The end of a great thing, and the start of another.

Well, although I never thought it would come...the end of the school year finally arrived.  And I actually made it.  My first year of teaching turned out to be absolutely everything I hoped my career would be.  I fell so in love with all of my students and was so invested in their learning and growth.  It was obviously hard to go back after having Quinn, but I fell right back into the routine again and missed all of the kiddos so much that they made the transition so easy!  I really enjoyed spending my days with them and seeing the progress they made!

I am so glad that I made the decision Nate convinced me to teach this year and I am so grateful that I was hired at Somerset Academy.  I could not have asked for a better school, a better staff, and better students!  The end of the school year was an absolute blast!  We had field day, parties, awards assemblies, and Nate brought Quinn in on the last day so that the kids could see her one more time.  They loved her so much!  I really cannot stress how much I loved those kids!  I was totally in tears saying goodbye to them and giving them all hugs.

This is one of my students first journal entry compared to her last, I was so proud of her!

Teaching first grade was an absolute dream come true, but I will not be going back to full time teaching next year.  Instead, I will be a full time Mommy :)  Nate has been staying home with Quinn for the past two months, and being a stay-at-home Dad has been such a blessing for him!  He has learned so much and has formed such an amazing bond with Quinn.  He is an incredible dad and she loves him so much!

After school finished, Nate and I took off for a last minute trip to Colorado so this is my first day home with Quinn.  It feels weird that my only concern now is to take care of her, but I don't think I'm going to have a problem getting used to this job.  I am ready to live out my next dream of being a Mom. I just love this little girl sleeping on my chest right now as I type.  I went from one dream job to the next...so I'd say I've been pretty blessed and I couldn't be happier with our life right now.

Back to School

It's back to first grade for me!  Tomorrow is the first day of school, but this time I'm in charge.  I walked into my classroom for the first time two weeks ago to a completely bare concrete room.

Slowly over time I started getting a little bit of furniture, my desk, and a lovely coat rack right in front of my door that one of my students already whacked her head on at Parent Night.

 And white boards were finally installed!

Day by day, student chairs and tables started to show up, as well as my bookshelves and filing cabinet.  And finally I brought my sister in to help me with bulletin boards and decorating.  (Thank you Jamie!!)  There is still a lot to do as the year goes on, but for now this is how we will start the year.  (Still waiting on my SMART Board, two student computers, and a few other additional items).

The blank wall with a post-it is where the SMART Board will be installed.

I can't wait to fill the walls with student work and things we're learning about.  I can't believe my career starts tomorrow.  But I'm excited to get to know all 25 of my little first graders this year!

The Teacher Diaries #3

Sorry for all of the teacher posts lately, but that's all my life consists of these days.  For the past five weeks, I was teaching in a first grade class.  I was there from 7:30-4:00 everyday, and then would go straight to work at the RB until 9:30ish (Some days I would leave a little early, some I stayed until 10:30).  But the point is, I have nothing to blog about besides teaching and playing Nertz for hours a day at work.  Since there's not much to say about Nertz, here are some more funny things I heard in the classroom...

I was teaching the kids about primary colors and as they were coloring a page in their Art Book using only primary colors, I heard one student ask another, "What are the nursery colors?" Hahah. Only in Utah.

Another time we were talking about the -y chunk when it makes an /i/ sound, as in cry.  One student suggested "guy" and as I was writing it on the board, our Twilight loving little girl exclaimed, "You have a guy!  And he has all of your heart." The boys started screaming "Ewww! Gross!" and my mentor teacher and I were just dying laughing.

Our school had a fun run last Thursday, where each grade went out for a half hour and the kids would run as many laps as they could and sponsors would pay a certain amount for each lap.  One little boy took off as fast as he could and lasted about a half lap before he sat down and the teachers (who were walking) caught up to him.  I yelled to him to come walk with me as I passed and we continued to walk the rest of the half hour together.  About every 15 seconds, I would have to yell back at him to catch up to me when he kept falling behind my walking pace.  He did every time without complaint and eventually said, "Remember that book we read the other day, about the tortoise and the hare?  I'm the tortoise...and slow and steady wins the race.  I bet I'm going to win because I never sit down and rest like the hare."  I started laughing and he really kept repeating "Slow and steady wins the race" to himself the rest of the time.  It was too cute!

I had such a great time in the first grade at Sharon Elementary!  I learned so much and am going to miss the kids!  I'm also so excited that my first part of summer Student Teaching is done.  Now I'll be doing summer school for two weeks and then the BYU Preschool for 7 weeks.  Just two more months...

The Teacher Diaries #2

At our Post Office center this week, the students could choose anyone to write a postcard to.  At the end of the week, this was delivered to me:

She remembered the apostrophe! (We've been learning about contractions)

Notice how long my legs are, they can't get over how tall I am.
And even though I've never worn my fuschia boots to school, she somehow knew about them.
And also, apparently I'm bald.

Haha, I love it!

