Currently August

Hey everyone! I'm back to link up with Farley for this month's currently!

Listening: I'm not really sure why I always choose to watch things like 48 Hours, Criminal Minds, and Unsolved Mysteries in the middle of the night.

Loving: Ah, I love my planner! I'll be posting soon about it & the cute stickers that I also ordered from Etsy!

Thinking: Moving on...

Wanting: My blog design is in its final stages, and I can't wait for it to go live. (It's live now! Don't you love it!) Kristen did an amazing job!

Needing: New job means new apartment. I'm moving about an hour north next weekend. Still have lots of packing to do. My cat, however, would much rather me leave all of the boxes empty so that she can pretend it's a fort.

B2S RAK: As the new school counselor, I'll be working with all of the staff in the building pretty closely. I'll be leaving them a welcome treat. =)

Click Farley's button above to link up!

Currently July

Popping in quickly to link up with Meghan for another Currently!

Listening: Nothing makes you feel like more of a bum that when the "Are you still watching..." notification pops up mid-binge.

Loving: Self-explanatory.

Thinking: Picture is worth a thousand words.

Wanting: Every time I hang out with my work friends, it makes me more sad to leave them next school year. I know this change is for the best, but that doesn't make it less painful! They are the best!

Needing: I've lost about ten pounds in the last month by cleaning up my diet. I have much more to lose, and I need to incorporate exercise to make up for my sedentary summer lifestyle!

All Star: I've always been told that I'm a great listener. So much so that I'm a popular person to vent to in various aspects of my life. This skill solidifies my career choice as a school counselor. =)

Click her button at the top of this post to link up! =)

June Currently

It has been a hot minute since I participated in a Currently, and since I have the day off today, I thought I'd jump in!

Listening: My poor, poor Phillies. We are in rebuilding mode, and it is painful. We've somehow won the past two in exciting, walk off fashion. It is exciting, though, to watch our future get their first chances in the big leagues.

Loving: Only 4.5 left with students. Only 7.5 til sweet, sweet summertime!

Thinking: End of the year obligations are bananas. So much paperwork. More just got dropped on my plate today that has to be sent to the school my kids go to next year. Looks like my teacher bag is going to be full this weekend.

Wanting: I had the day off today because I had an interview for a school counseling position upstate. Please send good vibes my way! I want this one, badly!

Needing: This week has been so rainy and blah. We took our annual trip to Washington, DC and had to eat lunch on the bus because it was just gross outside. Now, I'm not saying it needs to jump back to 90 degrees like it was this week, but 70s and sunny would be a great way to end the school year!

Summer Lovin': I can't wait to have more time to spend with my nephew, who had a first birthday a couple of weeks ago! My summer TV line up is a little ridiculous. This summer will include: Orange in the New Black, Orphan Black, Graceland, Extant, Under the Dome, unReal, Wet Hot American Summer, SYTYCD, Bachelorette, The Walking Dead spin off, and probably more I'm forgetting. I DVR everything and watch most of it while my boyfriend is at work. Because I'm nice.

Also, if you're a long time reader, you know that animal rescue is near and dear to my heart. I've been a foster mom for about five years, taking a break recently because I adopted one of my foster cats. I support anyone who is helping to make a difference in the lives of those with four paws! So, I made a donation to help WAG in Wimberley. I can't imagine losing everything, but losing a pet would just break me to the core. Think about donating to help board these displaced animals. Click over to Farley's site using her linked button below and help out. Every dollar helps. Thank you, Farley, for championing this cause!

I have a few posts that I'm finishing up, so you'll see me soon!

Better Late Than Never: Currently!

Without looking, I'm going to estimate my entry is somewhere in the 400s. We'll see! [Yup, #472!]

Listening: Any bachelor fans? More importantly, any reality steve fans?! How about those spoilers. Psh. [Hopefully by the time I post this, it will have aired on the west coast.] Now, I for one can understand Juan Pablo when he speaks, let alone his train of thought. But, it will definitely make for a fun season, which is exactly what I think the franchise needs!

