It's Been a Minute.

WOW, it's been a minute since I've been on here! FEBRUARY was my last blog post--geez, that was long ago!!! :O A couple of things took priority over me from dedicating more time to my blog, namely a classroom of children, my own child and husband, a job change and a PREGNANCY that lasted practically the entire school year!

My new little cupcake is now 1 month old, so life is (kind of) getting back to what I would consider normal. I really hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis.

So did ya hear? I'm leaving the classroom! I accepted a position at another school in my district as an Instructional Coordinator, which means I get to work with and support teachers in their classrooms--SO EXCITED to get to do that!! :)

Summer has gone WAY too fast. I actually have been quite productive and have crossed off MANY items on my TO DO list. However, that list is never-ending so I always feel like getting a lot done is never really enough. :P

In other news, the annual TPT Back to School Sale in heeeerrrre! Time to finally purchase those items on your wishlist!!

Over the weekend I was busy updating some of my most popular products:

Check out those products and many, many more in my store!

And since you visited and read through all of this, please go pick up this brand new freebie!

Five for Friday--My 1st One!

Thought I would finally join this linky party because coming up with 5 random things takes WAY less brain power than coming up with another teaching post for you (it's been a loooong week)! :)

1. FUNNIEST THING EVER: Each day, my students complete a "Number of the Day" activity when they come back from P.E. and Music. I always make a number with base-ten blocks or ten-frame cards and then freeze the image on my screen so I can use the surface where the document camera is while they are completing the activity. Well, this is from one day this week--I froze the image and captured my hand in the process. I saw it but thought they may not notice or be distracted by it. Well, I greet them all back in at the door as they file in and get started. There was an UPROAR of "Whose hand is that???!!" and "Is there a ghost in here???!!" because they saw a hand and no person at the desk where the picture was taken. H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. I then had to explain the "freeze" function and the fact that I only have so much time while they are out of the room and didn't want to waste 6 seconds unfreezing and refreezing an image without my hand.

2. Sooooo I gave an individual patterns assessment a few weeks ago and and didn't get to finish it because it took so long for each kid to complete and I have 22 kids. It has been stressing. me. out. to get them all finished. Last night, I went ahead and decided to delete it from the grade book and throw out the rubrics!! This is my victory pile in the recycle bin!!! 

3. My newest ringtones!! My email tone is WAYYY fun!! :)

4. Isn't this an awesome sentence that one of my little sweethearts made?? Hahaha!

5. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other day. Never considered myself an introvert but most of these TOTALLY apply to me, especially #1, #5, #6, and #7. Hmmm, that could just be my ADD......... ;)

Have a great Friday night!! :)

Rambling of a Baffled Blogger (straight from the heart)

Blog world is exhausting. Confusing. Frustrating. Madness. Incredibly competitive. Overwhelming. Baffling. Addictive. Never-ending. And yet a great and wonderful part of my life.

"In fashion, one day you're in and the next day--you're out."

Recognize that quote?? One of my favorite shows!! Lately, I feel as though this can apply to blogging as well--"In blogging, one day you're in and the next day--you're out." Maybe not as drastically and as quickly as in the fashion world, but still relevant.

I wanted to share some thoughts that have been weighing on me for a couple of weeks now, mainly because you all are a group that most likely will be able to understand them and maybe help me sort through it!

I've just been wondering when all of this blog craziness will end--not in the sense of going away, but I'm having a hard time imagining when my incessant need to blog and check your blogs will end. More and more blogs are popping up every day and SO many ideas are out there--I am having great difficulties keeping up anymore! And I feel that as more blogs appear and as more AWESOME ideas come about, the relationship between me and you all, the readers, will deteriorate. I say this because I feel as though a lot of you are so overwhelmed with checking all of your favorite blogs and pinning and what not that you are now just looking for the "stuff" that you can gain instead of spending time connecting, collaborating, and sharing. It feels like the only reason people stop by my blog anymore is to get something. (And if you are still reading at this point, thank you! :) ) Sometimes it feels as though people have stopped coming altogether! And I know this all may sound silly and petty, but it is honestly affecting me. I feel as though I am being used......but that's the very nature of the internet, right?? To acquire information?? I am very much a logical thinker and I totally understand the reality of this, but I cannot help but allow this feeling of turmoil inside of me to rear its ugly head. Lately, I am just feeling so disconnected from you, my readers. And there are a few of you that comment on almost every post and you ask questions and leave some wonderful feedback and validation--but it still doesn't feel right and I'm not sure what to do about it. Like I said, I feel like it will only get worse as time goes on due to more and more and more blogs being created every day. But that's not your fault! Again--turmoil!

