Hola Mexico!

Well, my husband rocks. 

We are going to Mexico for our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!! 

(really.. it's been a YEAR!?)

resort

this will be us in a few short days

Super stoked.. and I get to use my spanish. woot!

say hi

i took this video to share with my class.. they love hearing stories about Cam (mind you it's day 12 and they can't get enough) She destroyed her flying fish. haha.

Cam and her fish..

ECU Football

ECU played Virginia Tech. As you know, I went to ECU and my awesome husband went to VT. It was a super fun game. I forgot my camera at home... no pics of B and I :(

me, Anne, Carrie

MK, me, Anne, CL, Carrie, Susan & Lara

Day 5 in first grade

My kids are so cute! I am loving getting to know each and every one of them.  They are so happy, eager to learn, eager to please and just want to be loved. We are busy practicing rules and routines and settling into first grade.  With 29 kiddos rules and routines are probably two of the most important things we focus on.  They need to be practiced over and over and over and over to ensure a smooth 180 days. :)

schedule and essential question bulletin board

calendar math, part of morning meeting

kids working on the owl coloring rubric

we practiced coloring expectations- N S G O

so cute working on her "O"...I will take a pic of her hair when its down. the most adore ringlets

what great work! he even added a branch for the "O" owl to stand on

sitting on the rug for our morning news show

standing for the pledge

Never Forgotten, Always Grateful

Wow. Today is such a whirlwind of emotions. The first one is that I was actually at ECU today- the place where I was exactly 10 years ago. I cannot believe that it has been 10 years.  It seems like just yesterday that I was in Croatan, having just left an interior design class, grabbing a Gatorade and bagel before tracking off to my next class.

The image I saw, on the tiny mounted TV in Croatan, of the 2nd plane crashing into the 2nd tower will forever be seared into my memory.  We, myself and about 30 fellow ECU students, were speechless.  We didn't know what was going on, nor why this happened. I know I felt so scared and angry that someone, somewhere, could do this to our great country. I then saw more horrific images and the pentagon and knew life in America was forever changed because of these tragic events.

As a natural reaction, I immediately thought of my family. Mom, Dad and Kel- all a stones throw from DC and uncomfortably close to what I thought could have been the next attack- the CIA. Mom and Dad both worked in McLean, and Kel was still in high school (we both attended Langley) which shares athletic fields and a backyard with the CIA.  I raced back to a friends dorm, Tyler Hall, and frantically tried to call home. After a few hours of no cell signal, luckily for me, I found out my family was ok.  I wish it was the same for the thousands of people who lost a loved one.  Thank you to the heroes who saved so many lives.

You are never forgotten and we are always grateful.

first day reflections...

1. How much I love teaching
2. How little 1st graders are (they are 6)
3. These first few weeks/months are EXHAUSTING
4. 29 1st graders are A. L.O.T to handle (until trained) :)
5. I don't have time to use the restroom before lunch
6. I don't have time to eat lunch before November
7. Every.one. of my students wants to be my best friend
8. I get LOTS of "You're the best teacher ever" letters and drawings to make me feel amazing (4 today already!)
9. I am told that the read alouds I pick are the best books ever
10. How much I love each one of my "kids"

This is going to be a great year!

o-FISH-ally in 1st Grade

Today was open house at school I got to meet about half of my new baby owls.  I forgot to take a pic of my owl bulletin board- so that is on the agenda tomorrow. CL and I made super cute gold fish goodie bags for our kiddos to take home. They were a huge hit.

My classroom is ALMOST complete. Only a teacher would understand how much hard work goes into putting a classroom together.  I've been at school from pretty much 9am to 9pm every day this week. It's insane and I still have yet to look at my schedule or plan one lesson for the first day.

I did take some exciting pics of my classroom so far. 

Cheryl Lynn working super hard filling gold fish bags

bag ties

we made 90 bags. it took a while.

my classroom. almost all set up.

my desk area

class library and word wall (half complete)

job chart and doorway

room for 29 1st graders. yep. 29.

after open house when my students sorted their extra supplies

so cute

Hurricane Irene

Photos of Kilmarlic

Before.

After