Loving: My teaching BFF & I had a girl's day today! As I alluded to in a previous post, she is going through a hard time. I'm not comfortable posting in depth about it yet, but it severely affects their family. Well, we had a great day at the outlets! We shopped, grabbed lunch, and chit chatted the day away. It was fab, of course!

Thinking: Nevermind. In denial. Moving on.

Wanting: Um, there are tons of bags in my living room. And boxes. And bins from big lots. And a rug. And my apartment is small. Hopefully I can drop all this stuff off sooner rather than later.

Needing: This school year is going to be challenging. My teaching partner is likely to miss a good amount of days, which may make some days unpredictable. I'm getting a student teacher who is a relative of someone at our district office. Pressure, right? I'll be taking my last two graduate classes in the fall, followed by somehow completing 100 practicum hours with my school counselor in the spring. I will get through it, and I will handle it. My problem is always the anxiety leading up to things!

Must Haves: Um, well, my must haves are sort of shallow. Haha. But, my cut and color is on Thursday. My roots are out of hand. I have to look at my desk calendar everyday, so it needs to be cute. Lastly, I need a new teacher bag. I really want this one, but I haven't pulled the trigger on that purchase just yet [LLBean!]

I've loved reading everyone's posts, as usual! Go link up, unless I'm the last one!

Currently

Hey guys! Popping in to participate in Farley's currently. I've been on a currently hiatus for a few months. Luckily, it's like riding a bicycle. =)

Listening: Self explanatory. However, for giggles, I went and looked at my July currently from 2012, and I wrote almost the exact. same. thing. What can I say, homegirl likes her air conditioning. So predictable.

Loving: Similarly, I changed my blog design at right around this time last year. I have blog design ADD. But, I'm hoping to finish up and install it within the next week. One great thing about blog lovin' is that more readers will get to see it. Yay!

Thinking: I'm going with my mom to pick up her new foster dog from a transport van that brings animals up from the south. I went with her last time, and it nearly brought me to tears that all of those babies were getting a second chance at life.

Wanting: I don't cook. There, I said it. Well, scratch that. I could cook, if I wanted to. But I don't. So, I have sandwiches for lunch pretty much every day. I feel like my life would be so much more fulfilled if I had a chef to cook me different healthy, but yummy, stuff every day. A girl can dream!

Needing: On the last day of school, my teaching partner [and one of my best friends] got news that her husband is sick. I don't want to go into too much detail, but they are going through a lot with appointments and stress. They have two small boys at home. So extra thoughts and prayers for this sweet family would be appreciated!

Tips, Tricks, or Hints: I only make resources/products that I use myself, so I always test my products out on my kids before I put them in my store. It helps to iron out any kinks, catch mistakes, and assess the worth of the product. If you make things that aren't applicable to your grade level, ask a colleague [blogging or real life] to give it a test run. At least, let another set of eyes look it over. What else are husbands/boyfriends for? ;)

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Random news and thoughts...

1. Be on the look out for my Career Research pack. It is internet based and geared toward grades 3-5. It should be finished soon! My kids loved it when we did it in May, so I'm sure your kids would love it to as a beginning of the year or end of the year research writing piece.

2. Any baseball fans out there? How are your teams doing? Mine, not so hot. But last night was hilarious. Sorry if there are any Dodgers fans in the house, but geeeez. The Phils haven't scored that many runs combined in like two weeks worth of games. BTW, because the games are on the west coast, these late nights are really messing with my sleep sched!

3. How are you enjoying bloglovin'? I hate change, but I think I'm coping well. If you haven't yet, please follow me using the link on the top of my sidebar. I'm like the only person in blogland who didn't do the bloglovin' giveaway thingy. I sometimes have this complex that my stuff isn't worth it, so I get gun shy with giveaways and such.

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Okay, now go link up! I'm hoping to get in under 100. [yay, #62!]

Have We Met?

Oh my. Hello to those of you who still follow me in my tiny corner of the teacher blogging world. It has been a five month absence. I alluded to the fact that I was feeling less than inspired to blog in my last few posts, but now that spring break is here, maybe this will be the jump start that I need to get going.

Fingers crossed!

Here's the agenda!

1. Currently linky

2. New products I've created recently

Listen closely, you'll be quizzed at the end!

It has been so long since I've partaken in this linky!

Listening: Sports Final is a Sunday night thing on NBC just recapping Philly sports. Usually I am snugging solo in bed at this time on a Sunday, tossing and turning no doubt. But boys and girls, I am on spring break! Grown up appropriate bed time!

Loving: Well, without kids of my own, spring break is just a reaaaally long weekend for me. I usually don't have many things planned. And then I sleep the whole break away. Not this time, though. Boyfriend's birthday was yesterday, so we went to Atlantic City for the night. Today, I went out to the Cheesecake Factory [first timer here!] for Easter dinner [don't judge!] with my dad and sister. Now, I have a couple days of downtime, so I'm catching up on school and grad class work. On Wednesday, I'm off to Colorado for some family time until Saturday.

Thinking: That I miss this whole blogging thing!

Wanting: I gotta get back on my healthy eating kick. In the beginning of the school year, I lost about 15 pounds. Then, its been downhill since Thanksgiving. =(

Needing: Colorado is coming. Might want to bring clothes with me.

Advice: Be you! If you're outgoing, own it. If you're reserved [like me], own it. I've recently gone through some things where I feel like people are questioning my quietness. After some soul searching, it really isn't worth my energy to go against my natural personality, which is to be a listener and speak up when I'm passionate about my opinion. To connect that to TPT, blogging, etc, I would say not to compare yourself to others. I didn't feel like blogging for five months, so I didn't. At present, I only make products that I use myself in my classroom. Don't worry about what other people think, just be you. 

Because, well, you're great.

Like I need to remind you, but go link up!

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So, although I've been slacking on the old blog lately, I've still been creating some products that I've used in my classroom. Maybe they'd be useful to you as well?

I've made another task card/recording sheet product. They go along with 2nd-4th grade Common Core measurement [linear, mass, and liquid volume] math standards. Here's a preview. Click the link to head to my TPT store to check them out! [If you want an idea of how they look, download my free set of multiplication and division task cards while you're there!]

I also created a product that can be used to accelerate your upper elementary students, or it can be used in your middle school math classroom. It included placemats, both black/white for reproducing or in color for laminating, as well as a recording sheet, student/teacher directions, and playing cards. Students draw an expression and a variable. They evaluate the expression based on the value of the unknown. My kids loved it, and they were very engaged! =)

Right now, I'm working on a pack the is all about research! 

As I've mentioned, I'm currently in graduate school for my degree in School Counseling. I was inspired to meet some of the ASCA standards through my research unit that is coming up in writing. Right now, the pack includes lesson plans, graphic organizers, final draft paper, a brochure template, and a rubric. Anything else you'd like to see in the pack that would meet your classroom needs? If you post a suggestion that I end up using [and include your email!], I'll send you the pack for free when it is finished, which should be in the next couple days!

Before I go, sorry that I had to put the capsha code thingy back on the comments. The spam comments were out of control! Anyone have a better, blog commenter-friendly way to solve that problem?

Currently

Stopping in to participate in the July Currently hosted by Oh Boy 4th Grade!

I'm pretty sure it is HOT in most places in the US right now! We've had some rain, so we aren't in a drought or anything. We actually had a crazy storm in the area two nights ago. Power out across the region.

Thankfully, I didn't lose power. I'm a huge chicken. I probably would have cried. Then driven somewhere to be with people. Again. Wimp.

