May Currently

Is it seriously already May 6th? I cannot believe that I only have 22 more school days with my first grade friends! This year has had its ups and downs, but overall it has been my most favorite year of teaching yet. There is just something about teaching 1st grade and their sincerity in the fact that they truly love their teacher. There is not many things that are better then a big smile and a warm hug from my friends each morning. :)

Being that it is May I am linking up with Farley for her monthly fun. 

Currently- April Edition

I seriously cannot believe that it is April! I know I say this every month, but where the heck is the school year going? Since it is the 1st of the month I am linking up with one of my favorite blog buddies, Farley, for her Currently Party!

Bright Ideas Hop: Storing iPads and iPods in the Classroom

If you are coming here from 2 Peas and a Dog, Welcome!

I am so excited to be participating in the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! You are going to find so many new tips and tricks that I know you will be able to implement in your classroom. 

One thing that I am very passionate about is technology and making it accessible to my students. I am lucky enough to have three iPads and two iPod Nanos in my first grade classroom right now. I am even more excited though because I have another iPad Mini on its way thanks to a Donor's Choose Project! 

One of the toughest things about having this technology in my classroom is how to store it and make sure it gets charged daily. I am so glad that I have finally found the perfect solution for my classroom and I am so happy to share it with you all! 

To most this looks like a normal set of plastic drawers, but it is my technology hub! This has made my life so much easier and we do not have the problem of devices that are dead. In the top two drawers you will find our regular iPads. 

They fit in the drawers perfectly and are accessible to my firstie friends. All of the power cords are run through the back of the drawers so they are not in the way. It is nice not having to find outlets all of the time to plug them into. The key though is to find a surge protector that can fit multiple chargers because sometimes they are to close to each other and you cannot use all of the plugs. 

We had a quick training on how to plug the devices in when we are finished with them and the kids have done a great job of making sure they stay charged. 

In the third drawer you find our iPad Mini as well as our two iPod Nanos and our Bluetooth iHome. We use the two Nanos for our Listen to Reading station and it has made life ten thousand times easier. Before we had a CD player that would not take headphones so I was constantly asking them to turn the player down while I was meeting with small groups. My first two students who choose Listen to Reading get to be in charge and they know to take the iPods to the Listening Tubs. 

The only real hangup that we have had is finding the best headphones for our devices. I think that we have finally found a good fit for us. We store them in a tub at the front of our classroom and students know to go and grab a set when they are using an iPad or the iPods. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and seeing how I store technology in my classroom! I hope that this gave you an idea or two that you can use in your own classroom and I know you will find many more throughout the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! 

Be sure to head on over to Angela's blog to see how she breaks the Nagging Cycle! I know you will not regret reading it!

Do you want to hop by grade level? Just click below!

An InLinkz Link-up

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Currently February

Is it really February? That means it is time to link up with the amazing Farley for her monthly party where we can share what is going on in our life. 

Listening: I am obsessed with anything Olympics related so of course I had to catch the new Lifetime Gabby Douglas movie. It has been really good. Plus, who doesn't love a good Lifetime movie?

Loving: Let me rub it in your face…I got to wear shorts today. Did I mention that we have a cold front coming again tomorrow afternoon/evening to cool things back down? I guess this Texas girl will have to keep dreaming about the 70 degree temperatures. Spring better hurry up because I am not a fan of this cold weather. I am beyond over having indoor recess!

Thinking: I am beyond excited to be Team Teaching next year with an amazing co-teacher! She will be teaching all of the Language Arts components (Guided Reading, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar,  Reader's Workshop, and Writer's Workshop) and I will teach Math, Science and Social Studies. I will be doing 3 weeks each of Science and Social Studies. I have been wanting to do Daily 5 Math and cannot wait to incorporate that next year. The only downfall to all of this is that I will be moving classrooms, but that is nothing new to me. I have had to set up a new classroom during all three years of teaching I have thus far.

Wanting: Don't we all want a Laundry Fairy to come to our rescue? I am pretty sure that Laundry is my least favorite chore ever!!! If you find one near you, please send them my way. :)

Needing: Relief for this a nasty cough. It all started with a sore throat back when I went to the 1st Grade Teacher's Conference. It has been yuck since. I have had two rounds of antibiotics in me, but it is still there. I have an appointment on Thursday and am really hoping I do not have to go in before. I don't want to pay for two visits. The issue though is that I have already had Pneumonia twice in my life and am fearful this may be the 3rd time. Fingers crossed it is not!

