DIY: Painting an heirloom piece of furniture

I love furniture - especially vintage furniture.  And as I've become an adult I've acquired quite a few great pieces of furniture, but my favorites are the heirloom pieces that have been passed down from older generations in my family.  The twin bed that was in my bedroom when I was a kid came from my great grandmother's house. 

See below to see the bed in the background of an awesome 1990 fashion photo! (I was 11!)  This was the best photo of the bed I could find.  

1990, 11 years, old, dinosaur bedspread, clear phone

Fast forward 25 years - In 2006, Carlos and I were married and moved back to my hometown.  We didn't have any kids - just a fixer upper and 2 beagles. In a 3 bedroom house, we each had an office.  

I wanted an office/guest room that was pink, black, and white with a Parisian theme.  So I took my childhood bed, painted it white, and voila! 

Well, that bed went into storage once our first kid was born, but once his little sister needed his toddler bed, he inherited the white bed that was once mine for his Star Wars room!

Well, that bed was one of a pair - my cousin had the other one growing up, and now it was needed when little sister outgrew her smaller bed.  We decided to give her the white bed and paint the second bed frame blue!  This was one of my summer projects this year.  Carlos found the perfect shade of blue in a spray can and I got to work! 

 I think the blue looks perfect in his room! 

And sister's room is coming along with her new bed as well.  We are transitioning from a Star Wars room for her to something else.  We are trying to go with just pink and add accent pieces as I feel like her interests will change pretty often.  Right now it's all about cats, so she has this pretty awesome zip up cat bedspread!  

Flashback Friday - Student Teaching

So I was going through old notebooks and found some of my writing from long long ago, and I thought it would be fun to have a "Flashback Friday" to post some of it (and maybe the occasional flashback photo).

This is my Student Teaching Self-Evaluation from March 2nd, 2000!  Enjoy!

I have learned so much at this placement!  Not only about teaching in general, but also about myself.  This placement has been challenging for me in many ways.  Discipline and classroom management has been a struggle.  At times the students seem out of control.  I have learned effective ways to deal with misbehavior; more importantly, I have learned how NOT to deal with discipline problems.  Students really want to have boundaries -- and they want to be held to them.  The teacher's expectations when it comes to student success.  If the teacher has high expectations - academically and behaviorally -- for the students, they will live up to them. 

Students also want a teacher who is enthusiastic about the students, the subject, and teaching.  I have seen that it is easy to fall into the rut of doing the same thing every day in class -- or to just do lessons straight out of the book.  I must be on guard against that.  It is going to be difficult to not take the easy way out.  I must continually challenge myself so that I can challenge my students.  

I have found that one of the most rewarding parts of teaching is the development of relationships with the students.  I greatly enjoy the rapport that I have with them.  They are so funny!  Many of them desperately  want a positive role model.  I must strive to be that role model for them.  I am learning how to balance between being a mentor and authority figure and being a friend and an equal.  I  must be the teacher and authority figure for my students.  Although it would be nice for my students to "like" me, I am not willing to sacrifice my professionalism and student respect for that.

My discipline management skills have increased while at _______ Middle School simply because they have been used very often!  I have found some proactive and some reactive strategies that I can use in the classroom.  I do feel that it will be much easier to control a class when it is MY classroom - one in which I have set the rules and expectations and the students    know that I am the final authority in the room.  I look forward to setting up my own classroom for this reason. 

I continue to have some weaknesses on which I need to work.  Challenging and interesting lessons are not easy to plan.  I struggle to do this while modifying the lesson for individual student needs.  Modification is a difficult area for me.  I have an easy time modifying in the area of visual/auditory/kinesthetic learners, but beyond that, I am at a loss.  Another part of lesson planning at which I am weak is the extension activities -- reteaching, reinforcement, etc.  Sometimes it gets difficult to do this without being repetitive.  One way I am thinking of doing this (particularly in my own future classroom) is to have the students write journals in response to lessons.  This gives them a chance to reflect on the lesson and me to read their thoughts.  

As far as my strengths, my communications skills are #1.  I have an easy time communicating with teachers, students, and parents.  I especially enjoy the communication and rapport that I have with students.  I also try to be excited about my lessons and communicate that enthusiasm in my teaching.  

I have enjoyed this placement -- with all of its challenges and rewards!  7th grade is certainly a different breed! They have their own unique needs.  I feel that I have learned a lot just about the middle school age through my time with 7th graders!