Hello.

Thanks for visiting my blog. It is summer, and I am finally crawling out of the hole that was first year teaching, and emerging as a beautiful frazzled second year art teacher.  Using this blog, I would like to share some musing and pictures from my first year, as well as ideas for this upcoming year. Before we begin, a little about me....Oh! A resume of sorts:

I live in Columbus, Ohio.
I graduated in 2009.
I got my license in 2010. (The job search begins...)
In 2010-2011 I held two long term substitute positions: One in a suburban MS, the other in a rural/suburban Elementary.
In 2011-2012 I spent 9 months as preschool teacher. My job search stretched to the entire state of Ohio...I was ready to move almost anywhere for a job....
Finally, in July 2nd, 2012 as an Elementary Art Teacher in an urban school district. In my hometown! Then the fun began, as a first year teacher!

There are probably a lot of first year teacher blogs out there. How can there not be? Even if you aren't a teacher you know that uttering the words "well this is my first year" basically means "put a diaper on me, I'm a baby"...or at least to some people. I was slightly annoyed at the baby treatment at first...or the fact that on more then one occasion someone said "aw how cute!" when I told them I was new...but I learned to actually appreciate the rookie treatment. After all...

Looking at my resume you can see I have no experience in urban schools. I was a new teacher, in a new job, in a new setting, with people that have all been teaching for decades (seriously, I work with a great staff!). However, none of my student teaching prepared me for the uniquely urban moments.

Yes, I learned to take all praise, compliments, critiques, advice, and pity promises I could get from my fellow teachers. Yes, this is NOT a first year teacher blog because I was treading water next to a ship wreck my first year, trying NOT to drown. I could hardly complete my RE paperwork (more on that later) then complete a blog, a journal, or anything else to document the first year. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't have to read such posts as:

Why is there no blue paint in my entire paint closet? I have 10 red gallons of paint, and no blue.
How do I get mice to stop eating all the artwork?
No one ever reads my lesson plans.
Why did no one ever tell me about....(insert 1000 topics here)

Having a good sense of humor about the whole thing is the only way I survived the dreaded year 1. Well now it is time to share, reflect, and get ready for year 2, and I hope you will stick with me on my journey!