2 Truths and a Fib: So which one do you think is the fib?
1. It took me 6 years to graduate with my Bachelors Degree.
2. I work as a camp director in the summer.
3. I coach club volleyball.

The fib is #1. I actually graduated with my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in 5 and a 1/2 years.  I also managed to never took summer school. However, I usually took at least 18 hours and at times 21 hours.

Happy 2014!

It is really 2014 and that is so hard for me to believe! It seems like just the other day we were talking about Y2K and all of that craziness. I have to admit that my 2013 was pretty awesome. Some of my favorite memories would for sure have to be…

- passing my Principal Certification test in July

- getting my transfer approved to teach 1st grade and absolutely loving it!

- being the girl's camp director at the camp I went to as a kid

- doing better with my TpT shop

I can only hope that 2014 will be just as great for me!

To start the new year I wanted to link up with Farley for her monthly Currently link party. 

Listening: I love the Big Bang Theory. I treated myself to a Netflix subscription for my Christmas present to myself and it is by far my new favorite thing. I cannot wait to watch all of the old episodes on there. What are some of your favorite series to watch?

Loving: I have spent quite a bit of my break hanging with family and friends. During the school year I have a hard time making it happen. Some of my best friends are my camp friends, but we all live in different towns. We were lucky enough to get together for dinner and a movie the other night and it was like we had not even missed a beat.

Thinking: I am beyond pumped for the 1st Grade Teacher's Conference in Austin on January 13th-14th. Myself and four of my teammates are going to both days. I am so excited that everything is going to be geared to 1st grade. Plus I will get to see some of my favorites like Reagan, Kristen, Rachelle, and Deanna. :)

Wanting: I have got to get my health in gear. I am going to start by drinking more water and take it one step at a time.

Needing: I pretty much left school at school this break. I went for a little bit on the 30th, but mainly just to get Christmas taken down in there. Did I mention that I also need to write sub plans for two days too?

Memory/Tradition: I always spend Christmas afternoon/evening with my God daughter and her family. It is so much fun seeing her excitement for the season and getting to spoil her is pretty great too. 

13 in 2013

It is hard to believe that in just a few days that 2013 will be over. This has definitely been a year for the books for me!

I am excited to link up with Hadar, Kristin, and Traci for their end of year link party to highlight some of the things that happened in 2013. 

thirteen. favorite article of clothing

Hands down it would have to be leggings. I love that I can wear them with a longer shirt, with a dress, or with a t-shirt and they are all acceptable. 

twelve. favorite move you watched

 Catching Fire. No contest. I think I may have liked this one even more than the first one if that is possible. 

eleven. favorite TV series

I have no idea how they are able to film this show. There is no way I could ever be serious enough to make that happen. I just love Sheldon Cooper. 

ten. favorite restaurant

I live in a small town that has very limited options. Subway is usually my first choice when I want something to eat. I could eat sandwiches everyday and be okay with it. 

nine. favorite new thing you tried

I am not really sure what I tried new this year. Does Sour Cream count? I used to think it was horrible, but now I do not mind it on food. 

eight. favorite gift you got

I may have bought it for myself, but I say it counts. :)

My MacBook Pro!!!

seven. favorite thing you pinned

six. favorite blog post

The one where I shared pictures of my classroom. 

five. best accomplishment

This is hard because I have several this year. 

I walked across the stage in May with my Masters in Education with Principal Certification.

I passed my Principal Certification test on my first try in July. 

four. favorite picture

These are the three best friends that a girl could ask for. We were all at a friend's wedding and there was a photo booth. This just sums up our craziness perfectly. Not sure what I would do without them. :)

three. favorite memory

April 4th…I went to the elementary school to talk with the principal about a possible transfer to the campus from the middle school. I expected to have to go through the entire interview process again, but five minutes later I was offered the 1st grade position. 

two. goal for 2014

I attended a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Class this past year and I would like to follow it with fidelity in 2014. Any tips? I want to do 12 budgets and use the envelope system. 

one. one little word

faith.

I want to trust His plan for my life and really dive deeper into His word.

Currently December

You can bet my cart is full for the upcoming Teachers Pay Teachers Sale! This new 1st grade teacher has to load up when she can! My entire store will also be 20% off. 

