October Pick 3 Linky

It's that time again to linky up with the Inspired Owl and Pawsitively Teaching for the monthly Pick 3 Pins. I always enjoy going and selecting my favorite, but I also love going and looking through what other people choose for their favorite pins. 

Oh the joys of teaching measurement....Measurement is one of the hardest math standards, I believe, to teach fourth graders. It is really abstract for them to grasp, not to mention confusing because they have to learn US Customary and the Metric system for every unit of measure. I will be teaching weight this week, so I found this great anchor chart I am planning on using as a resource. 

This week I will be reviewing and reteaching theme. We gave our students a common formative assessment and the results were no bueno, so we decided to reteach theme. I found this resource on Pinterest and what a great idea to connect Disney songs to the theme. I have a feeling my students will love this idea. 

Lastly, this week I will begin a unit on Native American's in relation to North Carolina. Like I have stated in previous post, I recently moved to North Carolina and I do not know any North Carolina history. In saying that the students and I this year will be learning the standards collectively. I found this resource that I am planning on using to help teach about the natives of North Carolina!

Currently October

First let me apologize to my blog for neglecting it for quite some time. I am trying to get back into the blogging, designing for TpTs, and working on my Etsy store. Since a lot has been going on in my life over the past few months I have not been keeping up with my online resources. Here's a toast to blogging again!

I am linking up with one of my favorite fourth grade teachers Farley, she is the bomb dot com for her Currently October linky.

Happy October!! I don't know about you, but it is nice to have cooler weather (even though I am currently in the line of hurricane Joaquin YIKES!). I am originally from Georgia and I lived in the northwest corner, which never received hurricane weather due to the fact we were far from the coast. Now I live in North Carolina, which is about three hours from the coast. Therefore, the weather has pushed to the west from the coast to BAM my area. It has been raining from almost two weeks and everywhere is flooded. At least we live on a hill, but there are lots of tall, old trees that could easily loose branches which makes me nervous! Any who I am glad that you stopped by to see what I am up to. Please go link up with Farley and catch up with all of our other teacher blogging friends. 

Monday Made It

Fortunately I still have on week left before a week of in service days. I recently moved states, so I will be starting a new job and I will be getting my classroom ready in a dash. I haven't been able to get into my room because the floors are not finished due to summer school. This summer was the fastest yet. I guess when you get married and move across states a lot of your time is taken up. This link up with 4th Grade Frolics is one of my absolute faves!! I will be including a few home creations. 

This first project serves a very important purpose. The house we moved into is a lot smaller than where we lived before. The kitchen being one of the smallest rooms in the house. Needless to say, we had a lot more stuff than cabinet space. I had a genius idea to get a baker's rack. Well an actual baker's rack can be expensive, so I decided to DIY my own. I went to Walmart and purchased this utility shelf. I got my hubs to put it together for me. Afterwards, I ran out to Lowe's and took one of the shelves with me. I had a nice gentleman help me get plywood cut to fit the shelf size. I then wandered over to the stain and selected one that matched my kitchen table perfect! I stained each piece and let them dry over night. Voila! Like magic I put my wood pieces on my shelves and I now have a baker's rack. 

I saw this idea originally on Pinterest. This is my spin on a wedding day shadow box. Here you have my wedding invitation, program, bouquet (dried out of course), my grandfather's white bible from his wedding day, Wes' boutonniere, chalkboard label, an embroidered bible cover, and the letters are from our photo booth banner. I LOVE how it turned out!!

These little treasure were inspired from Pinterest. Wes and I made these for his uncles birthday to go with a Jack Daniel's barrel table that his wife bought him. They are really easy to make. You need to first drink a bottle of Jack (I don't drink it, but my hubs loves it on special occasions). Then you need to go to Ace hardware and get a copper coupling. Lastly, pick up a wick that goes in a tiki torch. After you have these pieces you connect the coupling to the bottle with super glue and then drop the wick in. Oh yeah don't forget to get some citronella to pour in, so that when you light it you won't get bit by a mosquito. 

#2GETHERWEAREBETTER AUGUST BULLETIN BOARDS

Finally getting a chance to link up with Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Angie from Lucky Little Learners. 

