Meet the (Future) Teacher Blogger

Today, I'm linking up with Stephanie from Falling into First for her Meet the Teacher Blogger Linky!

See, I don't know if I exactly qualify for this one.
But nowhere did it say FUTURE teachers can't participate.
I mean, I guess I'm technically considered a pre-service teacher.
And I'll be in the field in 3 weeks!
So I'm joining the fun whether anyone likes it or not! :)

I'm Erica. I'm currently a student {majoring in Early Childhood Education with a 4-5 Generalist Endorsement} at Ashland University. I LOVE Ashland - it has a truly amazing teaching program and EVERYONE is so fantastic! This fall, I will be spending two days a week in a preschool as part of my field experience.

The only man in my life is named Cooper. He lives at home with my parents and my younger sister.

I am also a proud charter member of the Delta Delta chapter of Theta Phi Alpha! As a sister of Theta Phi Alpha, I have taken on several roles (recruitment committee, new member education committee, fundraising committee, philanthropy committee, risk manager...), which will keep me super busy this semester!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Origami Owl jewelry. Tervis cups with lids. Colored pens. 

The Wizard of Oz. Theta Phi Alpha. Crafting.

Jesus. Starbucks. Chipotle.

 Netflix. Holding babies.

 If you weren't a teacher, what would you want to be?

As I previously mentioned in an earlier blog post, I think being a personal organizer would be a fun job! I love organizing probably a little bit too much, so it seems like it would be the perfect job if teaching were no longer a thing.

I've also considered becoming a children's or youth pastor, but I'm not quite sure that's my calling. I'll just stick to teaching in the classroom!

Three little words that describe you.

Dedicated.

Compassionate.

Funny.

Finish the sentence: "________" said no teacher never.

Hah. This is a hard one because I feel like being on your own in your own classroom is a totally different experience than what I'll experience as a pre-service/student teacher.

 I'll go with "State/Standardized testing is the best!"

It already drives me crazy.

However, I'm already feeling pains about lesson planning, so maybe I should say "Lesson planning is fun!" said no {pre-service} teacher ever!

It's your birthday and you can invite anyone {dead or alive} to the party. Who do are you inviting?

Betty White! I love her. She ALWAYS makes me laugh.

If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?

Doing It All.

I seriously try to do everything.

Sometimes I need to realize that it may be making me crazy.

You get to pick one superpower. What is it?

Teleportation.

There's people I would like to spend time with that aren't nearby. Teleportation would get rid of the time it takes to travel, so bingo! that's the superpower I'd love to have!

What's your favorite quote or saying?

Last night while I was painting canvases for my dorm, I came across this quote.

I absolutely love it.

 

If you had to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?

It would definitely be Happy by Pharrel Williams.

It's just a happy song.

And I also just learned this dance to it.

So I could sing AND dance.

That'd surely get me enough votes to stay, right?

 

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Since I've been home, I've been more of a night owl.

However, I know as soon as I start back to my normal routine with all my classes I'll be a morning person.

At college, mostly everyone's asleep if I get early so I can get a bunch of stuff done without much distraction!

 

What's your favorite resource that you've created in your TpT Shop?

Hah. Well. I haven't created any.

I guess I better pass on that question.

 

Share something we might not know about you!

In addition to being a future teacher, I guess I'm a bit of a little business-person.

I am an Independent Designer with Origami Owl and I love every moment of it.

{Shameless plug alert} 

We're releasing lanyards August 18 and I'm SO excited. They're perfect for teachers.      

We're also releasing 300 other pieces. But I'm partial to the lanyards because I can use one for myself!

So, now I encourage you to head on over join the party!

 

A Peek at My Week

Participating in Linky Parties gives me something to blog about until I start up my time in the classroom in just a few weeks.

Until then, all that's taking up my calendar are sorority events, orientating new students, and adjusting to year two of college life.

So, with no further ado, I present to you, a peek at my week, hosted by Mrs. Laffin's Laughings.

I begin my week with a little bit of running around and doing errands.

Tuesday I have a team meeting with my direct sales team... It's my first one ever and I'm very excited. We're doing a dance to "Happy" - check it out here!

Wednesday I pack up my car and drive down to school to begin prepping for Orientation Weekend. That's the day I'm looking forward to most! I love moving back to school and getting everything looking pretty in my dorm room. {Pictures coming soon!}

New students move in Friday, one of my roommates moves in Saturday, and my other roommate moves in Sunday. On top of all that, I have to make sure my group of new students is where they're supposed to be and that they're having a smooth transition to college life. How fun!

