Dear Readers,
I know that it's been awhile...hope you're still checking every once in awhile. :)

As per Amy's request I will fill you in on the first week of school.

First off, I couldn't have asked for a better place. For being a city school...the campus is well taken care of, the people are friendly, and for the most part I have not seen any big student problems.

My classroom:
*is at least double the size of my classroom last year.
*contains a whole wall of windows and two doors.
*produces at least one large palmetto bug for me dispose every couple of days.
(now mind you that I cannot squish these bugs...they are large and full of squishy insides...I must first trap them and then manuever them through the outside door...where I am sure inevitably they only wait for the opportunity to return to my classroom again.)
*is filled with all the materials I could ever need
(thankfully this is a title I school which somehow has extra money to provide what teachers need.)

My students:
*continue to add in number every day. (seriously, I have gotten at least four more than I expected.)
*have been surprisingly well behaved...better than I expected anyways.
*7 girls/13 boys
*the majority eat breakfast in my classroom b/c they do not eat at home
*are very eager to learn
*are sweet
*have been taught at home that if someone gets in their face they are allowed to hit them (learned this lesson from two of my girls who were having a misunderstanding)

I:
*am the minority in my class.
*am overwhelmed with information, and standards, and requirements, and meetings, and lesson plans, and this new concept of grading papers (in kindergarten this did not happen), and portfolios, paperwork...did I leave anything out? :)
*am excited about this opportunity...I enjoy working with the older ones.
*have improved on my classroom management since last year (though I know I still have a lot to learn)
*have made some new friends among the teachers, there are a lot of younger teachers at the school, which is very nice.
*have already gotten my first paycheck!!! ..can we say no state tax and full medical coverage? (and I'm still looking to see if they are going to help me out with school loans...there's a good possibility.)

Student quotes:

*On the first day, "Are you going to be our teacher for the whole year?"

*After scribbling out only the words (and not the rest of the paper) on a discipline note home my student explained,

"yeah, my baby brother did that."

More to come...the year's still young. :)