May 2, 2013

Mark May 2, 2013 down as the day I got my first teaching job.

I can't believe it. It won't seem real until I sign my contract.
Here is the process I went through!
I interviewed on Tuesday and it went awesome. I did a lesson demo with ice cream scoop cutouts where the kiddos sorted them into categories and had to determine how many more or less were in a category. The kids were adorable and loved every minute of it.  Immediately following the demo, I went into a conference room where I have a formal interview. They had the questions written and taped on the table in front of me so that was wonderful. I didn't have to try to remember what they said! I felt comfortable and it was a welcoming panel. 
The panel was a board member/parent of a first grader, parent of a first grader, first grade teacher, and principal/superintendent. The principal was wonderful and I really loved him from the get go, he was personable and loving with the kids. A worried student asked him if his mom was coming to get him and the principal responded with, "don't worry babe, she's coming, she hasn't forgotten about you. I promise." I know that is the littlest thing..but immediately I felt at home. He made sure that the student felt comforted and addressed him  like he was his own child.
AHH the best!
Moving on, so after the interview, I immediately was taken back to the front office - into the principals office to be exact and had a prompt to respond to on a laptop. He didn't give me a time frame but he left me with, "you truly did a wonderful job and you are very well-prepared. Looking forward to talking with you soon! Definitely by the end of the week"
The prompt was write a letter home to parents explaining how you are going to grade their student on assignments and give a weighted measurement that you will use.
UH.
Are you serious?
I panicked for a hot minute then thought, RUBRIC. So on the spot I created a rubric grading them on four categories, organization, content, neatness and completeness.
I then proceeded to use the cutest font his computer could handle, titled it, "Miss Silva's Second Grade Stars" and put stars around the page...printed it, signed my name and left. BAM.
It was a proud moment for me. I left feeling like I had a very equal chance of getting the job as the other interviewees. I was told there were "too many to count" applicants, but I was 1 of 4 to get an interview. Needless to say, I was hopeful, but was devastated only four days before when I got turned down from a job so I didn't want to read to far into it.
On Wednesday, my first grade CT came into my fourth grade class telling me that she just got a phone call from the principal!
YES! I am getting closer to my dream! Again, I'm trying not to read too far into it but everyone in my life is like SABRINA THIS IS GREAT NEWS!
On Thursday, May 2, I had a feeling I would know by then because 1. it is technically the end of the week and 2. the principal was calling some of my references.
I go through my day constantly checking my phone and nothing. Then my current CT has a phone call to return - the principal called her! As hours pass, I am becoming more and more hopeful. Then the office manager pulls me from my class and tells me I have a phone call from my supervisor. I was thrown by this..
I answer the phone and Angela tells me she just got off the phone with him and he asked if there was anything she wanted to add. She said, "this is her dream job, working close to her hometown, she wants this so bad and I know she would be a wonderful fit for you." He responded with, "well, I believe I will be making her dream come true today." She told me that she couldn't not call me and tell me what he said. I started to cry a bit and she said, "Sabrina, I'm so proud of you, now get your shit together and go teach those kids. Call me later once he calls you."
I love that woman so much.
So I did. I continued my lesson and blah blah.  I check my phone and see I have a missed called and voicemail. Both from Angela, or so I thought. I had two new voicemails..one from Angela and one from the principal! I told my substitute I needed to call him back.
 I called him and he said that they knew they wanted me from the beginning. My enthusiasm was what won them over! I gave my verbal commitment on the spot but he still gave me 24 hours to think about it even though we both know I'm taking the position. We chatted about salary and benefits for a bit and I am now waiting for a phone call to make an appointment to sign my contract!

That is my "how I got my first teaching job story".
I can't believe this.

Oh, did I mention it is a second grade position?

I AM A SECOND GRADE TEACHER.

Loves.

Negative Nancy

I'm in a place right now where I am super overwhelmed with being in a new classroom, applying for jobs, writing a unit and planning lessons that I feel really negative and stressed. I am trying not to exert that negative energy on anyone so I am keeping it in and to myself.
Everything I have to say about anything is negative and no one wants to read about that!
So this blog is on hiatus until I can get my shit together!

Update hopefully soon.

Loves.

