Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

   Well another new year is here and another one has finished. I keep saying this and others do to but time is just going by so fast. 

   I was thinking last night how nervous I am because for January to be here. And this is because I have my formal observation and I have a parent coming in that is not happy with me during this month and possibly into the next month. both of those things make me very anxious. Though of course the observation more so and I think that is just because I have to type up a long lesson plan for it. 

   Usually I am not one to make resolutions because it just never made sense to me. I always thought if you are going to begin again it should be at the beginning of the school year though because thats just what I thought. 

   Anyways I am not going to make any resolutions, but I do want to make list of things that I want to happen this year and if they don't happen then thats ok. On to the list:

- Now this is not going to happen until later in the year depending on what happens with my job and stuff, but I want to get my own place. 

- I have been doing this for a few months now and I want to continue doing it and that is drinking water and drink no/very few sodas. 

- Now I don't know if this will ever really happen, but I want to get ahead with my planning or at least to try and stay on top of it.

- I always make a reading goal and this year I want to try and read 100 books by the end of it. I completed my last goal 80 (just barely) and I have always wanted to read 100 and came close one year. 

- I also want to blog more about what I am doing in my classroom with my students. I want to share more of my activities and lessons.

My plan for my blog is to upload every week on Wednesdays. Sometimes it will be a short post about my thoughts or feelings, but I at least want to post every week about something that is happening in my classroom. 

Books, Books, and More Books

Last week my one of my mentors sent me a text asking if I still wanted books that she didn't want anymore and of course I said yes! Any little bit will help me and save me money in the process. Back when I was interning she had asked me and I was really happy to hear from her with the offer still.

So later that week I stopped by the school and got to see the students from both classes and it was great. All the students were really happy to see me and had so much they wanted to share that I ended up being there later then I planned. 

While I was there my mentor said that she still hadn't gone through all of her books and said that I can come back next week to get more. I couldn't believe it, the first time I went there she was getting rid of a little over a 100 books. 

Then I went again the next week and she had said this other teacher had somethings that she was going to give me too. I had no idea that I would end of up leaving with my car looking like this:

I also had stuff in the passenger seat. 

I can't even begin to tell you what everything is because there is just so much and I have not even gone through all the stuff myself. Some of the items are posters, magnetic numbers, an easel, foam things, lots of books, baskets, activity books, stickers, and pocket charts. 

I was up late at night going through almost everything. I just wanted to weave out anything that I knew for sure that I didn't want. 

I don't know have many books should be in a beginning teacher's classroom library, but I feel like I am pretty much set. I have a little over 300 books, though I do plan to stop by the thrift store from time to time maybe after I get a job and grab a few other books, but not many. 

To keep myself organized about what books I have when I go shopping I download this app Booksapp to help me and that's how I know how many books i have. I will admit that the app is not the best and maybe I can't figure this out, but not all books have a bar code, so I wish I could type in the code to look it up instead of putting it in manually. 

I am just so thankful for everything they gave me and really hope that I get a job.