AS MY FIRST YEAR AS A PRE-K TEACHER COMES TO AN END.......

Well once again I did not keep this blog updated as I wished but here goes. My first year has been one of the most memorable, inspiring years of my life. I knew for most of my life that I wanted to teach and that it was my calling. I also knew I would enjoy it but I could never imagine the complete and sheer joy teaching brings to me. I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again I love walking in my classroom, I love the faces of my students and their parents, I love the school and the staff at Sedgefield Elementary School, and here in the middle of July I miss it all! But let's get to some of the events and highlights from this year from where I left off in February.

March---All of my students are making incredible progress at this time. IEP meetings are set and my child with special needs will soon have the resources he needs. I have taken on the roll of TAC Representative for our school and found that I really have something more to contribute to our school. I have begun to be involved in more school wide activities and of course have taken quite an interest in all CMS activities and board meetings especially with the Bright Beginnings program on the agenda. My students were able to experience the mischievous behavior of that naughty Leprechaun as he messed up our classroom looking for his gold. Oh the children were so into that!! Oh hummm what else happened this month....Oh Yea..I WAS GIVEN THE HONOR OF NEW TEACHER OF THE YEAR FOR SEDGEFIELD!!

April and May---IEP meeting went very well as did his transition to kindergarten meeting. He is making great progress as are all my students. I experienced PALS testing for the first time and was thrilled with the progress each and every child made. I am enjoying some wonderful professional developing through workshops after school and from one of those I gained the idea of having a Panda Bear Breakfast to encourage parents to come in and spend time in their child's classroom. The children made invitations to take home to their parents, and beautiful flowers to grace the tables. Each table was covered in brightly colored paper and furniture was moved to accommodate the families. I was able to get coffee and supplies from Starbucks for a discounted price as well as bagels and cream cheese from Brueggers. Harris Teeter donated gift cards and I purchased the doughnuts and paper products. The Breakfast with the Panda Bears was a complete success! Almost all my parents came, moms, dads and even a few grandparents! The children ate with their parents and then sang some of their favorite songs. But my favorite part of this event followed where parents were encouraged to work in the different centers with their child. There were parents building structures with their child in the Block Center, painting at the easel with their child, working puzzles, drawing pictures, writing words that they found around the room. Some parents even dressed up with their child in the Dramatic Play Center. It brought tears to my eyes as I stood back and watched this transpire. Success!
We also planted a beautiful garden! The Panda Bear Vegetable and Flower Garden included carrots, peas, radishes, cucumbers, and of course flowers. We witnessed the metamorphosis of tiny caterpillars turning into beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies and then the releasing of them into freedom.
As the year drew to a close my heart began to break as many of these precious little children will go to different schools. Only 6 children will call Sedgefield their home school next year and the thought of not seeing them again is hard. However as someone pointed out to me I have done my job and now it is time to set them free as we did the butterflies. But that last week was so very hard. I made it through the Awards Ceremony without crying however when it came time for the personal awards that we were giving in the classroom I wasn't so lucky. Each child is so very special and unique that the awards themselves were easy to come by but speaking about that child choked me up many times during the presentation. Jay came as he did many times throughout the year and I presented him with the Golden Apple Award as this year and this phase of my life would never have happened without his love and support. (I think he was choked up at this point as well).
I was blessed with the most amazing Assistant ever in Mrs. Salazar. What a wonderful team we made this year. Her amazing talents as an assistant and artist were a blessing that I hope I get again in the coming year.
Another accomplishment of the year were the 7 Donors Choose projects that were completely funded this year. These totaled over $2500.00 and included books, easels, paints and painting supplies, CD libraries, puppets and a puppet theater, a complete Listening Center complete with stand and books on tape, and my favorite....A LAMINATER AND A BOOK MAKER ALONG WITH THE SUPPLIES!
As I sit hear reminiscing about this incredible year I have such a feeling of euphoria, and of pride. My students left my classroom ready for kindergarten both socially and academically. I did what I set out to do, I am becoming the teacher I have always wanted to be and not just to the children. The relationships I formed with the parents was a goal I had from day one. I want them to see the education of their child as a partnership between them and myself along with the school as a whole. I can only pray for those who have left my class and for the Panda's yet to come. I have learned so much this year and have grown more than I would have thought possible.
I eagerly await the next class of Panda Bears!

