When I was in high school I had to miss a day of school to go to court because I had "participated in a speed contest. Apparently they frown upon drag racing on the main road in town. I should also mention that I was attempting to win this race in my sweet Plymouth Neon!
If you came to my town I would take you to my parents cafe (Delish Cafe) where we serve awesome food!
Terre Haute is not the most exciting town but we do have several amazing colleges.
Indiana State University
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
St. Mary of the Woods
The first time I knew I wanted to be a teacher was when I came to the United States. My first grade/transition teacher was amazing. She took so much of her time to get me acclimated to a new school, new language and a new country. I knew that I wanted to inspire and reach children someday like she did.
One of my teacher traditions is Foodie Friday. Each Friday my class makes a thematic snack. It's a great way to teach following directions, and to have a little fun!
This is a quote I look at often. It’s
hard not to compare yourself to others in this modern world. Life looks perfect
on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But it doesn’t matter, as long as YOU are
doing YOUR best. Focus on you!!
I'm so excited to share some things about me with you all today!
I am moving to the other side of the world in August! Yes, my husband and I are packing up our 4 kids and moving from Texas to the U.A.E. We will be working with an organization to do some non-profit work. We have lived overseas before, and we are excited to do it again! Our lives are crazy hectic right now as we get everything ready to move, but we are looking forward to it.
Even though we are leaving soon, Waco will still be our home base, and there are so many reasons to come visit!
Baylor University
I did not actually go to Baylor (my mom did!), but I love the school and there are so many great things happening there!
Chip, Jo Jo, & Magnolia
HGTV's show Fixer Upper is filmed right here in Waco, and Chip and Jo Jo's shop, Magnolia, is just a mile down the road from my house!
Dr. Pepper Museum
Built in 1906 - this was the first building dedicated to bottling Dr. Pepper!
Something I love to do with students (in the classroom, or at home with my own kids) is have "Yay & Yuck" time each week. This is a time where everyone gets to share a "Yay," something good that happened, and a "Yuck," something not so good that happened. It's a great way to let kids express their feelings and it lets you in on what is happening in their lives. I find that it really helps them know that you care! It can also be a great lesson in celebrating with each other, and helping our friends through hard times.
I was actually a nutrition major when I began college. After two years, I was trying to get in to a special program that would let me finish my bachelors and masters in the next 3 years. But, space was limited, and I didn't get in to the program. So I changed colleges and decided to study elementary education. I actually was not passionate about it at first, it was just something I thought I could do. But after several classes, I fell in love with the idea of teaching and being with kids. Now, I can't imagine doing anything else!
I would say that there are very few things in teaching that have ONE right way to do them. There are so many great ways to be a teacher. My words of wisdom would be to find ways to teach that work for you! And of course, don't get stuck in a rut - be open to listening and learning from your students and change things up if you need to!
Hey guys! It's Keri from Enchanted Kinder Garden. I'm bringing you a little bit "more" about me. Let me just say when we discussed having this as a topic, I really wanted some "juicy" stuff. I didn't get that, so no juicy info for you all. I PROMISE to try and get some juicy questions next time.
I had a REALLY hard time coming up with this one. There is so many things that people don't know about me. A few that crossed my mind were my extra shyness, love/hate relationship with driving even though I'm always on the road, or something totally random that I don't even want to mention.
However, I didn't like any of those. I texted one of my guy friends and as soon as I started typing the text, it came to me! I am SUCH a girl. I love dresses. I like to shop. I like to do all of the normal girly things. I'm all about something pink. You get it... however, I am such a DUDE.
*sighs*
I swear I relate more to guys than I do to women sometimes. The thing that you would never guess about me is that I love video games. Like. Seriously. Obsessed.
I am a SERIOUS video game junkie. I don't have as much time as I used to, but if I start playing anything, I'm surely going to waste the day away. I won't go into detail about what I play, but my current love is on the computer. I can still pick up a controller and whoop some major butt in Mario Kart 64.
Is that reason enough?
There isn't much to do in the city that I live in. However, it is SO much to do around me. I live about 30 minutes from Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and a little less than an hour from Pensacola Beach. Life is so much better when you're close to a beach. I live in between Mobile and Gulf Shores.