SPRING BREAK

All I have been doing is sleeping and eating..
The way life is meant to be lived.

I'm going to continue doing so until I feel the need to start being productive again. I'm guessing that will be around Saturday/Sunday.
WOO.


Loves.

Recap

Ahh!
This last week was crazy because
1. I was finishing my work sample. ITS DONE NOW!
2. I was transitioning out of first grade and into fourth grade.
3. Friday was my last day in first grade.
4. I had a terrible cold.
5. Went to the circus.

All of those factors had all of my attention for the week and blogging was not top priority.

Let's start with finishing my work sample. Oh my god, that thing is the worst. I still wish that I had some sort of closure with it, but I haven't felt it yet. It was 139 pages of hard work. I made a copy so I can show my family and friends what I have been doing the past 4 months. Now I have to start ALL OVER again for my work sample in 4th grade. Good lord, if that doesn't kill me..I don't know what will.
That takes me into leaving first grade..
One of the saddest things I've had to do. It pains me to leave them - they are my first class ever. They will always have a huge part of my heart. It has been two days not being in their classroom and yesterday I saw them in the library where I had a few 4th graders testing. They started screaming, "MISS SILVA! GUYS, THAT IS MISS SILVA!!! HIIIIIIII!!" I couldn't go say hi to them and it KILLED me. Their sweet faces were so excited to see me. I miss them so much. Probably too much.
On my last day I made my CT a little gift and I wasn't expecting anything from her but she got me a cute container thing with sticky notes, pencils, pens, tape dispenser, paperclips, memo pads and skittles. Very sweet of her! The kids 'gift' wasn't ready on my last day but yesterday (Tuesday) it was on my desk in 4th grade.
"Advice from 1st grade" The kids wrote what a good teacher does, "a good teacher reads funny books because you are funny. Read funny books to 4th grade too." Something that made me really happy about those was that the kids think I'm funny - they saw that within me as a teacher. That makes me very happy that they pulled that out of my core qualities. THANKS FIRST GRADERS!

Oh my god.
I just wrote like two more pages on here then they got deleted. I'm pissed. Please excuse the possible snarky tone the rest of this post may be in because it is the second time writing it. DAMNIT.
Here is a picture of us on my last day. They are so cute and weird. I love them so much. I will/can probably get in trouble for posting a picture with their faces, so do a me a solid and not reproduce this picture! Haha! They are so sweet. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

So after I dried my tears of leaving first grade on Friday, I really needed to buckle down and finish up my work sample. After multiple hours and doing so I decided that it would be a good time for a distraction, so Lex and I went to the circus. It was great! My mom says I have a weird soul connection to circus' because there was one in town the day I was born and while my mom and I were resting in the hospital, my dad and Abuelita took Jess-a-mess to the circus. So it really should be Jesse with the soul connection but its me. I'm weird, so I like seeing other weird people do weird things.
So Alexa LOVES elephants like I love Pandas. So when we saw that there was an opportunity for her to RIDE one, we needed to make that happen. I told her that I would put in like 15 dollars if it meant that she could fulfill this dream of touching/riding an elephant. Welp, we go up to pay for her ticket and it was only 10 bucks. So I did it with her! Wham, bam..just like that we are physically on top of an elephant. We are laughing and Lex is crying of excitement. It was great. We didn't have anyone else there with us to take our picture so this----------> is what we ended up with. Classic. She got to sit way up front on the elephants head and her legs were behind the elephants ears.
It was basically her dream come true. I took a picture of the elephant we rode. Goodness, it was just so funny. I'm glad we went and I'm glad she got to check that off her bucket list! We got back home, I finished my work sample, then went on with my day. :)

Spring break has officially started for me as a teacher, as of this morning. It will start for me as a college student at 3 o'clock today. I need to write my final paper for my class now, but I wanted to use this time to post instead. It is much more fun. :)


Loves.

