Falling for Fall: Homecoming Syle

Welcome to my new fall series: Falling for Fall! I have decided that because of my deep love for fall, I am going to post on my various favorites of this wonderful season such as homecoming, weddings, baking, cooking, decorating, and OF COURSE... Fashion! :)

Welcome to "Falling for Fall"

On a rainy & cold day like today, its hard to think of fall as the wonderful season that we all know and love. Although today, despite the rain, I am still living in the sunny warm weekend that I had the last few days (not having school because of Columbus day may help as well...)

This last weekend was Augustana's homecoming. It was a weekend full of tradition, friends, and cute fall fashion of course.

Friday Night I got to experience one of my FAVORITE homecoming traditions, SING. This is a competition in which different greek groups create 6-7 minute short musicals in which they change the words to be about Augustana. The performance includes 50+ girls per group, choreography, props, dancing, and costumes. A music teacher's dream right?!

Well while in college, I had the opportunity to be the co-chair for this competition for three wonderful years and even had the chance to win first place my junior year!

ANYWAYS... Friday night I wore a drop waist, open back chiffon shirt from CC. It had black and brown big horizontal stripes (my favorite - neutrals). As usual, I fell in love with something from Charming Charlie's. Shocker. I know I have an addiction but at least its a pretty one.

(Picture took during my classroom remodel - due to donations for instruments for my classroom, I've decided to move things around to accommodate for them better! Yay)

Saturday was a day full of singing with the Augustana Choir, a football game, a great dinner, and a small photo shoot. Don't I have beautiful friends? I sure love them a lot :)

 (The trusty three best friends are back together again!!)

Saturday, I wore my american eagle jeggings, a CC polka-dot top, my jcrew vest, and my trusty brown, over-the-knee boots. AND YES thats an Augie "A" :)

Sunday was finally a day to relax and take in the whole weekend. Tony & I went to the pumpkin patch to find some pumpkins and experience fall :) It was here where I learned how to balance an umbrella and many mini pumpkins. Tony and I even got a mini pumpkin for our kitten, Pepper.

 Sunday, I wore a off white chiffon top from target, my burgundy jeggings, brown boots, a jean jacket (hidden by my peacoat) and my new Old Navy peacoat! I wear so much black in the winter that I figured it would be nice to add a festive pop of color! Needless to say, we had a great weekend :)

Classroom Reveal

After many MANY hours of work and help from my wonderful boyfriend Tony and best friend Chelsea, my classroom is finally complete! I have the before and after pictures so you can get the full effect for how things changed. If you have any questions about my room, let me know!

 Here it is! :)

Before:

After:

 The instrument area (its going to grow throughout the year!)
    Before:

After:

 Before:

 After:

Although we don't need to write class expectations or goals, I decided to put key music words on magnetic paper that I made myself that I can easily remove and put back up. This way, students can look up at the board when they come in and know what to expect for the day.

 Before:

After:

 Seating arrangements: I got velcro and made little squares for the younger students to sit on. For the older grades, they have chairs that are numbered and correspond with the matching velcro color on the floor so the chairs stay in place and don't move around too much!

In the hallway leading up to the music room! The students love it & love touching the yellow brick road as they walk into music class.

My personalized and colorful teacher desk area! Behind me are the new music education core standards  so they we can easily refer to them and I can always reference them while lesson planing. I also have a "Ms. Bruck" section where I'm going to put pictures and info up about me as students get to know me. And behind my computer is a calendar as well as a spot for important papers and information.

I also made the desk skirt myself by sewing velcro on and taping some to the desk as well. 

Here's a look at my behavior chart (TPT) and classroom rules- they are working well so far!

Unpack your backpack night was this last Wednesday! I got to meet some of my future students and they got to meet me and see the new and improved music classroom!! Here a a few photos from the night!

There is still SO much to do and get but its a good start! A lot of students have already started to comment about the "pretty" room & that they want to come to music more now!

Thanks to those who helped! :)

Welcome Week

I've dreamt about it, I've studied for it, I've thought about it, and its finally here.

The first day of school is on MONDAY! This last Monday I had my "new teacher orientation" in Peoria which was not quite as exciting as I had hoped. Today I had my first meeting as an official staff member and had the opportunity to meet all the other teachers. It was an overwhelming but great day.

Wednesday night, we have our "Unpack your Backpack" night in which students can meet their teachers and get settled in before the school year officially starts. Although the music teacher wouldn't normally get many visits, being the new music teacher at a small Catholic school means that people will come pop into my room to check me out.

In preparation for this night, I spent a few hours making a "Meet the Teacher" sheet, a "what you can expect" sheet, and an informational letter that students can take home with them. This post is going to be a bit short because I'm still busy decorating my room but come back to see my classroom reveal VERY soon!

PS If you want copies of these sheets to change and use yourself, just email and let me know!

Top Ten Teacher Thoughts

       Happy Friday everyone! As summer is coming to a close, something special is to come. The NEW SCHOOL YEAR! This may bring many different feelings to people but overall, it is a joyous time. We get to meet all of our friends again, better ourselves through education, and pick out so many wonderful outfits and back to school supplies.

      My favorite movie of all time is "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hankes and Meg Ryan. If you haven't seen it, oh my gosh its time. Meg Ryan is a bookstore owner and loves everything learning related. In an email she writes about the "smell of a fresh bouquet of sharpened pencils in the fall" and that is exactly what inspired my blog post today!

     This year, I will be a first year teacher! I am thoroughly excited and cannot wait to start on this journey where I will learn SO much. Although along with that, its something new and scary and I already feel a little overwhelmed.