There is ALWAYS a festival of some sort going on. The Shrimp Festival comes after the school year starts and it's My FAVE! There's always live bands, great food, and tons of things to buy.
Mardi Gras is another reason. They have Mardi Gras parades/celebrations/balls in Mobile, but I prefer New Orleans. It's also nice that we get days built into our school calendar to be off for Mardi Gras. YEP! Living the life down here.
SO. MUCH. FUN! The parades are crazy bananas. They last HOURS. The parades start weeks before Fat Tuesday is even near. This is how much excitement is built up about it.
We even had a Mardi Gras parade at school before! Total craziness.
You should come visit me because I am a good time, duh!!!!! That's the only reason.
Since I started teaching, one thing that I do every single year is either make a memory book or I make a class dvd. This year, I made two dvds. We made an Alphabet one as well. I got the idea from a Youtube video. Mine is NOT this elaborate. We did it all in the last month of school. I'm pretty sure they made each letter as they taught it. Here's what my DVDs look like on the outside.
That's my goal for next year. Here's the inspiration for my video. I just thought it was so stinkin' cute.
I honestly don't really remember. I remember playing school when I was younger. When I got a little older, I wanted to be an obstetrician. What was I thinking?! I went to college and majored in computer information systems. Three years in, I started volunteering at a local school for a few hours a week. I started skipping, ahem, spending more time at the school than I did studying and in my actual courses. After finishing my third year, I knew I needed something different. I changed my major at the end of that semester and started taking classes that summer for Elementary Education. That's pretty much how I knew I wanted to be a teacher.
This isn't really a profession or job to me. It's my life. It's fun. It's exciting and there is rarely a dull moment. I'm happy I was able to figure it out before I finished college with a CIS career and ended up hating it.
Teaching is hard, but just remember why you started. Take the bad days and use them to make the next day a better day. The great thing about teaching is that no one expects you to be perfect. Every day is a day to learn how to be better.
Happy June/Summer Friends~
It's Dianna from Sassy, Savvy, Simple Teaching here with you today!
This month we first shared ideas of great books to read. There are a ton of great reads out there. If you missed that post, click HERE! Secondly this month, we are sharing a little more about ourselves!!!
Just like I find in most female educators, I also love to go shopping, go to the pool, go to the beach, spend time with family & friends, have adventures & trips along with crafts & much more! Probably the most interesting fact about me is that I hold an NCAA Division I College Softball Record. I actually never talk about it or refer to it. In fact all the artifacts of my softball career, including the base in a clear box that made the record, are all up in my attic.
Here's a picture of me from a school magazine article, I was a left handed slapper...
Not trying to be crazy here, but you shouldn't visit me where I am at! lol! This is just a pit stop in my USMC duty stations... However, I do LOVE North Carolina. I love the mountains & beaches, I love the seasons. I just don't like my spot. I'm a city girl born & raised in NY & FL [we call south NY]. You should however come visit my hometown of Clearwater, FL!!! LOVE the Gulf Coast of FL. Nothing beats it! We are near so many amazing places too, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando & more! We've got, college sports, professional sports, lots of kid & family activities, parks, games, aquariums, I mean everything! Never a dull moment!
Here's a few snaps of my yearly Spring Break Trip home...
Clearwater Beach, one of the best in the state of Florida & the United States...
Beautiful Spring Water & visiting mermaids at Weeki Wachee...
Uncle time at Bush Gardens...
Feeding the giraffes at Lowery Park Zoo....
I actually don't, to be quite honest I took Early Childcare classes in my high school because we had a Pre-School their for staff in the county. I then knew I wanted to work with children & I never wanted an office job!
I don't really have any traditions, so to speak. I just have things I do a certain way or at a certain point in the school year. I'm OCD & Type A.
Find balance & use a timer!!! You use a timer daily in your classroom for your students. Set your phone timer for you. I'm only going to grade papers for 30 minutes, I'm only going to organize for 40 minutes. Set a timer, it always gets done. But your life is important, you need to enjoy it & you can't if you are always spending time in your classroom or bringing loads of items home. Trust me, it works! Set a timer at home too when cleaning or doing chores. 30 minutes a day for me. It's always all done by the end of the week.
