Life is Not Unfair

Hey Friends,

Thanks to one of the two Teacher Appreciation Days offered by the San Diego County Fair last Friday (the other one is this Friday), I got to spend a lovely day wandering the fairgrounds at Del Mar, pigging out on greasy overpriced fair food.

Father's Day

Hi Everyone,

I drove up to LA with my boyfriend over the weekend to spend some quality time with my family for Father's Day. Last year I treated my dad to a baseball game at Dodgers Stadium, but being on a much tighter budget this year, I opted for a cheaper and equally as fun outing - hiking at Eaton Canyon.

Well Done

Hey Friends,

Long time no post! I so badly wanted to post some end-of-the-year updates in the last couple of weeks but time really escaped me during that home stretch. I'm pretty excited to announce however, that I finished my first year of teaching on Friday, June 7, 2013. That's right I'm no longer a "first year" teacher! Don't worry, if you're wondering, I don't intend on changing the name of this blog. Instead, it will serve as a little keepsake and reminder that every year of teaching is kind of like your first year as no two classes are ever the same. Besides, now that my employment status is up in the air, who knows what grade I'll actually be teaching this upcoming school year (if I'm even able to land a job that is). I'm sure it will feel like I'm a first year teacher all over again.

I initially planned to write a reflective piece about my first year of teaching, actually I did in fact write it. The essay I wrote deeply looked at my past year documenting the struggles and challenges I faced with my overflow population, but after going back and forth, I decided not to share it. I made it a point to focus on the positives early on in the school year, at least when it came to this blog - a project I started for fun in grad school but have really grown to love and cherish as an on-going hobby and collection of unforgettable memories. I love reading back on old posts and remembering the special moments I shared with my very first classroom. I also love seeing the evolution of balance that I attempted to achieve while juggling a new career and trying to maintain a happy personal life. In keeping true to this spirit of the blog, I will continue to share my stories through a positive lens. After all, attitude is everything.

So in California, new teachers generally hold a preliminary teaching credential that they have to clear within 5 years (extensions can be granted). Although there are a few options available out there, I decided to go down the most well-traveled route via a two-year program called Beginning Teacher Support Assessment (BTSA) Induction. Taken from their website, BTSA engages preliminary credentialed teachers in a job-embedded formative assessment system of support and professional growth to fulfill the requirement for the California Clear Multiple Subjects credential. BTSA Induction programs are locally designed and implemented in accordance with the Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Professional Teacher Induction Programs and aligned to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

Insectsy and We Know It II

Hey Friends,

If you're coming here straight from part one, you're awesome! And if you're not, don't worry, you're awesome too :). I am starting to think I might have a crush on Mr. Eric Carle. This past week we used yet another one of his children's books, The Grouchy Ladybug as our focus text. Our sight word last week was 'look' and with the abundance of dialogue in the story, I thought it was a good opportunity to review the word 'said', 'you' and 'are' as well. Here are some student samples:

Insectsy and We Know It I

Hello Everyone,

It has been such a strange and overwhelming past couple of weeks, and I think if I had to sum it all up in one word it would be - bizarre. As many of you know, I survived my first case of food poisoning last week, but apparently it was a mere link in a chain of unfortunate events surrounding my bubble of friends. The reading specialist at my school recently got bit by a rattlesnake (he's doing much better now), the school psychologist was out for a couple of weeks due to appendicitis, and last night, my boyfriend also caught a bad wave of food poisoning. Bizarre, am I wrong? I'm bracing myself for a plague of frogs to fall from the sky next weekend. I'm serious. All these obscure and rather outlandish situations have really begun to bug me...