A Boring Summer?

So, this is just a quick post that has nothing to do with anything.  Have you ever been sitting around, and just had no energy or motivation?  You have things you could be doing, but all you find yourself doing is laying on the couch. That is me today.  I have things I could be doing, lots of them, as a matter of fact. However, I just don't have the oomph to get them done.
What do you do when this happens?

Reading in the Wild day #2

Book Study day two, and boy am I going to learn a thing or two from our hostess and everyone else! Click HERE to see what Jivey and everyone else does for their reading schedules.

So, I read and reread the section for today, "Creating a Workshop Schedule That Works for You", and here's my take.

Miller says we 'take on too much, then say we can't teach the right way. We make up excuses,' I read that and I thought, "Yikes! that was me last year!" I honestly felt like I couldn't teach a thing because my class wouldn't stop talking.  So nothing got done.  Miller says, "It is our implementation and management..." I know one of the things I need to work on for this coming year is my management for sure!  But I need to figure out the implementation, too.  I don't think I've REALLY thought about what I want to include in my reading time. At my school, we really have the freedom to do what we want. We don't have pull-outs, except for our RSP students, and that teacher works with us for scheduling. (I haven't had any RSP students for a while, but I think I'm getting 1 or 2 this year).  But, other than that, we teach how we want.  Our biggest block of time is in the morning, so most of us do our Language Arts then.  We get 2 hours before recess. This is when I  focus on reading and grammar.  I would love to try a more Reader's Workshop approach, though, and I think that would help with my "implementation" problem.  So, this has been my struggle. However, this book has opened my mind to some new ideas.  Actually, this book study, reading what everyone else does, has opened my eyes.  Thank you, new friends!

Mid-week Happiness

It's  the middle of the week, and I'm so happy right now! Okay, not necessarily because it is Wednesday, that doesn't really matter, but because I have "blog-met" the sweetest person! And, she has an AWESOME blog to boot! So if you are not following ideas by jivey, then you better click  on that link! No, I mean it, do it now...because you will be inspired. I know, I was.

The other reason I'm pretty happy today is because I made it to the gym for a second day in a row. (doesn't sound like much, I know, but at this point, for me-that's something!) <yes, I agree, a bit pathetic. Ho hum> And, I made a very healthy salad for lunch. Sometimes, you have to give yourself a pat on the back when no one else is around. (my cat can only reach so far)
Doesn't that look pretty healthy??
                                 

I hope you are all enjoying yourselves today.  Don't forget that tomorrow is the second day of the book study for Reading in the Wild. Stop back by to see what I thought of this next part.

Monday Meet Up Linky

It's Monday Meet Up time with The Teaching Tribune!

It's time to learn some new things about me you probably didn't know.  Just remember, we all have our little nuances that make us who we are...HA HA!  Don't forget to click the button above and read about others.

Ya know when you do that??

Happy Saturday!  So, ya know when you have to run out somewhere, like the post office, and that's all? But, you end up doing more than you planned? Well, that was me today.  I was only going to run to the post office to pick up a package for my honey, and then off to GNC to check if they had something (which they didn't).  I ended up doing both of these errands, but...as I was walking over to Trader Joe's (ultimate fav grocery store), my eyes caught on this cute 4th of July garden post that I thought I had to have.  (turns out it was more money than I cared to spend)  However, my eyes were GLUED to this most adorable throw pillow that I just HAD.TO.HAVE!!  Before I knew it, my hands grabbed the pillow, my fingers pulled out my wallet, and suddenly, I was walking out the door, with a new accent for my couch!  Totally cute, huh?

This is one side

This is the other side

Do you do that?  What was your last impulse buy?

Hello Summer!

Well, hello there, Summer! I'm so glad you're back! I've been missing for quite some time myself. As I ended a very rough year, I decided to do absolutely nothing in June that was related to school. All I dreamed of was working out each morning and reading the rest of the day. Ahhh...but, reality isn't the stuff of dreams, is it? Not exactly...

So, here is how my June has really been...a few days of working out, just not first thing in the morning.  And yes, I'm HOPING that I will get to the gym more days each week. Today was the first day this week! Yay!  As for the reading, well, I actually have been reading quite a bit. And I'm super happy about that!  (I'll tell you more about that in a sec)  I have been hanging out with the hubs on his days off, and we've been doing fun things-yay. And the rest of the time? Yep-nothin'. Nada. Zilch.  Hmmm...so, I don't know. I guess I'm sort of doing what I wanted to do. And I think, maybe I want to accomplish more than what I set out to do. :)

And so, after my lofty dreams of nothing, I've decided I'm ready to start being productive. So, I am going to stalk all of my favorite teacher blogs and start motivating myself to get ready for the B-E-S-T year ever! Rah, rah, rah!

As far as the reading goes, I joined in on the book study for Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller with Catherine from Brown Bag Teacher. I'm LOVING this book! I'm not always one to enjoy reading those professional books, but this is a great book, and I really like being able to see what the other people say about the book. So, if you haven't joined the reading train, get on it!

I am going to honestly try to blog more this summer, because I really want to...
Stay cool in the summer sun.