2nd Grade Happenings

School is well underway! I have so many things I'm excited about this year. The thing I am most excited about is the how I'm using technology this year. If you don't know, I am a total geek when it comes to technology! I think eventually I'm going to go into Training teachers how to use technology in their classrooms. And most of these things, I find by being on Instagram.

1. Classdojo- I think it's really important to think about your school culture and type of parents that you have in your community. At my old school (can't you just hear Phoebe from Magic School Bus?), I would have used this but not to the extent that the creators invented it for. This new school has a ton of parents that are really involved in their kids and USE technology. So I have parents that have the Classdojo app on their phone and they know what their child is doing in my class. And I have instant parent notification. I don't have to worry about planners anymore. I don't have to worry about kids hiding notes from parents. And it's immediate.

2. Volunteer Spot- I found out about this through Owl-ways Be Inspired on Facebook. Linda wrote an awesome blog about it. And I stole the idea. I've gotten so many comments about how parents love how I'm using technology. Check out the blog post!  

But the coolest thing that has happened because of technology is.......

I was one of the three winners of the #eclaborday contest! 

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I won an Erin Condren Planner!! 

I have been obsessing over this planner. And haven't bought it because well... it's that or diapers for my child. And I can buy two boxes of diapers for Michael from Costco = 2 months of diapers. So I'm super thankful that I won! If you don't know what I'm talking about, carefully consider hopping over to www.erincondren.com. But only if you too would like to become obsessed and broke! 

:D

Hope you are enjoying your school years!

Sara

Day 3 of work!

Just finished Day 3 of New Teacher Induction training. I really enjoy these trainings. Yes I could use this time to be working in my class but it's always nice to have a refresher course. Maybe I'm just a nerd. :-)

Chile, by the way, was awesome! Michael was an Angel on the flights and with the extended family. Interesting fact about how they do school down there: there are so many kids in the towns that they have grades that go 7am-2pm and then a different group will go from 3pm-7pm. So your classroom is shared with another teacher. And average class size is 40.

I'm working on several things in my class. I decided this year I'm going to write my objectives on a white board. So my dear, sweet hubby went in tonight to put up a bulletin board and a dry erase board. Yay for hubbies! Open house is on Thursday so I'm hoping to get everything done by then. I also need to get my presentation done by then. Plus make copies. And of course when I need it, I can't find my label maker. To make matters a little worse, I don't have my laptop working. I don't have a charger until my Amazon shipment gets here. Should be Thursday or Friday.

I'm really excited about working at my new school, however, there was one thing I was nervous about that did happen. You get spoiled with technology quickly. I had a lot of technology at my old school. Now I have different technology that I'm not familiar with. It makes me wish I had the time to get to know it. I also wish I had a document camera. Ok my vent is over. 

I am going to try to keep blogging throughout the year and try not to vent too often!

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow I'm going to upload some classroom pictures on instagram. Stay tuned!
Sara

Firsts!

Many firsts to celebrate with this blog! First, this is my first post as a second grade Teacher! I have taught First grade for 3 years in a town 45 mins away from home. And I decided to take a position closer to home. 8 minutes away!! I'm in heaven! It will also be my first time teaching 2nd grade. I'm very excited to work with kids a tad bit older. I'm excited with the things they will be able to do in the beginning of the year and beyond. (Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! Sorry tangent)

My next first is on a personal first. My little family will be traveling to Chile for the first time together. We are taking our 14 month son to visit his other family. My hubby is from Chile. We are leaving on Monday and staying for a month! It's going to be intense! (and I don't mean camping! ) .....(if you didn't get the camping joke, say intense out loud... in tents.... lol cracks me up every time! )

I don't know how I'm going to survive not going into my class room to try to move in for a whole month! But I'm really excited to relax and enjoy my vacation. It's actually winter on that side of the world so pray for me! I'm a Desert girl! Today it was 103 degrees F. Lol It was 50 in Chile today! We are spending a week in Santiago and then traveling to Concepcion to be with my in-laws fo4 the rest of our trip!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see our trip updates! @sarlisse

And out of curiosity, any Arizona bloggers out there?

Hope you are also getting time away from life and work!
Chao!
Sarlisse