Since I just moved last Saturday I haven't exactly gotten to get into my new room. I went by to drop off all my school materials on Monday, but the floors were being waxed in my room. I had to drop off my materials in the book room as seen below. Don't judge the large mess.

I selected boards from Pinterest that I am planning to utilize when I actually get into my classroom (which i haven't even seen). 

I came across this and I think it is adorable. Anytime you can get students interested in reading you've accomplished something. My prior years of students love musical lyrics and why not put a spin on Call Me Maybe?? I am planning on putting this board in the hallway, so others can enjoy as well. 

I am also planning on setting this bulletin board in my classroom. I love the terminology that goes along with evidence based learning. Last year I spent a good amount of time explaining to my students how to cite evidence in a text and how to use it to prove your ideas or points. This bulletin board would provide students a place to visually see examples of evidence based learning. 

Last, but certainly not least. I tell my students all the time during writing to use fancy words. I tell them that no one wants to read blah writing. Blah writing has no unique thought or individual idea behind it. You know what I am talking about. We try to help one another by not using blah vocab. As a group we collectively brainstorm fancy words to use in our writing, so this board would be very helpful. 

Thanks for joining me for this link up! Come back soon to read more. 

August Pick 3 Linky

First off let me congratulate Pawsitively Teaching for starting a new job, kudos to you for change. I actually just moved states and I am beginning a new adventure myself. I hope your new job is fabulous. The top picks for this link up are back to school themed. 

I did this last year with my students to set up our reader's notebooks as well as writer's notebooks. My students were very engaged in this setup process. They were able to personalize their notebook to fit their specific personality. I would highly suggest to utilize this resource. 

Since it is August and most of us have already begun school and the others are getting ready to, we all need to focus on structure. One of the most important aspects of teaching is structure. Talking happens in the classroom daily, sometimes it is positive and other times it is detrimental to learning. I really like the idea of making this anchor chart with the students and discuss the importance of when it is time to talk and when it is not. 

This past year while teaching in Georgia, the standardized testing changed. The new test, Georgia Milestone, was very rigorous and had extremely high expectations for my students. Each section had a writing portion. The answer document was 16 pages, yes 16 pages for nine and ten year olds. In saying that I basically had to prep them and do it quickly. Most of the writing prompt had something about citing evidence. I recently came across this anchor chart and boy oh boy, I would have loved to use it last year while I was prepping my students. 

I hope everyone has a safe, and fun filled school year!!

Assess Me Linky: Week 2 This or That

I am a little late getting around to this linky. I apologize my life has been CRAZY the last two weeks. I just moved six hours away from my hometown to a new state, I am starting a new job etc I won't bore you with all the details in this blog post. If you are nosy there will be a separate post about the move.

I did not participate in the post from last week as I was slinging items into moving boxes. I plan on continuing to join in on the next few weeks, so come back sit and stay a while.

1. First off I selected jeans because I do love me some skinny aerie jeans from American Eagle. I also love maxi skirts and I wear them often to school. 2. I love all kinds of jewelry, but earrings definitely are my fav! 3. I selected Jay Z instead of Conan due to the fact that until this post I had not heard Conan's. 4. I really like silver and gold, but since my wedding ring is white gold I am leaning towards the silver option. 5. Since I just moved to Winston Salem I'm selecting city. I've always been more of a city person than a country one. 6. I love love love to shop. Yes I do online shop, but I prefer the whole shopping experience, the smell, the feel, and the excitement it gives me to do some retail therapy. 7. I mean who doesn't love a bubble bath??? 8. I like to keep my personal business my own, and I assume others do as well. 9. Home is where the heart is. 10. I love breakfast any time of day. Nom Nom. 11. I use to not drink coffee, that was until I started teaching. Now I can't survive without it. 12. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise. 13. Since it's summer I am undone 24/7. 14. Since it is currently thundering I chose it. 15. I never wear heels, like ever. 16. Bad airplane experience on our honeymoon. Never. fly.American Airlines.Never. 17. Central Air because the current status of the air conditioning in our house is froze up....we are melting up in here. 

