Oh Hey Friday!

::tears:: My summer is over. ::more tears::

I've had some wonderful memories with my itty bitty and I'm slightly grieving all of the time I'm away from her during the day. I hate the thought of how much I'm missing...so I try not to think about it.

I love my job. While being a mom is the most important job I'll ever have, I also know that I've been called to teach. I feel so blessed to be able to do so many things that I love.

For this week's Oh Hey Friday! I thought I'd share a few reasons why I love what I do (this is actually reinforcement for me as I get back into the swing of things but hopefully you'll enjoy them as well.)

OHF 1
Ever since I was a little kid I loved buying new school supplies. There is just something so nostalgic about a brand new box of crayons. I've made a couple of trips to the store, and while I'm trying to really limit the amount of money I spend on teacher/student supplies this year, I can't help but add some things to my classroom supply arsenal.

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OHF 2

I love new ideas and great resources. I adore TeachersPayTeachers.com and the amount of free resources that can be found there. This week the site was running a sale and I purchased two great products. I have some foot work to do but once I get this "All Done!" center completed I'll be golden. I bought the remaining supplies I'll need and I am slowly getting it put together while putting my own spin on it. A huge shout out goes to Miss Kindergarten for making such a wonderful resource! (Hopefully I finish this sooner rather than later and will be able to show pics of my completed project.)

OHF 3

Not only did I enjoy buying new school supplies as a kid, but I loved going school clothes shopping. We were given a modest amount to spend and it was ours to do with as we saw fit (with parental guidance of course...they refused to let me spend $100 on one pair of shoes.) It's been a long time since I treated myself to some new clothes. I figured now would be a good time since I've not only lost weight but I've been cleaning out the closets as well.

You can see some of the items I purchased here. I'd still like to add a "teacher" shirt to my wardrobe...here are a couple of ideas that I'm considering.

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OHF 4

Another project I look forward to at the beginning of the school year is coming up with a simple little goody for the kids at Open House. This year I ran across this cute (and inexpensive) idea and ran with it. I made up my own label and stapled them to the gummy packages.

OHF 5

Finally, I adore my school and I adore my kids. I take my teaching very personally and I hold myself to high standards. I not only teach academics but I teach social skills, self confidence, self-worth, compassion, mercy, etc. Academics are very important but I take a personal interest in also cultivating good citizens out of these tiny people. They are our future. These first grade little minds that I help mold each day have the amazing potential to make wonderful, beautiful change in this world. After all, I see some of these kids more in one day than their own parents. Every moment I have with them is important and precious and every year I go into the new school year with this in mind: Each one of these students were placed in my room for a divine purpose. I am the teacher that has been chosen to impact their world and what I do with our time together means something.

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Linking up with September FARM and The Farmer's Wife for OHF.