Tag!

I am so glad Allyce over at Teaching and Life: At the Beach tagged me.  I finally finished my LPs, although my ADD got the best of me.  I tried...really tried hard not to finish them and instead check out Facebook and Pinterest a bazillion times.  But alas, I finished them.  I certainly haven't finished all the crap I included in them, like shapes to cut out and what not, but I'll get to it!

I was going to work on our new bathroom sign in/out system.  BUT, I left all of my pockets at school!  Ahh, I was so upset!  The hubby told me to just relax and do them tomorrow, but there is no way I'll be doing them tomorrow!  Here's a sneak peak:

Here's what's going on in 3B:

• Some of us like to write our name all fancy in the bathroom (like in all dots). 
• Some of us like to not write our name at all.
• And some of us like to write other students names.

It just annoys me.  So, I took down our sign in/sign out sheet and they will now have sticks to move on the cabinet.  FYI: I added paper and border to the other side in case your OCD is going crazy looking at that picture!

So anyways, this is why I'm glad I saw Allyce tagged me so I could distract myself from being upset at leaving the pocket charts at school.  So, here's how it goes:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

12 Fun Facts About Me!
1.  I collect rocks.  I've been collecting them since I was a kid and I have some pretty awesome ones if I do say so myself!  When I was younger, my sister threw away a lot of my rock collection because it was in a shoebox (my storage system at the time).  I give her a hard time about it to this day.  Oh, and when we went to Atlanta for our 1 year anniversary we went to Stone Mountain.  I picked up lots of pieces of granite even while they were warning us to get off the mountain due to an electrical storm...
2.  I have been with my husband since we were freshmen in high school...about 11 1/2 years! 
3.  I am a directions whiz.  You will not get lost with me.  I even recognize places I went to as a kid.  When my dad's old boss had a kid, they took me to visit the baby.  I must've been like 8 or 9 maybe?  Now I live out in the area they live and I recognized their turn off and everything when I was driving one day.  My mom couldn't believe it.  I had the NYC subway system figured out in like a day...well at least the trains we frequented...I also fell in love with NYC when we were there and I would LOVE to go back one day.
4.  I am an old woman!  In reality, I'm 25, but I have little to no desire to go out and am quite content spending my weekends at home.  I'm also in bed early, but that has a lot to do with when I get up...
5.  I lived in the same house for all of my life.  My parents have lived in the house since the 70s and still live there!
6.  I have a HUGE family!  Seriously.  My dad is one of 9.  I am the youngest grandchild (# 31 I believe)Here's a picture from my grandmother's 95th birthday party.

This is the grandchildren and their spouses.

This is just the grandchildren (no spouses).  We are in order of age with the oldest grandchild being in the top right corner and the youngest (me) in the silver shirt next to my grandmother.  If you counted, yes, there are only 24.  Some have passed away and some couldn't make it.

These are the great grands (and this has grown since then!).  It's funny that some of the great grands are older than me, even though I'm a generation ahead of them.

7.  I am such a nerd/dork.  You may not see it if I'm not totally comfortable with you, but if you're in my family...watch out!

8.  I love T.V.  I always have.  I'm quite content to sit on the couch and watch TV and be on the computer all day.

9.  I was bald as a baby.  Like, until I was 2.  You wouldn't be able to tell now with my thick, curly hair. 

10.  I used to be a dancer.  I went to an arts infused elementary school.  Actually, the middle school I went to was an arts middle school and my major was dance.  Unfortunately, I didn't like the dance teachers I had in later years and a lot of the kids were pretty mean so I ended up switching to a "regular" school for high school.

11.  I'm allergic to pretty much everything.  I knew I was allergic to pollen, but I went to an allergist a few years ago and they did the whole back prick thingy.  Their words when they came back to check on the results:  "Wow, you're lit up like a Christmas Tree."  Yeahhh

12.  I am a dog lover.  Gizmo is 13 years old!  I actually think it might be safe to say I like dogs better than most people.  Is that bad?!

Here's Allyce's Questions:

1) What technology do you wish you could have in your classroom?  I have a SMARTBoard, but I would really like the SMART Response clickers.  Or iPads (which some schools in our district have).

2) What is your favorite grade to teach?  I've only taught 5th and 3rd.  The each have their pro's and con's, but I'd definitely go with 3rd.

3) Do you eat in your staff room?  HA!  I WISH!  We have to eat lunch with our kids.  And we only have 20 minutes for lunch.  So, that means basically by the time I've heated my lunch and shoveled it into my mouth, it's time to go.

4) How many elementary schools are in your district?  Oh boy Allyce...I had to look it up!  We have 53!

