Meet the Teacher

And so it begins.....well......it really started about 3-4 weeks ago.  Every teacher starts thinking about the theme she will use in her classroom.  Sports????  Western????  Mickey Mouse????  I even saw a sock monkey theme at Mardels this week.  For the last 13 years of my teaching career, I had a western theme in my classroom.

The old red tub came out of my grandparent's farm house.

I don't remember any of my teachers having a theme in their classrooms.  But that's probably because we didn't have air conditioning so we were near heat exhaustion most of the time.  I do remember my favorite teacher, Miss Glimp.  I can remember her dresses and the shoes she wore.  She was beautiful and I loved her so much.  There is no doubt I was her favorite....well.... she probably made everyone feel like her favorite.

Miss Glimp
Watson Elementary
2nd Grade

I went with my friend this past week to shop for a new theme for her classroom.  She is moving from 1st grade to 4th grade....Bless Her Heart.  She asked me to go because she wants to do a western theme. We hit stores like Hobby Lobby, Mardels, Big Lots, and Hancocks.  She had already been to Dollar Tree and Walmart.  We found cute material, flowers, borders, stickers, notepads, and posters for teaching reading and social studies.  Her sweet husband took the wood from their old backyard fence and made her flower boxes for the windows in her classroom.  She is having some cute curtains made and a Texas quilt to hang in her room. We had so much fun finding such cute things for her classroom.  By the end of our 5 hour shopping spree she had spent over $300.

After one day of shopping, my friend spent the rest of her last week off at her school decorating her new classroom.  I promise you she didn't complain one time about spending the money or about spending time away from her family to work on her room.  Most teachers do whatever it takes to provide a secure, safe and fun learning environment for all kids.

 5 Things to Know About Meet the Teacher Night

5.  Most teachers are not given a "budget" to spend on their classrooms.  Look closely at the classroom....if you see it....and it's cute....the teacher bought it.  That may explain why her roots are showing.  She used her beauty budget on her classroom. 

4.  Teachers have been working at least one to two weeks in their rooms before their first official day of in-service.  Sometimes, teachers are working before the a/c is turned on in their buildings.  They have to do this because they are in meetings during the week of in-service.  So if they are wearing mismatched shoes or they have bags under their eyes you will understand why.

3.  Never, never, never make a negative comment about your child to the teacher in front of your child. Never, never, never make a negative comment about your child's teacher in front of your child....your child usually tells the teacher what you have said.  Teachers have had lots of laughs with that one.

2.  Really "meet" the teacher.  Get to know he/she....they will be with your child 7 hours out of the day.     

1.  No excuses for missing Meet the Teacher Night!

Happy Back to School to all my friends!