Requests and Moving

Hey y'all!  TGIF!

I know some of you are already enjoying your sweet summertime and I am oh so close!  We have ONE more half day tomorrow and then Monday is a teacher workday.  It hasn't really sunk in yet that school is over.  I don't know why.  It should since I'm moving rooms...again!

I moved rooms last year and now I'm moving again. 

I asked the principal about boxes, since we were provided with boxes last year.  He hadn't ordered any and reminded me that it was good to purge.

I told him purge is not in my vocabulary at work.  However, I have gotten rid of some things.  I've been hanging on to some things from when I taught 5th.  I don't have any intention to go back to 5th, so I gave it all away. 

I plan to use child labor my sweet little kiddos to help move most things out of my room tomorrow morning.  Do you have to switch rooms?  I'm quite jealous of those of you who don't!

One thing that was kind of exciting happened yesterday during our awards ceremony.  Our janitor called me over and led me out of the cafeteria.  Waiting for me was a second grade girl and her mom.  The mom requested that her daughter be in my class next year!  I was so excited...I love when parents do that!

Then, after school, I was talking to one of my kids parents and she thanked me for my work with her child.  She even asked if I was going to move up to 4th grade!  SO nice! 

Have you ever had parents request you as their child's teacher?  How did you feel about it?

Thanks so much to everyone who has linked up to my first linky!  I love checking out all of your responses.  I promise I will get to yours if I haven't yet :)  If you haven't joined...what are you waiting for?!

Summer Reading & Rocking Resources

I am all about the linky parties lately.  I love linkies because they give you a focus to what you're going to write about.  I think we all know that without a topic, I tend to ramble.

Okay, okay.  I ramble no matter what. 

I'm going to be slick and put two linkies together because I'm cool like that tired.

Holy Cow.  I think I should have mentioned book hoarding in my Obsession Linky.  I just took a picture.  Much easier.

Yup, your eyes do not deceive you.  Nothing school related.  However, that doesn't mean I won't be perusing any.  I have this book coming home with me:

I would also like to check out these books from Debbie Diller (I know some of you swear by it!)

This book also looks really interesting:

This one looks kinda funny!

So that's what I'm reading this summer, or at least what I'm planning to read.  It'll be interesting to see how many of these books I read...HA!  I really am interested in reading stations & math stations since I feel like I'll have a little bit more time next year.  Please head over and link up so I can get some more books to read...can you say hoarder?!  Actually, maybe you shouldn't link up because I sure would love to win the Ron Clark book ;)

I also just discovered Kelley's blog the Teacher Idea Factory.  Oh my goodness is her blog cute!  Isn't it amazing how many wonderful blogs there are out there?  I love finding new ones and I'm her newest follower!

Her linky is all about those things we teachers cannot live without.  HA, where do I even begin?!

I ♥ my cart!  I use it during Voyager instruction, guided reading, and when our lovely smartboard decides to spaz out and not work.

Do you use streamline videos in your classroom?  Due to district restrictions, I'm forced to this is how we watch videos.  Those of you with posts from YouTube...can't happen.  Nada.  They have videos for just about everything though which is fantabulous and it's good because I never have to worry about inappropriate suggested videos from YouTube.

{source}

Swoon.  I ♥♥♥ my document camera.  It helps my kiddos to see me writing on the same paper they have, particularly since a lot of mine struggle with reading. 

I teach in a Title 1 School so we have an entire literacy closet/room with Scholastic A-Z levels.  It is aaahhhhmazing.

LOVE this site!  It used to be totally free, but now it is only $20 for a year.  That's a little over a dollar a month and well worth it in my opinion.  I have a coworker who ahem, cough, doesn't show up on a regular basis.  This site helps me make packets busy work enrichment for kiddos at the drop of a hat.  SO easy!

So those are some of the resources I use.  What do you use?  Can't wait to check it out.  Make sure you head on over and link up!

Also, don't forget about my Obsessions Linky!  Thanks to everyone who has already linked up :)

 

Oh, and before I go, here is something I whipped up a few weeks ago.  I made some homemade cookies, printed this on card stock, and gave it to some of the faculty and staff at my school.  They all really appreciated it.  Maybe you can use it in your whole 3 days of school left or something, lol.  We are down to one full day.  Whoop whoop!

Thank You

 

My Obsessions Linky

Okay, so I am hosting my FIRST EVER LINKY!