5) What is your favorite way to spend a day off?  Either getting things done around the house or doing absolutely nothing!

6) Where do you go when you need to think? Or just completely relax.  I don't really go anywhere...I just do what I normally do (get on the computer and watch TV) and usually go to bed early.

7) Do you use standards based grading at your school?  Yes...we aren't supposed to assess anything that is not standards based.

8) What is your FAVORITE dessert?  I cannot possibly pick just one!  Lately though, I've been loving ice cream sundaes with all the fixins (I use frozen yogurt instead of ice cream)

9) What is your guilty pleasure tv show?  I love reality TV:  Anything Kardashian, Real Housewives of NJ, Real Housewives of OC, Millionaire Matchmaker, Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, etc.

10) Do you play a sport?  No.  I used to be a cheerleader (ever since I was like 2 and a mascot!).  Yeah yeah, some of you don't consider that a sport, but it definitely kept me in shape!  I also used to be a runner.

11) Pets?  Gizmo!  He is seriously the best dog ever!  He is 13 but you'd never guess it!

12) What is your very favorite childrens book?  I really like The Lorax because of the message behind it (and I'm super stoked it's going to be a movie!)

Here are my questions:

1. What state do you live in?
2. Do you collect anything?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. Do you do anything work related on the weekend?
5. What is your favorite food?
6. How long is your commute to work?
7. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
8. How do you spend your time when you're relaxing?
9. How many weddings have you been in?
10. What is your favorite place you've visited?
11. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be?
12. Kids...do you have any?  How many do you have/want?

I'm tagging these people (apologies if you've already been tagged!):

Ginger at Ginger Snaps

Amber at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher

Debbie at Second Grade Swamp Stories

Haley at Following Optimism

Barbara from The Corner on Character

Sarah at Waiting on the Butterflies

Staci at Let's Teach Something in Kindergarten 

Heather at Loose Shoelaces

Delighted at First Grade Delight

Meg at Third Grade in the First State

Staci aka Ms. Squirrels at Going Nutty

Dee at First Impressions

Extensions and Gains

So, how would you like to have 2 hours added to your school day?

What?  You wouldn't?  You mean, you wouldn't want school from 7:30-4:30?  Well why not?

Okay, how about let's add 20 days to your school year.

Not that either?  You don't want to work an extra month?

Well folks, believe it or not, that's what's {possibly} on the table for me.  No decisions have been made, but they're considering that for a group of schools in my district.  Not the whole district, but some of the under performing schools.

Initially, they wanted to add two hours to the school day AND add 20 days to the school year.  Kill me now...

Luckily, it looks like they won't be adding 2 hours to our day.  I mean, when would we have faculty meetings, go to grad classes, and other PD meetings (like one I have once a month from 3:30-5:30).

We had a meeting today after school and it looks like they'll be adding 20 days to our school year next year.  It's definitely better than 2 hours to each day, but I don't feel like my summer break will be long enough.  Usually, by the time school starts back, I'm ready to go back.  I'm not sure I'll be ready after a month off.

I'll be sure to keep you posted.

On a positive note, we had our Math MAP test today.  Do y'all take the MAP test?  My kids did really good!  I'm so proud of them.  Some of my kiddos went up in the double digits (17 & 25 points!).  They all had a goal of going up at least 6 or 7 points and I was super proud of them.  I am nervous/excited/anxious for tomorrow's Reading MAP test.  There's so much pressure (on us) for the kids to do well.  We're kinda judged on it (not formally), but there is definite pressure.  Do y'all take any tests that have pressure, aside from state tests? 

In other news, I was shocked when I came out to my car this afternoon.  Can you figure out why?

What on earth?!  Why do I have pollen on my car in January?!  Granted, it's been unusually warm (70s), but still!  I couldn't believe it.  I even made the hubby come out and see my car as soon as I got home. 

Also, I was super excited this morning when I got a comment from Haley over at Following Optimism. 

She gave me an award, and not just any award, but a favorite follower award! 

Looking at Haley's blog, I'm super honored she chose me because I don't feel like I've read/commented any of her recent posts!  I've been slightly slacking in the blog stalking department lately.  Anywhos...I totally feel like we could be BFFs IRL.  Her blog makes me laugh and she posts lots of freebies (my favorite!). 

I am supposed to pick 2 followers to award this to, which is tough!  I love all of my followers! 

Holly is SO sweet!  Plus, she has so many freebies!  I just love her blog.    Also, you must check out her A Day in my Shoes post.  I am totally with her on the hair determining my morning (although I don't wash  mine in the kitchen sink ;)  Is it considered cheating if she's already received it?  I hope not...

