Bad Blogger! (Catch Up Post)

In September, I was SO excited to get started with my blog. I had been reading teacher blogs for the entire summer and was beyond stoked to have one of my own. I planned to photograph and write about every activity that I did with my class during student teaching.

....and then the TPA happened. And three Praxis tests....

I put a lot of things on the back burner and unfortunately, this blog was one of them.

Let me bring you up to speed.

I finished my primary student teaching in December. After Christmas break, I began my pre-primary placement. I was placed in a toddler classroom at the childcare center on campus. I had twelve precious two -year-olds who kept me on my toes but made my heart overflow with joy every single day.

Favorite toddler quote?
Child 1: (spits)
Me: "Please stop. Spitting makes people feel bad."
Child 2: "Well, I like getting spitted on."
Whatever floats your boat, right?

I graduated Summa Cum Laude on May 4. In addition to my regular license (PreK-3rd), I also took extra classes to get a reading endorsement for K-12th.

Are you ready for the best news of all?

Are you sure?

Really sure?

I.

GOT.

A.

JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, friends! I was offered a job teaching THIRD GRADE. This isn't just any old position, though. This job is in my dream school. It's the elementary I attended growing up. My mom and three of my cousins work there, too. If you know me, you know that I have more than a lot of pride for my hometown. My heart will always bleed brown, white and orange. I feel blessed beyond words that I am able to give back to this spectacular community that I'm so fortunate to call home.

I'm going to try to blog consistently this summer as I plan ideas and set up my very first classroom. I'm also hoping to make some "flashback" posts with activities I did with my toddler class this spring.

If you're still with me after this long hiatus, thank you. Sorry if you left a comment and didn't get a reply. I'm going to go visit your blogs right now.

P.S. Like my design? I'm a total cat lady  if you can't tell. Like what you see? Go visit the fabulous Erin over at Creating and Designing to get one for yourself!

You know you're in a small town country school when....

...school closes down for the county fair! Yep, that's right. We got a 4 day weekend for the fair. A lot of our kids are showing animals (not the one above... he's from a few years ago) and participate in other events throughout the week, and everyone gets the time off because of it. How cool is that? Although I adore my class very much, I have been so thankful to have this time to rest up and get some things done.

On Monday, we are going to be finishing up an adorable plant craft that we started this week. I can't wait to share the pictures with you!  Then we'll be starting a unit on animals.

I'm also going to be taking over one of the reading groups this week. Reading has always been my favorite thing to teach so I am very excited about this! I already have some great ideas swirling around in my head!

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! Enjoy the cooler fall weather! :)

PS: If you think closing school for the fair is crazy, you should know that the district I went to growing up closes on the first day of Deer Season. Love it!

Busy Times, Exciting Beginnings

Hi, Friends! Boy, have I got a LOT to tell you about!

Last week, I officially started my student teaching! I am in a wonderful school district with an amazing teacher. It's about 30 minutes away but thankfully there are two other girls placed there so we have been carpooling together. Having someone else to talk to definitely makes that early morning drive a little brighter.

I will be in first grade there for the rest of the semester. The kids in my class have completely stolen my heart. Seriously, you guys. I. AM. IN. LOVE. Yesterday one of my little buddies said "I knew our student teacher was going to be pretty." I melted!

I have already started taking on some responsibilities. Today and yesterday, I taught science. We are learning about plants. I brought in a potted plant and placed it on the back table in the classroom. The children are able to look at it with a magnifying glass during periods of free time. Today, we took apart bean seeds and looked at the insides. I wish I had pictures, but I forgot my camera at home. Boo. After that, we had sunflower and pumpkin seeds for a snack. Much to my shock, the kids absolutely loved them!

Thank you for being so patient with me as I rearrange things and set up new sections on my blog. I hope you'll continue to come back as everything grows and changes! . I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Just Getting Started

Hi! My name is Ainsley. I'm a senior in college majoring in Early Childhood Education. After finding many fabulous teaching blogs through Pinterest, I decided to start one of my own. The name, Kitties in My Cubby, came from my love for kids and all things cats. I hope to use this as a way to share fun ideas and connect with other teachers. It will be "Under Construction" for a while until I get everything looking like I want, so I hope you'll come back very soon and let me know what you think!