LAST MONDAY!!!

Standards Bulletin Board

Stumbled upon this "standards" board that I LOVE!!  Hopefully next year I will be just teaching 1 subject (social studies) and I am considering doing something along these lines in my room.  Our school has the small square bulletin boards so I may have to put the homework chart somewhere else...but I love the clipboards (which I have PLENTY of)!

End of the year

We are in our final countdown for the year...today marks 4 1/2 days left with kiddos for the year.  We started exam week today with ELA exams, Social Studies exams tomorrow, Math on Monday, and then finally Science exams on Tuesday.  The year is rapidly winding down, field trips have been planned, kids are CRAZY and teachers are TIRED!  These last few weeks post-TCAP (state standardized testing) have been a whirlwind of craziness and cramming in information for exams!  Part of me thinks that TCAP should be moved back a few more weeks and after TCAPs we are done for the school year...I mean, the whole point of TCAP is a comprehensive exam to show what the kids have learned over the course of the entire year, so why put teachers through (and students too I guess) an extra 2 or 3 weeks where the kids have given up and life becomes oh so difficult!  Even my "good" kids are struggling with staying on task and getting their work completed.  How do you end out the school year?  How do your kids act?  What do you do (if anything) academically post-standardized testing?  

Planning Ahead!

We are counting down the days on this school year...we're in the single digits!!!  This year has been a very hard, long, and trying year for me (and all of the other 6th grade teachers).  I have been very busy, teaching in a "normal" classroom again, 2 different subjects, and everything else on top of getting my masters...it's just been a LONG year!  Through the grapevine I am hearing that I will be teaching just social studies next year and I couldn't be more excited!  The state is adopting new standards for social studies and those go into place in the fall so I am working on learning these and figuring out how I am going to incorporate them into my classroom next year! One thing that I am (pretty sure about) going to do is Interactive Student Notebooks (ISN or IN) with my kids. Below are some pictures that have gotten me inspired about doing ISN with my middles!! 

 

 

Meet the Teacher

 

10 Fun Facts about Mrs. Goldsby

1.  I am finishing up my 5th year as a teacher!  I taught for 2 years in the Jackson-Madison County Schools system.  In those 2 years, I taught 6th grade and 1st grade.  I am currently teaching in the Crockett County School System.  I have taught in a computer lab at the middle school as well as in the Adult Education program for 2 years.  I am finishing up my 1st year full time at the middle school teaching 6th grade Science and Social Studies!

2.  I spent 3 AMAZING summers on summer staff at a summer camp known as Lakeshore!  I learned SO many life lessons and made some best friends during my summers!  I still volunteer each summer to lead 2 different week-long camps as well as serve on the Summer Staff Interview Team!
 

3.  I met my husband (the cute guy in the picture) at Lakeshore while he was on Summer Staff and I was a Sr. High camper (scandalous I know!).  We have been married for 4 1/2 years (5 in November) and I couldn't be happier!  He is an EMT in Jackson and the fur baby in the picture is Darla! 

4.  Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher!  Like-for always wanted to be a teacher!  Teaching is HARD work!  There are some days that I go home and just want to go to bed because I am exhausted and there are other days that I get so excited about what happened that day that I could just tell everyone!  Teaching definitely has it's ups and downs but that's what makes is such a unique profession!

5.  I graduated from (the former) Lambuth University in 2009-in 4 years, with no summer classes!  I only applied to go to Lambuth and absolutely cherish my time spent there! 

 I JUST graduated from The Univeristy of Tennessee at Martin (May 3rd!!!) with my Masters degree in Education with a concentration in Special Education PreK-12.  I don't want to say that I am done with school forever because the thought has still crossed my mind to go back--throughout under grad I always said that I wanted to get my Reading Specialist Degree...so that's a possibility.  I also won't squash the idea of a Doctorate...but for now I'm good!

6.  Drew and I bought our 1st home just over a year ago!  The situation was not pretty and the process was VERY rushed (started looking on Thursday, offer accepted on Tuesday) but I couldn't be happier with our home and I can't wait to create more memories!  P.S. my parents are building a house in Jackson and will be moving from Memphis this summer!

7.  I LOVE certain T.V. shows...call me a dork if you want, but some of my favorite shows are Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race, Dance Moms, The Little Couple, The Duggars, and several more...I also LOVE crime-drama shows like Law and Order: SVU, Castle, Bones, NCIS, etc...Let's just saw that our DVRs are always recording something...

8.  I honestly WANT to learn to LOVE to run...Growing up I have always struggled with knee problems but I WANT to be one of those people who goes for runs in the morning before work or in the afternoon before dinner...I have a goal of doing a Disney Marathon (eventually) but I haven't done very well...but my intentions are there...does that count?

9. My husband and I went to Disney for our honeymoon and I want to go back SOOO bad!  I told Drew that I would love to go back before we have kids...but I don't know if that will happen!  If not, we will definitely be one of the families that starts saving for Disney trips before the kids are born!!
 

10.  I love to be crafty!  I love to scrapbook, paint, etc...Pinterest is DANGEROUS!!!! I just hope that with the new found freedom that I have since graduating with my Masters I will be able to dive deeper in to my craft room that I have established upstairs! :)

New Journey

So today marks day 1 of a new journey...a new journey where I am going to try and keep a blog going directly related to my adventures as a middle school teacher!  Hop on the train and hold on-it's going to be a ride!