July Wrap Up

It's the end of the month again. I can't believe how quick this month went by. 

This has not been going well and I can't seem to figure out the problem. About two weeks ago I decide to apply to another county because I have only applied to two counties. And I realized that the one county is very far away. I don't want to be to far from my family in case something happens. 

The county I applied to is pretty closer to where I am now. Of course wherever I go, I plan to move because I don't want to be communicating all the time and getting stuck in traffic. That is just such a waste of time and as a teacher time is so valuable. 

Just the other day, I thought about what is going to happen if I don't get a job. It's a long time until the next school year. My mom is making me nervous thinking it won't look good if I don't get a teaching job. I decided to apply to another county. I also have been thinking about applying to another for a county I don't really want, but I am worried. 

I just really wish something would happen sooner rather than later. 

I have not bought anything yet still for my non existent classroom nor has my mentor given me any thing else. Besides I don't think there is much more room in my parents house. About a week or so ago, I went through Teachers Pay Teachers free downloads section and got a whole bunch of stuff. I have a folder on my laptop related to everything about teaching and it has almost 2,000 documents. Almost all of that is from TPT. 

I have been binge watching Pretty Little Liars. It is pretty good, but again just like with House I got bored around season four. Though season five was really good and now I am all caught up. I guess I will have to go back to watching House and finish watching it. I only had two seasons left anyways. 

I am still ahead of schedule for a reading goal for the year. I have read 7 more books during this month. I thought that I read more then that, but I had trouble finding books I was interested in reading. There were three books that I enjoyed very much; Kiss the Girl, Forfeit, Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold.  

Application Woes and Anxiety

Trying to obtain a teaching position is not going how I thought it would be. I honestly thought I would have been on interviews by now and have been offered a position. I would be spending by weekends going to yard sales....but that's not happening like I wished. 

I had only applied to two counties. One of those counties is the biggest in my state, but I got so worried about not getting a position before the school year that I applied to another county. I haven't heard any as of today that I am uploading this and I applied a little over a week ago.

The day I applied to the other county and I got thinking about something and I emailed the other county, the big county, human resources department because I felt like something was wrong with my application. I already had the pre-screen interview, but was thinking the lady did not attach that to my application since it was a while ago. I tried emailing her and it would not go through, so I emailed HR. 

A few days later I got any email from the county saying I need to schedule a phone conference for the pre-screen interview. Though the email also said to ignore the email if you have already done it. I emailed back right away asking if I still needed to do it or not because I thought the teacher fair interviews counted. 

I got an email back the next day saying that the person I interviewed with doesn't work there any more, but the lady checked and said that my interview was there. I then got emails from recruitment saying that basically my profile can be seen by principals and they will call if they are interested. 

I felt so relieved when I got this all fixed because I was worrying that maybe my mentors really didn't like me like they had said and I had bad reflections. But everything is fixed now. I just wish I had done it sooner because now I feel like the principals would have completed their interviews and have finished their hiring. 

It has now been a week since I have gotten everything situated with my application and I have not heard from any principals. I got an emailed from my university supervisor last Friday or Thursday asking about how everything was going and I told her about everything. She told me that she doesn't think it's too late and that she got an email asking about her reflection and she said that usually means a principal is interested. 

I am just starting to lose a little faith and losing confidence in myself. 

DIY College Clothing

I think that college clothing is very expansive. It costs like $30 to get a simple grey shirt with your university's logo on it. 

I decided that I was just going to make my own. It's much cheaper and not difficult to do. 

You will need:

• T-shirt Transfers- Found a pack of 12 at Walmart for $12
• T-shirt- Found plain shirt at Walmart for $3
• Colored Printer (make sure ink is good)
• Iron
• Flat Surface (table)

Step 1: I went on Google to find my University's logo that I liked. Then I saved that image in my pictures file. 

Step 2: Then I opened a document and added the logo image. I made the image as big as I could make it. TIP: I turned my document in Word to Landscape to make the logo bigger. 

Step 3: Then I printed that logo onto one of the transfers sheets. When you print make sure you mirror print. TIP: Test on plain paper to make sure it mirror prints correctly before using transfer sheet.

Step 4: Next you need to cut the logo out as closely to it as you can. 

Step 5: Follow the directions on the t-shirt Transfers to iron the logo onto the shirt. 

Also make sure that you use the light colored shirts if you buy light iron sheets and the dark iron sheets on dark colored shirts. I didn't and the first shirt didn't look very good, but the second one looks amazing!

Praxis 2: PLT Early Childhood Help Guide

I wanted to make a help guide for those of you who are studying for the Praxis 2. 

First off I studied what was in the official study companion on the Praxis site that can be found here. In there it gives you a 12 page list of all the possible topics that will be covered. This is great, but if you are like me you still need to Google to find out what some of that information even means. 

I recommend making note cards to help you study. I spent a lot of time trying to find information about almost everything on the study companion. While doing this I also got confused a lot about what I was reading or that it was similar to something else that I already wrote down on a different topic, so there may be somethings that are wrong. If so let me know and I will make those changes. 

I created a study guide with all the theorists, theories, and educational words that I studied that were on the study companion. (Side Note: This is not everything you need to study. There are somethings that you cannot Google to find the answers. You just need to remember what your professors taught you.)  

You can download the free study guide I created here.

I hope this helps you if you are studying for Praxis 2 PLT Early Childhood. Good Luck!

Future Classroom Supplies

I can't help but to look up possible items that I want to buy in my non existent classroom at the moment. I tell myself, this way I will already have an idea what I want to purchase when I get a job, so that is why I looking at supplies. 

