Linky Party Fun!

I have been in a slump lately. I think it might be spring fever hitting a bit. I just haven't felt like I've had anything great going on in my classroom. We've started some things but I haven't taken pictures or I haven't finished it. But I really wanted to blog this evening. I am on the board for our local public library and we were suppose to have a meeting tonight. It got pushed to next week so I have a few minutes of down time before going to dinner with some friends. So I'm glad for a linky party. I saw this Get Aquainted one on a couple of blogs and ventured over to take a look. The blog is Flying into First Grade. It's bright and colorful and I'm glad to have found her. So be sure to head over and check her out.

The idea is to tell things about yourself using your initials. My initials are KEB. (This is one of the first times I've really written my new initials. )
K is for Kindergarten. I was having a tough time coming up with something to go with K. But here lately I've had kindergarten on my mind. It could be because I'm thinking ahead to next year. I'll be returning back to kindergarten. It is always a challenge to change grade levels espeiclaly when you do it every other year. Chris told me the other day he didn't want me to go back to kindergarten because I'm so stressed out at the beginning of the year. It is so hard. Kindergarten is literally the hardest thing I've ever done. Sometimes I think I would like to just stay in first grade. I think I'm a better first grade teacher than kindergarten. But I love my school. It's only 10 minutes away or less from my house and it's where I want my kids to go when I have them.
E is for ELL. I spent my first three years teaching ELL students. I loved every minute of it. I had a self contained class of 3rd graders. It was so hard but I love it. I have a third of my class or maybe more that are ELL students this year. I still love working with these students. They have made such huge gains and learned so much. It just makes my heart smile to see their growth. These particular kids all have great families. They are so sweet and work so hard for their children and their education. I feel very blessed to get to be their first teacher. I really work on trying to establish a good relationship with their families so that they are not scared to come in the school.
(E was a really hard letter for me to come up with something. I know this party is suppose to be getting to know you so this is getting to know me as a teacher)
B is for books. They are my passion. I have way too many books if that is possible and I don't think it is. My classroom library is always expanding thanks to Scholastic, Books are Fun, and a Donor's choose grant. I work really hard on having my students love books and reading. It's so important to me. My assistant has been helping me get them all labeled with AR quizzes. I love how I have it organized. They are organized by authors, topics, characters and types of books. I numbered each basket and then the books are numbered. The kids do a pretty good job of keeping the books where they go. The hardest thing for me to organize is when I get new books. I tend not to put the labels on it right away and then when the kids get a book out it doesn't always go back. I also have a lot of books at home. I have 3 bookshelves in my guest room and then one bookshelf in the bedroom. The ones in the spare bedroom are all books that I've read. They are a lot of children's books and other important books. There are also cookbooks and craft books. Then the bookshelf in my room is all books I want to read. Plus there is my kindle. I have so many books on my kindle to read. I signed up for a couple of emails where they send me the good kindle deals for the day. It is trouble. Ok I've rambled on and on about books now. I am bookworm for sure.
Ok it's time to head out to dinner which is good because I'm starving. Looking forward to pizza from Mellow Mushroom. Be sure to head over to the party and join the fun.