Meet the Teacher Monday!

Hi! It's Meet the Teacher Monday! I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin'...and excited to introduce myself to the blogging world! My name is Tanya and I teach first grade in Arizona. This is my 15th year teaching, and my third year teaching first grade. I taught 2nd grade for about 5 years and enjoyed it, but a few years ago I had the chance to move to Kinder, then I looped with my class to first. And I absolutely LOVE IT! So here are some things about me...

Things I Love!
1. My husband
2. Living in the desert. I love the heat...am not loving the humidity and rain right now, but we need it!
3. My bulldog
4. New markers...I bought a set of Mr. Sketch markers recently and I'm using them on everything! I'm finding lots of reasons to make anchor charts.
5. A quiet classroom in the morning. I like to get to school early and enjoy the classroom before everyone gets there...it's so relaxing!
6. A classroom full of children! I love the fact that we get a fresh start every morning!

Some interesting tidbits about me...
1. My first year of teaching was in first grade...I really thought I would not make it as a teacher after that year and I KNEW I would never teach first grade again...well, okay, I thought I would never teach first grade again. I am so glad I did not stick to that decision! At this point, I'm hoping I get to teach first the rest of my career!
2. I'm a mentor teacher for the first time ever...I'm hoping that I help my teaching partner, who's just out of school, not feel like I did after my first year of teaching. I want her to feel confident about her first year and excited that she chose teaching as a profession!

What I am hoping to accomplish this year...
1. I am implementing Daily 5/Cafe and Math Work Stations (Debbie Diller). I know, a lot in one year, but I am super excited and motivated so I have high hopes for myself...and my students!
2. Our school is starting to buy Mimio Interactive Whiteboards. Although I will be sharing with 5 other teachers, I get to figure out how to use it and help K-2 teachers (there's 6 of us) learn the basics. I am thankful that we are able to start using this technology and I have lots of ideas about how to incorporate it into my lessons!
3. I want a cute and fun blog! I love all the ideas I see out there...and I am just a little guilty of blog stalking...okay, a lot guilty! I oohhh and aaahhh over so many blogs and wonder if I'll be able to keep up, but got to try, right?

Thanks for letting me introduce myself! I am looking forward to meeting lots of you in the blogging world and hope you will stick around to see how our year progresses!