New Name...New Me!

Well...same old me.
Maybe more appropriate would be new attitude, new outlook, new perspective...you get the idea!

My first classroom in NC-6th grade (straight cheesin')

Since moving to NC 10 years ago (wow, when I say it out loud, it really feels like a long time!)...anyway, since moving to NC 10 years ago, I was dubbed the teacher nerd.  It is a name I earned after one of my new co-workers came into my new classroom and noticed it fully decorated, as in the teacher store threw up all over my classroom!  It was further reinforced by the fact that I had labeled tubs for each month of the school year with a door decoration, at least one bulletin board display, and at least one outside wall display complete with a monthly craft stored inside!  I know my elementary teachers out there are going, yeah...so.  Well, this wasn't elementary school, it was middle school and the "rules" are a little different.  Since then, I have learned to embrace both my elementary side and my middle school side and have landed somewhere in the middle of going all out, all the time and having the same displays up all year long.  I am finding ways to channel the same energy I always put into my classroom displays into creating a classroom community where each student knows their worth and where they can find success.

Today our school began the process of becoming a Leader in Me school.  The Leader in Me is centered around The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  It all starts with making changes in my life to begin to apply these 7 Habits so I can model them for my students.  I am very nervous excited about these new changes that will be taking place.  I am ready to be challenged with who I am as a person and an educator.  I'm pretty sure that adds to my teacher nerd label, but I'll wear it proudly!