I guess I just want to say that bloggers have the pressure of constant posting and keeping up with everything, alllll the time. We understand readers must be engaged in the first few seconds on our site or they're going to click on to the next site. That can be hard to keep up with! It's just nice to know that people appreciate what you do and "care" about you so it doesn't feel meaningless. Plus, it's just nice to hear from you!! No one wants to talk to a brick wall...What works in YOUR classroom, what did you think about that idea, Do you have anything to add onto that idea, etc...just a few examples of questions you can answer to help build a connection between you and the author.

And in other news (sorry for the relentless rambling), I LOATHE a certain weekly newsletter from a certain popular teacher-made product site that broadcasts the high earnings of teacher bloggers out there (and not just in the newsletter but on the site as well). LOATHE. I'm not envious of the tens of THOUSANDS that you all are making--I'm actually quite impressed--but I feel that it is inappropriate on so many levels (and I would still feel that way if I were on that list.) It also ignites this terrible feeling in my gut that tells me that I'll never be good enough to do that, because I haven't. I do find myself being envious of the time that most of you are able to dedicate to creating products and checking off all of the items on your "Pinterest-to-make" list because I am very passionate about products I create and the research behind them. But then I feel bad because if I am coveting more time then I am wishing that I spend less time with my husband and toddler--which is NOT true. The newsletters are a weekly reminder of this and leaves me feeling very unsettled and overwhelmed. Maybe I should just unsubscribe...

I don't vent much on here but I feel as though it needed to be put out there, however random it may be--anyone else have similar feelings?? Any thoughts on the matter??

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Classroom Update and Birthday Bouquet

I am totally loving all of this birthday stuff I've been seeing on blogs and Pinterest! It is so important to make sure your students feel valued and cared for, and what better way than to celebrate the day of their birth! After perusing birthday pins, I decided that one thing I would have is a birthday bucket:

I was going to make a cute little sign to attach to the straws but when I came across these birthday stickers I forgot I bought who knows when months ago, I decided to use those instead! When the students receive their straw, they can take the sticker off and wear it--who doesn't love stickers??!

I just taped the sticker on!

In other news, I have been working on my classroom for about a week now and I am FINALLY feeling like progress has been made. As soon as school let out at the end of May, I packed up my 4th grade classroom and, with the help of a few friends, successfully moved all of my junk over to my new 1st grade room in the next building! Here's my 4th grade room:

Goodbye, 4th grade!!! All that remains is the new 4th grade teacher's stuff...and the frogs that I just realized I left hanging from the ceiling--whoops! :)

The lady in 1st, whose place I am taking, retired, so while she was moving out she graciously allowed me to move my stuff in. That was a HUGE help because I only had friend help one day. That same day, a good 1st grade friend realized that she was moving (military husband) and brought over a ton of her stuff for me to have. The retiring teacher also left me a ton of stuff (including furniture!). Here is all of the madness!! Yikes!!!

Moving along--I had a little time to sort through some of the madness before we got kicked out for the summer. Holy moly--what a task.

Almost there! 

Done! Packed and ready for summer!!

So, what does it look like now after a week of working on it??? Well, you'll just have to come back tomorrow and see. ;)

I'm linking this post up to Tara's "Monday Made It!". To see more DIY projects, head over to her blog!

What Kind of Teacher Learner Are You??

Yesterday I spent a little time going through packets and papers from workshops that I have been to in the past few years to see what was worth keeping. I found some pretty good stuff (especially for math manipulatives!!) and I also found a few interesting things...

Let me preface all of this by saying that I am ADD and I don't take meds! (It's a good thing I'm a teacher because multitasking is what keeps me focused!!) In order to really pay attention to something and absorb all of the information I have to be doing something else--doodling, reading, writing, planning, pinning (duh), SOMETHING! Luckily my principal knows this about me and doesn't yell at me for doodling and planning during faculty meetings!! :)

When I doodle during workshops, I normally draw, color on the page, highlight important stuff, and so on. Stuff like this--not my best work but a few examples ;) :

Anyway, I found this too and it made me crack up--I have NO RECOLLECTION of doing any of this!! Lol.

I hope we were supposed to write good and bad example.......

Those made me crack up because the workshop I was at had to be absolutely terrible for me to do that!! That's normally not my style, haha!

SOOOO--what kind of teacher learner are you??

My Teacher Story Linky Party! :)

We all come to the classroom with a story. Some are similar to others while some are very distinctive. What's YOUR teacher story? How did you get to the classroom? Has it always been a lifelong dream or did you come after being in another profession?

Mine is actually quite boring (which is why I am probably so interested in hearing yours!). So, here goes...

