Okay...shouldn't be posting for the second time today, but hey, it's better than the cleaning I SHOULD be doing...I am joining another linky party....
for
as I just loved an awesome idea that a teacher for whom I provided support this year implemented with fabulous results last year. Who doesn't get severely annoyed with the amount of time wasted for transitions...especially bathroom/water breaks?
Enter...the bomb!
I cannot tell you how much faster the kiddos took care of business and switching out supplies/books for the next class when this baby was ticking on the SmartBoard. The fact that it explodes repeatedly made it even more fun for the 5th graders. Give it a try...turned some tortoises into hares right before my eyes and shaved much time off transitions and added that precious time to instruction. What a great way to motivate students to stay on task. There are other timers as well...
I am linking up with this fabulous organization linky party with
and
Each year I buy myself a piece of jewelry after making it through conferences in the fall and spring. I had such a rough school year that I decided to celebrate my new position in 4th grade and splurged on an Erin Condren planner. I went all in...cute pens, cute notepads....anywho, I LOVE it. Like seriously...I'm talking mad love here. And, it already has allowed me to throw so much away as it will all be housed in one place in the form of a fabulous planner.
Love the blackboard personalized cover with the polka dots!
The fact that it has a ruler...attached...will save me so much time! I love a good straight edge!
With moving to a new grade/curriculum, I will plan my year here.
Even though I will produce my lesson plans digitally, I can plan my week here.
I have a bazillion cute notepads, but not at my fingertips when I need them.
All faculty meeting, and professional development notes along with anything else I need to remember also at my finger tips!
I can't say enough good things about this planner! I will no longer lug around multiple spiral bound books as this planner has it all! Money well spent!
I am so excited to be trying yet another new bloggy thing and am linking up for
1. I am officially out of school as of last Tuesday! It was surreal the first few days, but I have settled in quite nicely. I knew I would! Last year was rough, so my body and mind are both eternally grateful for the rest.
2. But, I had to say "good-bye" to my home away from home at school, Guardian Angel Hall. I have been housed in the building for the 6 years I taught kindergarten and the two that I served as the reading resource teacher. I loved my little office with the adorable baby SmartBoard, but this girl was ready to spread her wings...again. My support group in that building will now be across the way from "The Big School" in which I will teach fourth grade. To say that I was surrounded by awesome, supportive individuals is an understatement. Now I need to put my big girl panties on and shift gears.
3. In the shifting, I inherited this hot mess of a classroom. Hello neon!
Yes, it is as bad as it looks. The lack of windows (only a small strip at the ceiling in the wall opposite this one), the fact that the blinds were NEVER opened in the two years I offered support in the room, and the bad fluorescent lighting gave me a headache daily. So, as I am an admitted aesthetic kinda girl, I knew some sort of change was in order. Is there enough bulletin board paper in the world to cover this? Nope. So, when my principal (a six-foot nun...hello!) was in an exceptionally good mood at our end of the year party, I asked if I can paint the room...my expense, my labor. She said that she "wouldn't have a problem" with it! I am so excited....I am thinking a calm blue. I will write a post about this soon...ideas would be lovely!
4. I spoke of my son's baseball team being in the semi-finals last weekend. Well, not only did they win that game, but they won the entire tournament! Go, Lynnhaven Pony Phillies...Champions! The fact that my oldest helped coach my youngest made it completely fabulous! Insert proud mom....
5. I am so excited that summer means more time with this beauty....my Lilly girl.
And, yes, she is as sweet as she looks...and feisty. My mom swears she is me in dog form....I'll take that as a compliment!
I'm so excited as this is my first Currently! I love reading others', but I have been too intimidated to post my own. I'm new to this blogging world. So, here goes...if I do it incorrectly, please forgive me!
Woo hoo!!!! I did it! I'm so impressed with myself...now to get it linked up. Oh my. So much to learn...
Listening to "The Today Show" as I do every morning. I gave up on the newspaper. I never read it and decided to save some trees. I get what news I need in my quick viewing of the show. Then I can further look into those news items that interest me and dump all the bad that we see...truly disturbing place for our country currently.
I could go on...and on...and on about my new Erin Condren planner! It is my first, and I have feverishly been adding my calendar items with my cute pen, which is cleverly affixed to the side! How could a girl not be organized with such fabulousness (new word)?? For sure!
This guy....
is graduating from high school as an honor graduate on June 14th! He will be heading off to Old Dominion University next year to study Economics and Marketing. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement. He is an amazing young man with a heart of gold.
We sat in the 90 degree heat to watch my youngest play two baseball games to advance in the pony tournament. They play in the semi-finals today, and if they win, play for the championship on Tuesday evening. They are an amazing group of boys, and I will be sad to take my baseball chair out of my car for the season...hopefully not today! Alex has helped coach his younger brother this year...love that!
To say that I am done (as in "stick a fork in her...she's done") with the current school year is an understatement! I am so ready for my new adventure in fourth grade. Once I hand the keys over to my office, I will immerse myself in all things fourth grade...and, I can't wait!!!
And, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to travel! While I live at the beach, the Bay is less than five minutes from my house...oceanfront is a quick 15, I love to go away to a different beach for vacation. After graduation, we are packing the car to head to Duck, NC on the Outer Banks...we went last year and had a blast. This year we rented a bigger house even closer to the ocean...with a pool...and a hot tub...cannot wait!!!!
Well, that's it. My little corner of the world. I am blessed, and this Currently has made me focus on that fact, so thanks Farley...now to get this linked up...fingers crossed!
It's been a long, long time since I have blogged. I was so excited to start this blog not too many months back after having fabulous Megan at "I Teach, What's Your SuperPower?" make it all look pretty...I'm big on aesthetics. I can't lie. And, I was so excited about leaving my resource job and reentering the classroom again that I had immersed myself in all things fourth grade. I then realized that I had checked out of my current job, and that wasn't fair to any of my current students. So, I fell back in love with my current job.
