Positive Fridays: Week of September 30th, 2013

I have big, big, really big news to share, I'm so very excited.  You'll have to read on to find out.  Happy Friday to each of you!!!

Last Friday, I spent my last day of subbing in Kindergarten with the same class as the day before in my favorite school in my county.

• I was thanked for coming in by all of the office people, they are some of the nicest people I have met on my subbing journey.
• The two Kindergarten teachers who there (had another sub for another teacher) were a great help as always and very happy to see me.
• We celebrated a birthday of a boy who wasn't there the day before.  I made him the line leader and my helper.  He did a great job all day!
• We had fun doing a couple of color word worksheets, singing and dancing to The Learning Station Brain Breaks Version 1 video, and listening to the new Fill Your Bucket book that I shared and also many books on apples.
• They were well behaved and respectful for me.  Everyone worked very hard!
• We also went to a fun assembly that taught about being a good citizen. 

Tuesday, I had the chance to go observe one of the schools I interviewed at.  I had the chance to go into each Kindergarten classroom and they were so kind to me as were the children.  Everyone in the office so nice and welcoming including the principal and assistant principal.  I saw Class, Yes in action in one room, which was so amazing to see first hand with Kindergarten and boy does it work!

Wednesday, I got the best news I have received in a very, very long time.  I got a job at the school I observed on Tuesday in Volusia County in Florida.  I found out around 5pm.  It's not 100% official until the district approves it, but everything should be a go!  I am getting sub pay and working in my classroom and observing classes in the meantime.  This is an hour drive, but it is a well worth hour drive!

Thursday, I came to the school as the new Kindergarten teacher (still not completely official).

• The secretary welcomed me (as well as so many other teachers and office staff) showed me to my room and gave me some supplies.  The AP welcomed me with open arms and told me to let her know anything that I am in need of and also came to see me in my room.  They helped me get a cart so I could load all my teaching materials from my car.  This would be one trip, more to come Friday of course.
• I observed each of the Kindergarten classes again.  The children were so polite and kind to me.  They were excited to see me, thinking it was yesterday that they last saw me.  Many talked to me about all kinds of different things.  They were certainly not shy around me.  I got a few hugs and many hi-fives.
• I have such amazing Kindergarten teammates.  They are willing to help me with absolutely anything and giving me some supplies to start out with.  They told me how excited they were that I got the job, which made me feel extra good!  
• The custodian was very helpful with lowering the tables for me for the Kindergarten students.
• Other teachers in the building were so nice and welcoming.  It was great to meet the activity teachers and the guidance counselor as well.
• I very much feel like God has placed me in the school that He wanted me at and I believe He helped find me a terrific school.  I did not apply at this school that I can recall.  The principal found me on the list from the job fair I went to where they recommended me for hire.  

I love how everyone is filling my bucket.  It's all of you readers as well, special thanks to my facebook fans, you all have been extra sweet!  I have had 2 more requests for interviews since then.  I feel so special, of course I turned those down.

Have a great Friday, please leave me your positives in the comments as I look forward to reading them.  I will post about Fridays positives next week and let everyone know how my first week went, I should get the children at some point during the week, I don't know when  yet!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of August 27th, 2012

Wow, so we made it to the end of the month already!  Happy Friday to you all!

 

Let's start off with last Friday.  Last Friday, I subbed in a 4th grade class.  So many great positives, this was truly a dream class and reminded me of those special 3rd and 4th graders that I taught for a month back in January and February.  I miss those kids so much!  Anyway . . .

• Administration greeted me so kindly as did the awesome office staff and a few kids first thing in the morning who recognized me.  Also, a couple of teachers who I used to work with, so glad to see them again!
• This group of children were so polite!  They used their manners and even raised their hand to throw trash away.  
• They were hard workers!
• Despite the restroom being outside the classroom they were in and out super quickly, which is not always the case especially when subbing!
• One sweet girl asked if she could go talk to a special needs child when we were at recess when the girl walked by because she said the girl likes her and she could get her to smile.  I said absolutely and I watched her and her 2 friends go cheer the girl up!  That my friends is bucket filling at its very best!
• Each child got a positive note in their planner from me and a piece of candy, which put a smile on their face.
• They thanked me for subbing and said goodbye to me before they left.  True bucket fillers and I even read the book to them at the end of the day! 

I didn't work again until Wednesday and I subbed by request for my friend in Kindergarten at a different school still close to my house and one that I love so very much!

• Got to visit with my friend before the school day started.  Awesome catching up with her, I hadn't seen her a year!  You rock Susan!
• Office staff absolutely friendly and the principal walked through the room in the morning and said hi to me and smiled while the children were sitting on the floor doing a super job of listening!
• The little Kindergarten children did quite a good job in line for having 21 (she has 22 total), especially for a sub.  I was pretty impressed that most were quiet and walking instead of running and in a mostly straight line!  Go Kindergarten!
• I had a boy come up to me and hug me at the end of the day and say "you only need to work here and no where else."  I told him I'd be back Friday in another Kindergarten class.
• The children had a blast making the letter M capital and lowercase out of playdough.  Some said they couldn't do it and I managed to get every single child to try and they did a super job!!!  Thanks for the fun activity Susan!

After school Wednesday, I applied for tons of jobs that opened up in the county.  In FL, we have a class size amendment for those of you that don't know from other states.  K-3 can only have 18 students per class, 4-8 is 22 and 9th-12th is 25.  So they are having to get a bunch of new teachers to try to lower the numbers!  Let's hope I'm one of those!

Thursday, I got a call from the secretary at the school I worked at Wednesday to interview Friday after I sub in Kindergarten for a Kindergarten (they need 2 teachers) and 1st-2nd grade combo class!

I also did a good deed on Thursday and took my friend also named Brian to get his daughter who was sick at school.  Poor thing had a super bad headache and was crying all the way home.  I hope she feels better!

Friday's sub day in Kindergarten will be on next week's Positive Friday Post.

Please share your positives for the week even if they aren't job related.  I had no replies last week. :(  Come on I know you want to make me smile!  Also, do you like the bullets or should I go back to paragraphs?

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Summer Linky Party

I was invited to join a fun linky party from Traditions, Laughter, and Happily Ever After.  Click her button to join in on the fun!




I really haven't done a whole lot special this summer. I have had a blast babysitting my 7 year old nephew once or twice a week all summer. He'll be in 2nd grade next year. I had fun bowling with him and my brother.


I have been super busy applying for jobs like crazy, hoping to land a job at a school who loves me for me and that I can make a huge difference in the lives of children. The more children that I can make smile the better!

I have also been busy going through oodles of boxes and sorting them into bins so if I can get that dream job I can easily bring them into the classroom.   I really love these tubs with the handles on them that attach to the lids to keep the lids closed.  I got them at Wal-Mart for about $9.  They are nice and sturdy!

 I have also been working on a ton of new products!  One of the games I made this summer is a puppy themed sight word game using dolch sight words for 2nd grade.  After reading the words children turn over cards to see how many points they earned.  They can keep the points or keep turning over cards and add up the points.  However, if they get a 0 they go back to 0 points including in all previous rounds.

This is my fun back to school Fraction Centers.  It goes well with the 3rd grade Math standards for fractions.  It would also be perfect for review in 4th grade when the children head back to school before delving into harder fractions.

 As always thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!