I'm here...

So, here I am.  A teacher in art for the 3-5 grades in one of the buildings in my district.  It's November now and I've only just found the chance/time/opportunity and have briefly unburied myself from my new position in order to start the blog I vowed I would as a give-back.

Let me back up and fill you in...

In April of this year (2013), my district informed me that they would be moving me from the middle school I had been teaching at for the past 7 years to an elementary position.  I was knocked down (to put it lightly and politely).  Throughout my teaching study program I was one of only about three people that actually wanted to be in the middle school.  Middle school was my passion and calling and I LOVED my job, the building I worked in and especially the people that I worked with.  I had spent 7 years of my life living and breathing my job and then I was told I was being removed from all that I had built.

I obviously wasn't happy, but boy, was I taught a really good lesson that I won't soon forget...

And then to compound that, I had never even student taught at the elementary level because I hadn't thought it was an age I had ever wanted to teach.  My summer was spent mourning and scrambling to get a grasp on what was coming my way in August for the year.  (maybe I sound dramatic to some of you, but any teacher that is truly invested in what they do understands I'm sure.) :)

So, what did I do?...Scour the internet of course.  Google and Pinterest were my best friends and I found a lot of great ideas out there.  I spent as much time as I could trying to get my room set up to function within a super crazy schedule.  (Kudos to all of you elementary teachers, now that I have joined your ranks, I understand the craziness of elementary!)

I have a couple of months under my belt now and I am finding that a lot of what I did at the middle school has helped my transition to the upper elementary level, thankfully!  However, seeing 640+ kids in one week has FORCED me to become SUPER ORGANIZED, something that I wasn't before!  One real benefit of being with this age level is that they are very enthusiastic about art and love to just jump right in.  (Honestly this is a nice change from the apathetic 8th graders I was always encountering.)  Their attitude is making the adjustment go more smoothly and allowing me to be my silly and goofy self to get them rolling with things.

So, here I am, and for those of you stopping by, come on my journey with me!  My next post will be Pinterest centered as a shout out to all that I was inspired by.