Hello Lovely Teachers!
Thank you for stopping by! I’m always humbled knowing there are people out there who care what I have to say.
For starters, I am a type-a personality, so any tips or resources I offer on this blog will have already been tested (and near perfected) by me. 🙂 These tips are based solely on what I’ve carried out and witnessed in my own classroom. I’ve worked very hard to get to where I am as a teacher and I’d like to use this space to share my experiences and resources with you amazing educators. 🙂
I remember in college feeling the anxiety build up knowing I wouldn’t have classroom management perfected on day 1 of my teacher career. And I really didn’t. To make it worse, I started teaching mid-year in a Title I school where the numbers in first grade were overflowing and new students were continuing to pour in. Some students had already been moved around since there were conflicting personalities and then there was a decision made that the team needed another 1st grade teacher. That’s where I came in.
Many students in that class were newcomers. Ones that their personality hadn’t really shown yet. My teammates did the best they could to give me the easier kids to give me a break. After all, the position was temporary and it was likely I wouldn’t be back the next year. So that was only 5 months. The thing is, when those personalities started emerging, I didn’t know how to handle it. I hated teaching that first 1/2 year (as I had been told multiple times that I would during college). As the weeks went on, I got a tad bit better. Mainly because our instructional coach at the time did some serious work with me (at least that’s how I felt). I took everything she said and applied it because I was not interested in feeling like a failure teacher for long. By the end of the year, bonds were made in our classroom and I felt more confident I could handle teaching. I was surprised when our principal told me they had enough projected numbers coming from kindergarten that I could stay. I didn’t have to move schools or grades. I got to stay put. I used that to my advantage and took the summer to really focus on how I would make my classroom management better the next year.
The next year teaching first grade was so wonderful! All the prepping, reading, practicing, and planning for classroom management really paid off. Our class was respectful, accountable, driven, kind, honest, among countless other character traits. I remember feeling very proud of myself for how far I’d come as a teacher. That year I decided to start creating my own educational resources to use in our classroom. I really enjoy being on my computer and creating for our classroom. It makes the room feel more home-like in my opinion. I made a goal for myself that I would open a TpT store because I felt I had a lot to offer other educators. Fast forward two years and now I feel I have more to offer educators as they build their classrooms.
So here I am, writing my first blog post on tips to provide classroom community and rigorous instruction so the biggest stress in education, classroom management, can be checked off your list of things to worry about. 🙂
In this blog, my focus will be to offer guidance, tips, and resources so that you and your students can walk into your classroom each day prepared, excited, and with peace.
Stay tuned for my first tip coming up!