I am also super excited to be joining Mel and Michelle for their Elf on the Shelf Linky that they will be having each Sunday night. I am hoping that there will be an elf waiting for us in my classroom tomorrow morning, but I think we will have to wait on the magic of Santa to get him there. :) The first linkup will happen this Sunday, December 8th. 

Last, but not least I of course had to link up for the last Currently of 2013. Did I really just say that? December???? Where the heck has 2013 gone? It has definitely been one for the books for me! 

Listening: House Hunters is a pretty much a nightly tradition for me. There is not much on TV at 10 p.m. I have also been listening to Christmas music since November 1st. I am so thankful that my kiddos love listening to it at school too. 

Loving: Is there seriously only 15 more school days before it is time for Christmas Break? That seems impossible to me! We have lots of fun things planned over the next three weeks and I cannot wait to celebrate the holidays with my firsties.

Thinking: I cannot wait to see the faces of my kiddos tomorrow when they find our new friend in our classroom. I did this with my 6th graders last year and they loved it, so it is bound to be a hit in first grade. 

Wanting: These have been on my wish list for a long time and I think it is finally time to bite the bullet. Christmas present to myself…I think yes!

Needing: More time off!!! I am beyond jealous of those of you who had the whole week off! That is something that I have never had as a student or teacher. However, I am glad that I did not have the chance to mess my routine up too bad since the break was shorter. 5:45 a.m. will not be as bad. 

Favorite Tradition: Each year for as long as I can remember we have gone to the store and picked out special Christmas jambes that we wear on Christmas Eve to bed. Yes, I am 25 and I still love this. I cannot wait to do this with my own kids one day, but I think their Elf friend will leave them for them on Christmas Eve instead. :)

Currently October

I cannot believe that it is already October 8th and I still have not linked up with Farley!!! What am I thinking? The year has been great, but I come home every day absolutely exhausted!

As you may have noticed, one of the biggest changes in my classroom this past week has been the addition of stability balls. We are now a chair free classroom and I love it! The best part is that the kids do too! More to come about that soon!

September Currently

I can officially say that I survived my 1st week as a 1st grade teacher! I loved every minute of it and so know that I am now in the right spot! Don't get me wrong, I liked 6th grade, but I love 1st grade!

It is the beginning of the month so I am liking up with one of my favorite ladies, Farley, for her monthly Currently party!

Listening: I am not a person that can sit in a silent room. I am not currently really even paying attention to the TV, but there is noise coming from it. I really need to get better about listening to music instead of just putting the TV on. 

Loving: 1st grade and everything about it! I always thought I wanted to teach 1st or 2nd grade, but it has now been confirmed that is where I am supposed to be! It just feels so right! I have an amazing class of 21 little friends, 10 boys and 11 girls. They make me giggle on a daily basis and I may be biased but they are pretty darn smart!!! I cannot wait to watch them grow throughout the year!

Thinking: All of 1st grade (minus one teacher who is teaming with another) has to be out on Wednesday for a training on the new Math TEKS. This will be the 7th day of school! I would be lying if I said I was not freaking out about it. In middle school it was not a big deal because the kids did just fine, but we are still working on rules and procedures for 1st grade. I hope my friends will have a good day and that we will not have to do too much retraining on Thursday. 

Wanting: I think we all can relate to needing more time in the day. I think a 36 hour day would be about perfect! I could get everything done and still find time to sleep. :)

Needing: I need to go shopping for a new wardrobe! I was spoiled the past two years because I pretty much wore jeans every day because we had a shirt to go with them. I am in serious need of some dress pants and dress capris! Oh wait, I need time in order to go shopping though! 

For Me: 

1. I need to be consistent about doing my devotional each morning while I eat breakfast. Too often I find myself saying I am too busy, but I need to make time for that!

2. I need to exercise because I know that I would feel so much better about myself. I have been doing a better job of eating better, but I still need to consume more water on a daily basis. 

3. I have got to get home quicker on a daily basis...I could stay up there all night. My goal is to leave no later than 5:00 p.m. 

Five on Friday

What a week it has been! It is definitely one for the books!

One. I spent the beginning of this week shadowing in 1st grade and I absolutely loved it! I know that moving to 1st grade was the right decision and that following my heart was a great choice! I just love the team and they are such a fun group of people to be around. I am also super excited because we will be implementing both the Daily 5 and Writer's Workshop. They started with Writer's Workshop this year, but the Daily 5 will be new for 1st in the fall. I am a huge fan of it and I actually implemented it in my 6th grade classroom last year!