I ended up creating a board on Pinterest to keep items that I found all in one spot. Also didn't want to forget about anything when the time comes to purchase. I know I will have a lot of things going on with everything being new to me and I want to get organized now. 

These list could change when I really do shop for my classroom based on what the school supplies and how my classroom is set up. 

Anyways lets move onto the items/supplies:

Magnetic Letters and Numbers

What elementary teacher doesn't use magnetic letters for reading groups, centers, and activities. I also got numbers now from my mentor teacher, so I don't need those anymore. 

Dry Erase Boards

Both of my mentor teachers had dry erase boards at the students seats and it made for a quick and easy assessment to check what the students know or learned. I already have lots of dry erase markers. 

Dotters

I have found lots of activities and center games that uses dotters. I think students will love to use them. 


Counters

Again, counters are something I feel that almost every teacher uses for math. 


Colored Paper and Sandwich Bags

These two items would be great to use differentiate activities and centers in the classroom and to keep them organized.

Caddies

I want to use these as a cutting station. I would have the students get them out when they cutting something. I also want to find something small to place paper scraps in inside the caddie too.  


Mailboxes 

I want to use this for the students mailboxes instead of the big piece of furniture since this takes up much less room. 


Book Boxes

I want to put the book covers on the back of student's chairs as their book boxes. I saw on a blog of someone doing this. And this would take up less space too.



Leveled Books

These mini crates are the prefect size to store the books inside and to keep by the reading table. 

ALRIGHT! That is everything as of right now. There are some other items on my board, but I am not sure about them. I may make a part 2 if I think of other things, though hopefully at that point I will be doing teacher supply hauls instead of what I am really buying for my classroom. 

What College Didn't Teach Me About Job Searching

I feel like after graduation I still need someone to help me with things. I went to a great College known for its education program, but I feel like there are some things that they could of taught me to help get that job. 

I don't know who to turn to for help because the girls in my cohort, that i would go to help, either don't know themselves or have different opinions. 

1. Applications: First off, I have trouble trying to find the applications on the websites. For different counties you find them in different spots and under different titles. 

I wish there was a class that talked about applying to the counties and what you need in order to apply like a cover letter. I did have a class about writing a resume

2. Cover Letter: I didn't even know what this was and while I am filling out the applications it's asking for it. I had no example to go by for typing one. When you google it there is an array of varying examples and I don't know which one is the correct one. Luckily, I asked my brother's wife and she gave me hers to go off by. 

I typed up my cover letter and attached that to my applications earlier in the month. I am hoping that typing that will pay off in getting a job. Also I had my mom read it to get her opinion and she told me that she was really impressed by it. 

3. Teaching Certificate: I don't know about every state, but in mine there are different types of teaching certificates and I didn't know that. I also wasn't sure how to even apply for a it, what you need, or when to apply. In some counties they will apply for you. 

Again I felt lost trying to figure how to get the certificate. There is just so much information on the department of education website. Thankfully one of the girls in the cohort found the letter we have to type to send in, so it will make the process much easier. 

I recently sent in my paper work for my certificate and hopefully everything will go fine.

College Organization: Tip 12

Small Whiteboard

I recommend hanging a small whiteboard in your room where you can write down notes about your assignments, appointments with your adviser, and other things. I love having it in my room because I can look over to see the important things that I need to do for that week. 

It is a helpful reminder to see everyday what is due or when you are suppose to meet with your adviser. I like to have a visual reminder that I see every time I enter or leave my room. 

I would usually write down what I need to do that weekend for the upcoming week. I write down what day the assignment is due too. You can use different colors to be even more organized, though that is not necessary. 

You don't need a big whiteboard. Something small about 1.5' to 2' will be a good size. Also check prices for them everywhere like Walmart, Target, and Amazon to get the best price. 

I put my whiteboard right by the entry to my doorway, so I always see it and know what needs to be done. 

Then I like to check or cross them out, so then I feel more productive and know what I got done and what I still need to do. 

Canceled Interview

In my June Wrap Up I talked about how I got an interview for in early July and now I am going to discuss why I canceled it. 

I got a phone call on a Thursday saying that I had an interview at blank school with blank person about a position as a head start teacher and an email would be sent to me. I looked up what head start was to make sure I knew what it was and I was right. It was to work with 3-5 year olds. 

I want to work in a grade level. I already worked at a daycare for 5 years and don't want to do that anymore. 

I ended up sending an email back a few days before the interview explaining why I was turning down the opportunity for an interview. I was originally going to do it for the experience, but I felt weird thinking that I would be interviewing for something that I did not want. It also would have been a two hour drive to the school. 

Hopefully more opportunities will be coming soon for positions that I want. To be honest I feel weird turning the interview down, but in my heart i know that I would not have been happy doing that. 

July Blogging

I have decided that I am going to continue blogging twice a week, Mondays and Fridays, through the month of July. More is happening now and I want to share everything that is happening to help others going through this too or will be one day. Hopefully big things start happening this month!

Be on the Look Out For:

I already have blog posts ready or ideas for posts this month, so look for those coming. 

1. One major post to look for towards the end of the month is a Praxis 2:PLT:ECED help guide. I am going to make a huge study guide on all of the vocabulary terms and theorists that you need to know. 

2. My go to interview outfit for every interview that I go on. Plus my tips when deciding on an outfit. 

3. Future classroom supplies that I think I know for certain that I want in my classroom.

4. What college did not teach me about job searching and other important things.