Hey there, I'm Megan!

Hey there! I am so happy to be here!
My name is Megan and I am the creator/blogger/teacher behind the blog and TPT store called
A New Box of Crayons.

I am very excited to be apart of this amazing PACK of bloggers (ha! see what I did there?) and for my first blog post I thought I should probably introduce myself.

So…here we go!

Hey there! My name is Megan and I am a first grade teacher from Nebraska. I am a 25 year old creator, teacher, blogger and fiancé!  I have been teaching for 4 glorious years and I couldn't be happier!  My very first teaching job took me away from the city and to a lovely farming community straight north of my home town. My first year I taught First Grade, but missed being close to home. At the end of my first year I received the opportunity to move back to my home and district that I grew up in to teach 4th grade.  Needless to say, 4th was a HUGE change that I loved, but I missed my adorable firsties. Now, I have been teaching First grade for 2 years in my hometown and I'm lovin' every minute of it! 

This coming June I will be marrying the man of my dreams!  So far, this year has been a little crazy between planning a wedding and planning for school, but it has been so much fun…and a bit exhausting.  My fiancé is one of my greatest supporters when it comes to teaching.  I can always count on him to lend a helping hand when it comes to a crazy DIY project, grading papers, cutting lamination or simply making me laugh after a rough day. I am so very blessed to be able to spend the rest of my life with this man and I can't wait! 

My fiancé and I have this furry child and we love him to death! This is our one-year old ,miniature schnauzer, Kyle. Yes, his name is Kyle…we named him this because we find it humorous to chase our dog down the street shouting his name and having our neighbors think we are shouting at a "real" child.  We may have an odd sense of humor, but it makes it a little easier to laugh when this fur ball decides to take off.  If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen my MANY posts of this furry face (mainly on the weekends or on breaks).  He is a pretty cool schnauz with an awesome beard/mustache combo and I love him very much! 

Phew! Hopefully that helped with getting to know me a little bit better! Now for a quick Q&A I posted all over my social media outlets yesterday! 

It's time for…

**QUE CHEESY GAME SHOW MUSIC**

#1 "I'm fixing to start student teaching in First grade. I'm nervous because we have parent volunteers that come in during the week and they spend the entire day…The kids actually call her one of the teachers and she does get after them if they are acting up. I'm nervous because I've never had any experience with parent volunteers. Any pointers?

My Answer: First of all, having parent volunteers can be a bit scary at first, but they can be angels in disguise. Any time you invite parents into a classroom it can be scary, but it doesn't have to be! Thinking of "parent volunteers" as an extra set of hands (we all need them) instead of someone there to watch you. YOU are the teacher and they are there to help you do your best job. So, include them in fun activities like crafts or readers theaters  ( ya know, the stuff that some of us just can't do on our own). Have them work with kiddos that need a little TLC and make them your friend! I would love to have parent volunteers because I believe that they are the parents that are taking an active role in their child's (along with many other people's children's) education.  

#2 "Should I be doing unit "tests" in subjects like math, or is formative assessment enough?"

My Answer: Well, I am definitely no expert when it comes to assessments, but I will do my best to answer this question. First of all, I like to think the "unit" tests I give my students as a kind of Formative assessment. Each time my class reaches a new topic we start off by taking a pre-assessment. This pre-assessment is actually the post-test that I give at the end of the topic, so I use it to show my students how much they learn or grow in a certain area. When it comes to assessments you sometimes have to think outside the box and find a happy mix of formative and summative that works for you and gives you the information that you need. 

#3 "How do you de-stress from a tough week of teaching?"

My Answer: Well, after a tough week usually an adult beverage and some cuddles from my fiancé and furry child will do the trick.  However, there have been times where I just need to dance it out and make myself laugh, so I hold dance parties or make obscene jokes to make my friends laugh. Laughing does a body good! 

#4 "Any tips for new TPT creators? How to create quality eye catching covers, uses of fonts, pricing, etc.?"

My Answer: I will have my TPT-versary in February! I have been on TPT almost for a year and I am still learning things each and everyday. I learned a lot of what I know from other creators on the forum. As far as creating covers and using fonts, stick to what YOU like. When you try to make something that you THINK someone else will like it takes all the fun out of creating.  Always stay true to your personal style and I promise you will find people that like it too! Creating covers is my FAVORITE thing to do, so I always save it for when I'm stuck or for very last.  As far as pricing…this is a tough one that I still deal with myself.  Often times I will scroll through TPT to find products that are in the same genre as what I am creating and do a little research on what other people are charging. When all else fails, I go to the forum! So…I guess my tip would be USE THE FORUMS! :) They are a HUGE help! 

#5 "What is your favorite candy?"

My Answer: I LOVE KitKats, Dark Chocolate and Ice Cream Snickers when it comes to chocolate stuff. However, my FAVORITE candy would have to be Sour Patch Kids….mmmm…I can feel my jaw tingle! 

#6 "There is a fire at school and all of your kiddos, teacher aides and class pets are safe outside. The firemen will take out three things and it can be anything you want, big or small. What do you save?"

My Answer: First off, kudos to this person for being SUPER creative! Now, I thought long and hard about this and I would probably have them save the following things:

1) My personal iPad (if I hadn't grabbed it already)

2) My Yoga ball Chair ( my fiancé got for me)

3) My Purse (if I hadn't grabbed it already)

Now, if I had grabbed most of those things I would probably have them haul out the bookshelf that holds my classroom library and all of my read aloud books that are stored in my cupboard and on a shelf behind my desk. 

#7 "Do you use a reward system in class? If so, what is is and how to you manage it?"

My Answer: YES! My district uses PBiS as our primary behavior program and I really enjoy using it, but you have to use it correctly!  I do use a type of reward system in my classroom and I love it! My behavior management has quite a few aspects to it (which means it will need to be saved for and in depth blog post), but it's what makes my room run smoothly! I use ClassDojo as a type of reward system, but it is tied to my clip chart and my QR codes (like I said, it's a huge piece to my classroom puzzle).  

#8 "Can I steal your dog?!"

My Answer: HAHAH! You're funny, but no, you cannot steal my furry child. However, you are always more than welcome to come to Lincoln, Nebraska for any kind of Husker sporting event (or any event that would happen to bring you here). Then I can show you that Nebraska is not covered in cornfields, we aren't all hicks in boots (but there are some) and you can meet my furry child (and me, of course!) HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!?! 

Now, just for making it to the end of this post…I'm going to activate one of my most frequently downloaded freebies!

Be sure to grab yours and leave feedback! I would love to hear how it worked for your kiddos!

Well folks, that's me in a nutshell!  I hope you enjoyed your stop here at The Primary Pack and I hope to see you soon (whether it be here or on my blog!)

Have a wonderful week! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!