Teaching, Second Grade Style!

Welcome to Second Grade Style! After following so many awesome teaching blogs I've decided to start my own. I love finding ideas from other people to use in my own classroom. The creative teacher in me realized it would be fun to share some of my own ideas! As a getting started introduction I thought I would share a little about my favorite things about teaching:

1. I truly love my job! Not many people can say that. While sometimes the days are long, I really feel blessed to do what I do!

2. I teach year round, which means I teach for 9 weeks and am then on vacation for 3 weeks. I absolutely LOVE my schedule! I get a vacation each season and I'm always so much more refreshed than my traditional friends!

3. Smiles and Laughs. The silly things that happen in a Second Grade classroom are endless and they almost always make me smile.

4. Technology. Oh my dear sweet friend Technology. I've always been interested in all things tech and seem to "figure out" technology things. I'm no expert but I tell my coworkers that I'll give it a try. I really enjoy using technology with my kiddos. It's so engaging, makes my life easier, and most of all makes learning fun and relevant. This year I'm totally enjoying using my brand new ipad2 that my school gave me! Yeah!

5. People. The people I work with are fantastic! I could NEVER have a cubicle job where I have zero interaction with people. I'm a social butterfly and I love working with a team.

6. Success Stories. Seeing kids grow academically and personally. What a treat it is to see a "non-reader" become a bonified, 100% enthusiastic reader! Even the littlest of victories is exactly why I became a teacher.

7. Imagination. Where else but school can you read stories using crazy voices? Where else could you play games, act out scientific processes, sing songs, and basically have a blast?? Teaching is full of creativity and imagination.

8. Design. I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to design and wanting things to look a "certain" way. Call me a perfectionist but I enjoy labeling and making things for my classroom.

9. Learning. I would never have imagined in college how much I would love teaching, and most of all how much I would learn as a teacher. Every day I learn at least one new thing!

10. Kiddos. I became a teacher because of the kids, not the assessments or objectives or my passion for a certain subject. The kids make my day and they are the reason I became a teacher!

- Julie