5 for Friday

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her awesome 5 for Friday linky party! 

One. I could not believe it when I found myself getting emotional on the way home to get ready for Meet the Teacher last night. Don't worry...they were way happy tears! I've wanted to teach 1st grade for so long and I am just so thrilled that this dream is really coming true. It hadn't really hit me until yesterday afternoon. Thank goodness I held it together at Meet the Teacher Night!

Two. I am in love with my classroom design this year!!! I just get so happy every time I walk into my classroom! I am charging my good camera and will share more photos with you all on Sunday! 

Three. I got to meet 20 of my 21 firsties last night and they are just precious! I may be biased, but I am pretty sure I have the best class ever! :) I cannot wait to see how they grow during the year!

Four. This year I am using Brag Tags in my classroom for my reward system. I already had their necklaces set up last night with three tags each and they were in love with them! I cannot wait for us to add to them as the year goes on. What sort of things do you do to reward your students?

Five. I am so ready for Pete the Cat, No David!, and First Day Jitters with Jitter Juice on Monday!

Classroom Sneak Peek!!!

I just could not wait any longer! Here is a sneak peek of my classroom! I am absolutely in love with it! I will take a good camera with me tomorrow and get some more photos to share! For now, enjoy the peek! 

Summer is Over!

It is s hard to believe that today marks the end of my Summer Vacation! Tomorrow we start our week of in-service, really I should not complain because we only have 4 days since Friday is our County Fair Parade and pretty much the whole town is involved in it. :)

Even though my summer was crazy busy, I loved every minute of it. I learned so much as myself as an administrator while I was the camp director and I know that this will help tremendously when I am ready to be a principal now that I have passed my certification test. I am looking forward to returning again in the summer to the same position and continuing to grow as a leader. 

Summer may be coming to an end, but I am so excited for the upcoming school year and my new adventure with my 21 firsties! I thought I would create a top 5 list for the things I am most looking forward to about this upcoming school year. 

one. I am excited to see the growth that my class will have over the school year. In 6th grade I could see it a little bit, but there is just so much more in 1st grade. My students are on a variety of levels and I cannot wait to see their individual growth. 

two. I am excited to be teaching multiple subjects. Don't get me wrong, I still love Language Arts and everything that is associated with it, but I am thrilled to be teaching a variety of contents. We embed Science and Social Studies within our ELA block, but I am excited to be adding math to what I am teaching. 

three. In 1st grade we are going to be implementing the Daily 5. I was lucky enough to hear the Sisters at their conference in 2012 and loved it! When I was double blocked in 6th grade and had two hours to teach ELA, I ran a modified Daily 5 with my kids. I am excited to implement from Day 1 this year (actually I will probably introduce on Wednesday of Week 1) and teach my students the independence of Daily 5. 

four. I cannot wait to see my students grow as writers! Last year was the first year that Writing Workshop was implemented in 1st grade, and the teachers have just raved about it. I dreaded teaching writing in 6th grade mainly because my kids hated it. I want to help create a love for writing with my kids. Hopefully that will be possible through Writing Workshop. 

five. I am thrilled to be a part of an amazing team and am so looking forward to collaborating with them. In 6th grade I was only with one other person for planning purposes which was difficult at times. I also was already told that I am on the Language Arts planning team and am thrilled about that! 

I promise to share pictures of my new classroom soon...I really think I will be finished with it today! Happy shopping during the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale! I know my cart is loaded up and I am still not done looking! :)

Meet the Teacher and a Winner!

First I wanted to announce the luck winner of my OfficeMax giveaway! The lucky winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I already emailed Meagan and if she does not respond within 24 hours I will pick a new winner!

I know I am late to the game, but I still wanted to participate in Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week. Yesterday was "Let's Talk About Me Monday!" I would participate in Classroom Digs, but I am not quite ready to share what my room looks like just yet!

So here are ten random facts about Miss Klohn!

1. I am 24 years old and this coming Monday marks the beginning of my 3rd year of teaching. I spent my first two years teaching 6th grade Language Arts and liked it, but I am so thrilled to be following my heart to First Grade for the 2013-2014 school year!

2. I spend my summers working as a Camp Director at the camp I attended as a kid. I had been on Senior Staff the past two years, but this summer I was the Director and loved it. 

3. July 4th is probably my favorite National holiday. See below. Camp does crazy things to you too!

4. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. The question was did I want to teach high school and coach or teach little kids. I will never forget the day that I was in the class that I was assigned to as an elementary teacher aide and I just had this feeling overcome me that I was supposed to be an elementary teacher. One of the coolest things I have ever experienced. 

5. I managed to graduate college in 4 years without taking one single summer school class. :)

6. I completed my Masters in Education and completed my Principal Certification this past December. I took and passed my Principal Test in July and can officially say I will never be a college student again. Thanks to my parents for being supportive during my journey. 

7. In addition to teaching, I also coach club volleyball. I love it and love teaching the girls about a game that I love! 

8. This past school year I joined the Cricket Crunch Club! Yep, I ate a cricket!

9. I am blessed to have an amazing God daughter who will be in Kindergarten this school year! I love getting to spoil her!

10. My friends mean the world to me! I do not know what I would do without these three!

I promise I will share pictures of my room soon with you all!

School Supply Giveaway!

I cannot believe that it is August 5th and I still have not linked up with the fabulous Farley for her monthly linky party! It is my last week of camp so things have been crazy, but I could not miss out!

I am also so excited to be giving away a bunch of supplies from Office Max to one of my lucky readers! I was recently contacted by them and they asked if I would be interested in reviewing one of their "Tools for School" packs and then to also giveaway one to a lucky reader! 

