Mrs. Beers' 6th Grade Language Arts: Teaching Setting

Mrs. Beers' 6th Grade Language Arts: Teaching Setting: Setting seems like a concept that is so simple to teach-where and when a story takes place.  The foundation for this learning is established...

First Year: Whirlwind of Love and Exhaustion

I find it amusing and distressful that I could not make time to write on my blog once the school year started. I feel like I missed out on such a wonderful opportunity to document so many amazing things that happened in my classroom, but my focus truly became completely targeted on my students having the most amazing school year of their lives AND finishing my KTIP (I willl blog about this experience later).

I still cannot believe everything I accomplished since last August.  I NEVER dreamed it would be possible.  I want  to make a list just so I can visually shock myself:
Designed  a pretty cool, efficient, and useful classroom.
Created about 20 flip charts and several movies.
Lego Training/Blood Born Training/Epi Pen Training/Seizure Training
Writing Conference
3 Day Technology Conference
KTIP (THIS WAS so TIME CONSUMING!!)
Running Club 18 Meets
Coordinated Recycle Team for the school
Spoke at a PD at WKU to block II students about my trip to LA
Spoke at Cumberland Trace
Spoke at my school
Food Team Initiative
Coordinated and Led Student Led Conferences
2 KEA Meetings
2 PTO meetings
Program Review Meetings and Evidence gathering
Arranged for Artist and Chinese Students to visit
Helped kids create over 25 green screen movies
Created end of the year movie for them.
Created 6-7 pretty good newsletters and then GAVE UP! (I have a goal to do BETTER this year!!!)
Created a blog account for 86 students on Kidblog.
Field Trip to Drakes
Field Trip to Louisville
Took care of two students who were homeless for about a week 1/2
Spoke to the entire sixth grade as a Reach for Your Dreams Member

That does not include what I do every day and every week:
teach, create lesson plans, teach, grade papers, evaluate data, reteach, weekly meetings, teach, more meetings, teach, meet privately with students about behavior problems, problems at home, problems with peers, problems, problems, problems, teach, create better lesson plans, fill out conduct sheets, and on and on.

How do I feel after my first year of teaching??????
1) I can't believe what teachers really do in a single day, much less a year.
2) I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.

More to come about lessons learned and how much I LOVE my students.
Final thoughts:  I love my students. I love teaching.