Where It All Goes Down, Earthquake Update, and Three for Thursday

I didn't get a chance to post pictures of my room yesterday, but it doesn't really matter, because there's not much to show yet. I haven't officially started back (Monday!), so my classroom isn't put together. Here's what my room looked like the last time I was in!

I went in yesterday and did a bit more work before meeting my teammates for a working dinner to write our curriculum maps. While I was at school, I walked past the gym and saw this:

Tuesday's earthquake took down some of the ceiling tiles! That seems to be the only damage to the school, thankfully!

I've still been on the lookout for some good articles explaining the science behind the earthquake so that I can talk about it with my students. This article from CNN has some good explanations, and Scholastic News has an article that is kid friendly. Has anybody else found any good articles?

So, now on to today's Teacher Week topic from Blog Hoppin': Three for Thursday!

Favorite Font

I can't download fonts to my school computer, so I typically use Kristen ITC for all of the titles and headings of handouts and Arial for body text. So uncreative, I know! I feel pretty lame since Kristen ITC is quickly becoming the Comic Sans of this decade.

 But, when I want to create a title with a cool font, I get around the issue of not being able to download files by going to a site like dafont.com and browsing their handwriting fonts. You can type in a text to preview, so I type in whatever I want my title to say, and then I take a screen shot of the words in a font I like and paste it as an image in my document!

Favorite Blog

It's so hard to pick! Now that I've discovered teacher blogs, I'm actually worried that I won't have time to read all of the blogs I like once I go back to school! That being said, I love reading Miss Teacher's Juice Boxes and Crayolas! That was one of the first teacher blogs I stumbled on, and I was so excited to find such a great 5th grade blog! Miss Teacher has been blogging since before her first year of teaching, and it was fun to skim through her archives. She also shares a ton of great resources for the upper grades, especially if you're looking for Daily 5/literacy activities.

Favorite Online Resource

Does google count? :) Gosh, there are so many sites from which I gather resources, it's hard to think of one that stands out from the rest! I love Reading A-Z and United Streaming, but both of those require accounts. (I'm lucky enough that my school district gives teachers accounts to those sites.) For a free resource, I'll share Scholastic News. I love pulling articles from their site to share during class meetings, in guided reading groups, or simply on my News and Announcements board. I can usually find excellent information about current events that are of high interest to my students.

Now, off to school to work on my room!

Teacher Talk Tuesday

Today's theme from Blog Hoppin' is Teacher Talk Tuesday. Everyone is sharing advice for new teachers. I think it's actually really hard to come up with something original for this; all of the posts that I've already read have the standard - but really good - advice of being flexible, making time for yourself, getting to know students and their families, and having fun. Instead of rehashing what's been said so often already, I'll share the one mantra that got me through my first year (and continues to get me through rough days):

If it's not going to matter six months from now, then it's not worth worrying about.

As teachers, we have so much on our plate that it's impossible to give every task the full attention it needs. I think it can be extremely difficult for first year teachers to keep from getting bogged down in all of the "little" problems that arise that seem like big problems. Whether it's a botched lesson, a negative interaction with a parent or administrator, or just an all-around bad day, these issues can bother us so much that they consume all of our waking (and sometimes sleeping) thoughts. While we can and should still take steps to make these situations better, I think it's really important to keep things in perspective.

If it's not going to matter six months from now - if it's not going to physically harm someone, if it's not going to cost me my job, if it's not going to damage a positive relationship beyond repair, if it's not going to leave me with a huge sense of regret - then it's not worth worrying about.

And because I think posts are always better with a photo, this is what I picture in my head when school stress is keeping me up at night:

 I always tell myself "This won't matter one bit to me when I'm lying on the beach this summer!"

Meet the Teacher

It's Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin'!

I just started this blog earlier this month, so this is a perfect first link up for me. I'm really excited to make some new blogging friends, so if you're reading this, please leave a comment and introduce yourself!

Tell us a little something about you...

I'm Kristin. I have a ridiculously generic last name, but I still prefer some online anonymity, so I'm going with the moniker Mrs. Smith. :) I just finished writing my About Me page, so please click on over!

How long have you been teaching?

This year will be my fourth year teaching. I've always taught 5th grade. I was lucky enough to get a job at the same school where I did my student teaching on the same team as one of my mentor teachers. When I was little, I loved playing school with my stuffed animals and little sister. Of course, I was always the teacher! I also remember sitting in classrooms as a student and tucking away fun ideas to use "someday when I'm a teacher." I don't think I ever imagined how much work teaching is, or how much paperwork and bureaucracy is involved in the public school system! I do enjoy my job, though, and I'm looking forward to getting back to work (a week from today) and starting a new year with a new group of kids (two weeks from tomorrow)!

You might not know...

I guess you hardly know anything about me! Hmmm... where to start? Growing up, I lived in 7 different states and spent two years of high school in Germany since my dad was in the military. That means I attended 6 schools from kindergarten through high school graduation. I used to think that was a lot until I had some very transient fifth grade students who already had me beat! I loved living in Germany, and I ended up majoring in German in college and studying in Austria for a semester.

What are you looking most forward to this school year?

I am looking forward to a fresh start. I had a bit of a rough year last year with a group of kids who were 10 going on 16. I've heard that I have a younger group of kids coming up to me this year, and I'm ready for a different set of challenges. I'm also super excited about a new approach to language arts...

What do you need to improve?

I teach science, math, and language arts. Math was my master's specialization, and I've developed a LOVE for science inquiry since I started teaching. I have not, however, been confident in teaching language arts, and I've felt like I haven't received as much support in that area from my school. This summer, I read up on Daily 5 and CAFE, and I can't wait to start individual conferences and giving students more choice in their reading and writing!

What teaching supplies can you *not* live without?

Fat Mr. Sketch markers for writing on chart paper, Paper Mate Flair pens for grading, and fun sticky notes just because!