Finally a Job!!

I know that it has been extremely long since my last post, but I have exciting news!  I am the newest 5th grade teacher at Mitchell Road Elementary.  I will be teaching math and science!  I am so excited, I can hardly  contain myself.

School started last Wednesday, and I was hired on Friday.  Today, I was able to begin moving into my classroom.  It is starting to look like my classroom, however, I still have a lot of work to do.  

I have decided that I need to have several things on the wall prior to starting to teach on Wednesday.  I am going to put up a math word wall along the top of the whiteboard and I am going to put up a science vocabulary tree at the back of the classroom.  The students will come in seeing the walls blank, but as the year progresses, the walls will fill up.  The vocabulary tree will start off bare, but it will fill up as we gradually add vocabulary to the tree.

I am so excited for this year to begin!

It has been a long time since I have posted.   I just wanted to give everyone an update on my job situation.  I have recently found out that I have two interviews coming up.  One is tomorrow and one is on Monday. 

I really hope that I am able to get a job out of these interviews because I am truly getting stressed out.  I am ready to have a job so I can start the process of coming up with things for my classroom.

Any last minute interview tips?

Supply Box and Must Do Board

Ok... Well it has been a while since my last post, but I have been busy sending out resumes and looking for a job.  Recently, I have been working on some additional items to go in my future classroom.  Both items have the black and white polka dots and yellow theme to go along with the rest of the theme of my room.  For this blog post, I will be describing and showing my new "Supplies Box" and "Must Do/May Do" Board that I will be using in my classroom.

"Supplies Box"

I originally got this idea off of Pinterest, while searching for classroom ideas.  I decided to recreate it using my classroom theme.  For this project, I used:

• 1 Stack-On DS-22 22 Drawer Storage Cabinet (This can be purchased from Amazon.com for $20)
• Yellow and White Cardstock
• Black and White Polka Dotted Paper Tape

The first step in making this wonderful organizer is to create your labels.  I used this template from Create Teach Share to create the perfect size labels for this organizer.  (If you click on the image below, it will take you directly to the Google Doc, so all you have to do is print them out)  I printed one sheet on yellow cardstock and one sheet on white cardstock.

 

If you would rather create your own labels, you would need 14 labels that are H 1.38" x W 2.00" and 8 labels that are H 2.12" x W 4.25".

I attached these labels using double-sided tape.  It seems to be holding up well.  When I attached the labels to the drawers, I just simply alternated the colors to get the effect I wanted.

Finally, I used the black and white polka dotted paper tape to outline the outside of the organizer, as well as putting little pieces on the drawers themselves.  Each drawer has a "lip" of some sort that sticks out (perhaps a handle or whatever you want to call it).  I just put the tape on each lip/handle.

"Must Do/May Do" Board

Yet another Pinterest idea that I found would be very helpful in my classroom.  During my student teaching, I often would have students come up to me and ask, "Miss Stieb, I'm done.  What do I do now?"  I would also have student who would not know exactly what they should be doing because they were either in the bathroom or in resource or something else.  When I found this idea on Pinterest, I thought that it could definitely solve this problem that I was constantly facing.

You can probably not see the full effect from this picture but it is really cute and very simple to make.

For this project, I used:

• 1 16" x 20" Magnetic Dry Erase Board
• A Permanent Marker
• Yellow Ribbon
• Black and White Polka Dotted Paper Tape

 

With this, I simply applied the paper tape to the outer borders of the white board, making sure to cover the sides as well as the visible portion of the board.  I also put one strip of the paper tape down the middle of the board to make a divider.  Next, I used a permanent marker to fill in the titles on each side.  I also put paper tape as bullet points down each side of the board.  Finally, I tied a yellow ribbon into a bow and adhered it to the back of the board.  I am only using this ribbon as a decorative piece, not really as a method of hanging the board.

 

I am really excited to try this out in my future classroom.  I will put it above the completed work box, so that students will easily be able to see what they should be doing and what they can do after they finish.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my new ideas that I have just shared.  Let me know what you think!  :)

And the Job Search Continues...

Over the past couple weeks, I have religiously checked the Greenville County Schools website for job postings.  I have submitted my cover letter and resume to over 14 different elementary schools, but have yet to hear anything.  I know that many schools are merely collecting resumes at this point, but around what time in the summer do schools begin the interview process?

I don't know why I am so worried about not being able to secure a job, but I am.  I feel that all this preparation I have been doing over the past couple weeks could be for nothing, and it worries me.  I am trying to keep a positive mindset throughout this whole process, and I hope to secure a position in the near future. 

Any words of encouragement?

Class Job Chart

Here is a class job chart that I created for my classroom.

This is a classroom job chart that I created for my classroom.  It was really easy and fairly cheap to make.  I just used a 25 cent poster board, construction paper, handy pockets I found at a classroom supply store, and my Cricket to create this cute chart.

I plan on using this chart in my classroom to control classroom jobs.  Students will fill out a "job application" for a job each nine weeks.  The job positions change every nine weeks.  I plan on taking pictures of the students on the first day of school, laminating the pictures, and sticking them to Popsicle sticks.  I will then put the Popsicle sticks in the pocket of the job the student received.

Overall, I feel that giving students classroom jobs promote responsibility.  Filling out "job applications" is a great connection to the real world.

First Blog Post

Hello!  I am so excited to be starting a new blog.  My name is Stefanie Stieb, and I have just graduated from Furman University with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Elementary Education.  I will be starting my Masters Program (also at Furman) in June 2012.  I am aiming to finish my program in Learning Disabilities by August 2013.

Starting now, I am on the search for a teaching job in Greenville, South Carolina.  I have had experience teaching many different grade levels and would be grateful to get a job at any level.

With this blog, I am hoping to post on a weekly basis about my experiences.  I will start off by posting different things I am making for my classroom (pictures to be added).  Then, as the school year starts, I will post about weekly events or things that I have learned throughout the week.  Essentially, I would like to use this blog as both an information site for other teachers, as well as a reflection piece for my first-year of teaching.

Happy Blogging!  :)