Mirror, Mirror On the Wall...

I am not on Twitter.  I don't have Facebook. I don't Instagram. This blog is my one concession to social media that I'll get close to and I'm fine with that.  But if I did, this would be my post for the day:

Dear God,
Concerning your weather pattern for the greater Las Vegas area: I. AM. NOT. AMUSED.

Background information:  todays' weather is Hot.  Humid.  Nothing compared to the weather of Louisiana or South Carolina, Alabama, ect.  However for me,  I repeat - I am not amused.

Now, moving right along. Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sale!  It doesn't start for a few days yet, but there's no rule that says you can't fill your cart now!  It's a great time to get some of those coveted items off your wish list and onto your desktop.  Basically you can save up to 28%!  Fabulous!

Yesterday I teased that that I was going to talk about my what my thinking cap thought up during the summer concerning my classroom procedures.  What promoted this thinking? you may ask.  Well, I was browsing along YouTube one day and I came across a video of a teacher going over her procedures binder.  I was intrigued.  So I looked her up on TpT.  And I gave way to temptation and bought the darn thing.  Then I sat.  I stared.  I felt totally lost and helpless looking at the blank boxes and thinking what have I got myself into?  I know what works in my classroom, yet this past year thinks didn't really "click".  I wanted a change - but for the better, right?  Check out the video below to see my inspiration itself.

So I emailed the lady.  I asked nicely if she could show me what her pages looked like to give me a better idea of how I could start. Not so I could copy, just start the ole' brain working, right?  No reply.  Nothing.  Like a slow breeze on an old windmill in the middle of an abounded town kinda silent.  Oh well.  I sat down and started to type.  I guess  I didn't know how much I needed to get out and down on paper!  However, I believe it was totally worth it.  Four pages of procedures and three pages explaining in detail my classroom jobs later, I have a lovely little binder not only my review but for any sub that may come in and would like to know a quick rundown on what to expect of my students.  Thanks CFClassroom.com! Now, if things change or I need to add/remove things, it's super easy to do.  If you are thinking about doing something like for yourself, I highly recommend it.

I also found that as I was typing these things up, I was reflecting about how I wanted my classroom to sound like and look like this year.  Isn't self-reflection a huge part of our job?  Well, I did so much reflecting that the Evil Witch was asking ME who the fairest in the land was.   I discovered that I, at times, was a lazy person who was going through the motions of being a teacher, not becoming an educator.  These procedures that I'm going to put into place this year are going to help me in that journey.  I won't lie - it seems daunting, hard, and stressful.  Yet, I am looking forward to each step of the path because I know that I will come out a better person.  A better teacher who CAN manage a classroom and have fun while doing it.  How's that for reflecting, huh?

Tomorrow I'll post my Welcome Back Letter version 2.0 and maybe a picture of the Bean doing something absolutely adorable.

Until then, I loyally remain,

Shauna