Free for all Friday- Teacher Week Day 5

I seriously cannot believe that Teacher Week through Blog Hoppin' is already coming to an end. 

I have loved getting to meet all of your wonderful teachers and have found some great new blogs in the process too. I hope that I provided you with some helpful information too.

Today we are sharing a freebie. I created these Parts of Speech signs for my classroom and the kids have loved them. You can see them in this picture a little bit.

I have them in a black and white version that I copied on colored cardstock, but I also made one that is in color in case you wanted to go that route. Hope you and enjoy and can use these in your own room too! Sorry I was not able to share them through the post, I just don't know how to do that.

Parts of Speech signs in black and white

Parts of Speech signs in color

Teacher Week- Three for Thursday

I am once again linking up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week.

Today we are sharing our favorite font, favorite blog, and favorite online resource. 

Favorite Font

There are so many to choose from! I am a font addict! I am always creating documents in cute fonts and then emailing it to myself at school as a PDF so that I do not lose the fonts. 

My favorite place to get fonts would have to be Kevin and Amanda. I have all of their fonts loaded on my computer. Trust me, you want them too!

Favorite Blog

Clutter-Free Classroom

I have gotten so many wonderful ideas from this blog and love the book that she wrote. If you have not been to this blog, you have to go there!

Favorite Online Resource

6th Grade Reading Resources

I actually just came across this site the other day and am amazed at how much there is on it. I have already used a few things in my classroom from this site. If you teach 5th or 6th grade ELA, you don't want to miss this.

Teacher Talk Tueday- Teacher Week Day 2

I am once again linking up with Blog Hoppin' for day 2 of Teacher Week!

Today we are supposed to share advice for new teachers. Being a first year teacher myself I do not have much to share, but there are a few things that I learned while student teaching and finishing the year in 6th grade this past spring. 

{one} Get and stay organized! 

When I first walked into my current classroom back in March of this year, I could not believe the mess that was left by the former teacher. I started right away trying to get rid of all the junk that was left and organizing the important things. No two teachers will be able to have the same organization for their classroom, but I think that we can learn a lot from others organization. For me, binders really work great. I have one for just about everything and then I know exactly where to find that information. I am also really trying to instill good organization habits with my students too to help them be successful throughout the rest of their school years. 

{two} Don't be afraid to ask questions!

When I first started last March, I was so nervous to ask the other teachers for help. However, I quickly discovered that they were willing to help me and that I had no reason to be afraid of them. The other teachers really do want you to do well no matter what their body language might tell you. 

I am so excited to read all of the tips that you all will be blogging! I have a feeling that I will be able to use several of them in my own classroom!

Meet the Teacher

Today I am linking up for Day 1 of Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin'.

Tell us a little something about you...

I'm Katie, or as my kids call me, Miss Klohn. I graduated this past spring from Schreiner University in Kerrville with my EC-6 teaching certification. I always thought that I wanted to teach in the younger grades, but after having the opportunity to complete part of my student teaching in 6th grade, I knew it was where I was supposed to be. However, it is quite strange teaching in the same room that I took 6th grade language arts in. I absolutely love what I do and cannot imagine doing anything else!

How long have you been teaching?

This is my first official year as a teacher. Last year though, I finished my student teaching in 6th grade as the teacher. The teacher resigned effective immediately and the class was all mine. The school librarian ended up being my mentor teacher. She was also my 8th grade ELA teacher too! Even though this is my first official year as a teacher, I was a substitute teacher for 3 years and then was also an elementary teacher aide in high school. I am so thrilled that I get to spend the rest of my life doing something I love so much!

You might not know...

That I was the mascot in 8th grade! Yes, I was a Battlin' Billie. Maybe if you all are lucky enough I will share a picture of it one day. Due to my experience as a mascot, I have also been wrangled into being the assistant cheer sponsor this year. The life of a new teacher!

What are you most looking forward to this school year?

