Goodbye Melbourne, Hello Tampa!

CAUTION: This post contains A LOT of change.

Wow! What a crazy summer it has been (being a teacher, I should probably have a deeper adjective than "crazy" to describe it, but really, "crazy" sums it up). I started this summer thinking, "What am I going to do all summer?" and "Where am I going to live?", and don't forget, "Where am I going to be teaching come August?"

Those questions were answered within the first few days of summer. While visiting my new nephew in Colorado:

Jaxon Dean, born May 23.

Tim found a job in Tampa! A house too! It all happened within a week! When I returned from Colorado, I moved to Tampa. I also found a job...

Teaching 1st grade!

I keep thinking of my favorite teacher, Mrs. Moncho, who happened to be my first grade teacher. I hope to be the teacher that my students remember when they're twenty-something. 
Here is a sneak peek of my new classroom. I cannot wait to get in and start decorating... and to reveal my first classroom on my blog!

I ran into one of my former second graders yesterday at Target.  With the sweetest eyes she asked, "Miss Chesley, are you my third grade teacher?" Oh. My. Gosh. 

I told her I had moved and she asked if she could come visit and volunteer in my classroom :) 

Finally, a UCF Alumni!

I finally graduated from UCF on Friday! Of course, it rained the ENTIRE day, but that didn't matter, it was still a happy day for everyone. My family was there at the ceremony and afterwards we had dinner with more friends and family. Such a fun day!

I LOVED college, I really did. I hated high school and couldn't wait to go to college. While in college, the day that I would receive my degree seemed so far away. It's funny how it totally crept up on me. I feel relieved to be done and ready to be in my own classroom, but as I watched the Doctorate and Masters students walk, I thought to myself, "Grad School?"

Maybe in a few years... I need a break!

Here are a few pictures from Friday :)

Love my parents!

My amazing Uncle and Aunt! 

About to walk.. but first :)

Love!

the "Questies"

See-Ya Later, Second Graders!

I cannot believe how fast this last semester went. I started the semester counting down the days until April 25 and May 2, which are the dates for the end of internship and graduation. 
Somewhere in the middle of the last 16 weeks, I lost count of my countdown and started wishing for time to slow down. 
Every day I woke up excited to get to school and see their sweet faces. 
I know that as their student teacher, I was teaching them each and every day, but I learned so much from them too- things that you don't learn from a textbook or a college professor's lecture (sorry to any former professors reading this :-) ) I learned how to be patient, how to listen, how to address their individuality, and how to love and support them during their school day. 
Each and every one of them will always hold a special place in my heart as they are my "first" class. 

Group Hug!

On Friday, we had a little celebration. Our very generous room mom donated a pizza party, which included pizza, chips, drinks, and my favorite- Publix cookies :) I hope I have a room mom as great as her! My sweet supervising teacher organized the best gift I've ever received... A CHEVRON/BURLAP (my favorites) memo board full of gift cards to teacher-friendly places: Barnes & Noble, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Dunkin Donuts, etc. She knows me so well!

Funny how great minds think alike... Here was my gift card bouquet for her. A "how-to" post will follow for this:

"Thank you for helping me bloom!"

My supervising teacher, Mrs. C., is such a wonderful teacher and person. She is just one of those good people that you aspire to be like. I cannot thank her enough for her support and guidance, and for putting up with me and my quirks :-) She totally handed over her classroom to me and trusted me,  giving me the room to "bloom", and for that I will be eternally grateful.

We didn't say "goodbye" we said "see-ya later"... Who knows where I will end up teaching!

Journaling- The Benefits are Endless!

Happy Sunday!
Celebrating today with a freebie! My journal prompts are now free! 
I created these while working with a struggling fourth grader before the FCAT. This student loathed writing, and unfortunately wasn't the best writer. She was an amazing student- absolutely brilliant- but hated writing and put little to no effort in her writing pieces. After learning the benefits of journaling, I decided to create a notebook for her and would glue in a series of prompts for her to respond to. Each week when I met with her, if she completed one or more prompt and it was quality work, I would give a reward (a pencil, a fun eraser, etc.) Over a series of 12 weeks, this student made incredible progress.
I think with everything changing in education, writing has taken a backseat. This statement really bothers me as I see writing as such an important skill and a foundation to being an effective communicator. Another way I use journal prompts is by putting one a week on the whiteboard for students to start when they first come into the classroom. They love them! It also serves as a fun sort of incognito way to assess students' writing skills.

Click here to download and as always, please leave some love! 

Enjoy!

Storytelling

I LOVE Storytelling! I have been trying to think of something clever to begin this post, but honestly, I can't come up with anything more true- I LOVE Storytelling!

When most people think of storytelling, they think folktales. Storytelling is a method in which the reader embellishes or places emphasis on the story to make it more appealing to the reader- which I think means it can be done with any genre! During a course at UCF, the professor made each and every one of us do this in front of the entire class. We had to have one prop and it had to be something easily made. 

I decided to read Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. If you haven't read this yet, you really, really need to. It is hilarious! It also teaches kids the importance of NOT interrupting (ugh, a huge pet peeve!) I think I may need to read this next week... 

Here is my finger puppet I made. So incredibly easy! I used construction paper and goggly eyes, but I could have easily drawn the eyes on. Every time the little chicken interrupted, I took the finger puppet out from behind my back and loudly read his interruption. Of course I was more dramatic in front of a class of children than a class of my peers.
I can't believe I forgot about this quirky little book and puppet... I can't wait to read it to my second graders next week.

About Me

Under Construction... :-)

The Doors Are Open!

That's right! I have finally opened a TPT store! Since starting my junior internship in August last year, I have been addicted to TPT and Pinterest. These two websites are incredible "places" for teachers, old and new, to connect and share ideas. I have learned more than I could have ever imagined and I am so thankful for this.
I was actually so inspired by Kayla over at Meet Miss Parker, who definitely doesn't even know my name... But that's beside the point. Anyways, through TPT, I discovered her and quickly followed her on TPT and Instagram. I downloaded some of her products and was so inspired and thought "I could do this too!" I am nowhere near as talented as she or the other teachers I am inspired by, but I hope that one day I can use TPT as a way to supplement the ridiculously low teacher pay :-) Hey, we don't do it for the money! 
As of right now, I only have a few "products" posted, but click here to see what I have and download a freebie or two! The things that I have uploaded are things I created for my internship classroom because the provided curriculum just doesn't have what I need/want! 
I am trying to network and get my name out there so that when I finally am able to create pretty things, they will be seen!