Track In

I have survived my first track out/track in!! 

This past week was my first week back with my kids. Let me tell you, I MISSED THEM! I missed my schedule, my co-workers, and just overall my school. But I am incredibly grateful for my break. My head felt like it was constantly buzzing those first three weeks of school! I was unorganized, flustered, and I felt like I was trying something new every day, which meant a lot of inconsistency! If you have ever worked with kids, you know that being unorganized and inconsistent is just asking for chaos! Luckily, I have an awesome class, and they worked with me. However, there is a HUGE difference between how the school day felt before track out, and this week after we tracked back in. 

So let me give you a run down of my track out activities! 

1. I went home immediately. I hung out with my family,

my friends, and just relaxed from that Saturday to the following

 Wednesday. Here's the amazing thing, while I was soooo ready

 to go home, I was ready to come back to my new home as well.

I guess it's great that both can feel like home! 

2. I got my very first teacher paycheck. 

This was both AWESOME and sad at the same time.

Probably because I had to turn around and pay a months 

worth of bills. :-) But it was still nice, and felt very "adult."

See I am just so excited!! 

3. North Carolina has a Tax-Free Weekend. So I went shopping.....

 I spent WAY to much.But, now that I am tracked back in, 

it was COMPLETELY work it! I bought 2 desk sized 

3 drawer containers. Those hold, sticky notes, erasers, pens,

binder clips, paper clips, and a few other things. I also bought
2, 3 Drawer containers that can hold paper. One is on my desk

holding papers to be graded, intervention work, and important papers.

The other holds notebook paper, computer paper, and publishing paper.
The publishing paper is currently brightly colored lined notebook paper.

I think it's awesome. My kids think I'm strange. :-D

I also bought an 8 self paper thing. It was about $20 and I use it to
organize my upcoming master copies by subject! 

I also bought some pens, sheet protectors, card stock, and various other items

that I or my students will use in the classroom. 

4. I got organized. I went though numerous folders and binders.
I consolidated, grouped, and threw away a lot. 

I made a parent contact list for myself and my room mom. 

I made a "Need To Know" Sub Information sheet. 

I talked to my grade level and figured out how my ELA

(English Language Arts)

block should go. Then I planned it all out. 

I planned EVERYTHING OUT! Including some new procedures! 

5. I went to a 2 day Improving Teacher Quality workshop. 

This was actually VERY good. I learned some pretty neat things.

My favorite things dealt with technology! App's, websites, and activities GALORE!!!

6. I had my Track In Workdays the Thursday and Friday before we came back.

It was GREAT to see my team again. It was great to sit back in school.

Then, I got to set up my new classroom! WOOOOOOO! 

Check it out! 

While I miss my last classroom, I am feeling pretty good about.
Especially because I am so much more organized! 

• That brings us to this past Monday. My day started by realizing that all the master copy machines were down. Out of service. No copies allowed. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Not the way I wanted to start my track in! So I had to make my copies on the ONE machine left. By the way... that was how it was ALL week! Talk about a little bit stressful! Then Monday was also PLT (Professional Learning Team) day for the fifth grade team. On PLT days, we as a grade level get to talk together, work together, and discuss data from 8-10 AM. The kids go to our "Town Hall" and have a presentation or lesson given by the amazing Counseling Team and School Facilitators. It's an interesting concept for sure! I also had to leave PLT for about 25 minutes to meet with a parent. Overall, it was a busy busy morning!
• The rest of the week went well, but stayed just as busy. On Tuesday, the amazing literacy facilitator came in to help me out with some testing. She also gave me some feedback on my lesson. It's nice to know that I'm headed in the right direction! Then Tuesday afternoon I had a meeting with a parent. That also went really well! I have some pretty great parents this year! 

• Wednesday was my meeting bookend day. I started the day with a BT (beginning teacher) meeting talking about parent communication and classroom management. Then I ended my day with my weekly mentor meeting. Both went great! I love meeting with my mentor. It's nice to have someone to share with! 
• Thursday had NO meetings (wildly cheer at that!). We did however have an Internet Safety assembly at the end of the day. The presenter while a great presenter, never called on helpers from the back. This greatly upset the 5th graders, who happened to occupy the back. 
• And finally Friday, I had another grade level meeting in the morning. Friday was also an early release day. It went smoothly, my kids are awesome with change and adapting to whatever needs to happen. Finally the week ended with a staff meeting (always on Early Release Days). We were provided lunch (There was even food for me to eat!!) and allowed to sit with our team. I had a blast! Learned some things, but I mostly enjoyed sitting and working with my team, and the AG person, who I think we have adapted onto our team anyways! 

I'm almost tired from writing all that! The main thing is that I am feeling organized, and I am excited to be back!