The Teacher Diaries

I should really start a book of all of the cute/funny things that my students do and say.  But I've thought this since I first entered the classroom a few years ago and I still haven't... so we'll see.

I am really loving my Student Teaching right now though!  It's been two weeks with these first graders and the kids are constantly making me laugh without even knowing it.

But one day this week they were really driving me nuts as I was trying to teach a writing lesson.  After repeatedly asking them to stop talking, or to sit up, or to face me, or to listen to what others were saying, etc. the lesson finally ended and they got up to move to the next activity.  But instead I called the three students who were misbehaving the most back to talk to me.  As I explained what they had done to be disrespectful and told them exactly why they were about to be punished, their faces turned to shock.  The new teacher was actually going to punish them? Then I told them to each go and get one penny (from their paper money bank that they had been earning for and building for a few months) and pay me.  They were so sad to do so and it really made me feel bad, but it totally paid off the next day!

As I started my writing lesson the next day, one of the girls (who I hadn't even taken a penny from! but hadn't been on her best behavior either) came up to me and in the sweetest voice ever said, "Mrs. Gray, I'm sorry." And when I asked why... "For not being good while you taught us about writing yesterday." Haha. I laughed at her cuteness, gave her a hug, and thanked her for her apology.  Then reminded her to behave better today.

Then to make it even better, I went over to start my instruction and one little boy in front sat down immediately cross-legged, hands in his lap, and said "I'm going to be good because I don't want Mrs. Gray to take a penny from me today!" to the other kids around him, which of course made them follow suit.  Again, I laughed.

My follow through worked!  All I had to do was show that I could punish them too, and they couldn't do whatever they wanted.  Although I felt bad doing it, the kids needed to see that.

Anyways, sorry I don't have any pictures, but I just wanted to document the moment of my first big discipline so I wouldn't forget it.

First Grade Teacher

I have big news people, I got a job!  Like, a real full-time salary job.

As a first grade teacher.

I absolutely cannot believe how blessed I am in this economy to get a job after my first interview, and it's a great job!  I will be Mrs. Gray, first grade teacher at Somerset Academy of Las Vegas beginning next fall, when the brand new school opens.

I still have my student teaching left to do this summer and then I will graduate on August 11.  Our first day of school is August 29, so I will probably head down to Vegas not long after graduation to get my classroom set up and everything organized.  Nate will be finishing up his Salt Lake Bees internship sometime in September and then he'll be down to join me.

We could not be any more excited for this opportunity and again, we know that we are very blessed.

So there is our big news. Yay.

Mrs. Gray

If I wasn't used to my new last name after a year of marriage, I certainly am now.  I hear "Mrs. Gray" about a hundred times a day.  And I love it.

I was placed in the 2nd grade for my Practicum experience and have been there for two weeks now.  I am already so in love with the kids and so in love with teaching.  I took charge of the class for the first time on Monday, while being observed...and killed it.  Seriously, it could not have gone any better.  My head teacher and my teacher who was observing me simply sat in the back corner taking notes while I was in charge of the classroom.  The kids were so into my lesson and were so well behaved.  I got amazing feedback from both of my teachers and truly had a great experience.  My head teacher even decided to turn the writing prompt I gave the kids into their Writer's Workshop for the year and we're going to go back and edit, revise, add to and publish what they wrote.

My lesson did include these pictures:

When I was little I loved to eat spaghetti.

When I was little I loved to play in the snow.

When I was little I had fun being buried in the sand at the beach.

When I was little I dressed up like a clown for Halloween

When I was little I played with my brother and sister.

After which I taught the kids about text-to-self connections and read a book called When I Was Little.

Get the text-to-self connection I made?  The kids did.  And they loved it.  And then they loved telling me all about when they were little when I gave them the prompt and sent them back to their desks.

Bah. Amazing.  It feels so good to be a teacher.

I also got my first picture from a student.  It says, "I like you Miss Gray. Your the best." haha.
And I also had two kids write in their journal about me today. (One was the same girl that gave me the picture, but still..)

Teacher Clothes

So we've started another semester.  Our last semester, actually.  I can't believe how fast college has flown by for me, yet I feel like I am a completely different person from that girl who got on the wrong bus and was on her way to Lindon on that first day of school freshman year.

 This photo was actually taken on that first day in Biology.

But as the end of my college career comes to a close, the beginning of my actual career draws nearer.  And with my Practicum starting at the end of February and my Student Teaching starting mid-April, I think it's about time I outfit my closet with "teacher clothes", don't you?  Last semester we stocked Nate's side of the closet full of sexy suits for his future business endeavors, interviews, and eventual career.  So now it's my turn.  And I'm loving these prospects for my teacher wardrobe.

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

I feel like these are the essentials for any teacher.  Plus my birthday is coming up soon... ;)

Nerdbomber.

I'm so excited to do my homework assignment I can barely even sit through class.

According to my husband (and probably many others), this defines me as quite the nerd.
But I say I just really love my major.