Meet the Teacher

Okay, so I might be a day late in the post, but I didn't know about the Teacher Week going on over at Blog Hoppin' until I stumbled upon it today. I figure better late than never, so I'm going to jump right in.

A little something about me...

Well, I'm in my second year of teaching, and I teach preschool in a Christian preschool. Last year was pretty awful. I spent most of it trying to rebuild the program after the previous director left unexpectedly. Thinking back on that now, it seems like a lot of responsibility for a first year teacher, but I survived, and the program has definitely grown! I got married last November to my high school sweetheart, and we moved to a new house last month. We're finally feeling "settled in" and are talking about starting a family now!

How long have I been teaching?

Well....I guess I answered that in the first question. I'm going into my second year. I was pretty fortunate to find a job my first year out of college, even if it wasn't the job I originally envisioned myself doing. I love it though, and my passion for early childhood education has really started to grow since I tangled my life with the lives of a bunch of three and four year-olds.

You might not know...

That I grew up in the middle of four brothers. Now that I'm old enough to really begin to understand the demands of being a parent, I wonder how my mom and dad managed. I have an older brother who is very dainty (he hates to get dirty!) but very smart (he's a pharmacist). My three younger brothers were always the ones who caused the most trouble. The oldest of the younger ones is in college, and last I checked with him, he dreams of managing a store of some kind (his dream changes about as often as his clothes). The two younger ones are twins and they are juniors in high school, which is something I'm still struggling to comprehend. They seem too young to be close to graduating from high school.

What am I most looking forward to this year?

I am most looking forward to actually knowing what I am doing! I did a lot of trial and error last year, which helped me understand what to do and what not to do, but, at the same time, it wasted some precious time. I'm also looking forward to being able to devote all of my time to preschool. Last year, I was working on my early childhood endorsement while taking five classes through the local area education agency and working two jobs. I didn't have much time to really devote to preschool.

What do I need to improve?

I need to be more organized! Instead of waiting until I had a stack of anecdotal notes that touches the ceiling, I need to record them every day before I leave school. I also want to be a little better about not devoting too much time to school. I rarely saw my husband last year, and I missed him. I can change that.

What teaching supplies can I not live without?

Post-It Notes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love them and use them all the time. I like that I can make one note on each post-it and then throw it away when I've taken care of it. It's very therapeutic.

I also love my label maker! It has really come in handy the last few days as I try to organize my classroom.

I feel compelled to mention the obvious - books. As a teacher, I can never have too many books!