School starts tomorrow...

and today I didn't get everything I needed to finish done...but not for lack of trying.
I have 24 kiddos, we start school at 8:30 and have an assembly at 9...ummm. Oh and the little one I met today-well I'm pretty sure she will cry tomorrow.
I will post tomorrow-if I don't fall asleep as I walk up the stairs when I get home.
Here's to hoping that the day goes well! If the kiddos I met the other night are any indication it will be great!

I don't have any freebies but I do have new pictures

So I promised in my last post that I would post some updated pictures-these aren't the best and they are by no means pictures of the finished product. Those will have to wait until Monday when I get home from meet the teacher night.
But here are some pictures of what it looks like now. You will notice my slippers in one of the pictures- I guess that shows how much time I have truly spent in my classroom this week. After 3 days of new teacher orientation I am spending my day at home working on school stuff in my pajamas-pretty fantastic! SO here are the pictures-not the best ones I have ever taken but they will do for now.

Where it all goes down Wednesday...

Well I had every intention of taking my camera to school with me today to take pictures for this post. Then I got 20 minutes into my drive (it takes me 50 minutes) I realized that I forgot my camera. ugh! I had other things on my mind as I left the house for my second day of new teacher orientation. I will just give you this link to the most recent pictures I did post. I will do my best to remember my camera tomorrow so I can post some because it has changed so much! I am up to 24 students. Meet the teacher night is on Monday and I absolutely can't wait!!!

Meet the Teacher Monday!

I decided to join this teacher week over at Blog Hoppin
So here are my answers to those same questions that Abby answered plus maybe a few others.

Tell us a little something about you:
Here is a picture of my about 40 minutes after I found out I got a job.

Well My name is Allyce. I live on the Washington coast and I absolutely LOVE it! My current home has an ocean view and watching the sunset in the evenings is fabulous! I have a one year old lab/retriever mix named Napili. She is the sweetest! I grew up in a family of teachers (dad, 3/4 grandparents...) and never even thought of doing anything else. I love bookstores, spending time with my friends and family, reading, going to the beach, the sun, the rain, photography, and life.

How long have you been teaching?:
Well this is my first year! so negative 1.5 weeks. We start school on the 1st of September and I can't wait! I am teaching Kindergarten in a small school in a nearby town. I have been waiting for this since I was 5 years old and told my mom that I was going to be a teacher just like Mrs. Bell!

You might not know:
Well there are lot of things you don't know about me. So I could really put anything here. I just graduated from Washington State University's Vancouver campus in May and got my job from my first interview in July! Still can't believe how fast it went.
But I will tell you that I feel like I have been teaching for a long time. All through high school and college I would spend at least one week usually 3 working at something called Outdoor School. I would spend those weeks teaching 6th graders and high school students about the world and environment around them. I absolutely LOVED this! This program is a HUGE part of the education of 6th graders and they have had trouble securing funding for this next year but there are some fabulous people who are working VERY hard to get the money raised!

What are you most looking forward to this school year?:
EVERYTHING! (Except the lack of sleep.) Right now I am most excited about getting to meet all 21 (probably more) of my little Kindergartners!

What do you need to improve?:
Right now I am not sure but probably everything. I know I have a TON to learn and I can't wait!

What teaching supplies can you NOT live without?:
From my student teaching experience I know that I need the following
-Peach Mango Green Tea(this is my caffeine-and it is a MUST have)
-Support from friends and family and other staff members
-Crayola Markers
-glue sticks.
-Books
-Sticky notes

That is me in a nutshell.

Tell me more tell me more...

So I wrote this whole post on the plane on my phone the other day but it didn't save to my drafts... Ugh Well here are 5 facts about me. 1)I have had the same best friend since age 2. I have other beat friends too but she has been a constant. She is currently serving on her mission in Spain. I miss her like crazy! Especially since I have so much news! The last time I got to see her 2 years ago... She and I took my picture in front of my dream school. We said it was to get ready for my getting to teach 1st grade there. Little did we know that it would only be two years before I would have a continuing contract doing just that! I can't wait to send her the letter that says that! 2) I have two younger (biological) sisters. But in the grand scheme of things I am the middle child of 7!!! It's kind of weird not being the oldest anymore. I Am still getting used to it. But on the bonus side I get to be an auntie next month!!! I can't wait! 3) in high school I ran a food drive that raised over 1million pounds of food for the local food bank. We did this 3 years in a row. 4) I have never once changed my mind about being a teacher even when I got spit on by a student last year. 5) i have read all of the Harry potter books at least twice. Most of them 3 times:) The end for now because I am on my phone writing this.

Updated classroom pictures

Well two weeks from today I will have completed my first two days of school. And as of right now my classroom still isn't all ready to go...YIKES! Close but not quite there. I spent three days this week at trainings-two days for a testing training and one day for a math training (the math one was FANTASTIC!). I got to go to a concert in there too. If you get a chance go see Reckless Kelly-great show. But I have spent some time in my classroom since the last time I posted and made a lot of progress. I am headed in again on Monday to hopefully finish up...we will see how far I actually get. After much thought I pretty much decided to have the starts of some bulletin boards on the walls but not to fill them all in. So the reading tree will be a place where we will post what books we are reading and enjoying in class. We will post birthdays with the tree in the front of the room an I will be using the tree in the back by the sink as my word wall-labels are part of my job on Monday as well as labeling other things like desks and lockers and book boxes with names-which I am not sure if I have all of yet... I was told I will continue to get more students throughout the first week of school or so. So here are some pictures. Before and afters-WARNING a bit picture heavy.

My helper for the day-she tried to escape pictures but I got her. She has been one of my best friends since Jr. High-she starts her student teaching next week!

Can't wait to have all of those little people in my room!

Classroom bulletin boards...suggestions please

Ok so I am going back and forth on creating bulletin boards. On one hand I would love to create a million of them on the other I keep reading things that say to let the students help you to create them. This is where you come in.

What should I do?

I know I will start a word wall-by the previously posted chicka chicka boom boom tree. But other than that what should I do? My school doesn't have set hanging bulletin boards, we can basically make one where we want when we want. (We just staple into the walls...which makes me nervous) I will have one set board over my computers (when I figure out how to put in the work order)-but I can't decide what to put on it. The walls look so boring right now-but I also don't want it to be overwhelming.

And when it comes to labeling the classroom-do you have the labels up to start with or do you have the students help you to label the classroom (I know it's important to do and I have started to make the labels-for the clock and such)?

So many questions. Any input would be fantastic! And any other suggestions for a first year teacher-especially Kindergarten- would be so appreciated!

Back to watching the PBR.

Linky Party.

Decided to join while I take a break from planning and other school related things for a few minutes. Head on over to Oh' Boy Fourth Grade to join yourself. Its fun to see everybody's answers.
I have new classroom pictures just need to get them in the computer. Headed back tomorrow maybe some before and after pictures will show up.
Here is my Currently I am:

Hope everyone is having a great week!