This kit for school includes so many awesome things:

1. Electronic Pencil Sharpener

2. Scissors

3. Colored Post-Its

4. Blue Ink Gel Pens

5. PaperMate Purple Pens

6. Colored Paperclips

7. small Binder Clips

8. Liquid Highlighters

9. #2 pencils

10. a $50 gifcard to Office Max! :)

I already have several things on my list that I know I can use my gift card for! 

This giveaway will close on August 11th! Be sure that you enter below using Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teacher Appreciation Days at OfficeMax
To help teachers stock up and save on much-needed supplies, OfficeMax is hosting its special, three-day Teacher Appreciation Days events where teachers receive 25% off their purchase of hundreds of essential classroom supplies, exclusive coupons and other great values, increased purchase limits just for teachers and a free reusable tote. To participate, teachers can join OfficeMax’s MaxPerks Rewards for Teachers program at no charge either in-store or online at officemaxperks.com. Visit www.officemax.com/celebrateteachers for details on Teacher Appreciation Days events in your community or others across the country.

Save on School Supply Purchases at OfficeMax

·       OfficeMax is providing big deals on education essentials and more throughout the season, offering 25-cent, 50-cent and $1 value deals on a variety of supplies, including markers, notebooks, glue, scissors and more. Visit OfficeMax’s back-to-school web page at www.officemax.com/bts to shop or search by zip code for in-store and online promotions.

·       Teachers also receive special discounts at the OfficeMax Print Center in-stores nationwide and can select from one of two bundles including:

o   Teacher Value Bundle includes 100 B&W copies, 1 poster (18” x 24”), 3 feet of lamination and 50 business/event cards for $19.99 ($60 value)

o   Teacher Premium Bundle includes 50 color copies, 2 posters (18” x 24”), 3 feet of lamination, 50 business/event cards and a teacher planner for $29.99 ($100 value)

OfficeMax’s A Day Made Better Support for Teachers
OfficeMax is hosting its annual A Day Made Better In-Store School Supply Drive where community members can donate much-needed supplies for local teachers. OfficeMax associates will donate the collected supplies to local schools on October 1 during the annual A Day Made Better events in which OfficeMax associates surprise 1,000 teachers in their classrooms with a total of $1 million worth of OfficeMax-donated school supplies. Learn more about A Day Made Better at www.adaymadebetter.com.

I received the school supplies and gift card mentioned in this post from OfficeMax in order to facilitate my review. The items featured in this giveaway are also provided by OfficeMax and will be sent to the winner directly. Opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. I have not been compensated for this post in any other way.

Classroom Makeover

There is no denying that I am beyond excited to start my third year of teaching with a new adventure in 1st grade! I think my favorite part of it so far has been transforming my new classroom! Since I work as a camp director during the summer, I do not have as much time in my room, but I have been able to get in there at least once a week during my off time. 

I have been making a photo journey of the process and I try to snap a few before leaving each time I work in there. Here is the only photo I have of the room before I even started. A lot of the stuff in the picture is still from the previous teacher. Our maintenance crew was nice enough to move all of my things for me...isn't that wonderful? I plan on having a big basket of goodies for them when we go back in August. Here is room 102 in her glory before I even started!

 The amazing thing is that pretty much none of this remains in the room. I kept the tables and the kidney table, that is really about it. This was on the last day of school when I went by to visit. The colors in the classroom were not what I was envisioning, so I stripped everything off the walls and have started fresh. The issue though was that I had to wait until the end of June before anything of mine was even moved to my new room.

This was when everything finally got moved to my classroom. I had no idea how much stuff I had accumulated in two years. I think part of it was that I was holding out for that 1st grade job I always wanted! One of the first things I tackled were the shelves. The storage there is great, but a lot of things were left that I did not want. 

 This happened last Saturday. All of my things had finally been moved and I could get started with a few things. My first goal was to figure out where I wanted my shelving so I could get a feel for the room. I also got my bulletin boards up for my group area. At this school, we do not have any actual bulletin boards, we have to create them. I use fabric on the walls to create that space because it holds up so well. I love how they turned out, but sorry they are a little blurry. Thanks to both my mom and dad we got all of my bulletin boards, well at least the large ones, knocked out this day. 

I am all about the brights and chevron craze this year!

My mom and I went up again this past Thursday to work and we got a lot accomplished. We organized my shelves, cleaned bookcases, placed the tables, took all of the extra staples out of the well, removed the clips from the ceiling, and we hung my number line. I would call it a productive day. I think my favorite thing about my room right now is my rug. This picture does not even do it justice because it is flipped over. It is black and white chevron and I ordered it from Overstock.com. I am in love with it! 

Yesterday I also made my first trip to Ikea ever!!!! Oh my goodness, I am now in love! I got some things for the classroom and I cannot wait to get them in my room! I will post about that this coming weekend along with an amazing giveaway from Office Max! 

Believe it or not, I also found some time to get my craft on! I do not have a desk so I wanted some of the Teacher Organizers that are all over Pinterest...I love how they turned out! 

They are actually a really pretty teal color and this does not do it justice! 

I promise to keep sharing makeover pictures with you all!

I almost forgot...I am now a certified principal!!! I passed my test on July 17th and it is such a huge relief. Not quite ready for that, I sill love the classroom too much at this point! 

It's Giveaway Time!!!

Katie from Building a House of Love asked me if I would team up with her for a giveaway and of course I said yes! I am pretty sure that if we lived closer to each other that we would be best friends! Go swing by Katie's blog to see how you can enter to win! There are not many entries as of now so your chances are pretty good! It ends later today!

Building a House of Love! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway