Back to School 2014 - When Thursday

Last year was my first year teaching and I had so much freedom. It was almost overwhelming how much freedom I had when it came to when/how/what I taught. Key word: almost. This year, we moved to a master schedule that everyone has to follow in order to accommodate common intervention times.

Long story short - I got stuck with an awful schedule. The one everyone looked at and said "I hope I don't have that one". I had morning specials, which I was not used to. But even worse, I had reading and math back to back. Right after lunch. With less than two hours in the block. My immediate thought was How is that possible? My next thought was Seriously, HOW is that possible?

Thankfully my principal was super understanding and allowed me to shift some things around. The afternoon still feels a tad longer than I'm used to, but morning specials are growing on me :)

Here is a look inside the organized chaos of a first grade day!

Head on over to Blog Hoppin' and share your day with us!

Back to School 2014 - Where Tuesday

I'm back again with Blog Hoppin' and their Back to School 2014 link-up! Since I already "revealed" a lot of my classroom in my post here, I thought I'd get a little creative with today's "where" theme.

Here is where I go to work! Good ol' Carl Sandburg. I promise it's much more exciting than it looks on the outside. Our district went to grade level centers a while back, so Sandburg is home to approximately 600 first through third graders. Yup - there's that many of them! I'm in a pretty small town, so this is one of only two schools who hosts the younger kiddos for the whole town.

I am posted up in the east-central Illinois town of Charleston. See that itty-bitty dot on the map? Yup - here we are! See the red square all the way at the top-right of the map? That's where my hometown is. Coming down here after graduation was definitely a big change, but it's growing on me :)

Charleston is home to Eastern Illinois University. It's not my alma mater yet, but will be once I finish up my Masters in Elementary Ed with my reading specialist endorsement. Yet another aspect of this town that has grown on me in the past year - it is awesome to see the pride this community has for its university - Go Panthers!

Fun fact - Charleston was home to the first ever Jimmy Johns! The original building isn't here anymore, but that still doesn't take away from our little claim-to-fame :)

Your turn to show us where YOU teach!

Back to School 2014 - Who Monday

Although I participated in Stephanie's "Meet the Teacher" link-up last week, this Back to School shindig is way too fun to pass up! Plus, we all know teachers love talking about themselves ;) So here we go with 10 random facts about me (template courtesy of Amy Lemons). Head on over to Blog Hoppin' to join in the fun - I love reading about my fellow teacher bloggers!