Catch up

I'm SUCH a good blogger (heavy sarcasm). I feel so behind! During the week I'm just so tired that I don't want to even be near my computer. Sundays are my catch up days.
So..
Nick, Alexa and I went to my parents house for the weekend. We went to a movie (21 and Over), a baseball game, In-N-Out burger, went fishing (watched my parents fish), Ulta, Bath and Body Works and back home.
Whew!
Lex and I have a serious problem and can't go a weekend without going to Ulta. This is a new problem for me..seeing as I didn't even know what an Ulta was until 4 months ago. I love that place - it is a girly-girl's heaven.
It was overall a fun weekend, but now I really have to buckle down and finish my stinkin' work sample. This is my last week in first grade, tomorrow is my last day actually teaching them. It breaks my heart into pieces knowing that I will never (unless I teach in that school) teach these kids again.
Oh goodness..am I going to be that teacher that cries the last day of school every year?
I don't want my students to ever grow up! My first graders have come so far - I don't want to let them go! Yes, they drive me to tears sometimes but I can't fathom the thought being away from them.
I hope I start to feel this way about the fourth graders soon - I start transitioning to them on Thursday!

That's all for now!

Loves.

Revlon Lipstain

Over the last few weeks after many trips to Target and Ulta.. I have found my new obsession.
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains.
They are a super lightweight lipstain in the form of a crayon like a drugstore version of Clinique's Chubby Sticks.
Holy moly - I love them so much. There are 12 different shades to pick from, I bought Lovesick and Honey. 

I got mine at Target for only $7.49 as opposed to Clinique's version for $16.00.

I did a test with Lovesick to see how the good the stain held up after a few hours.
The top is directly after I applied it, the bottom is about two hours later.You can definitely still see the color. The glossiness was gone but I love that it has such a high color payoff. My lips look a little dry, but by putting a layer of chapstick over it, it would look perfectly fine. I would definitely recommend picking one up if you are looking for a beautiful color, but not a lot of hassle and re-applying. I think the men in our lives would like these too because they don't transfer nearly as much as typical lipsticks do.
I love that I can put this on before leaving the house - teach all morning and still have color on my lips! 

If you have tried them or have any other suggestions for me to try, let me know!

Loves.
 

Senioritis

What a nice weekend!

Alexa and I went thrift shopping and I found a ton of plain tees that were completely necessary to buy for like $3.99 - I couldn't help myself! I also bought some of those Revlon Just Bitten lip stains (from Ulta..not the thrift store) and holy moly - everyone should go buy them. I am thinking about doing a post just about them because they are so amazing.

I'm upset the weekend is over - I got nothing done homework wise..senioritis has kicked in.

As of tonight, I have 103 days left until graduation and I would like to sleep my way through it.

Um.. what!? 

Is this real life? I'm graduating college in 103 days!?!? Crazy. It is so hard to believe that it is actually happening. I mean, I have to teach 32 4th graders between now and then but nonetheless it is happening.

I wonder how that makes my parents feel? To have both their kids to be college graduates.

Hey Mom and Dad! If you are reading this, let me know!

All weekend I felt like I had more to post about, but I guess I don't! I lost my SD card to my camera somewhere in our tiny apartment - so when I find that little bugger I will do some posts with pictures.

Loves.

Rough week

What a terrible few days I've had.
I am trying to get back on track but I think I just need the weekend to recharge and reflect.
Send me some positive vibes! I sure could use them!!

Here is my behavior chart in my classroom. This is behind my CT's desk so don't mind all the papers strewn about. It seems to be working..on this day a lot of kiddos moved up. Today, however, no one made it to pink. I realized that I was wasn't balancing it out enough. So I had to make some adjustments to my management.










The other night we had an alumni mentor night, with food, mock interviews and q and a's with alumni. Such a neat experience. I was against it at first but it seemed to actually be helpful - I took four pages of notes like a crazy person.

It is Read Across America week in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday and on Wednesday we could dress up like a storybook character! I was Thing 1 and my CT was Thing 2 - put on a red shirt and make a ghetto circle label - easy peasy.



I'll leave with this quote.. 

"You have to have a bad day every once in a while... otherwise you'll never know what a good day feels like."

That is all I feel like writing for now.
 

Loves.

Takeover day 1

Good evening!
Today, either allergies or a cold hit me like a ton of bricks. I can't breathe through my nose and have a serious headache. Bleh.

