My classroom is kid-ready!!

I spent another day in my classroom today and I am amazed that I am pretty much finished with my classroom set up! I got SO much work done yesterday and today. I was SO worried since I was changing schools and changing back to kindergarten, after teaching 4th grade for the past 2 years, I just thought it would be so much to get done. Don't get me wrong it was a LOT of work but it went so easily! I am pretty much finished, I just need to put some finishing touches on once pre-planning begins. I need to put names on stuff when I get my class list. I also need to put up a hallway bulletin board of some sort. Oh well, I'll figure it out during pre-planning. Now I can relax the rest of this week. Next week I am working on a planning team, then I get one more week off before I go back.

I gotta admit, I have been having some mixed emotions lately, wondering if I did the right thing... moving to a new school and moving back to kindergarten. Every once in a while I get really nervous, I start feeling like "What have I gotten myself into?" Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my new principal - she is everything my old principal was not, and I am thrilled to be teaching littles again. When my daughter taught first grade last year I was a little envious and was kind of missing the littles. Now that she is teaching Kindergarten I couldn't be more happy for both of us. It's just that I have been at my old school since we opened the school 6 years ago. I knew everyone there, I knew all the routines, procedures, and all the rules. Now I'm the "new guy" and I have no real clue what to expect. I feel like a kid getting ready to start a new school, I find myself asking "Will they like me? What if they don't? Will I know anyone? Will anyone want to be my friend?" I am glad that there are actually a total of 5 of us from my old school moving to this school. 3 of them will be teaching 4th grade (all 3 of which I taught 4th grade with the past 2 years), 1 will be teaching 3rd grade, and then little ole me, back in kindergarten :-) That helps a lot knowing that I do have friends there who are going through the same thing. Also I think being back in kindergarten is helping a lot too. I looked around my classroom today before I left and felt really good, it just felt right, I felt like it was where I was supposed to be.

I'm still dreading the first day of school and I am dreading even more so, the first fire drill!! Ugghhh those are the worst at the beginning of the year! The last time I taught kindergarten my daughter had not started teaching yet and she ALWAYS came to help me out the first day of school and she would also come for the first fire drill (when we knew in advance when it would be). She was awesome, how many college kids would come in at 8am on a Monday when they were still on their summer break to help their mom with a group of crying kids and parents LOL. This year I'll be on my own and so will she! Hey, I do have my "baby" my 19 year old kinda likes hanging out in my classroom, maybe I can bribe him to come in and help me, at least on the first day. As for the fire drill, I will be practicing with my kiddos the entire first week. We usually have our first fire drill the first week of school -BOOOOOOO!-

Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures of what I accomplished today - mostly decorating but that's the fun stuff right??

The view from the front door

This is my teaching area with my calendar and you can see the polka dots on the wall above my desk
(around my degrees)

My small group area with my rotation charts in the background and my shape accents on the cabinets 

My cubby area with my favorite saying! Oh and a view of my READ PLAY LEARN wall too!

My color/color words display 

Our morning check in - when they arrive they move their owl to the school side. 

My polka dots!

My transportation ribbons

Up close of my transportation ribbons - I have noticed I seem to have a bright, colorful, polka dot, owl theme going on LOL