Happy Monday, friends! Tomorrow is officially my first day as a teacher. I've got orientation for three days, where I'll get all the technology I'll have access to set up, learn some of the do's and don't's of the district, and meet a bunch of people. Then the next week is pre-planning and the week after that school starts. Summer is speeding to its end, it feels like.

This past week was busy busy busy, so much so that we completely lost track of time and missed gymnastics! We finished up magazine distribution, dodging thunderstorms as usual. Alexis tagged along for both excursions and was a good helper, even for the trip that involved a lot of walking in the heat. I also got the two things I write knocked out, put together our upcoming after school activities guide, and finalized the calendar. All I've got to do this week is finalize the guide, get school news put together, and send out a few reminder emails. And surprisingly, despite having my part basically cut in half, I feel very accomplished for this next issue.

Also last week, I spent three afternoons working in my classroom. The first was spent swapping out all the math stuff for English stuff from a neighboring room. The second was spent getting my area set up - desk arranged, mini-fridge and microwave installed, etc. The third was spent getting my bulletin board started, some posters hung up, and my student desks arranged. I've still got to finish my bulletin board and put up some more posters, but for the most part my classroom is ready.

I spent a lot of time last week working on lesson plans for the first nine weeks and a curriculum for the full year based on the one provided by the state. I think I've got a good plan, and I made sure to do everything in pencil so I can adjust as needed. I also bought a big pink eraser just for making changes.  Speaking of shopping, my mom and I took advantage of this past weekend's tax free weekend for school supplies to stock up on stuff for our classrooms. Alexis's school is providing most supplies for students so we won't know until school starts what else she needs, if anything.

I'm excited for the school year to start, but I'm also really nervous. When it comes to reading, writing, and grammar, I'm a pretty big nerd, and I have a lot of real-world experience when it comes to all three. I hope all of that translates into my classroom in a good way (I do know a lot of locally-famous people). Of course, they may all end up thinking I'm a geek, but I'm kind of used to that. My goal is to keep my students busy but not bored while covering the required standards and hopefully convincing them that literally everyone is a storyteller in some way.

That's going to do it for me today. I hope you all have a really great week!