July Pick 3 Pinterest Party

I look forward to this link up with Pawsitively Teaching and the Inspired Owl every month. First of all I love both of their catchy names. Second I have three pawsome little friends at my home, so of course I am a fan and I love, love, love owls. With that being said welcome to July's pick 3 party! Here are my three picks for the month. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is the 4th of July shhhh don't tell anyone because it is a secret. Ha ha just kidding. I think everyone knows tomorrow is Independence Day. I just love patriotism and all the decor, parties, and American pride. We are going to a party tomorrow and I decided to bring homemade ice cream and not just any homemade ice cream- cookies and cream to be exact! I hope it turns out fabulous. 

Ok I'm really not into sewing. I mean I would love to be able to sew, but I have tried and I am not great. I wonder if my mom can sew me one of these from my high school and college shirts. I would love one to commemorate all of my crazy life experiences thus far. 

I clicked on this Pinterest find and boy oh boy did I find a jackpot. This blog has a ton of wonderful ideas. The way she teaches her students has to be in the most hands on genuinely creative, thoughtful lessons I have ever seen. From, math, literacy, social studies, science and on the lessons are interactive and are soooo much more than worksheets. I hope to implement some of these ideas into my third year that I am about to embark on. 

How to {Rock} as a new teacher!! A linky party!

I'm really excited to be a part of this link up for first year teachers. I don't personally have a lot of experience, but I consider the experience I do have to be worth something. I teach (like most of us) at a Title I school where my students have so many issues it is like drawing straws to decide on which issue to begin with for the day. The two years that I have been a homeroom teacher have taught me about the struggle many American's are faced with daily. So here's my best advise!

 

• Come Prepared! At our school we have a saying for the students and one part of our motto is to come prepared. That being said students and teachers alike must come prepared. Especially in teaching, prepare yourself and gird your loins. In order to execute lessons to students you MUST prepare ahead of time. Preparing for lessons make look different for different people and for different subjects. You will have to do some soul searching to figure out what exactly works for you and your personality. In the state of Georgia where I teach we are under strict scrutiny from the state for our observations. Our team has found the more we prep the better we are when they "pop in" to complete our many, many observations. I prepare by studying ahead, completing all lesson plans in a timely fashion, posting the standard being taught, having a multitude of resources, making copies, etc. 
• Be Consistent with Rules! Consistency is the key. The only problem is consistency takes time, patience, and caffeine lots of it. If you haven't read Ron Clark's Essential 55 I HIGHLY suggest it. Ron comes across as a drill sergeant, but boy do his methods work. They are like pure gold. Not all of the rules apply to my specific classroom, but there are some that are on point! I usually begin the year with the top ten rules for the classroom and we go from there. We discuss consequences and run with it. I treat all of the students the same and don't back down (with the kids or a crazy parent). You will have a parent that will give you a hard time, usually there is one a year that is a little cray cray (that's the gird your loins part). It's not the kids that are the problem, it's more than likely their adult counterpart. Stay firm in your ideals and beliefs for your classroom. 
• Keep in Contact with Parents: I have learned this one the hard way. See teaching in a school that there are children that come from pitiful home lives means they are a product of their environment. In saying that, there parents more often than not do not want to be bothered by my students making what I call collect calls home to discuss their behavior issues for the day. This goes back to my discipline procedures, if a student does something I deem as serious they call home in front of their peers are discuss their behavior with their parents. Call me mean or what have you, but it works like a charm. There have been times when I didn't have time to let the kids make the dreaded phone calls because teaching was more important, those times I make the kids write notes home and I sign the bottom of the note and ask them to bring them back to following day with a parent signature. 

• Don't get burned out: Listen here, teachers normally quit in the first five years because of the burn out. Your first year will more than likely be your hardest. That being said if you survive it you can survive anything. You will look back at those years and laugh and say I don't know that those kids learned anything (yes that may be true), but the lessons those kids teach you will be unforgettable. Leave everyday at a decent time. Do not bring work home with you (yes other teachers will tell you different). Make sure you don't stress over the small stuff. Enjoy the year, you'll look back on it and think wow who left me responsible for those kids (oh yeah that would be the parents. administration, and state board of education).
• Don't worry the small stuff: There may or may not be unnecessary drama at your school the first year, whether it be with a student, a parent, a teacher, or an administrator. The day will go on and the beauty of teaching is you get a fresh start everyday. Praise the lord. If it wasn't for the teachers would get burned out in the first month. 