Two. We had some serious storms in my Hill Country town last night. I got this picture from my mom today at about 9 a.m. 

 That would be my Camry going off to the body shop. I am not really sure why it had to go because it looks fine to me. :)

Don't you think I can drive it tomorrow? We are thinking it may be totaled because they are going to have to fix every single panel on the car with the damage that it got. I may or may not have my eye on a 4Runner if that does end up being the case. 

Three. I got the sweetest cards from one of my 6th graders this week during Teacher Appreciation. It is cards like that that make me realize why I do what I do. It is one I will keep forever!

Four. In a little over 12 hours I will be walking the stage at graduation for my Masters Degree in Education with my Principal Certification. I actually finished up in December, but they only have graduation once a year. So excited to have this chapter of my life finished. Now it may help if I take my principal exam. 

Five. Tuesday is field trip day for 6th grade and we are headed to the zoo. It has been several years since I have last gone and I cannot wait. You can bet I will be blowing instagram up on Tuesday! 

Follow me @missklohn

Five for Friday

 I am linking up with Kacey for another edition of Five for Friday, but on Saturday instead. :)

One. I survived our state testing this past week. My 6th graders tested on Tuesday and Wednesday. I feel pretty good about how my kids did and have been so pleased with all of their hard work these past few weeks as we did some serious test prep.We took a brain break and we watched Holes on Thursday and Friday. This is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time!

Two. I joined the Cricket Crunch Club yesterday at school! 

My friend Shayna from Science Teaching Junkie teaches 8th grade Science at my school. She recently went to the NSTA conference in San Antonio and at one of the booths they were doing taste testing of crickets. She got the recipe and made some for her kids on Friday. Of course I had to try one, so I went by her room on Friday and ate a cricket!!! It was crunchy and tasted like a sunflower seed in my opinion. 

Three. This coming Friday we have field day for our 6th graders and this is one of my favorite days of the year! We have a full on track meet for our 6th graders! All I know is that my class better win! 

Four. Only 30 more days of school which includes our teacher inservice day after the students get out. Is it just me, or has this year flown by? I think it may have something to do with the fact that I am teaching 105 students and they keep me on my toes. :)

Five. Many of you all know that I will be teaching 1st grade in the fall...what are some must haves that I need to make sure that I have? I have a very large selection of picture books already, but what sort of manipulatives would you suggest? Also, where do you all find your big books from? I would love to hear your suggestions!

Five for Friday

I am linking up for Kacey's weekly linky where I can recap what has happened during my week. This has been a pretty darn exciting week for me! 

One. We only have 12 more school days until my 6th graders take the state assessment (STAAR) in reading! I know we have all been working our butts off, but I am still so nervous. Be sure and say a special prayer for my kiddos and all other 6th graders on April 23rd and 24th!

Two. There are some exciting changes coming in the near future for me and I am so thrilled about them! I cannot wait to share them with you in the next few weeks! 

Three. My kids are absolutely loving the book clubs that we are doing in class right now. I have actually already had several kids finish their first books because they could not put them down. We have been using the iPads and I have gotten several audio books from Audible. Love it and so do the kids! I also love that they all have headphones on, so while I am meeting with my small groups, we are not distracting. :)

Four. I coach club volleyball and we wrapped up our season last weekend! I am so proud of my girls because they improved so much during the course of the season. At our last tournament we only lost one match and then we won the silver bracket! 

Five. I am so excited that we are going to the Zoo for our field trip! I have not been since I was subbing in a 1st grade class a few years ago. I have a feeling 6th graders will be a little different, but I am still pumped!

Currently...April!

I just love my sweet friend Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade and I also just love her monthly Currently Linky Party! Here is mine for the month of April!

Listening: I am one of those people that has a very difficult time sitting in a silent room! I always have to have music or the TV going if I am in my bedroom. Right now it is on The Apprentice, but my usual choice is anything on HGTV or TLC. 

Loving: My sweet God Daughter! She is just precious and I love getting to spend time with her. Luckily we live in the same town so I am able to spend some time with them on holidays like today. We had some confetti eggs, and boy was that fun! Pretty sure there is still some in my hair! 

Thinking: I am so beyond stressed about my kiddos and the upcoming STAAR test at the end of April! I have some kids who are so ready, but i have about 25% of my kiddos that I am really worried about. I feel like I have been working my butt off and I just do not know if it is enough. There is even more stress because we are currently in Stage 2 of AYP for poor performance on our state assessments in the past. If we do not meet it this year, we will enter Stage 3! I so do not want to do that and feel like it will be my fault if we get to that point. 

Wanting: Rain! One simple request. We got a little tease today with some for about 10 minutes, but trust me, that is not enough for this ground in Texas!

Needing: Oh how I need a massage! My back has been killing me and the massage chair when I get a pedicure is just not cutting it any more. :) I think I am going to have to break down and get one before we test at the end of the month. Don't you think I deserve a little treat?

Advice: I cannot tell you how many times I have been told that I cannot save the world this year. It is not that I cannot save the world, I just cannot do it all at once. :) I really need to continue to focus on one things at a time. I have a feeling that lots of us have that same problem too! 

Five on Friday

I am one happy camper right now because as of 3:35 p.m. today I am officially on Spring Break. Oh wait, but I stayed at school until almost 5:30 today. 

I am excited to be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday Linky Party!

One. This week was rough and I am so grateful that it is Spring Break. I cried twice this week at school. I have just been so stressed lately and feel like I am working my butt off, but that it is still not enough. With the new STAAR testing and the higher standards I am really freaking out because I have some pretty low students. Our school is currently in AYP mess and I really want us to get out of it. If we meet AYP this school year we do get out and we will lose a few headaches with that. I was pretty bummed with our benchmark results and am going to be completely revamping my classroom when we get back from the break. 

Two. I am so lucky to have an amazing Language Arts coach that comes to our campus once a week from Region 13. She was in the room when I lost it on Wednesday and was ready to help me make a plan to best meet the needs of my students. We decided that I need to move to some additional targeted small group instruction. She helped me to narrow my groups down and to figure out which students I really needed to focus on. We then came up with a plan and schedule for the groups. I know that small group instruction is what they need and am so excited that we are going to make it happen. I am also going to be doing book clubs with my kids so I can meet with the small groups and everyone else is self-sufficient. 

Three. I am proud to be a Texas Teacher Blogger!

Head on over to Fifth in the Middle to find teacher bloggers from your state! 

Four. After crying twice this week I may have decided (with admin approval) to show a movie for the past two days. Best decision ever of my life. We had not watched one all year and the kids were amazing. Since we had been reviewing plot elements, theme, and summarizing, we use Soul Surfer to do it instead. It has to be on my top 5 movie list.

Five. We are gearing up for a Mock STAAR test in both Math and Reading for our 6th graders when we get back to school. I am excited to have some more data, but am nervous about it at the same time too. Creating all of the small groups has been a logistical nightmare!  

I hope that my Texas friends enjoy their Spring Break and get some much needed rest and relaxation! 

Currently...I Need a Break!

It is the beginning of the month, so that means it is time for Farley's monthly Currently link up!

 I have been a sorry blogger lately, but hopefully this will get me back in the swing of things. Things have just been so crazy lately between intervention lessons, tutoring, TELPAS testing and rating training, STAAR training, volleyball tournaments, and did I mention cheerleading tryouts? I am so beyond ready for spring break! Luckily mine arrives Friday at 3:35 p.m. :)

Listening: If you are anything like me you are a reality TV junkie. I am pretty sure this is what keeps me sane during the school week. Some of my favorites are Teen Mom, Dance Moms, The Biggest Loser, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and The Bachelor. 

Loving: Today was an absolutely crappy day at school, but my blog friends sure did make me feel better! It is so nice to know that I can vent to you all and that most of the time your day was just as bad as mine. One of my sweet friends even surprised me with a special treat in my inbox tonight!

Thinking: I can only hope that tomorrow is a better day or I may not be making it to Friday in one piece. I lost it today during one of my classes and started to cry because I was so upset with my students. I know we aren't supposed to do that, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. I won't even tell you how much chocolate I consumed this afternoon. 

Wanting: Have you found a personal assistant? If you have, please send them my way. It seems like I can never get caught up with my grading. I do not even want to think about the number of assignments that I have graded this school year. :( I am so over having 110 kids in class. I want to be double blocked again! 

