Confessions of a 1st Year Teacher!

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately in the blogging world! It is such a busy time of year with first year mentoring things due, kindergarten round-up, and not to mention the personal things going on too! My husband and I are trying to sell our house and looking into potential options which has been a little bit of a roller coaster, but we have faith that it will all work out! On the bright side, I just realized today that I have broke the "100 Follower Mark" on my blog thanks to all of you!! I plan to host a giveaway soon, so if you'd like to help out shoot me an email or comment with your email! :)

This week I had the opportunity to observe other teachers in our district for our mentoring program and it really got me to thinking and reflecting about my first year of teaching thus far. That being said, here are some very random thoughts and ramblings about my first year and what I'm feeling at this point in the year:

- I'm so excited to start over again next year knowing what I know now!

- I really want to rearrange my classroom, I mean REALLY want to! I don't think I can wait til next year, so my para and I might try something new tomorrow after school! :)

- I'm anxious to learn more and apply it each year.

- I often wonder and hope that I am doing well enough to send my kiddos off to 1st grade next year. I know there are areas I need to improve on, but I hope I am giving them what they need to be successful next year.

- I have LEARNED and GROWN so MUCH this year!! WOW!

- Am I teaching my kids how to be nice, caring, and friendly individuals? Am I modeling that well enough for them? 

- Is it my fault that my class is so chatty or is it just the large group of kiddos and strong personalities that I have? I've been told that I have a pretty challenging class and next year will seem like a breeze, but it's hard for me to know for sure since I have nothing else to compare it to. I hope they are right! :) *Side note* I truly do love this group of students, but they have definitely given me a challenge each day...they keep me on my toes!

- I am feeling much more confident in my planning and delivery each and every day which is very exciting for me.

- I could probably keep going, but I'll stop there! Haha! 

The best thing is, amidst all of these random thoughts and wonders, I get reassurance that I'm doing a great job from my principal, colleagues, and even the sub that was in my room the other morning! Check out her note that she left me! So....maybe I am actually doing something right! :)

"Regina, My how your class has grown. They are such smart cookies! We had a super morning."

 If you stuck through this whole post, thanks for "listening" to my 1st year teacher ramblings! Also be on the lookout within the next week (hopefully) for an awesome giveaway to celebrate 100 followers and the countdown to the end of my first year of teaching! :)

Now I will leave you with a little tid bit of what we have been working on in math lately and our new little critters in our classroom.

We learned how to use a number line as a tool for addition (and this week subtraction) and I'm so impressed at how well they are using it! This is a quick, fun, and easy domino addition sheet that I made up and the kiddos did AWESOME with it! They really are smart little cookies! :)

Our ant farm is really taking shape and those little ants have been pretty busy in there!  My kinders are so excited every day to "check-in" on our ants!  

Alright, that's all for tonight! Have a great, strong finish to your week and use this as a nice reminder to get you through! :)

Smiling is GREAT, so do it!!!