The Bow Tie Teacher

This could be the start of something special

It's entirely to early in the 1st quarter to call it a victory. It would be pretty silly to do so. However, this year could be a winning season for sure. All the pieces are in places. Now I have to make them work as a unit.

 
My procedures and routines have been on the money. The kiddos get it and most want to do right. The 7 habits have been fantastic! It's kid friendly and they like it. A lot of the new things in doing in class are going much better than I expected. I give it an overall 4 bow tie rating.

Now the tough part is getting these precious ones to care enough about the content. I have to make a significant change in their thinking about learning. It's all on me. I certainly take responsibility for my teaching. So far I give myself 3 bow ties. I have to keep the fire lit. 

I wish I had sent a letter home thru the mail before school started. I feel that would have started us on a good foot. No one said I can't send one next week to help solidify the rules and procedures. Bingo!

What do you do to communicate with your class outside of school? Post cards? Letters? What?

 

Another great day

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Day 1 was outstanding. The kids were excellent and the school atmosphere was on point. There are somethings I'd like to have done better, but I'll give myself 3.5 bow ties for D1. How was your 1st day of school/teaching?

Open house bow tie kick off

Starting the year off with an open house. Have to say I was hyped up and I was let down like a lead balloon. No one came to my room to visit. They missed out.

I had some 2nd, 3rd thoughts about my 7 Habits trees I put up last week. So with the help of my niece and nephew I redid them and they look a lot better. I'll post pictures this week. I really feel that the "7H" will be helpful in my class. I thank God I was introduced to this book. 

Tomorrow I'm going to refresh my Opening Day PowerPoint (sure wish I had taken the time to learn how to do a Prezi!) as well as lay out my plans for the 1st week. This year I'm going to be a 10 at preparing and planning.

Wednesday will be here soon. I'm ready.

What has your 1st week of teaching or pre planning looked like? How are you preparing for the kiddos?

My warm up is most people's workout

This past 3 days has only been meetings and planning for this coming school year. I'm pretty sure I need a vacation already. I kind of forgot just how mentally exhausting PRE planning is. Wait til next Wednesday and I'll need an emergency evac to some secluded location with sand, water and calm music. 

This is the profession I chose and I'm going to rock it like a true superstar. 

What's your pre-planning week consist of? Meetings? Collaboration with peers? Room planning? PRAYER!? 

The Bow Tie Teacher

I like teaching. I wear bow ties. This just seemed like an easy fit. 

In my new blog, I'm going to highlight:

My teaching style. 

My parenting.

My desire to see kids learn and grow.

My passion for Crossfit.

My interest in bow ties. 

*I might also talk about movies, Big Green Egg and my writing projects. I think that's about it, but you never know.

I'll post pictures of what I'm doing in the classroom as well as a spiffy shot of what new tie I'm rocking. I'll also go on some tangent about something crazy. Pretty sure I'm not  going to sell you any neat classroom designs. I'll stay out of the tall weeds of education. That's going to be left for much better blogs than mine. You can expect a good laugh and honest look at teaching from my vantage point. You'll get a tasty dose of my kids and the comedy they bring to the table. 

I hope you all enjoy the new custom fit of The Bow Tie Teacher. 

Post a tie color suggestion in the comments for Day 1 and I'll let you know what I do. What do you think about the new name and layout? 

100 Classic Bow Tie Styles - From Dressy Gamer Accessories to Double-Sided Menswear Garments (TrendHunter.com)

Bow-tie you up

Points for Teachers during the Summer

A quick update

I'm not one of those people who come across as if their vacation wasn't as long as others. I have had a fantastic Summer.  The girls and I got a lot done on our 101 things to do list. The most important is, we were able to relax and chill. There is a high value to being able to do nothing when you want.

Now it's time to start shifting gears back into school mode. All I'm doing in this vein is working on my classroom theme and decorations. I got a big vision for my students this year. Let's see if we call can live up to what we're supposed to be in life. Been going in on the Cricut and having a blast. I might need to set up a meet up with some other teachers and scrapbookers just to get some more ideas, tips and tricks. Not sure why specialty stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby and the such don't host meet ups. Just leaving $ on the table. 

Theme: 7 Habits of Happy Kids. Rather than just a fun classroom, this year I'm aiming to drive the 7 habits home and help my class become school leaders. I have a road map and I'm plugging away at getting my room pre organized so when I step on campus next week I just have to wake up, put up and set up a functional learning environment. 

I've run across some great blogs using this theme and I'll be posting what I'm doing by close of business someday. Has anyone successfully used Sean Covey's book in their class/school? If you can give me some pointers I'll certainly be appreciative. 

One more thing. My blog is going to get a re-fresh sometime in the next week. I'm not sure if the change will break links that you've saved for my page in your readers or feeds. I do promise this, This new blog's going to be pretty snazzy! 

 

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!Cricut Expression Electronic Cutting Machine

101 things to do this Summer Update

New heights

Dear Students,
The school year will begin in a few short weeks. I know you're ready for the challenges ahead. We have a big mountain to overcome. My promise to you is that I will do all I can to help you reach the new height set for you. You need only to do your best and make every effort to get better and agree to push past where you think you can go. Surprise yourself. This year's going to be amazing.

See you in a few weeks.

A very simple math equation.

I have X amount of days before I return to school. I have Z² amount of things to do. I'm wondering Y I'm not out doing them?

101+ update: We've done 52 things on our list. I know why it's not higher and it's because some of these things just aren't my family. Next year I'll do a better job of personalizing the list or maybe I'll do one during Christmas break. 

Random Ratings:

Suits starts up again tonight! 5 bow ties

Having so much fun hanging with DD2 while DD1 is in VBS. 5 bow ties

I'm supposed to roll out my new blog in a week. I'm not nearly ready! 2 bow ties 

To all my fellow teachers, have a great last couple of weeks. To all parents please get your babies ready cause we're going to have an awesome school year. 

Did anyone do anything particularly interesting this Summer? 

 

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Summer update

This Summer has been excellent. I know my blogs haven't been right on my theme which is school, learning and teaching. All I can say is this school year isn't not ready for the relaxed, refreshed, refocused Mr. Whitaker. 

Please eat your Wheaties cuase "it's going to happen."

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