Needing: At least two weeks off for Spring Break! Oh wait, I kind of have two weeks off. :) The week we go back I am only at school on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I am going with my principal to a PLC Conference at our Service Center and the DuFours are presenting at it! I am pretty pumped about this! Then Thursday and Friday I am going to be gone because I am on team for a Women's ACTS retreat. I am so excited for that because I know that the time away is exactly what I need! 

Like, Love, Hate: I really like Karen Kingsbury books. If you have never read one by her before you are so missing out! I love my kids, most days that is. If you asked me today the answer would be no. I also really hate ketchup and do not even eat it. I cannot even really stand the smell of it! 

Hopefully I will be back later this week with some new things to share with you all! 

Tell Me Something Good...

I thought I would link up with my sweet friend, Jennifer, for her linky party! Have I mentioned that I have met her in real life?

The rules are easy, just simply share something good that is happening at home and something good that is happening at school. 

Home: I have been doing some serious reading lately. While I was in grad school I had so much required reading to get done, but now that I am finished, I have lots of free time to read what I want! I have recently started reading the Pretty Little Liars series and I am loving the books. I have never watched the TV series, and I do not plan to do so until after I finish all of the books. 

School: Oh there are so many good things going on right now. :) I am loving that we are finally in a good rhythm  We just wrapped up our Persuasion unit and now we are starting to review concepts and skills that were covered earlier in the year and making connections across genres. I have been searching for some good short stories to use with my kids and I have come across several great ones. Today we were reading "Unaccompanied Minors" by Jeff Kinney and they were so engaged! Any other good short story suggestions for me?  

Currently...

It is time for Farley's monthly Currently linky! Click here to link up with your own post!

Listening: I just love Say Yes to the Dress! This is one of my Friday night rituals each week! I especially love to watch it with my mom. Now if only there was a man in my life and I could maybe possibly think about planning a wedding! :)

Loving: The upcoming  Teachers Pay Teachers Sale! There are several things that have been in my cart for a while and you can bet I will be making some purchases this weekend! 

Thinking: In my town we run a basketball league for 5th and 6th grade students, both boys and girls. I am excited to get to watch them play tomorrow morning. They have been begging me to go, and I finally have a free Saturday morning. 

Wanting: iPads in my classroom...NOW! This past week we used iMovie to make some persuasive commercials and my kids loved it! I am really hoping to integrate the iPad more, but it is so hard only having one right now. 

Needing: More time to read. I have set a goal to read 75 books in 2013 and currently I have only finished 3 of them. I really need to get to work on this. I know I will read a ton this summer, but I would love to get 25 books in by the end of Spring Break. 

Pet Peeves: These are pretty obvious to me. :) The not coming prepared one is because of my 6th grade friends! I cannot tell you how many pencils I am asked for on a daily basis! I wish I could charge them for a pencil and it could become my margarita fund. :)

 

Currently...

The good news is that I am already holding up one of my goals for 2013 because I am blogging on the first day of the year. :) Now lets just hope that I can keep this up! 

I just love linking up with Farley (have I mentioned that I have met her twice in person now) for her monthly Currently party.

Listening: Hardly ever do I sit in my room without the TV on because I can not deal with the silence. Tonight's choice is one of my all-time favorite movies Mean Girls.

Loving: I absolutely love my job, but the fact that we get two weeks off for Christmas is pretty darn great too! I also loved that Christmas happened so quickly once we got out from school because I have really been able to relax after the holidays!

Thinking: I have a whole bucket of papers that need to be graded. I do not know what I was thinking! Luckily grades are not due until Tuesday the week we go back. I am usually known for getting them submitted about 10 minutes before our noon deadline. I also need to get some lesson planning done for the first unit when we go back. Luckily I have found some wonderful units on Teachers Pay Teacher to help me out! :)

Wanting: I remember that it was like the first day of school all over again when we went back for the spring semester last year. I am really wanting my students to remember all of our rules and procedures, but I know that we will have to do some reviewing. I already know that I am getting three new students from other teachers, so I am going to be up to 106 students for this semester. I already have a class promise activity planned and we will be doing some WBT review too!

Needing: Some serious organization is what I need! The spring is going to be crazy for me because I am teaching, taking my Principal Certification test, organizing and completing cheerleader tryouts, participating on an ACTS team, doing some staff development for the camp I am working at this summer, and graduating in May with my Masters degree. My new best friend is my Erin Condren Life Planner!

One Little Word: If you just read my needing section, it might be a little more obvious why I need balance. I need to find the right balance between school, faith, outside work, and me time. I have struggled with this and I really want to improve it!