I can't believe it's July. My birthday is this month. The 1st anniversary of my 25th birthday! =)

My mom has the cuuuutest foster dog right now. She's a chi/terrier mix we think. Our shelter just pulled her from a shelter in the south. No way there were any pictures being taken of her. She's a wild woman! She walked down on the first pool step on her own and nearly gave me a heart attack.

My fave read aloud of last year was the Wind in the Willows. It's a classic, and my students were just hanging onto every word and visualizing every scene. I was really surprised they liked it so much! I'm looking forward to finding more great read alouds from the linky!

And yeaaaah. Confession. I don't do much professional reading. I learn much better through attending workshops and watching demonstrations. Not only that, but I'm also one of those "reluctant" readers. I need to be really interested/engaged when reading. Reading blogs is a great form of "professional reading" though. You all are reading machines! You read the books, put them into practice, and write about how they work in your classroom. I've learned so much from you all. Still, I'm really hoping to find a professional book or two in the currently link list!

i CURRENTLY can't please everyone.

You can't please everyone. I need to tell myself that. I'm ridiculous. Someone left me a 3.7 rating on the quality a product of mine at TPT. And it made me mad. The preview clearly shows what the product is. And it's of good quality. And cheap. Real cheap. UGH. I think it's just because I'm annoyed with just about everything right now today this week. This annoyance is probably going to continue until approximately 3:40 on Friday.

Approximately.

Took some pictures of my research project today, so the post will be up soon! I got so many compliments on my bulletin board with the craft on it! One of my kids literally brought in 100 TP rolls for the project. I wanted to keep the extras [youneverknowwhenyou'llneedthem]. But I'm pretty sure my new teaching partner [whocallsmeahoarder] wouldn't approve of large bags of TP rolls in the closet. So I sent my student down to the art teacher with them. Sigh.

Currently time!

I used a new font that I gathered from the last linky party that I joined! Not much explaining needed for this currently. Because I went to Jamaica over spring break, not much traveling is going to go on this summer. So I need to catch up with my college and high school friends. For my sanity's sake. I hate that I had to move away, and I truly feel like a piece of me is missing without my friends being close.

Go link up with Farley! I actually think that this is the quickest I've gotten to it! Probably because I'm avoiding the EOY stuff I lugged home in my bag. Que sara, sara my friends.

Me. Me Me. More me.

I was going to apologize for my absence, but you all understand. End of the year craziness. I have 25 days left. I'm super jealous of those of you who have made it to the single digits. Jeallllll.

Linking up with Farley! Go link up, especially if you've never done it. It's fun. Peeeer pressure.

Like many of you, I was told where I'd be next year! I'm team teaching with my friend, still in 3rd grade. We are so excited. Probably too excited. Like, we're probably going to get on peoples' nerves because we're so excited. 

And we just can't hide it. 

We may or may not have embraced in the hallway. 

Out of curiosity, how does that work at your school? Do you have any say where you get moved? Does your administration talk to you/ask for your thoughts before you get your assignment on paper, or do people get surprised? I've read on other blogs that grade levels get asked for volunteers to move before they choose someone. [That doesn't happen here.] One of my good friends was shocked when she saw a completely different grade level on her paper. Just curious how other schools do it. 

I'm honestly just thankful I have a job. Six teachers are getting cut [among other things]. I'm only in my third year, so before they threw out that number, I was a little worried. And six doesn't seem like a lot compared to numbers in the hundreds that I see in the news. My school district is tiny.

Sorry for the all about me post. That shall be my title. ME. And I got nothing for ya at the moment. Don't hold it against me.

Currently..

I'm linking up with Farley for Currently, April style! I'm still feeling down in the dumps, achy all over, just not good. But again, trying to keep my spirits up & keep my mind on other things.

Like praying my classroom isn't falling apart without me there. Things of that nature.