So I introduced my new behavior chart to the kids, they saw the new colors first thing when they walked in and started asking me about it. The slightest bit of change makes them crazy! They thought the idea of clipping their names onto me was hilarious!
I really like making my classroom management have a really positive focus. I think the kids appreciate it too! I think this thing will work out! I forgot my entire purse today, so I couldn't snap a picture of it - I will tomorrow..maybe..if I remember.
It didn't really seem any different than any other day, my CT was in and out of the room and I taught the whole morning. I do that anyway..maybe it will feel different when she is gone the entire time? I don't think that will happen though because she is incorporated in the reading block. Oh well.

Anyway, Nick is home! After a 5 day baseball trip - he is home! I don't like baseball season for this reason alone - long road trips! I'm so glad to have him back! I've missed him! I made carne asada nachos for dinner (delicious) and we watched Argo.
GREAT MOVIE.
Go rent it! I kept asking Nick a million questions because I'm not the brightest when it comes to historical happenings, but eventually I caught on and was on the edge of my seat!
I didn't even fall asleep (I ALWAYS fall asleep during movies)! I am going to go to sleep now however- gotta wake up early again!

Loves.

I can feel the love!

Ahh!

Posting this blog for you all to see was a great thing to do!
It has only been posted for two hours and I already feel the love from you all!
I am trying to prep for this week, but I'm so distracted by this blog, that I might as well write some actual content since I can't seem to get anything else done.

So I am done teaching my unit on opinion writing in first grade. The kids did so well with it! Now I have to chart their growth and reflect on their learning - sounds fun right? NO - I can't figure out how to make the charts work.
Anyone know how to make it so bar graph (excel) has a maximum number threshold? For example, I need all of the charts to be out of 4..so the top number on the bar graph needs to be 4 because that is the maximum number of points for the assignment. As of right now, if they got a 2.5.. it makes the maximum number a 3.5..if they got a 3.5..it makes the maximum number 4.5. So it skews the whole chart making it seem like student A's assignment was out of 3.5 and student B's assignment was out of 4.5.
I need help with that so comment below or text me or email me or something.
I NEED TO GET THAT DONE!

Anyways, so I am doing a lot of reflecting on my unit as I'm starting my half day takeover starting tomorrow. I'm not nervous for it or anything, I know there will be good days where the kids are angels and I know there will be bad days where they make me cry. But, hey..story of my life.

My district doesn't allow us to stray from our reading curriculum..so I can't change really anything content wise so I am adding to our existing behavior management system. Right now, we have green(good behavior), yellow(slightly disruptive/slightly good behavior), red(disruptive behavior).. students have clothespins with their names and they can only move down. So I am adding blue above the green and purple above the blue. The blue will be for great behavior, and the purple will be for fabulous behavior. Once a student gets to fabulous behavior, the five minutes before lunch, I will have those students get their clothespin and pin it on me for everyone to see! Students will see it, teachers will see it, everyone will see how wonderful they have been that morning! Once I come back to the classroom, I will put there clothespins back on the chart and they will continue on throughout the day. At the end of the day, my CT will give out slips of paper that have the color they received (this is already implemented - I will just add my two colors to her stack). My ideal is that students who have been showing disruptive behavior will see others names getting clipped to me and yearn to be able to do the same!
I am really trying to stress positive reinforcement!!

It seems like it will get out of hand and quite possibly fall to pieces...but now is my time to do crazy things like this. I'm really excited to introduce them to it tomorrow morning - my kids love it when I do silly things with them, so I hope they like this!

I will take a picture of it after I make it (getting to the school super early tomorrow) and reflect on how it went in tomorrows post!


Maybe I will get some stuff done now that I got this post out of my system!

Loves.

Testing, testing..

Finding the perfect blogging site has turned out to be fairly difficult.
I'm going to give blogger a try for now - I have a tumblr blog that I have tried to use, but it didn't feel user friendly enough.

I'm going to be brave and post this for friends and family to see this time around. I also want to post more often - imagine that!
I have a link to the right of your screen that allows you to follow my blog by email - so you can be emailed when I post.

This blog will be about my life, teaching, my relationships, my everything. I'm just going to let it all out! It may or may not be entertaining, but join me on this ride.

Please comment or give me feedback - I need to feel like SOMEONE other than myself is reading this.
(and so I don't feel like a crazy person talking to myself)

Enjoy your Sunday! It is beautiful out!