2013 Goals and Resolutions

It is hard to believe that today is already the last day of 2012. Is it just me or does it seem like the year has absolutely flown by? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was immersed in grad school for most of the year, or that I am frantically trying to teach Language Arts to my 6th graders in a matter of at the most 55 minutes a day. As 2013 gets ready to begin, I thought I would share some of my resolutions/goals with you all. I prefer to call them goals because then I am able to work towards them all year long. :)

My Goals for 2013...

School

 

One. I want to use my conference period more wisely. On my campus we plan collaboratively for two of our conference periods during the week, but the others are ours to use. I feel that too often I get nothing productive done during that time. I need to use it to make copies, lesson plan, grade, or make parent contacts. 

Two. Learn to say no. I feel like I do too much and am afraid to say no when someone asks me to do something. There is too much on my plate and I am overwhelmed by it right now. I need to learn to say no when I get asked to do something. 

Personal

One. Take care of me. I have to admit that I have neglected my weight for quite some time because it has remained constant and I have not put more on. I am ready to change that and lose some weight. Any good tips out there? One of the first things I know I am going to work on is my caffeine intake because it is a bit out of control. 

Two. Read 100 books in 2013. I love to read and am so grateful that I am finally done with grad school because I get my reading life back! Since being on Christmas break I have already finished three books and I am working on my fourth. I love Goodreads and plan on using that to help me track my progress. If you are on Goodreads, follow me.

Blogging

One. Make sure that I am blogging at least two to three times a week. I usually post twice a week pretty consistently, but sometimes I fail to do so. I also want to make sure that I am posting pictures of the learning taking place in my classroom at least once a week. 

Two. Continue to grow my Teachers Pay Teachers and Facebook pages. I just started using these this year and I have loved what they have done for my blog!

What are your goals for 2013?

2012 Blog Best and Brightest-Linky

I am so excited to be linking up with Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for her year in review linky party. I thought I would share some of my most read posts this year, three things I have learned from blogging, and three of my favorite blog friends. 

First off, my three most read posts this year...

One. I shared about using the Daily 5 in my 6th grade classroom and shared some examples of activities that we did.

Two. I shared about the Interactive Notebooks that I use in my classroom. I cannot imagine trying to teach without these things. I absolutely love that my students leave my classroom with a tool that they can use for the rest of their educational careers. 

Three. I hosted my first ever big link party called "A Day in My Shoes." It was so neat learning about how a day is spent in different people's classrooms. I plan on doing this again sometime in January and hope you all will participate again.

Secondly, three things that I have learned from blogging this year...

One. There is such a huge support system out there that is filled with people who I do not even work with on the same campus. I have had some moments during the past year that I wasn't sure I really wanted to keep teaching. It is the amazing people like you all who gave me that encouragement to keep going. 

Two. Blogging and Pinterest are such great inspiration. I have really grown my blog and Pinterest over the past year. It has amazed me at how many friends I have made through the blogging world. I have also been lucky enough to meet several IRL too! I cannot wait for our Texas girls meetup on December 27th! 

Three. My Teachers Pay Teachers store really took off during the second half of the year and I have also used many purchases from there in my own classroom. This has been such a lifesaver for me, and I cannot complain about the extra income that I am making too! I just wish there were more middle school people on there! 

Lastly, three of my favorite blogs to read...

One. Ladybug's Teacher Files

If you have never been to her blog you are so missing out! Not only does she share amazing ideas from her classroom, I just love her tutorials and classroom organization tips. Kristen was the person that inspired me to get rid of my teacher's desk and I am still so glad that I did. 

Two. My Life as a Third Grade Teacher

I just love Lindsay and her super cute blog! I know that we have never officially met, but I am pretty sure that she would be my BFF. Lindsay made the move from 5th to 3rd this school year, but I still love her posts about how she incorporates Reading/Writing workshop into her classroom.

Three. Middle School Teacher to Literacy Coach

Kasey's blog is a recent find of mine but I instantly fell in love! Kasey has recently made the transition to a Literacy Coach on a middle school campus. This would be my dream job. :) I have loved reading about her journey and how she and her campus are implementing guided reading into the middle school classroom. I am hoping to implement some of her ideas into my classroom for the spring semester. 

 

 Be sure to click on Christina's link so you can share some of your blog's best and brightest moments of the year!