So I filled this out last night, but the internet here stopped working [typical], so I had to hold off on posting it. I totally forgot to make my DWTS prediction on here, but I would have been wrong anyway. If you're a viewer, what do you think about the new judging rule? They announced that now, the bottom two couples would have to "dance for their life". Okay, I stole that phrase from another one of my fave shows, SYTYCD. [So You Think You Can Dance for all of you less pathetic that myself!]

To explain a few of my answers:: Like I said, I've been out all week, then I'm really on Spring Break. I'm petrified to enter my classroom after spring break.  I'm still going to Jamaica on Sunday, and packing for that has literally been the last thing on my mind. I haven't had the time or internet connection to read the other blogs that linked up, so if I have the same super power as you, lo siento! My magic mute button would work wonderful on many people in my life at times [mom sister boyfriend, etc] But it would be especially helpful in the classroom. Picture this.. I'm working with a small group during centers. A noisy group is at the Read to Someone center. They are doing what they are supposed to be doing, but they are just. too. loud. MUTE. Problem solved!

I've realized that I've previewed/edited/won a few products that I never posted about, so I'm going to post about one now!

I won Mandy's Area and Perimeter Tic Tac Toe! I was so hoping to win this, because my class was testing out of this unit this week, and it would have been a great review for them. Well, life happened and I didn't get it ready, so we'll have to play in review for the DCAS coming up. I LOVE Mandy! She always has little giveaways, and she is SO generous! Go visit her blog & her TPT store! =)

Currently...

I haven't posted in two weeks.

I'm sure ya'll have heard the saying.. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

Well, I have nothing nice to say about school right now. I love my job, I really do. But I truly believe that I am being tested. I'm over handful of troublemakers. I'm taking it day by day, week by week, month by month.

Which brings me to this post! I was waiting for a positive reason to post, and here it is! Farley's monthly currently! I'm so happy that it's that time, I needed a reason to pop up on your google reader feed! =)

Like many of you,  I needed to google adjectives! Right now, "firm" is probably the nicest way to describe me in the classroom. I am faithful to my friends, 100%. I take their sides, and they can depend on me to listen or anything else really, even though I live over an hour away from most of them now. My family probably thinks I'm focused. Right now, I'm trying to figure out what to focus on in regards to grad school, but at least I'm focusing on being focused, right? =)

Go link up with Farley, who shares my initials! I'll be interested to see other people who needed to use F. Maybe I missed some better adjectives!

Hopefully I'll be back sooner than later with something insightful. Or at least positive!

Currently...

So I'm trying to ween myself off of using Picnic for editing images [because it will be going bye bye soon], so I used Pages [Mac] for this. Much more of a headache. On top of the massive headache that I already have. Gr.

So here's my link up with Farley! I've linked up a few times, and it is definitely something to look forward to each month!

One more thing....

The most unintentionally threatening Valentine's Day card ever written by a child..

Still laughing. Click it for the source. Hahahaha.

And on that note, gooooodnight!

Two Posts in a Day.. Sorry, but....

I am furious!

My hometown and surrounding area news announced yesterday that they are closing 49 Catholic school after the end of this school year. 44 elementary schools + 5 high schools = FORTY NINE SCHOOLS.

I understand that money is involved, and I won't pretend that I am fully educated on this subject. However, I just don't get it. My heart breaks for the thousands of students who are being uprooted. For the parents who will have to drive an hour to the next closest Catholic school to bring their children. In some cases, schools with highly successful academics, sports, programs, etc. are being closed, while schools without these programs, or even gyms, remain open. What? Again, I really don't know. If you have the answers, speak up!

What about the students? Class sizes at the other schools will be through the roof. The schools that I've visited don't have extra space for new classrooms to accomodate new classrooms/homerooms.
What about the teachers? So many lost jobs, when it is already close to impossible to find one.
What about the families? Will they be forced to public school their kids if their personal circumstances don't allow a switch for next year?

[[[I'll add that I have been public schooled since first grade, so this doesn't affect me directly. My dad's elementary school and high school were both on the closed list.]]]

END OF RANT! Sorry, I needed to vent to a crowd who will at least possibly kind of maybe feel my frustration!