I really hope people join.  I am partly doing this because I am going out of town this weekend and won't be able to blog stalk.  This is my way of somewhat keeping up with everything that's going on!  So the original plan was to post this on Thursday evening before we left for Atlanta.  As you can tell, that didn't happen.

I was thinking the other day how excited I get over certain things, like Carolina Football and my dog. 

So, I was wondering, what are you obsessed with?  I know there's gotta be something.

You can be as personal, or professional, as you'd like. 

List as many, or as few, as you'd like.

Here are just a few of my current obsessions:

1.  Carolina Football.  The Ladies Clinic I went to was SUCH a tease!  I really like this video of their winter workouts!  Even though it means summer will be over, I'm really looking forward to the 2012 season!

2.  Necklaces.  Oh my word.  I think I may need therapy.  I took a couple of quick picks while packing.

3.  Perfect Attendance at Work.  Not normal!  I was so upset back in December when the doctor (and my principal) insisted I don't go to work since I was contagious with strep.  I did take Friday off for our trip, but it's extremely rare for me to miss work.

4.  Vegging out.  I am perfectly content sitting on the couch all most of the weekend, watching T.V., snacking on food, and surfing the internet.  I am going to have to make a conscious effort to not fall into this cycle during summer!  I am normally only uber productive when the hubby calls and says he's on his way home.  Then, I get my booty in gear so he comes home to a clean house!

5.  Real Housewives of Orange County & New Jersey.  I ♥ these shows.  I could watch them over and over and over.  Can you keep a secret?  The hubby watches them with me!  He says he doesn't like them, but deep down, I know he likes them!  I actually need to get caught up since I've missed a couple of episodes.  The last episode of Jersey I saw was the big fight between Melissa and Theresa.  I am so Team Melissa if they are doing the team thing.  Probably not, but I really like her!

So, these are some of my obsessions now.  Yours can be all about work, all about your personal life...whatever it is you're obsessing over.   I know I can't be the only one that obsesses over things so join the fun! 

Top 10 Pins of the Year

Oh Pinterest. 

Are you as addicted as I am?  I could spend hours on there I tell ya.

I am hooking up with Rachel from Views from Room 205 for her Top 10 Pins Linky.

Here are 10 of my favorite pins (although it will be hard to narrow down 1,515 pins to only 10...yikes!).  I tried to limit it to things I've made/done so that drastically narrows down the selection :)

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

This peanut butter "cheese" ball is SO good.  I make it for Carolina Games and it is delicious!  We like to dip animal crackers or teddy grahams in it!  It's good enough to eat all on its own though.

Source: technicolorkitcheninenglish.blogspot.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

This teriyaki chicken is to die for!  Our grocery stores around here didn't have mirin (or I couldn't find it at least) so I ordered it from Amazon.  Trust me...so worth it.  We add in mushrooms and sesame seeds and serve it over brown rice...amazing!

Source: ateacherandablog.blogspot.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

I bought a cheap holder and did this to my 31 tote!  Very helpful, although it does make it a little bulkier.

Source: annies-eats.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

These fries are SO good!  No ketchup required (and that's saying something coming from me!)

Source: jessicaywinston.blogspot.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

I've done this project several times with my kids this year and they love it!  Several other teachers at my school have done it as well.

Source: lowcountryspoiled.blogspot.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

I made my own version of this wreath!  I think it turned out really cute!

Source: macheesmo.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

We've made all of these cleaners and love them.  They smell so good too :)

Source: Uploaded by user via Bonnie on Pinterest

Guilty!

Source: thekinderpolkadotpatch.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

I used this as an inspiration for my current clip chart.

Source: Uploaded by user via Bonnie on Pinterest

This would totally be our copiers at work!  We have 2 in our workroom, and I think they have only both been simultaneously working for a total of about 3 weeks out of the year.  Yeahhh...

I can't wait to see everyone else's top pins, so head on over and link up!

If you like my pins, follow me on Pinterest!

Another One Bites the Dust and Summer Bucket List Linky

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful moms out there!  I swear, I don't know how some of you do it:  blogging on a much more regular basis than me, teaching, and being a mom?!  That is amazing!

I noticed on Facebook that Amber over at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher is hosting her first ever linky!

Her blog is SO cute and I am super excited to be linking up!  This linky is all about the good and bad of this past school year.  Here's mine:

The Great

1.  I felt much more confident about the content I taught this year.  This was my second year teaching third grade, so I felt like the pacing was better this year and I just knew more of what I was teaching.  Your first year in a new grade is always tough!