    Join me on my journey through first year teaching and make sure to share this with fellow teachers or student teachers! Have a wonderful day :)

TOP TEN things that go through a FIRST YEAR teacher's head

1. "OK great! We have the class list! Oh its going to change a few times? Oh YES I am the music teacher, so... yes I have to learn all 185 names (and fellow teachers) as quickly as possible for effective teaching techniques. OK right on it!"

2. What am I going to wear? (Yes students/parents pick out their outfits and you best believe teachers are too! Picking out a first day of school - okay week- its very important!)

3. Did I remember to pack my lunch? What do teachers eat for lunch? Sandwiches?  OH & I’m slightly afraid of the teacher’s lounge. Being the "new kid" sucks.

4. PLANNING PLANNING PLANNING. Just keep planning! (I have no curriculum set at my school and not any textbooks! Must get on that planning!)

5. Oh look! Another sparkly border for my bulletin board! (PS Stay tuned for my classroom reveal soon to come!)

6. If I have to staple or label one more thing, I think I’m going to die.

7. Being in schools alone during the summer is the freakiest thing ever.

8. How can I reach my students in the first week? I want to connect but how do I not overdo it?!

9. So what exactly are the school policies on… I don’t even know my schedule yet!

10. I have been waiting for this moment ALL of my life and it is finally here! Can’t wait to start the best and most stressful profession out there :)

Thanks for reading! Make sure to follow :)

Sunshine & Sunburn

Well hello there!

My goodness its been a while. Life has been busy and wonderful in the last few weeks. Most recently, we went on a vacation with my brother and dad to Cabo. If you follow me on Instagram (@blissfullymsbruck) you may have already seen a few sneak peak photos!

Traveling there, I stuck with neutrals wearing white, navy, and jean with a bunch of gold accessories. I also wore a banana republic anchor scarf that I got during their clearance sale! YAY :)

On the way up, I read the book "The Never Never Sisters" by L. Alison Heller and I loved it. I ended up finished up alongside the pool in Cabo. Check it out!

In Cabo, the average temp during the day was a hot and dry 95 degrees. In order to be outside when not in the pool, the clothes had to be light. I wore this romper from TJ maxx that kept me cool and comfortable. 

 The last day of our trip, we had a bit of a photo shoot. I wore my banana republic sailboat dress alongside my nude wedges! 

We had a fantastic vacation and really got a lot of time to relax and soak up the sun. Although this sun soaking was thoroughly relaxing, it did give Tony and I a pretty good sunburn. (AND yes I reapplied sunscreen plenty - 50 SPF to be exact)

While one the track on mishaps, I learned that I can't go on sailboats in the ocean. I tend to get a tad... seasick. BUT thankfully I had cute sailboats on my dress which is SO much better!

PS. I posted this photo on Instagram and Banana Republic liked it! How cool :)

     

On Thursday, it was finally time to go home. The trip was extra long as we got delayed for weather problems so I was happy to be wearing my slouchy gap sweater that I just got! Couldn't have been more comfortable!

Thanks for reading! Make sure to follow and as always,

NYC

"New York... New York!" (Imagine the song playing...)

These last four days have been absolutely crazy with ending my teaching job in Rock Island, birthdays, and traveling to New York City! My best friend Chelsea auditioned for the Rockettes Summer Intensive camp in NYC and made it so she spent the week in NY rehearsing. My other best friend, Colleen and I were very fortunate to go visit her!

AND of course with New York city, comes fashion so I packed some of my summery and colorful outfits for our short adventure in the city.

Friday was the first day and was an early morning when I left the Chicagoland area around 5am. We had some traveling mishaps but Colleen and I eventually got into the city and to our hotel.

We "refluffed" and then went to get some pizza at a hole in the wall restaurant. On our way back, we stopped at a small market and got flowers for our wonderful performer.

The performance was wonderful and we were so proud to see our best friend up there dancing. After many photos and goodbyes, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the first musical of the weekend: Aladdin. 

DAY 1:

White Pants//American Eagle

Black top//Loft

Jean Jacket//American Eagle

Pink Shoes//Old Navy

Necklace/Bangles//Charming Charlies

As Disney always is, the musical was amazing! We decided to follow up the night with milkshakes, cookies, and cute lemonade at a little cookie shop downtown.

Day two started early with a trip to get Les Miserables tickets at the box office (which we got at a pretty good price!) We then went all around the city including some shopping in Times Square, dinner and shopping at Chelsea Market, watching the matinee, and seeing a friend of mine from high school!

One of my favorite stops was FAO Schwarz were every child and adult's dream comes to life. If the giant teddy bears weren't enough, we visited the "dress-up" area, and the famous BIG PIANO.

(Notice my excitement as a future music teacher- I had just played a I-IV-V-I progression with my feet on the piano!)

The first part of the day demanded something light and comfortable with the miles of walking and eventually relaxing in central park. I wore one of my favorite blouses from Francescas paired with little coral scalloped shorts. Accessories included black Tommy Hilfiger shoes and gold accents from Charming Charlie's.

Shopping in Chelsea's Market was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the beautifully dressed people. After buying some adorable hand painted glitter cards, we decided on a cute outside diner for dinner. Here I wore my new dress from Charming Charlies.

  

I have been blessed with such wonderful friends and am so thankful for opportunities to take such trips. I'd like to thank my dad for flying me out there and thank my friends for always being willing to go on an adventure. The entire weekend was wonderful but it was so nice to come home!

Next up... my 22nd birthday! (MY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY :) )