I wasn't one of those college students who came in and already knew that I wanted to be a teacher and had always dreamed of being a teacher. In fact, before I chose that major, the thought never really crossed my mind! I will say that I have always been a fast learner that LOVES to learn and has always LOVED school. I was identified as GT in 2nd grade and subsequently started going to a GT school. That made a huge impact on me. I had Mrs. Rasmussen, the most WONDERFUL teacher that made learning fun in an entirely different way than I had experienced before! She was also the one who introduced me to my favorite book series EVER, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (the Holes guy).

I played school at home all the time simply because I LOVED being in school. I made up assignments (on the computer and printed them out, haha), kept a lesson plan book, grading book and even used a grading scale! I even remember the day (in 3rd grade) that I discovered just how my teachers calculated grades. And no, I didn't happen to find an EZ-Grader! ;) I realized a pattern in the total number of problems and the actual grade on the paper and was able to make my own grading scale. That TOTALLY revolutionized my fake teaching!! Anyway, let's fast forward to college...

I entered college as a psychology major which, to me, ended up being boooooooring. There were no rainbows involved and nobody appreciated my colorful notes and doodles--I just had to look up a different major! I went through the entire course catalog back and forth, back and forth, almost settling on chemistry (that was my favorite subject in high school). I ended up flipping through the education section of the course catalog again and stopped to make a mock degree plan. As I did that I became more excited about it and decided to go for it! I switched at the end of my freshman year, just in time for summer school (I took summer school classes every year of high school and college not because I needed to but because I, again, loved school!). When it came time for me to plan my first lesson, I did it with ease. Executing my first lesson was easy as well. It felt innate--I knew that I had made the right decision.

And the rest, as they say, is history!!

Here I am, 6 years later and I still know it's the right place for me! That's my story!! :)

Your turn--please link up and share your story! (Also, don't forget about my giveaway!!)

A Thank You, an Announcement, a Question, and Technology Camp!!

Well, my summer OFFICIALLY begins tonight! I had a few trainings to attend the week after school ended and this past week was Technology Camp, something I teach at every summer (since its inception 4 years ago). Visit the link in the previous sentence to read about last summer's camp--see the bottom section of this post for cool pics and activities from this year's camp!

First things first--A Thank You!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support and advice in regard to my move!!! Within hours of my announcement several of you responded to my post and HUNDREDS of you responded to my survey about what to do with my blog! It is such an incredibly awesome feeling to know that you all are behind me, especially when I have yet to meet any of you face to face!! :)


An Announcement
I have decided to keep this blog and simply adjust my tagline, especially since 81% of you suggested I do that!! I'll get around to emailing my awesome blog designer, Alicia, for an adjustment sometime this summer... ;)


A Question
I have decided to change my classroom theme from frogs! I love the colorful frogs and all but I think new grade level, new theme. Yesterday, I was struck with inspiration to do a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme! My question is, is that even plausible?? I think the book is an enjoyable read AND it would be SO cute to have those cute little coconut trees around! What do you think?? Any suggestions?!


Technology Camp
Picture this--teaching a class with an engaging topic that includes activities that you have complete control in planning for, no grades or test pressure, all the technology you need/want, all the supplies you need/ask for, an aide to help out, a small group of kids AND only 4 hours long...oh, and NO professional teacher wear, strictly t-shirt and jeans or shorts attire...sounds awesome, right??! That's Technology Camp in my district!!!! This is the best part of my summer each year!!

This year, I planned and taught "Germs, Mold and Other Gross Stuff" to kids that will be entering 4th and 5th grade next school year. I ended up having 5 girls and 4 boys, most of which just finished 3rd grade. I also ended up having two aides to help out for most of the week, so that was super nice. We did a variety of utterly GROSS activities and projects. I actually didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to because we were so busy the whole time. I did, however, capture a few things! I will also share some of the actual activities/projects we did with you (probably in a later post because this one's length is approaching "never-ending").

First project to share...bird poop paintings!!

First, the students chose a bird and we used PebbleGo to research them, particularly the bird's diet. We then talked about how a bird's poop should reflect its diet. After that, the students summarized the bird's diet and turned it into a QR code using Kaywa, which we glued onto their paper. We then took ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles and put some white tempera paint in them. Using the bird's diet, the students placed bits of various items into the paint, such as nuts, berries, grass and twigs. For the meat-eating birds we just tore up bits of construction paper and put it in the paint. After mixing up the paint the kiddos squeezed the paint onto their paper to make the poop.

It was wayyyyy fun--they had a blast with it! Here are a few more examples--enjoy! (And yes, I realize that some may be a little extreme...what can I say, they had wayyyy too much F-U-N with it!):

Big Big B-I-G News!!