Chrissy is SO nice!  She always leaves the nicest comments and I love checking out her blog!  I keep meaning to participate in her A Photo a Day, but I always seem to forget!  I think we could totally be BFFs IRL since we both do not like vegetables.  Hers is a texture thing, mine is just me being picky :)  Head over and check out her blog!

Okay, I am going to try to stay up for Modern Family.  It's not lookin' good.  I am tired and have a full day tomorrow:  work, meeting (3:30-5:30) & HOA meeting at 6. 
Happy Thursday!


 

Antonym Match-Up & More Geometry

I've done it again.

I've waited until Sunday to do everything on my To Do list, including laundry and school work.  Blahhh

This post will be super quick because I need to iron all my crap.  Ugh...

I had to come up with a word study to do this week, so I thought I would work on synonyms and antonyms.  I had a Synonym Match-Up that someone so kindly shared (no clue who...if it was you, puh-lease let me know!).  So, I based my Antonym Match-up after that:

Antonym Match Up 1

So, if you shared a Synonym Match-Up that looks just like this (and even has a lot of the same words!), please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

As I type this, I'm pretty sure I downloaded Teeny's Antonym Sort a while ago and am thinking I should totally use that with my lower group.  Well rats...now that I look at it, I already have.  I wonder if they would remember...

We're incorporating this into our S.S. because I don't have enough ELA minutes so I have to have an ELA component in S.S. (reading and writing is not enough).  Soooo, we either have Word Work, Writing, or Fluency.  Okay, let's be honest, the fluency component hasn't been too prevalent.
Let's switch gears to Geometry.  How many of you are EDM users?  I really liked it a while ago, but I am so over it.  I am tired of it not applying to our state standards.  My kiddos will finish Chapter 6 this week. 
What? 

Oh yes, of course I have taught every single lesson in Chapter 6.  riiiiight.... 

I looked at the test and am so annoyed.  Our district is big on only testing standards...so why should I use the EDM test that includes solid figures and decimals, which they don't have to know.

So, I'm not.  I made a review for their test and it looks like I'll be making it myself (which might be frowned on by the EDM lovers out there).  I know, I know...you're supposed to teach each lesson for exposure purposes.  But I need my kiddos to know what they have to know for the state test. Yes, I am one of those teachers...it's the sad truth.  I feel like I have to be.  

On a side note, we take our MAP tests this week.  I may feel slightly close to hyperventilating every time I think of it...

Anyways, here's the review sheet I'm using (for their HW).  I'll share the test with you when I make it.  Let's see...the test is on Thursday so I'll probably be scrambling to make it Wednesday night!

Chapter 6 Test Review

Yeah, there's one random division question in there.  It was on the EDM test which I thought I would use until I went on to page 2.  Hopefully you can use it...I know some of you mentioned that you'd be teaching geometry soon!

Okay, I'm off to be a good girl and iron all of my crap professional clothes and finish the laundry....ugh, gag me!

P.S.  Anyone watching the Drew Peterson movie on Lifetime tonight?  I enjoyed a long day of Lifetime watching which is probably why its almost 8:30 and I'm just getting done with all my work.  Procrastination at its finest :)

OH, P.S.S.  Have y'all heard of Google Friend Connect ending?!  I couldn't believe it when I saw it on another blog and sure enough...confirmed by Wikipedia.  I also got an email about picnik closing...what is happening?!  I don't know how this new Google+ works... :(  For those of you wondering, Google Friend Connect is what most (if not all?) of us use when we follow a blog. 

Anyone have any information to share? 

Cheers to the Freakin' Weekend

Have you heard that Rhianna song?  Hubby hates it, but he also hates most pretty much all music I like.

I am so glad it's the weekend!  I know it was only a 4 day work week, but ohmyword, my kiddos were in rare form. 

Tuesday was an okay day.  We just switched our guided reading groups so I got a group of kiddos I haven't had yet (I have an associate teacher who takes half the class and I take the other half for guided reading).  I had some tests to do with my new friends, so I let the others read.  Well, in the other guided reading group, one of my kids refused to go to the group.  Insisted on standing and not joining the group.  He then proceeded to start talking to my kids who were picking out books.  I felt like I was in the twilight zone! 