Oh wow so much to say! While I was hoping to keep up with this Blog I have found that I am busier than I have ever been in my entire life!! But let's see if I can hit the high points and catch up. First I started off with 16 beautiful little children and gained 3 more in October. Of the 19 children there are 11 boys and 8 girls. My class is a very diverse group of Pandas as there are 11 Hispanic children, 4 African American children, 1 multiracial,1 Asian, 1 Caucasian, and 1 Arab child. I have adapted to the routine and curriculum very well and have been able to interject my knowledge of kindergarten expectations in to the curriculum as well. I also take the knowledge I have gained from all the wonderful teachers I have worked with in the past and use it each and every day. I have a wonderful Pre-K team that I work with. While I have a great Mentor in Mrs. Savage I actually feel I have a whole team of mentors as I can ask anyone of them for help or advice and they gladly give it.
I have been fortunate to have 3 Donors Choose Grants completely funded for close to $1000.00 worth of materials added to my classroom. Including a complete library of books in Spanish for my Hispanic families to read to their children at night, a puppet theater with puppets, and I now have a library of Dr. Jean CD's among other items. I have another Donors Choose Project up now which is partially funded at this time. I also go to Classroom Central each month in hopes of giving as much to my children as I possibly can.

My Parent teacher conferences went very well! I absolutely loved them. I have decided that I love my parents almost as much as I love my students!! They are very involved coming to eat lunch with their child, sending supplies whenever I ask, they come to parties, events and take time to ask how I am doing. I have learned a lot from my parents about their culture and the desires they have for their child. One parent has even sent me a disk with pictures of her child reading at home. I can tell you that was just one of the highlights of the relationships I have with the parents of my students. And the Piñata Party we had was so much fun and wonderful success.

I have found a inner strength that I never knew I had. I have coped with a child who had a colostomy bag which included cleaning and/or changing it daily then surgery to correct the defect. I have referred my first child to the intervention team and will have an IEP meeting for him next week. In this I felt very confident in my abilities as a teacher because I saw that this child had developmental issues with this child soon after he began. Now I hope to get him the help he needs soon.

I have said this so many times it is crazy but I love my job so very much. I love to walk into my classroom. I look forward to seeing my students walk down the hall and smile when they see me standing there waiting on them. I love to see the "light" go on in their eyes when they understand something. The questions they ask and the things they say make me laugh every day. I love to find new ways to teach the same thing. I love to assess them because I see growth. I pray for them and their families everyday and I know some of them pray for me because they tell me they do. I love each and every one of them and I know they love me..How??? Because they tell me.

Teacher Work Days......As a Teacher

OK so I am very far behind in my blog posts and I refuse to condense all that I have to say into one quick post. So I will start where I left off and post a little at a time. When I last left you I was in the process the organization of my classroom. And then my first work week began and I attended my very first Teacher Workday as a certified member of a staff. I again had to pinch myself. The staff and I mean ALL the staff are upbeat, positive, excited about seeing each other and the upcoming year. I watched in amazement as teachers and admin staff hugged, talked about the workshops they had attended over the summer and collaborated on how they were going to get the information to their co-workers. I was welcomed with open arms with many "I have heard about you" comments. I met my IA, instructional Assistants as they are called which is soooo much more appropriate, Mrs Salazar who is a wonder! Because she is Hispanic my year will be even easier. She is a lovely person who works her tail off..But I am getting ahead of myself.
The next two days were for my CMS New Teacher Orientation!! I won't say they were boring or tedious because I was so happy to be there! I sat near the front an nodded my head and took so many notes that I was recognized and given a Parent University bag full of goodies HAHAHA. I finally was able to get a handle on the curriculum and begin to understand how and what I was going to teach my little Pandas. And I am Stoked!!! I came home with so much rolling around in my brain (and my heart) that I can hardly sleep at night.
Sedgefield has some wonderful community support (due to the principals actions). One church gave each teacher a $50.00 gift card to Staples! This same church donated thousands of dollars worth of supplies to the school for students and teachers. The will also supply every Pre-K student with a complete uniform near Christmas time. Can you believe it!!!!
Anyway on the Saturday after the work week had begun Jay, Nicole, and I hit Staples, Walmart, and Lowes to pick up some supplies that I needed and then spent the entire day getting my room together. What a wonderful supportive family I have been blessed with. They cut, hammered, pasted, copied, moved furniture, and anything else that needed to be done so that I and my classroom will ready for Open house on Monday.
At about 5:00 that afternoon I again turned off the lights, breathed a sigh of exhaustion and elation and closed the door as another wonder step in my journey was complete; My classroom and I am ready for my students.

