Busy Days!

I haven't written for so long, because life has been so demanding - lots going on at home, and in my current teaching position.  I'm finding it really difficult to have my head in one place (new school) and my feet in another (old school)...with my heart in both.  I am just so excited to get moving on to my new position.

I have met with my new colleagues several times now, and am just as much in love with them as I was the first time we met.  I really think it's going to be so much fun working together.  We are definitely all different people, from different backgrounds, but share some important philosophies and will, I think, complement each other's differences.

I was absolutely thrilled yesterday to stumble upon a sale at scholastic.com (thanks to Lyndsey at A Year of Many Firsts for mentioning it):  full-size e-books (pdf form) for $1 each!  I ended up spending $118 and have some incredible resources right on my computer now.  I love the fact that I will be able to just print these reproducibles off so easily (I'm presuming that my new school will allow me to do what I can at my current one, which is print directly to the photocopier).  I don't like to use too many drill-type worksheets, but I love the idea of making mini-books and using thematic stationery for writing, poetry frames, graphic organizers and so on.  I also got books to help with Math and Literacy Centres, excellent thematic books, books of ideas for the whole year and teacher books on things like multiple intelligences and brain-based learning.  Lots of reading ahead for me!

I can't wait to meet my new students.  We are having an open house on June 9th, where parents and children can drop in and meet us (there are just 3 teachers this year).  I am planning to make a large "jigsaw puzzle" and have each child draw themselves and print their names in large letters - I will then have this assembled as a "Welcome to School" bulletin board for the fall, with a caption along the lines of "We all fit together!"  I like the idea of the children coming in September and seeing some of their own work up already.  I'm also planning to take photos of each one to use for coathooks and other displays.  Who are these little people with whom I will be spending the next year?!?!?

Off to finish downloading my new books and skimming for great ideas!