Wednesday was okay, but they lost their recess.  Here's why:
They are absolutely silent in the morning (for the most part) while they eat their breakfast and do their morning work.  Well, we had a big report card fiasco and the principal came in to ask me what ended up happening with them.  I'll be darned if my kids didn't start talking to one another and whatnot while the principal was in there!  I mean, they weren't being crazy loud or anything, but that's not the point.  When I'm talking to an adult, that is not an invitation to do as you please.  So, they lost their recess.  Now, in all honesty, if they had done well the rest of the morning, I probably would have let them go out.  BUT, they didn't.  I don't really recall too much of what happened, but needless to say, they got a stern lecture by yours truly and had to put their heads down.

Let's fast forward to Thursday morning.  I was talking to someone at the door (same time of morning) and they started acting the same way again!  So (you guessed it), they lost recess again.  Don't even get me started on my Thursday.  It was crazy!  I definitely needed a drink when I got home.  I was more than ecstatic when the hubby suggested we go to Los Reyes.  Yum-O!

Friday was much better and when I spoke to someone at the door, they were quiet!  Lesson learned :)  After school, I went to happy hour with some coworkers and it was lots of fun and it's always nice to have a chance to talk to some of the adults I work with!  Especially some of the ones I never get to see.  You know, the ones who don't have rooms near you and you don't have lunch together.  I must say, I am totally jealous of those of you who have a duty free lunch!  I can only wish...

Last night we watched Never Been Kissed.  Oh Michael Vartan...that's all I have to say I'm sure...Then, we got sucked into Law Abiding Citizen.  Have you seen this movie?  We saw it a while ago and were surprised it was only rated 1.5 stars.  It's a really good movie, albeit slightly disturbing.  Then today, we used a gift card and saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  It was really good and just brought up all of those emotions from 9/11 that I don't think will ever go away.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  After not going to bed until after midnight last night, I'm pretty tired.  Plus, the hubby is watching C-SPAN coverage of the election from today.  Yawn.  I'd much rather be watching Home Improvement (which was on earlier).  LOVE! 

The "B" Word {and a geometry freebie}

There's been lots of talk in the W household lately about the B word. 

No, not the bad word...although that definitely escapes my lips on occasion from time to time frequently.

Nope, not babies either, although we have been talking about that.  I think I'm a little more eager to talk about them than the hubster :)

The B word I'm talking about friends is the one we ladies don't like to hear...

Budget.

Yep.  The hubsters is on a money/investing kick and wants to discuss a budget.  Well, he said not really a budget per se, but more of a "let's pay ourselves first (by saving) and then we can spend the rest how we'd like."

So, our goal is to save at least 12% (although he wants 15%) a month, including our retirement savings.  Currently, I'm saving about 8-9% in retirement.  I do need to make sure I send some money over to my Ally Savings Account each month.  I normally only do it if I have extra money left over.  Also, I think since we're so young (25) we're going to put more of our money into stocks than just sitting in a savings account. 

Plus, I think we're going to start putting some money aside specifically for our kids' college fund.  Yeah, no kiddos, but we want to be ready.  The hubster was really lucky in that his parents saved enough to cover all of his college.  My parents had pretty much none saved so I have student loan debt.  Thank the lord I was a smarty pants and got loads of scholarships, otherwise I'd be in some real big debt!  We'd like to be able to pay for our kids college so they won't be in debt (like me).  Luckily, I've been in school the past year so I haven't had to pay anything and I should be able to cut $5,000 off for teaching in a Title I, or high needs school (I believe you have to teach 5 years in a school like this...I'm on my 4th year of teaching).
He's on a big kick because of a book he read that we got from Goodwill. 

Sidenote:  I ♥ Goodwill!  I got lots of books for me and my classroom.  Check it out!

(The Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul is for my friend)

All of these books plus 2 for the hubby for only $7.99 (we had a 10% off coupon since we donated to them)

So, that's what's going on with us.  I remind him that we probably have a lot more saved up than most people our age and that (contrary to what he thinks), I am quite frugal.  I mean, I LOVE these places:

1. The dollar bins at Target (seriously took so much willpower to not buy anything when I swung in there on Sunday for a B-Day card).
2. The Dollar Store
3. Goodwill
4. Ross (even though I do NOT like that they limit you to 8 items in the fitting room.  I mean really, who takes in less than 8 items?  My size fluctuates from brand to brand so I normally have at least 2 of each item in different sizes.  I hate having to get dressed in my clothes and come back out and trade...ugh!)
5. Gap Outlet (Their sale in the summer is awesome!  I spent an average of $4 this past summer for all of the things I bought!)
6. Plus, pretty much everything I ever buy is on sale

I have really enjoyed reading what everyone's days are like.  Isn't it amazing how everything, like start times and duties required, varies from place to place? 

