One of my first teachers...

You will hear me talk a lot about my Grandma, Aunt and Dad when it comes to the first and maybe most important teachers in my life. However, there is another person who had a profound influence in my life from a very early age. My Grandpa was a more quiet influence in my life but he was no less important to my upbringing.

As I was going through my pictures looking for a particular picture for an other project I was struck by how many pictures there are of me with my Grandpa throughout my childhood where he is teaching me or sharing something pretty cool.

I found pictures where he is helping me learn to walk when I was a baby, some where he is listening me read one of my many books, and one of my all-time favorite memories from my childhood is when he took me to see a Boeing 747 carrying the space shuttle Challenger on its back when it landed at Kelly AFB in 1983. He talked to me some about why it had to ride on the back of the 747 and how cool it was to see it in person. It is a memory I have always cherished because I got to share it with my Grandpa who seemed as fascinated by it as I was.

I can still see my Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper spread out in front of him while he worked on a crossword puzzle. I cannot say I love doing crossword puzzles but I do have a large vocabulary and a love for knowing all sorts of weird facts that helped my Grandpa work through those crosswords. My Dad and Grandpa heavily influenced my sense of humor and mischief. No one can deny I have the Shaffar stubbornness, although, I like to think of it as determination.

There are so many things I learned from my Grandpa that it would be impossible to list them all.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with both of my grandparents. They played a huge part of some of my most cherished memories of my childhood and definitely helped me to become not only the person I am today, but also the teacher I am in my classroom.

Top left: Watching the space shuttle Challenger. Top right: Reading to my Grandpa. Middle : Grandpa taking a break from his crossword puzzle to feed baby Tina some tasty breakfast.  Bottom row: My Grandpa helping me walk. 

No longer a first year teacher - Weeks 1 & 2

What a whirlwind the first two weeks have been.  I have a new partner teacher, who is awesome! We have six first grade teachers thankfully, which means we are in teaching hubs of two instead of three like last year. It is a lot easier to prepare and keep track of 33 students vs 64-66 last year. Also with a full first grade team it means our class sizes are smaller.

I am also a mentor teacher to one of the new teachers. He is pretty cool but don't tell him I said that. 😏

One of the things I realized this year was how much my class last year had learned and matured over the course of the school year.  I have to keep reminding myself that this new group of students is just beginning first grade and I need to start back at square one on everything. With that being said I am enjoying discovering all their personalities, motivators and how to interact with them in order to guide/teach them the most effective way I can.

There are some definite challenges this year that I didn't have last year. It has been a struggle to try and work through them, but I think that is part of what I love about teaching. Every class, every student, every day presents something new and I have to be on my game constantly to try figure out the best action plan. Sometimes your lesson plan goes perfectly, other times you have to change course on the fly and I love it.

My aunt swears I have ADHD because I cannot sit still and concentrate on just one thing. I like doing several things at once or I get bored. (ex. I will read, watch tv and listen to music all at the same time.) As a teacher I am moving around and multitasking the whole day. There is never a dull moment. (Sometimes I wish there was, especially this week when I am sick.)

Below are some pictures of what my classroom looks like this year. In case you couldn't tell I love Star Wars.

This was what my room looked like when I arrived in August to start getting it set up. 

Welcome to Mrs. Ogier's Jedi Academy!

My desk with Chewbacca as guard and small group table.

Library in far corner up ahead and center station on far right of picture.

Front view of my desk and back counter.

Jedi word wall and student lockers.