Link up with Farley for her January currently! There's a giveaway tied into this one!

& don't forget to enter my giveaway for 25 bucks to TpT!

Things that shouldn't happen.

Today was insane. It can be summed up with this story:

We are very fortunate to receive fresh fruits/veggies from a grant a few times a week.

Today was mini carrots.

We took a few moments to enjoy this snack [with ranch, taking the health out of it].

Not one, but TWO of my kids begin to SHARPEN their  mini carrots with their [banned from my room] handheld pencil sharpeners.

Obviously they got ratted out.

Most of my kids have my back.

Not sure what the next three days will bring me. I'm unexplainably jealous of those of you who finished up on Friday.

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In other news, gotta link up with Farley! I'll have you know that I skimmed looked through all the other entries to try to make sure I picked a blog that no one else is stalking. So I TRIED to follow the rules. My B if I did not! =)

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Last but not least, there are some fun giveaways going on right now! Go check them out!

1. Lisa at Live, Laugh, Love to Learn in Second Grade is having a mystery giveaway!
2. Tara at 4th Grade Frolics is giving away three items from her TpT store!
3. Hope at 2nd Grade Shenanigans is giving away WHAT?! Her WHOLE store?! Why am I blogging about this, lessening my chances!

These ladies always have great ideas and thoughts that they share. Go follow them!

A Post Jam-Packed With Thanks!

So0o0o0o.. [I bet that o and 0 combo brought you back to the middle school days chatting on AIM. No? Just me?]

Tonight is my first night staying in my new digs. And I'm stressin'. Buggin'. So I'm still awake and bloggin'.

Parent conferences went fine today. I was supposed to have seven. Two didn't show up. So how many conferences did Ms. F have today? Five. And they were all productive. So I'm happy about that. Tomorrow is a day's worth of PD, and then my Thanksgiving break begins!

But let's go back to last week. We DCAS [state test, and yes, we use DCAS (pronounced dee-kas) as a verb] when we come back from Turkey Break, so I didn't have too much time to veer from the academia. But we did do two fun activities that I found via the blogosphere.

First, we used Denise's materials from Sunny Days in Second Grade. I was also kind of over hearing the typical "I'm thankful for.." shpeal. So we used her materials to come up with reasons we were thankful for objects that just don't get a lot of love, such as fire drills and potatoes. My kids had a ball with this. Especially when my challenging friend chose "baby wipes" out of the cup. Of course that would happen. I know thanksgiving celebrations are pretty much over, but this activity was so great, and even my most reluctant writers wanted to write and share! It's in my file for next year!

The other activity we did was Pumpkin Pie in a Cup. I saw this activity on a few blogs and on Pinterest. But I used the activity sheet from Teaching Heart. First, I passed out sequence graphic organizers to all students, and as we made this yummy treat, they filled in their graphic organizers with the steps. After they were finished indulging, they wrote a paragraph using their graphic organizer. I didn't use actual measurements for this, so next time, I'm thinking I need to tweak the canned pumpkin to vanilla pudding ratio! But the huge dollop of whipped cream made everything go down smooth anyway.

Of course, no pictures of either activity. I'm not that good.

Lastly, I'm going to link up with What A Teacher Wants & Oh Boy 4th Grade, using ms farley's sassy template!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

November's Currently!

I'm linking up with a majority of the teacher blog world with Farley @ Oh' Boy 4th Grade! She provided this wonderful little image, and I couldn't resist! Head on over & join her!

I edited this in Picnic. Anyone have a different way of customizing things like this?

To explain a little further, the boy is a Ravens fan, so I feel obligated to try to care about the game that is on TV now. But I'm not going to make it to much longer. I feel some kind of grossness coming on, but I'm determined to make it through this 4 day week. We have a field trip on Wednesday, and I will not subject a poor substitute to my crazy-ness, especially on a day like that!

Have a great week everyone! <3