Classroom Pictures

Hey guys! It's the end of my first week working with the kids at BJS. The class is the youngest I've ever worked with, and there's so much to do all the time! I thought I'd share some pictures I took of the classroom before the kids arrived.

This s our block/gross motor space. Set up for crawling, building, and rolling!

Our art space. You can see the light table in the background, and an overhead projector can put images on a sheet hung over the table.

A little welcome space, and lots of dress up clothes.

Of course, our safe place.

And the big draw to room 7, the slide! There are no stairs, so the children get the extra challenge of climbing the slope before sliding down.

I'll try to be better about posting! See you soon!

So, I arrived in Boulder Tuesday afternoon, and I've been slowly making concentric circles out from my home base, like a cat. There sure are mountains here! I haven't really felt the altitude sickness everyone talks about, but I haven't been up there, yet, either.

I've tried out the bus system I'm sure going to miss the wonderfully free Chapel Hill buses. I went to an area called pearl street, which is filled with restaurants, shops, and the smell of patchouli. It seems neat, I'll probably go back.
 I also went by Boulder Journey School. It was so neat! Every available space is covered in documentation of life at the school, going back years- the earliest one I saw was from 2002. And they have a hallway fish, named Diggum!


Anyway, I'm here, I'm ok, and things start for real with the program next week. Peace out!

It's all coming (We're all in this) together

Some of my textbooks arrived today! I'm especially interested in Tools of the Mind- We experimented with that style several years ago, and I'm excited to get some more formal training on the subject. I've covered my notebook with my school family... or at least as much as I could find. I'm afraid I don't have group pictures from 2010 or the 2012-2013 school year. Sadface.

Over the past week or so, I've been getting a lot more information regarding things like financial aid (I has some), my classroom placement (Toddlers, what what!), and the days I'll definitely be working (MWF). It feels good to have these details settled, though each, of course, brings up more questions in me.

I'm flying to Denver Tuesday morning, and will start orientation at BJS the following Monday, though really, I feel like I'm already a year in on this thing. It was a year ago that Josh and I started talking about this program as a possibility. Last November, I recruited my recommendations and references, and let TLS know that I intended to go. In January, I submitted my application, and this whole spring and summer has been about getting every bit of paperwork together, figuring out how and where to live out there. So hey, there's a lot of work (and a lot of people) behind me already!

It's my last day at TLS- for the 2015/2016 school year, anyway. I've been in this place for such a long time, and it's weird to think that I'll miss out on a whole year- there will probably be teachers and children that I miss out on ever meeting. My sweetpeas will be in kindergarten by the time I come back, and my twinkletoes will be big old pre-k types. I hope that we all have a terrific, worthwhile year, and I will be back!

Bye bye, Magic Tree

Hey Guys!

I'm Laura, and I'll be starting  the Educational Psychology master's program through UC Denver and Boulder Journey School in August. To make this happen, I'll be leaving my family and my home behind in Chapel Hill, NC- a jump I haven't made since the last time I enrolled in college, in 2001. It's just as scary an idea now as it was then, but I hope this blog will help me connect with all the people I love here. I'll warn you now- I have good intentions, and spotty follow through. Hopefully, loneliness will spur me to post fairly frequently

As things stand currently, I'll be leaving for Boulder in about six weeks. Until then, I'll be substituting at The Little School, and also buying a house, cause it never rains but it pours, right?

Until next time!