First Day of School

Wow.
All I can say is, Wow. What a fabulous day!  I am still digesting the whole thing, but I can't think of a single negative thing to say about the whole day! I work in a wonderful school with great kids and awesome teachers!

I got into school at about 7:30 (school starts at 8:10) and was there until after 5 tonight! I felt like I could have stayed longer... what a great feeling- for my "work" to not even feel like work! I'm so blessed that I get to do something I love every day for the rest of my life!

Anyway, I got to school and started getting some last minute things put together.  A few of my homeroom kids came in at about five o eight and it was great to just get the chance to get to know them a little better in those 15 minutes.  Also during that time before the bell, the secretary came down to my room and delivered a vase filled with beautiful flowers! My mom, dad and sister ordered them for me to wish me luck on my first day! What a day brightener that was!

:)

 

Tomorrow promises to be another great day! I have planned that we'll spend the class periods tomorrow getting to know each other better and then get into curriculum on Monday!

 

Best,
Ms. M

 

"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better." - Martin Luther King, Jr



Making a Difference: Passion, Purpose and Pride

It may seem a little silly that I'm writing two consecutive posts about speakers, but since it's the season for workshops/inservices/seminars for us teachers, this is what you get!

Today, we had our regional staff development in a town about an hour away from our school.  We had sessions on health and safety, cyberbullying, Language Arts, and then our keynote speaker was Steve Gilliland.

Picture below was taken from Mr. Gilliland's website. See link below.

 

I can't think of a better way to prepare me for the first day of school! (Which happens to be tomorrow!!) Mr. Gilliland is an author and phenomenal motivational speaker.  He was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame and I can definitely see why.  The presentation was called "Making a Difference: Passion, Purpose and Pride" and it made me laugh and cry in just the right amounts.  Through many heartfelt stories and lots of jokes, Mr. Gilliland reminded us that as teachers, it is our job to make a difference in someone's life.  He spoke about how many times teachers get caught up in the planning and the processes and forget about the relationship aspect of teaching. It was a WONDERFUL presentation and, of course, it ended in a standing ovation!

Follow this link to Mr. Gilliland's website to find out when he is going to be speaking in a town near you! You will not regret hearing him speak!

Best,
Ms. M

"Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verbs agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

If you ever have the chance...

You have got to hear this speaker. 

Click on the picture to follow a link to her webpage!

Sally Northway Ogden is a speaker from Love and Logic and she came to our school this last week to lead a talk titled, "Words Will NEVER Hurt Me."  It may sound cliche' for me to say this... but it was definitely a view changing, if not life changing, day.  The seminar was full of good stories, great jokes and even better advice.  In the six hours that she was at our school, I examined and re-examined my views as a teacher and really did some soul searching.  The seminar was aimed at educating teachers on how to build relationships with students and how to handle bullying in the schools. Not only did I totally "buy into" what Sally was talking about, I wished that I had known the ways to handle bullies my whole life! I think this talk will not only make me a better teacher, but a better mother (someday), sister, daughter and friend.

Sally, if you ever read this, THANK YOU!  You can click here to find out some more information; I can't recommend her highly enough!

Have any of you been to one of Sally's talks? Who are your favorite educational speakers?

Best,
Ms. M

"No thanks, I just had a banana." -Sally Ogden (A little inside joke from the seminar!)

Sticks!

Another Project! Most teachers are familiar with "drawing sticks," and since I'm a bit type A and like things to look pretty, I created these jars for each period I'll be teaching!

When I get my class lists, each stick will get a student's name printed on it.

It's also come to my attention recently that there is an awesome website here that does this random selection for you. So, if you don't want to make jars like this, (and I do admit, they seem a little outdated in this tech savvy world!) then you can just bring this website up on your smartboard!

I'll be posting an update on my start of school preparations soon- the first day is two weeks from today!

Best,

Ms. M

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"  Dan Rather