ISTE Conference 2011

Hi Friends! Happy summer to you all! I've been out of school for 2 weeks, and guess what? I'm at a technology conference! At least I'm in beautiful San Diego! I'm learning all about tech to use in the classroom. Overwhelming, but interesting! Have an enjoyable summer!

I'm joining the link party, too!

Bonnie, at Living a Wonderful Life, is having a cool linky party! So, of course I had to try it, since I do have some obsessions of my own.  Check out her site, and what everyone else is obsessed about-after reading my obsessions.

My first join in! Yahoo!!  And what a cute idea! So, what are my obsessions?? Well...

1. I'm obsessed with cute fonts and clip art! I think it's a little strange, however, I'm getting over the "weirdness" factor.

2. I LOVE blog-stalking and "stealing" ideas! I think if staring at a computer screen didn't churn my stomach after an hour or so, I would stay on all day long! I am so intrigued by what all of you incredibly talented teachers do! I get so many neat ideas, but then I have too many, so I don't know where to start or where to end, and my room ends up looking the same, and I don't create any of the cute curricular things I want! UGH!!!

3. I obsess over books!  Totally love Melissa Cruz and her Blue Bloods series, and Cassandra Clare and the "City" books.

                   

               




   4. Here's the worst obsession that I have, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I TOTALLY obsess over my weight!!  I am constantly trying to lose weight, eat healthy, exercise-all to feel like the biggest failure when I can't stop eating!! UGH!!  And as I always say, this summer, I am going to really focus on having a healthy summer, but making it fun!

I think those are about the gist of my obsessions.  Now I'm going to read what everyone else's obsessions are!

Great News!

Long time, no post-I know! But, I have a good reason...the Monday after testing, I got engaged!!!  My boyfriend popped the question a few weeks ago, right in our living room! It was the sweetest, simplest proposal, and I LOVED it!  So, as you can imagine, I haven't really had my head in the bloggy arena-let alone on teaching.  But, I'm back in my head again, so I'll try to focus on the task at hand-finishing up the last 4 weeks.  Yes-4 weeks left!!  It's going to be the longest 4 weeks, too.
We have Open House this Thursday, and as usual, I'm scrambling to get stuff up.  I am just NOT into work lately.  Does anyone else feel this way?  After testing, shouldn't the year be OVER??  Anyway, I'm going to try and enjoy the end of the year.  What do you do the last few weeks of school?

Testing Begins

So, as I had said, we started our state testing today.  I totally flailed this year, (not that I've done anything before), but I had this great idea to give my kids a little something to "pep" them up.  As I was in the check out line at Trader Joe's, I saw their Organic Pops, just sitting there, screaming at me, "You can do something with us! Buy us, lady!" So I grabbed a container, and went home. Hmmm...what to do with these things? What little saying can I put with 'Pops'??  I wracked my brains, and it wasn't until this morning at 5:00 AM, that it hit me! "Stay calm, the answers will POP into your head!" But, how to give this in a cutsie way? Ladybug's Teacher Files to the rescue! Thank you Kristen! She had mentioned www.misstiina.com on one of her awesome files, so I went there, downloaded oodles of borders and clips, and I can up with a cute little idea for my little darlings! And they loved them! Here's a picture of what I put on each desk before they came in to class this morning:

                                                                                                        

Folktales?

Happy Monday! We are testing starting tomorrow!! The positive is that I'm not giving homework, which is a break for me my kids! ;) So, with testing, we ease off a bit on hardcore curriculum, so I thought I'd teach Tall Tales; Fables; Folktales; Fairy Tales.  I've gotten a few items, but no units. Does anyone have or know of any cute units in these areas??  I'd be grateful!  Thanks!!
And good luck to all of you who still have testing ahead!

Home Alone

I don't know if I should be super happy this morning, or a little sad. My boyfriend left last night for Florida, and I am home alone for the week! It was weird sleeping in an empty house, except for the cat. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, and I feel very tired today.  However, I am a little excited to be on my own, because I think I'll be able to get more work done this week.  We start our state testing on Tuesday, and we have Open House on the 24th.  I need some good projects to do for that! Any fun suggestions?  Only 7 weeks left of this year! I can't wait! When are you all out?

Just saying Hi.

This will be quick, as I am trying to focus on getting grading done! I know I've been MIA for a few weeks, but that's because I was on Spring Break for a week, and last week, our first one back, was a little crazy since I somehow caught a cold, and was not feeling well for the last 5 days!  So, I haven't really had much to blog about.  We have our state testing coming up in a week, and I'm so worried that I haven't covered everything! I have to still teach double-digit multiplication and long division to third graders-NOT EASY!!  UGH! So, I definitely have my work cut out for me this week.  Suddenly, I feel so stressed out! But, the light at the end of the tunnel-only 8 weeks left! 39 days not counting Memorial Day. Yeah!!
Quick question: has anyone adopted a new reading program: Excursions? The publisher is Houghton Miflin Harcourt.  Please let me know, because I'm looking for teachers who either are using this program now, or will be next year.  Thanks!!