The excitement is buidling!

Yeah...That kind of excitement. After returning from the glorious sun and waves of Hawaii, I've put my nose to the grind and have started preparing my class. I will post pictures of the before, clean, and finished classroom when they are ready. As for now, just imagine two nice white walls and two very ugly orange carpet walls that look like they've been taken straight from the floor of your aunt and uncle's old 70's beat up Winnebago that your parents occasionally used to take on family trips to go camping in Idaho. Admit it, you know what I'm talking about.

So I've been trying to think of cool things to do that the kids might find exciting or different than other classes they've been in. I want them to walk into my class knowing that each day will present them with something new and exciting. I like to think outside the box from time to time and be a little creative with "old" teaching strategies and ideas. One thing that every elementary teacher has in their repertoire of billboards and posters is a welcoming door poster. I'm all for this idea.

For those of you that don't know what a door poster is let me explain. It's a poster that teachers usually put on or next to their door that show either a picture of the student or their name and then they use a theme to tie everything in together. For example, one teacher used a cat theme every year (for over a quarter of a century) that said "So-and-so's class are cool cats." Then they had the students' pictures on the door with some cats and stuff. My brother and I always joked that we knew that school was soon approaching because the old orange cat cut-outs from 1980 were making their way into the school hallway. (maybe it's only funny to us.)

Anyway, my lovely mother told me she saw a really cool book with ideas of what to do with my door for the beginning of the year. She gave me some examples and I started to laugh immediately. They were all so cheesy and just...not me. My brother and I went to the drawing board to create something that we could call original and creative. So, with the few skills I have in Photoshop, this is what we came up with. I'm not at all pleased with slogan, but it works for now. If there are any other good ideas, I'm open for suggestions. Also, the symbol is a pen over a sword, indicating the theme that the pen is mightier than the sword. I'm also open for a change of...crest...I suppose.



*note - The kids' faces aren't really black splotches. I guess I have to worry about privacy rights now. And yes, the kids in the picture are my actual students.