I have known that I was switching positions since November, but the parents were not told until just recently. So, now I'm all out, have 6 days left (two are half days), and am finalizing grades for this year with sights on moving into my new teaching world. The reception of this news by my former families and students has been heart-warming, and I feel blessed to try something new. I taught kindergarten for 6 years before being a resource teacher for 2. I'm used to having an aide when I am the classroom teacher, so the admin part of the job will be new. But having students who can read and are more independent will be huge for me! I cannot tell you how tired of tying shoes I was by the end of my stint in kindergarten!
I also must admit that one of the biggest the reasons I wanted to make the switch is all of you. In my current job, I am in 2 different classrooms in an inclusion model for 3 hours of my day watching other people teach. I had just discovered the wonderful world of teachers' blogs and Pinterest (an unhealthy obsession). The ideas that were right at my fingertips...the ideas shared by all of you inspired me to accept yet another challenge to give the students a fun environment in which to learn. So, thank you for all of your selfless sharing...can't wait to put all the incredible ideas into motion.
Many think I am crazy as I hand over my keys to my gorgeous office for a classroom. I haven't had a homeroom for 2 years. I haven't had to deal with parents except minimally for two years. I have had few papers to grade. I had a lot of autonomy. I am giving all of that up to touch so many more children. I hope I don't get into it and think, "What have I done?" on the second day in. But, it feels right, so I am jumping in feet first! Wish me luck....
We had a noon dismissal on Friday due to conferences, which I finished the day prior. Rather than go home and turn my teacher brain off, I decided to get caught up on work while the building was relatively quiet. I have felt like my teacher life had been put in a blender and pulverized into a fine puree recently. Gone were the days of having planning periods...within the last 2 weeks, I have added a Sound Breakers program (developmental speech tutoring), a weekly kindergarten reading enrichment group that the principal lovingly asked me to start, and 7th grade ELA for two wonderful girls for reasons I will not discuss. Oh yeah, picking up tutoring a second grader (former kindergarten student) in English tomorrow. Holy change to one's schedule, Batman. Lacking a cape or super powers, I trudged through the best I could. Friday was the day I got my teacher life back on track. I am the binder queen...seriously. Some great, fabulously incredible person donated boxes of binders last year, and I grabbed all I could carry. And, I have filled the last few recently.
What I realized Friday and today, as I sit down to finish up, is that I have yet to open a teacher's edition for anything. I have found all that I need on Pinterest, blogs, or TPT. And, they are great lessons. I get bored very easily. I am constantly seeking new ideas...and here are a few I have found...
First off...I doubt any of you that have found my little corner of the blogger-sphere are speech teachers (neither am I), but this is a great app if you have a child with speech issues that have not corrected themselves by the correct developmental age (mostly kiddos that do not add the /r/ to the end of their words...hello, Elmer Fudd). It would be a great app to pass onto parents...
My Sound Breaker kiddos are making great strides! I dreaded this with every ounce of my being saw this as an incredible opportunity to learn something new, and it has been a great experience. It is wonderful to see progress that will clearly benefit these children and help their reading take off!
Next up? Kindergarten reading enrichment...right up my alley after 6 years in kindergarten. And these kiddos are amazing readers...reading up to 2 grade levels above. The thought of throwing the same old, same old at them made my belly ache in its deepest crevices so mentor texts it is. I do have them read the leveled reader. With my target skill of character in hand, enter...Pete the Cat, a personal favorite!
If you haven't read this book or seen this video of the author's read aloud complete with song, do yourself a favor and check it out. Kids of all ages LOVE it. But, be prepared...you will be singing this song in your sleep.
So, after that bit of fabulousness, we will proceed to discuss Pete's character with this little bit of loveliness
from
And will fill out this awesome page for a group book
from Pickerington Public Library (another great Pinterest find).
This is proving to be long....I am closing for now as I have much to do. This is my first time embedding pictures and a video! It was a challenge for myself, and I did it!!!!
I must give a HUGE, COLOSSAL, GYNORMOUS (my word), and heart-felt thank you for the awesomeness that is Megan Favre. She is incredible at sharing her talents with newbies like me. I knew what I wanted this blog to look like, but I could have never, ever not in a million years come up with the cuteness with which she has bestowed upon little 'ole me. I am merging two loves...writing and teaching, and I am overwhelmed with the kindness being shown to me. Thank you for all those who have stopped by. Now I need to get down to business...
It was a crazy week as I am the teacher who wears numerous hats right now. I added 7th grade ELA teacher to my already full schedule. I am in an inclusion model in 4th and 5th ELA, I chair the TAT team at our school, I run our TEACH program in kindergarten (fabulous NILD program...I have 3 of my own cuties),and I just started a speech program called Sound Breakers with 5 Pre-K and Kinders (I work in a private school, and this program lost Title 2 funding). I like to refer to myself as a big, giant band-aid. I was one tired chica last week! I long for the quiet days (ha!) back in a classroom! I do miss my own classroom as I always enjoyed the rapport built with my students, and I am that strange freak-o who even enjoys the parents!
So, in light of all the craziness, I decided it was time to run away this weekend. I packed up my boys, and we headed down to Duck, NC on the Outer Banks in search of our vacation mecca for June. We laughed, we sang...we ate, we shopped...and we picked a fab-o house that will be the perfect place to make memories this summer. I could just see us swinging on the hammock on a lazy evening. I do love me some summer! I am a beach chick at heart...I am happiest with sand between my toes.
I hope y'all have a fabulous week! And those of you who were kind enough to stop by and show me some love, I hope to see you soon!