My mom always told me this quote when I was little and I still remember it until this day and somethings quote it for my students. It goes a little something like this: 

Once a job has first begun, 

never leave it till its done,

 though the task be great or small, 

do it well or not at all. 

Currently July 2015

As I sit here and try and catch up on all the month blog posts I am reflecting of my summer so far. Hello July nice to see you again and at the same time sad to see you again. July is one of my most favorite months partly because of it beingin the summer and partly because it is my birthday month. Another part of me knows July is the count down to the end of summer break. Now that is depressing! I am linking up with Farley for the Currently July 2015 to see what other are up to and to see if they are loving July like I am.

• I am currently listening to Back to the Future on AMC. The hubs loves this movie and it is on repeat since it is the 30th anniversary of the movie release.
• I am currently loving that I am getting things accomplished and catching up on my long over due blog posts. Hello again friends!
• I am currently thinking I need to be sleeping at 1:26 am which is my current time, but jet lag got me going all night. You wouldn't think a six hour different would lead to Eastern Standard Time insomnia, but it does. 
• I am currently wanting to get my etsy store up and running. I posted a couple of selections offered by Palmer Prints, but I really need to post all the ones that I have done. Since I made all the invitations for my wedding showers, and everything else wedding I figured I should share the love. 
• I am currently needing to go do an overhaul in the closet. It is what I like to call a situation. I need to do some spring cleaning on my summer break if you get my drift.
• I am currently all star getting my workout groove in order. It's about dern time. 

Now go visit Farley's blog here!

 

Work it Wednesday

I am linking up with Katie over at Queen of the First Grade Jungle. If you don't follow her on Instagram let me tell you that you must go an do it now. I follow her and get to see the adorable photos of her sweet children that she posts. I am also jelly that she lives in Charleston. She is very inspirational that she manages her family, work, and fitness life so well. In her blog post she discusses her challenges getting back into the groove of working out. I didn't just have a baby, but I feel like I have been off the workout train for a while. I got sick a week before the wedding which set me back, then I went on an eleven day honeymoon to Hawaii. Wes and I ate whatever we wanted which most days included dessert (which we never partake in because you know that's a sin). Basically what I am getting at is that I haven't completely gotten back my routine yet. I really tried to bust my tail before the wedding, but I don't want to be a slacker and gain 30 lbs the first year of marriage. I was at Wal-mart picking up a few things the other day and ran across the cutest Danskin tanks that I had to buy them to motivate me to head to the gym.

This is just one of the many tanks they have with a cutesy logos. A lot of them were about running and no I am not a runner, but I still bought one because it was my favorite color....PINK!

Here is a picture from the balcony of our Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel room on Wakiki Beach. Check out the competition I have for biceps. #lostcause #nevergonnamakeit #whyeventry #immarriedtohulk #superherohusband

Tell all Tuesday: Summer Flashback

It's that time again...for me to knock the dust of the blog and post something. I've been a little preoccupied getting married and all that jazz. Honeymooning in Hawaii, so I have been off the map....literally. 

I am linking up with Jayme at Teach, Talk, Inspire for Tell all Tuesday. Yes I realize today is Wednesday, but better late than never right? I absolutely LOVE connecting with new bloggers and what a way to get to know each other than looking at old photos and reminiscing. I hope you enjoy these summer throwbacks.

Since my dirty thirty is coming up the thirtieth of this month I thought a summer birthday photo was appropriate. This was circa 1987, my second birthday. Loving the two piece suit. Thanks mom!

Here is another summer loving pictorial of me swimming poolside in Destin, Florida on vacation. I would guess I am nine or ten in this photo. Check out the Simba float. Love me some Lion King. 

Since I recently got married I had to throw in a precious summer picture of my hunk or burning love. Wasn't he the cutest baby ever??

I get the last photo isn't considered to be an old throwback. This picture was this time last year right after we got engaged at the beach. Kudos for us surviving a year of engagement and so far three weeks of marriage can I get a witness??