Well...I have been keeping a secret for a few days now. Actually, a few weeks. Let me explain--

I think you longtime readers know how passionate I am about math and math instruction. (In fact, I now have a Master's in Math Curriculum and Instruction!) I watch my 4th graders struggle year after year in math, mostly due to them trying to build new information and ideas on top of a weak foundation. It leaves them frustratrated and confused. I do all I can to get them where they need to be, but it doesn't fix the problem. I have just been applying band-aids! After many months of personal turmoil (wondering how much longer I could continue to apply band-aids) I decided to talk to my awesome and super supportive principal about it. I expressed an interest in moving to a lower grade level to help with building a strong mathematical foundation in our kids. She AGREED and started working on her master plan. For the last month I have known that I would probably not be in 4th grade next year, but nothing was certain. My prospective grade level was "narrowed down" to 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade. Well, I FINALLY found out for certain on Wednesday of this week. Are you ready for this??! Next year, I will be in...



FIRST GRADE!! :O What do you think about that??!?!?!


I am TOTALLY excited, especially about doing math. However, I've got a lot to learn because (other than student teaching in 1st and 2nd) I haven't taught any other grade or subject other than math, science and social studies OR been self-contained! Any ideas or advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!!


There's one other thing--help me decide what to do with my blog!!! I will continue to blog but am unsure of how I will go about this. I will either create a separate blog just for 1st OR just continue to blog on here and change my name. Please vote below! (I do still plan on making and sharing upper grade products/ideas though, so don't worry!!!)

Help me decide! Should I create a whole new blog or just revamp mine for 1st grade??

Create a new one!

Keep the same blog!

Create your own poll with LearnMyself

I May Have a Bit of an Obsession.......

So I am realizing that I may have a bit of an obsession....I've purchased all of these books within the last two weeks, based on feedback about them from some of you!! And about the language arts books--I know I don't teach language arts at all right now but I do want to stay on top of things in case I do (and I probably will at some point, I imagine). I have been reading a little bit of each book when I can, that way I can finish several at once (that works best for my attention span!).

That being said......any recommendations on any professional development books that I should read??? :)


Also, don't forget about my sale going through Wednesday--25% off everything!! well....except for the free stuff.... ;)

Survey Says Linky

I'm linking up to 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules' Survey Says Linky Party! How fun!! Click on her blog title to join in on the fun! (Can you tell that I am procrastinating and putting off doing something else??!?)

1. Are you married, do you have a bf, or are you flying free as a single lady/man?
Just celebrated 5 years married!

2. Where did you grow up?
All over--military life. I call Alaska home. :)

3. Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what is his/her name?
I have a dog named Ranger.

4. What is a favorite tv show you are embarrassed to admit to watching?
Wow....I totally love to hate 90210 and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Those aren't bad, right?? I also used to watch the trashy VH1 dating shows that used to come on. :O

5. Are you a saver or a spender?
Definitely a spender!! (You've seen my classroom.....)

6. What is your favorite children's book?
Sideways Stories from Wayside School--I read it to my classes every year!

7. Were you the class clown, teacher's pet, or neither?
Hahaha, depending on the grade--all of the above!! Mostly clown because being the pet was no fun.

8. Who is your favorite athletic team?
.... don't........have one...... ;)

9. Where did you go on your last REALLY fun vacation?
hhmmmm......right before the school year started, a group of my teacher friends and I took a trip to the metroplex and shopped at IKEA and other places that aren't really worth mentioning because WE WENT TO IKEA!!!

10. Who is your favorite actor? Actress?
Jason Bateman!! (Arrested Development, people!!)

11. Tell about the last time you cried because you were happy.
Visit this post!

12. What is your favorite season?
Spring--testing is ending, school is almost out and the weather is juuuust right.

13. What is your biggest regret?
That I didn't put my knowledge to good use during my school days--that I didn't get involved in more during middle school and high school--that I didn't pay attention more during college!

14. What food do you just NOT like at all?
LOL, if you actually know me, you know that this would be a pretty extensive list. I am the pickiest eater. Ever. You name it--I probably don't like it!! (seriously, lol)

LAST BUT NOT LEAST FOR MY TEACHER BLOG....

15. What do you love most about blog world?

I love finding other upper elementary teachers out there and being able to collaborate with them. I am the only 4th grade math teacher at my school, so collaboration is not something I get to do! I also love connecting with higher grade level teachers (shout out to Kate from To the Square Inch!!!) and gaining insight into what I specifically need to do in order for my kids to be fully prepared for the future. 

Versatile Blogger Award

I am HONORED to receive the Versatile Blogger Award from these two ladies:

  

Thank you SOOOO much! I really appreciate it!!! Definitely put a smile on my face!

I must now:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog. (Done)
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 other blogs that you've discovered.

Here are 15 blogs you need to check out!!:

Third Grade Thinkers