Making it My Classroom

Well the organization of the classroom has begun!! It will be the Panda Bear Classroom as I once had at Central Church of God where the teaching fire was rekindled many years ago. I was greeted at the door of my classroom by my name on the nameplate next to the door. "MRS. JOHNSTON" I almost wept with joy (and probably would have except the janitor was standing there ready to unlock the door for me). As I walked into the classroom I had to just stand for a moment and let it actually soak in...This is MY classroom! I have worked so hard for this and it is here MY CLASSROOM.. a place where I can teach young children, touch lives and use the talents God gave me. I stood there for a few minutes and then realized that MY classroom was a MESS! Tables turned on their sides and pushed to one side of the room along with cabinets shelves and you name it. It was clean but a mess. So I began..It only took about an hour to realize I was getting no where fast. I sat down to take stock of the furniture itself and began again. I sketched out the room and then put specific centers on paper and then moved the furniture around once again. Mrs. Thomas the grade level chair stopped in and helped with some very important tips. She has already been an amazing support and is just a wonderful lady, as it seems are all of the Pre-K team!
After a couple of hours all was moved into their rightful place and I again looked at my classroom. I imagined children in each center. Would they be happy there? Will they be comfortable? Do they have room to move about but not enough to run? Will they learn there? Is my room child friendly? Is it an environment where ALL children can learn and feel as if it is THEIR classroom? If I were a child would I want to be here? If it were MY child who was to be in this classroom would I want them here?
When I was satisfied with the structure of the classroom I then began to look at the walls and knew I was no where near finished. I had much to do. But bone tired I reluctantly gathered my materials, took another satisfied look around, switched off the lights and closed the door on MY Panda Bear Classroom.

I am a Teacher....With a classroom!!

Well I have waited for a very long time to say this....I am the new Pre-K teacher at Sedgefield Elementary School!!!! Yesterday (July 28, 2010) Jay and I left the beach for a day trip back to Charlotte for a call back interview with Sedgefield Elementary. I was very excited and actually not nervous at all. I really enjoyed speaking with the principal last week and was looking forward to meeting the Pre-k team. I felt the interview went very well and I enjoyed every minute of it! I left feeling great thinking I would know something in a day or 2. I got maybe a mile down the road when my phone rang from a CMS number. It was Mrs. Lowe asking me to come back and see my new classroom!! I cannot tell you how very excited I was. I called Jay and was screaming and squealing "I got the Job I got the Job"! I was greeted by 4 of my new team members and taken to see my new classroom. People it is huge!!!! I almost burst into tears with excitement! I have decided that I am going to meet with some of them on the other teachers on Aug. 9th to begin working on my room. I AM A PRE-K TEACHER! I love to say that. It has such a wonderful sound doesn't it? I have already received a wonderful email from Mrs. Thomas the grade level chair welcoming me to Sedgefield. Yes I will miss my Idlewild family but I am so excited to grow as a teacher and to see what the future holds.

Time for the CMS Interviews!

Well a lot has transpired since my last post. To begin with CMS has posted quite a few jobs, over 300 total however only a few are for Pre-K or Kindergarten teachers. I knew I was limiting myself by only getting a B-K license though. First I applied for any of the Pre-K and Kindergarten positions. I also applied for all of the K-3 positions just in case. Next I sent each of these schools and/or centers a cover letter and my resume. The cover letter was personalized and by this I mean each letter was addressed to the principal, the address and the phone number was added to the top of the letter, and the school and specific job posted was entered into the body of the letter itself. Therefore putting a personal touch to the letter also by sending these to each school I applied for I showed them that I was very interested in their position.
I was excited to receive many responses to these. Of course all of the K-3 positions were not Kindergarten so I marked those off my list. But received emails from 3 places promising an interview. So here is where it got sticky and I became very anxious after talking to a friend.
Ok So last Thursday I received a phone call from Mrs. Collins asking for an interview on Monday the 26th at 9:00. Now this is where I hope to be teaching next year as I have been there for 11 years as a TA. With that interview set I was on top of the world. I got so excited my stomach did a flip and I couldn't eat my lunch!!!! A couple of hours later I received a call from Starmount Pre-K. Now the funny thing about this was this was less than 24 hours after I applied and sent them my resume. Also this job is still posted on the website! This interview is set for the Wednesday before my Idlewild interview and here in lies the problem. A person must take the FIRST job offered from a CMS school. I did find out however that they have to actually speak to you to offer. So now the waiting begins but I know that all will work out and that God has a plan and a place for me! Keep following and my search for a job turns into my first year of teaching!!!!!

And the Search Continues

I have not heard anything from Union County Schools so I am assuming that the position has been filled. Which is fine that means that position was not for me. And besides what a great opportunity the interviews it self was. It was my first time to interview for a job and it was fun. It also took care of the jitters I had for the unknown. Now when I interview for the CMS I will feel more comfortable and will be more relaxed!

So in the past week I have applied for over 20 positions in CMS!One of these is for Idlewild Elementary School!! Of course my hope and prayer is to obtain That one as I know and love the staff and the children there! I know this is my comfort zone and maybe God is trying to move me out of there I don't know. But I will be happy no matter where I am placed as long as I have a classroom full of children to teach. I am so ready to teach. I feel I have so much to give a classroom and I know that there are children out there who need me....Mrs. Johnston.....to be there for them.
I have also applied for some positions in Pre-K as well as kindergarten. The schools are scattered all over Charlotte with no preferences. I am willing and equipped to work anywhere God places me! The positions I applied for in CMS will close on July 11th and hopefully next week I will get some calls for interviews! Well we shall see won't we?
I hope my next post will include dates and times for interviews!!