2.  The Voyager Program I taught flowed much better this year.  Last year, I didn't teach it the way it was supposed to be taught due to time constraints (math was taught whole group instead of small group).  I have an associate teacher who is in my room during this time and we have stations set up.  One station is me, one station is her, and the last station is our computer station.  It worked really well.

3.  Helping my kids grow and develop throughout the year.  I'm not only talking about academics, but social/emotional as well.  The most kids I've had all year is 11, and while that seems great, most of them are very needy and lack social skills.  We've worked really hard this year on proper things to say, and what is definitely NOT okay to say. 

4.  My classroom stayed clean!  Now, I'm not necessarily referring to my work area, but the classroom as a whole stayed clean.  This is mainly due to Find It, Fix It.  Oh yeah, this also definitely does NOT include their desks either...yuck!

The Not So Great

1.  Writing.  There is NO time in my day for formal writing instruction.  This is mostly due to the Voyager program I teach.  An hour and a half of each day is eaten up spent on this.  I've already warned the current fourth grade teachers that my kiddos have basically received no formal writing instruction.  The good news is that next year I won't be teaching the Voyager program so I will be freed up!  We'll also be getting a new Basal and I think I'll be using that instead of solely leveled readers.  Any Journeys fans out there?

2.  Math instruction.  Due to the Voyager program, I can only spend an hour on Math each day.  The district wants us to spend an hour and a half.  I just feel like my Math instruction is so rushed.  It is whole group and it's difficult to differentiate for my kiddos.  The good news is my associate teacher did an awesome job with them during VMath so they have really improved!  Next year, I'd like to do Math centers.

3.  My desk/work area organization.  Like Amber, I planned to start off strong with the Clutter Free Classroom Project.  See my posts here and here as proof.  After that, I pretty much fell off the wagon.  I get to work early (like 30-40 minutes before the kids come), so I really enjoy leaving as soon as I can at the end of the day.  That meant, I was not tackling any of my clutter.  No siree.  No way.  No how. 

4.  Library Books.  We didn't have library as a special area at all this year.  Our schedule was jam packed so that meant no trips to the library.  My kids never checked out books at the library!  In the past, they would switch up special areas halfway through the year so you could get the specials you currently didn't have (like Music, Art, and Library).  Well...this year we didn't.  Next year, if we don't end up having Library as a special area, I will make sure we go during an open media period so my kids can get their hands on some books!

5.  Graded Papers.  I had a great system of keeping them organized, but it was hard to find the time to send the papers home with the kiddos!
That's mine.  I hope you head over and link up with Amber!

I also saw the other day, that three fabulous bloggers are hosting a Summer Bucket List Linky.

 

Here's what I'm planning for the summer:

1.  I still have two classes to go to finish my Masters in Literacy Education.  That will be consuming most of the month of June for me! 

2.  Organize and free up some space on my flash drive.  I don't like seeing this:

Of course, this happened after the awesome TPT jackpot last weekend for Teacher Appreciation Week!  I loaded up :)

3.  Laminate, cut, and repeat. I have downloaded SO many great things.  The summer is when I plan on tackling that. 

4.  Finish our college scrapbook, ahem, four years later.  I'm not too far behind.  I left off on senior year:

Oh yeah, it might be good to also complete our trip to NYC, which was also in 2007.  I yi yi.  I cringe thinking of all the work!

5.  Do something with the THREE BOXES of wedding pictures we have!

6.  Tackle this room.  Like I said in a previous post, we're talking babies soon SO I'd really like to tackle this room. 

Wanna peak at what's in those lovely trash bags?!  R-A-N-D-O-M stuff like this:

Note from Matt (back in high school!), picture from me cheering as a kid, my college ID, my certificate from National Honor Society (high school!), and the cleaner outer for my recorder (from 4th grade!).  Yeah.  Tons of random crap memories.
7.  I'd also like to update our photo albums (also not updated since I graduated back in 2008).

8.  Seal the granite in our kitchen.

9.  Clean our carpets (especially downstairs).  They are straight up GROSS!

10.  Take a technology course.  I've already signed up for this!

Wow.  That's a lot of plans.  I really hope they do a follow up linky because I'm willing to bet only like 3 of these things on this list will be crossed off!  Head on over and link up!

Only 14 more wake ups of work (13 for me since I'm taking the 25th off for a wedding).  The year is definitely winding down.  How many more days do you have?

Have a great week and hopefully I'll be back soon with a freebie :)  Also, don't forget to check out the Giveaway over at Staci's blog!  It ends tomorrow on her (and my) birthday!  Okay, just had to say that again becauze I think it's so funny!