I can't wait for this week to begin! There's lots of fun things ahead and I know that there's alot in store for me this year.

College Organization Time! & Positive Thinking Thursday

Let me be real with all of you. I have a serious problem when it comes to organizing. I absolutely love to organize. If teaching doesn't work out, which I already know it will, then maybe I'll be a personal organizer.

It's just like teaching, just adults, right?

And I get all the joys of organizing things!

Anyways... Back to school is my favorite time EVER, not only because of all the shiny new school supplies, but because of the MANY opportunities to organize, organize, organize! Being in college, not only do I get to organize my school supplies, but it means organizing a whole new room! Since I'm on orientation team this year, I have a few days before my roommates move in, and I can't wait to get my part of the room all homey and pretty looking. Maybe I'll share some pictures - it's just like sharing my classroom, right?

So basically the whole point of this post is me wanting to share how I organize for my classes with others. Not necessarily a teaching-related post, but I figured someone may stumble across this little baby blog of mine and find what I have to say useful.

Normally, I have two binders - one for my Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes and another for my Tuesday/Thursday classes. {This semester I was thrown a bit of a curve ball when I found out that my field experience block requires a whole binder of its own with 7 different dividers. OY!} I make some sort of cover for each binder. This year, I found a bunch of cute ones on this blog and used PicMonkey to add the text. In the past, I have made these covers/dividers on my own using Microsoft Word, but I really prefer using PicMonkey!

Typically, I try to color coordinate the dividers with the covers. I make the dividers the same way as I make the covers. Each class has it's own divider. For my Tuesday/Thursday classes, this means that I will have 4 different dividers. I no longer hole punch my papers. Instead, I just put them in page protectors. In my opinion, this leaves them looking nicer and you don't have to worry about the holes getting torn.
*I don't have a Monday/Wednesday/Friday binder any longer, since I found out that my field experience/lab requires its own binder and I only have one other class in addition to my field experience on those days.*

Behind each class, I had additional dividers for different types of papers I would get (notes, handouts, graded assignments, essays/tests, etc) and I would put everything directly in my binder and always have to carry around these binders.

This year, I'm trying out a bit of a new system. I'm getting rid of the additional dividers for each class and just putting them in order of when I receive them - this holds me accountable for writing the date on each and every little thing I do, which may make things easier in the long run. It will also cut down on the amount of time I spend searching for things...or so I hope!

Something else I'm trying is having a folder for each class in addition to my two three binders. I plan on carrying everything I need for my classes in the folders and putting anything that has already been used or graded in the dividers. This way I won't have to worry about papers falling out of my folders and being disorganized nor will I have to worry about lugging around binders all the time!

So, that's my system. It's pretty basic, and easy too!

Now, for some positive thoughts for Mrs. Laffin's Laughings Positive Thinking Thursday Linky Party!

I really had no plan of my direct sales business being a topic on this blog, and it's not going to be, but these positive thoughts have been posted by the company's Pinterest account and I LOVE  them. I hope you enjoy!

Field Experience Numero Uno, Here I Come!

I know, I know, I've been missing for a while. But all I have to say for that is my last week of work was last week, as was Vacation Bible School, so it's been a little crazy in the life of Erica.

But, I HAVE NEWS.

Ok, it's not really BIG news.

I'M EXCITED, though!

The week of September 1, I will be setting foot as a student teacher in a preschool for my FIRST EVER field experience.

The cool thing is, for the class that goes along with it, you have to have a TpT account and a Pinterest account with a board designated for the class.

Weeellllll, I have both already. Except for the board designated for the class. So that's exciting, right?!

I am super pumped and I cannot wait to begin my journey! I know that all of my bloggy friends (who have yet to come forth) are going to be super helpful and supportive so I'm excited to bond with some of you over all of that fun stuff.

I am nervous, though, at the same time, because I have no idea what to expect. But, I guess that's how it is going into any new school year even as the teacher. You never know what kind of class you are going to be blessed with teaching, and you never know what situations are going to arise, you just have to run with whatever happens. It's what teaching's all about, right? :)

I also really think I'm going to like the professor I have for this field experience block I'm in because 1) she doesn't care if we use an old edition of the required textbook, 2) she told us "Don't blink, it might rain" at the end of the email, 3) she's an older woman (we're talking at least in her 60s so don't think I'm calling anyone old) and I LOVE older people (so don't think I'm being offensive!).

While I may be feeling a little overwhelmed right now, I am so excited to be in the classroom, completing lessons and activities and all that jazz!