This past spring my school district passed a bond and now all of the classrooms are connected classrooms. That means that I got an interactive board and ceiling mounted projector! You have no idea how excited I am to integrate my lessons with the board. This school year I am also the 6th grade inclusion teacher for Language Arts. In the first part of my student teaching I was in a 4th grade inclusion classroom and I loved it. I am thrilled to be doing inclusion again. I also really love my 6th grade team and the new language arts teachers that we added this year. I am excited to share, borrow, and trade new ideas that I can use in my classroom with my students. 

What do you need to improve?

Well this being my first year I am not really sure about this just quite yet. One thing I really want to work on from the time I spent in 6th grade last year is my differentiation for my different students. I felt like I did not necessarily accelerate my Pre AP students to the level that they needed because I was just trying to keep my head above the water. I am hoping that at the end of the year I feel like I have better served this students. This is a question that I will for sure be coming back to at the end of the school year. 

What teaching supplies can you NOT live without?

Flair pens

my interactive board

Diet Cherry Coke in my mini-fridge

Post-It brand chart size sticky notes

binders (I have a binder for just about everything)

conference during Sonic Happy Hour :)

I also had an amazing first day with my 6th graders! They are all so great and I can already tell that it is going to be a wonderful school year!

I am so excited to "meet" you other teachers out there!

Teacher Week and a Prayer

I cannot believe that tomorrow is the first day of school! I am so excited to meet all of my 6th graders and know that we are going to have a great year full of exciting adventures! I am so blessed to be able to do something I love and helping to mold the future at the same time!

This coming week I am also excited to participate in a wonderful blog hop through Blog Hoppin'.

Come back tomorrow to see my first post for the link-up!

I also came across this prayer tonight and wanted to pass it along to all you other teachers out there who are starting the school year tomorrow!

A Teacher’s Prayer

O Lord, Grant me your strength, so I will have COURAGE in every situation;

Grant me your love, so I will NEVER GIVE UP on anybody;

Grant me your wisdom, so I will SHOW others the path to success;

Grant me your mercy; so I will FORGIVE those who have hurt me;

Grant me your peace, so I will FIND THE BEST in everybody;

Grant me your hope, so I will NEVER GIVE UP;

Grant me your joy, so I will be THANKFUL for all my blessings;

And grant me your grace, so you will ALWAYS be at my side.  Amen.

~David Bennett

I Have Butterflies

In my stomach that is. 

It is really hitting me that on Monday I will meet my 53 6th graders that I will get to teach this school year. I have met a handful of them, but for the most part Monday will be the first time that I see many of them. I have so many questions running through my head right now like...

Are they going to like me?

Will they think that I am mean?

What do they think of my classroom, do they like the theme?

Are they going to be bored in my classroom?

Will they mind sitting in tables so that group work can be done easily?

I am really hoping that the first day goes amazingly well, and you can bet I will be blogging about it that evening. In the meantime, for most of you, enjoy your last days of summer and I hope that your school year is absolutely amazing!!!

It Is Almost Here!!!

I cannot believe that the 1st day of school is almost here! It seemed like this day was so far away when I accepted the position, but on my Monday it will all begin! 

Since last Friday, I have had in-service every day. On Monday, which was our first day of all staff in-service, our principal had us meet in the cafeteria and then we got on a bus. I was a little confused at first, but I later discovered that the principal always takes the staff somewhere else for the PD. She took us to the local golf course and we spent the entire day there in the meeting room instead of the cafeteria. It was so much fun and the simple change of scenery made the day that much better. 

Besides the rotations that we went through this morning, and district wide convocation tomorrow morning, the rest of the week is ours. I honestly do not know many schools where they give you that much time to work in your classroom. I am so excited to get lesson plans knocked out hopefully for the first 6 weeks during this week. We will see though. I have a feeling we might get a department meeting or grade level meeting thrown in there somewhere later this week 

Have I mentioned lately just how much I love my campus??? If I haven't...I love it! I cannot imagine working for a better principal and with such great colleagues. I have a feeling that this school year is going to be simply amazing!