Fauxgraduation, Testing and a Giveaway!

Hey there everyone!  How you doin'?  (I hope you read that in your best Joey Tribiani voice!)

Well, I graduated on Saturday!  Well, Fauxgraduated.  You see, I still have two classes to take this summer, so no diploma or anything.  It was still nice.  There was a little argument dispute over my purse.  You see, I was going to give the hubby our Flip Camera and regular camera, so I brought my purse with me.  Well, when we parted ways, I handed the hubby my purse and he looked at me like I had 12 eyes!  I told him people would obviously know it wasn't his, but he insisted on trekking it back to the car. Since you know I LOVE to saturate this little 'ol blog with pictures, here ya go:

My sister and me

The hubby and me.  

So, we are in the midst of state testing and tomorrow is our last day.  My kiddos have been working SO hard and I have a little surprise for them on Friday...pizza!  In all honesty, it's because they did well on their MAP test.  Well, let me rephrase.  They did well on the Math MAP.  Reading, not so much.  Several of mine went down on their reading.  How do you go down?!  I just don't get it.  It was very disheartening!  They all went up overall for the year, but since the winter, some were down.  In fact, some had already met their goals in the winter and then went down so much, their goals were not met!  Please tell me I'm not the only one who had kids regress from winter to spring?!

Now, onto the Giveaway!

I was SO excited when I checked my e-mail last Friday and Staci from Let's Teach Something asked me if I wanted to be part of her Giveaway.  Me?!  Heck to the yes!  I was so excited and honored!

Seriously, check out who all is involved!

So here's what you can win:

Seriously, check out that loot.  I know everyone ♥'s the Teacher Tipster and it's a retired DVD.  Plus, you can win a total of $20 in TPT gift certificates and a $25 iTunes gift card!  I totally wish I could enter :)  

So, wanna enter?  Head on over to Staci's blog.  The giveaway closes on May 14 which is her (and my!) birthday :)

Hope everyone had a great Wednesday!  I managed to work out (30 Day Shred) despite the power going out twice and my dog attacking me the entire time because of the thunder!  I am trying to be healthier and work out more since we have been talking about the B word more...baby!  Otherwise, I totally would've taken all of that as a sign and sat down on the couch and watched TV!

Happy Thursday (which is practically Friday, right?!)

May Currently

I just love these Currentlys that Farley puts together.  I am linking up with her for this month's Currently:

Not that it needs an explanation, but here is why I am really loving my wonderful husband and family right now.  So tonight, the hubby and I went to dinner at Carrabbas.  One of my favorite places to eat.  Well, since I'm graduating, I was a little suspicious that my family might plan something.  You see, before we got married, our families threw us a joint surprise shower.  However, I was onto them.  I was suspicious.  And rightly so.  It was really awesome and made us both feel so loved.  Here's a picture from back then (SO hard to believe it's been almost 3 years!)

 So, I was suspicious surrounding this.  Let's be honest, any big event I will be suspicious.  As my family says, they can't get one by me!

So, off we went to dinner.  Now initially I thought he might have some people waiting here for us when we got back.

BUT, a quick look around the house made me realize that surely wasn't happening because our house is definitely not presentable right now!

So, we get to the restaurant, tell the lady 2, and as we turn the corner, I see my parents, his parents, and my sister and her family literally hiding behind their menus!  It was SO sweet!  They even made me a graduation cap!  They took some pics, but they are not super.  But it was just SO nice.  Plus, I was shocked to find out it was all my hubby's idea!  I thought one of the ladies came up with it, but it was all him!

I want my hair to look good tomorrow.  Like, maybe how it looks in that picture up there.  I was thinking of straightening it, but I figured it probably wouldn't look like this:

It would probably look more like this since there's a chance of rain and the humidity will be out the whazoo:

Source

So I'll be wearing it curly.  I'll be sure to post pics of course :)
For the Beauty Pageant part, I feel like I am just like Kristin, teeny tiny, except I don't remember the word she used.  It was really good.  Sure, I could go look it up, but we're heading to bed soon.  So I just put people pleaser.  I am friendly with others, don't want people feeling uncomfortable, etc.  I also avoid confrontation like the plague.  I have a hard time breathing, my chest turns all red, and it's just not good for all involved. 

I'm assuming that's what Farley was looking for when it came to that?  I'm not sure.  It's 10:00 on Friday and I am wiped!  Off to get my beauty rest.  Make sure you head over and link up :)