they interacted with each other and with me without any trouble. Lunch didn't make me sing any Carrie Underwood, how great is that?! 

 I'm hoping for the same kind of day with my boys tomorrow. Last year, it was the boys that had me crying on the first day of school and having mild heart attacks. But as I have reminded myself, frequently in the past week, this year is not last year. It's pretty great that I get to start over again and approach everything in a different way with a whole new group of kids! 

 I know that even though I had a rough year last year, my kiddos still learned, and they knew that they were loved. Yes I am in this profession to teach children the ABC's,  how to count to 100 and read sight words; but, I am also in this profession to make sure kids know they are important and are loved! 

Today's pockets:

Binder clip: yay

Highlighter: helping with some letter formation 

Bone magnet: from a misplaced station 

Are you sure?

 Are you sure today wasn't Friday? Geeeeeeez, could this week be any slower?! I'm glad to have the time to get my classroom ready for my nuggets Monday, but I'm ready for the weekend. 

 I'm totally exhausted, so I know all my other teacher friends are too! I can't wait to just sleep without an alarm, not that ill sleep past 7. 

 Tomorrow is our meet and greet. I'm pumped about seeing my little nuggets for a bit. Then I know I'll have a million things to do! I feel pretty prepared though! I already have my work for Monday and Tuesday printed and waiting! 

 This will be a good year! I'm determined! 

Today's Pockets:

Quarter: so rich, so rich

Binder clip: my favorite office supplies, if ever you want to make me happy, give me a binder clip! 

Mail!

 Testing is over! Hip, hip, hooray! If I had to ask the same questions again I think I would have passed out! 

 I guess it's just a preview into my everyday life that's gonna start in Monday. Repeating everything you say is a job requirement in the teaching field. 

 And as of right now, I'm ready to do it! Bring it on Monday! 

 Nothing extremely exciting or hysterical happened today, but I got a letter from one of my nuggets that was so cute! 

Good news, I have a new phone case, a computer decal and Nurse Jackie Season 2 headed my way! :) 

Today's pockets:

Sisscors- I made my word wall today, yay!

Left over punch outs from the letters

Sweet letter! :) 

The wonders of the Walmart.

You know, I feel bad for produce! They get passed around from one person to the other, judged by their color and firmness, and some never get picked at all. It's really not that fair. That poor plum was just ripe at the wrong time!  

 I went on a healty food biegne today at the Walmart. Something ironic happened to me while shopping. I saw a bizillion (that number is completely accurate, I swear) kids run up to the 3000 teachers that were at the Walmart. What's ironic about that? I was one of those students. I saw my own second grade teacher, and like I was still a second grader, I ran up to her, surprised that she ever leaves school. 

 It's moments like that, and teachers like her that make me confidant that this is what I want to do. I have no doubt that this year, like last, will be extremely hard. I know I will cry and have fits over situations. I know there will be days that I say "this just isn't for me" as I lay on my classroom floor exhausted from the day. But I'm going to deal with that because I want to see a nugget 16 years later and make them feel the way I felt today, loved. 

 That is the reason I became a teacher. You'd swear it was the pay, but no! :) 

 Geez, I'm almost too positive for myself to handle. Sarcasm and loathing aren't far behind my friends! Stick with me, my misfortunes will soon appear and be hysterical. :) 

No pockets today, but just wait!

Come at me bro...

And so we are here. It is officially the last official day of summer. Sure last week was spent at meetings, but tomorrow is the day when it really starts. 

 As a Kindergarten teacher I don't have a classroom full of nuggets to greet in the morning, but I do have testing to do. Giving the same test over and over again can be monotonous, but it has to be done. 

 I'm not extremely nervous yet, but talk to me in about three days and I'll probably be stomping my feet and crying like my two year old niece. As of now, I'm keeping my hopes and my confidence high! 

 To my teacher friends, have a great year! Let those nuggets know who is boss! :)  

UNO

 And so it begins! Today was the first day back. "I love meetings", said no teacher ever. Not that the information presented wasn't valuable, it's just that I would rather be doing almost anything else than sitting in a chair made for five year olds. 

 I am in no way ready for nuggets to come to school, I'm not ready to back at school at all, but I have no choice. 

 I'd be laying if I said I didn't cry last night with no real explanation as to why. But due to this I was extremely productive cleaning wise. I cleaned my bathroom and part of my room. All why breathing all  rapidly and thinking of every possible thing that could go wrong. For example: all of my students speaking German. My classroom becoming void of any adhesives, thus everything falling off my walls. Or the faculty members all turning into aliens. 

 Luckily, none of those things happened this morning, but hey there's always tomorrow. 

 Tonight was full of work...and games! :) 

 

Naturally

Naturally since it's the last Monday of freedom, I shall be dining at Raceland's finest establishment, Chinese Chef. Eating alone freaks me out, so joining me will be my mother, sister, love bugs and teacher soul mate. Actually, doing anything alone freaks me out. If I could have someone with me the majority of the time I'd be a happy camper.
 And then it's days like yesterday that I feel as though I should buy a house and live alone. I swear I change my mind about things more than I change fingernail polish. The thought of having my own house/apartment is totally alluring. I could listen to Jay-Z on repeat without annoying anyone, or eat 13 pizza rolls at 6:15 A.M. without being judged! But I would probably cry and make people come sleep over because I'm scared that Toby from Paranormal Activity 3 lives in my closet. Then there comes that whole responsibility thing, I haven't really gotten use to that yet, nor do I enjoy it!
 I just paid my bills and boy is Chase mad! If Chase were an actual boy and not just a bank, he would have broken up with my 12 five dollar movies ago! I'm just trying to actually own my MacBook and pay off my student loan. The loan which was only for one semester of college when I thought I was going to move away and change my life. Want to know what really happened? I cried everyday until I could move back home....what a baby!
 Assuming that you read my blog, you probably also stalk my Facebook. Remember when I annoyingly posted pictures of grilled chicken and carrots everyday, twice a day? Well that is about to start happening again. Looking at pictures from May and at my own reflection now is "wannnnnnn" worthy. Summer is just like one giant buffet! So starting next Monday I'm getting back on schedule. Why Monday you ask? Because out three meeting days this week will be full of deliciousness and I have no self control! I am happy to report that my school pants still fit though, so I'm not way off track!
 These last two days of freedom will undoubtedly be spent at school working on things, but I also plan to squeeze some fun in there too! I worked hard for my summer, I sure won't waste it!