So, in math, we've been talking about Geometry.  Lines, rays, points, intersecting, parallel, triangles, etc.  Tomorrow, we're going to make some anchor charts (which will be nowhere near as cute as all of you peeps out there) to help us remember these and then we're going to review using our dry erase boards.  Do you use dry erase boards in your room?  My kids L-O-V-E them, but I do not love dealing with dried out markers, "he has my marker," etc.  However, they know I am all out of care and if there's a problem, they'll just have to use paper. 

Before I left Friday, I was looking around for a good review sheet for my kiddos to do for homework.  Well I'll be darned, but I couldn't find anything!  So, I made this little baby up.  Feel free to grab it!

Geometry

Yeah, see #20?  I was kinda running out of ideas!  I usually put 'D. None of the above' as an answer choice, so I just had to say 'Not a line.'  Let me know what you think and if you grab it.

I have been watching Wife Swap all freakin day and I love it!  There has been a marathon on all day and I'm loving seeing some episodes I've never seen before.  The announcer just cracked me up.  There's a squeaky clean family and he said in order to not cuss, a boy in the family replaces bad words with vegetables so the announcer said "What the squash?!"  Ohmiword, LOVE it!  What have you done today?

I can't believe some of you had to work today...that's insane!  Hope you have a great day tomorrow...we've already made it to Tuesday!

A Day in My Shoes

Ms. Klohn over at The Adventures of a Sixth Grade Teacher is having a linky party!  You know I love a good linky!

Here's a typical day for me:

4:20-4:50ish:  Wake up.  It all depends on how I'm going to wear my hair and if I have to shower in the morning.  If I have to shower, it's closer to 4:20.  If I just have to wet my hair to style it, it's more like 4:40.  If I'm wearing my hair up, it's closer to 4:50.

5:00:  Head downstairs and eat breakfast.  I also usually get on the computer for a few minutes to check Facebook, e-mail, and blog stalk of course!

5:20:  Head upstairs and get dressed.

5:40-6:10:  Leave for work.  It all depends on if I need to get there early.  Tuesday I will definitely be getting in as early as possible because I realized on my way home from work yesterday that I forgot to bring home a lot of things I need for my lesson plans.  Ugh!

6:10-6:40:  Arrive at work.  I like to get in early and TCB before my kiddos come. 

7:10:  Kids are released from the cafeteria.  I meet them at the door and they come in & unpack.  The kids eat breakfast in the classroom and they have morning work to complete.  Last week I started PASS (our state test) review for our morning work.

7:30:  Morning news comes on.

7:45:  Review morning work.  Breakfast should be thrown away by now.  After morning work is reviewed, we have our morning meeting.

8:00-8:40:  Social Studies.  We incorporate a literacy component, such as writing or word work.

8:40:  Get ready and leave for special area

8:45-9:25:  My break!  The kiddos are at special area.

9:30-11:00:  Voyager Rotations.  Each group has a 30 minute rotation at three stations:  Voyager Reading (me), VMath (associate teacher), & Ticket to Read or VMath Online (computer)

11:00-11:30:  Guided Reading (one group with me, the other with the associate teacher)

11:35-11:55: Lunch (this usually lasts until at least 12 though because of long lines).

12:00-12:20:  Recess (again, this is usually backed up because of lunch)

12:25-1:05:  Science (on Fridays we go to the Garden Classroom during this time until 1:30).

1:05-2:15:  Math. 

2:15-2:20:  Pack up.  Play Find It Fix It & have our daily raffle drawings.  Winners of both get to go to the prize box.

2:20:  Dismissal.  I walk my kids.  I drop the after school kids off at the cafeteria and drop off my bus riders at the bus loop.  Then, I wait with my car rider (who used to go to after school and I totally wish he would so I'd be done sooner :)

3:00-3:45:  Leave.  Sometimes I leave before 3, sometimes it's closer to 4.  It really just all depends on how messy my work area is!

Just for fun...here's what my afternoons look like:

When I get home, I work out if I'm going to (which I actually did last week...whoop whoop!)  Of course, I blog stalk and get on the computer. 

Around 5:30ish, I'll get dinner started so we can eat between 6 and 6:30. 

Then, I work on the computer or watch T.V. until I go to bed, which is usually pretty early.  I try to get in bed between 8 and 9, although I have definitely been asleep before 8 before!

Of course, I hang out with my husband and the Giz when I get home, but figured that went without saying!

Oh yeah, and I have class this semester on Tuesdays from 4:15-6:45 so I'll also be doing that. 

I hope you head over and link up!  I love seeing what other people's days look like!

Under Construction

I am toying around with my blog design so if it looks funky...that's why!  Hopefully all of this work wasn't for nothing!