A New Journey

At the end of last school year, I decided to interview for a new position in our district.  It was a tough decision to make, since I LOVE the staff and students that I worked with over the past 10 years and the position meant a change in buildings.  However, there were several things that made sense about the move. One being that I got my Masters degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Akron in 2008 and would like to put it to use, and another being that I was getting moved to a different grade level for the third time in six years and would most likely have to move again in another two years.  So, I interviewed for the position and was offered the job.  I am very excited to start this new journey, but nervous as well.  It will be a big change going from teaching 2nd grade (for the past 2 years) to teaching 5/6 grade computers.  But having spent the majority of my teaching career in grades 4-8, I know that this age level is one of my favorites.

My new journey really started this summer as I research my new curriculum and started to set up my new Moodle Classes.  Our district was using Moodle 1.9 and this year has upgraded to Moodle 2.4  therefore, there was a lot to learn just to get it set up.  I feel the changes with be for the better, and I hope to be able to help the classroom teachers set up their moodle classes throughout the year now that I have played with it myself.

Open house in my new building is coming up this week.  It has been a challenge for me to get my room ready.  It's so different from my past classrooms.  My new room has no bulletin boards and no windows, therefore there is A LOT of empty wall space.

 

 In it's current state, it feels very institutional and cold.

I have been following the blog, Schoolgirl Style, for the past year (thanks to Pinterest) and love what Melanie does with her rooms to make them feel inviting. She wrote a great little eBook for decorating classrooms (Decorate Like a Pro, the Schoolgirl Style Way), so I purchased it and began my search for a color scheme that motivates me (as she suggested).   I found some inspiration at Target, and decided to use this color palette in my room.

 I have started to decorate it to make it feel more inviting, but I have a long way to go.

 

 Hopefully, I can get enough done by Thursday that the students feel welcomed  and "safe" in the classroom as they stop by at Open House.    Unfortunately, every time I go in to work on my room, there are more boxes being stored in there.

I know the boxes will be gone by the start of the school year, so it's really not a bid deal.  Our staff is working hard to make this move to the "new" building a good one for all (we are consolidating in our district so at least half of the staff and the entire student body is new to the building this year).  These boxes are the projectors that will be mounted in classrooms to complete the teacher workstations.

I'll post more pictures of my room as I get more done.

Another way I'm getting ready to make this new journey a good one is through building my PLN (Professional Learning Network).  I'm starting by doing a blog challenge (hence this new blog and this post).  By sharing my journey, I'm hoping to find inspiration, motivation, and to make connections with other professionals to help me be the best educator I can be.  I want my students to be motivated to be successful, and that starts with me being an informed educator.

Here's to this new journey!  Wish me luck.