I'm Still Here and October's Currently-a little late

Spooky October greetings to my friends in blogland!
I have missed you all. Never fear, though I haven't written I have been reading as much as I can to keep up with all of the great new friends I made this summer.  I have seen some awesome ideas- some I've even tried out in my classroom already and some I have in the "To Do at a Later Date" file.

I cannot believe I have not be able to sit down long enough to to write!  This fall is really kicking my backside and I'm not even sure why.  I have a great group of kids, no new curriculum to trip through and things are moving along at a fairly normal clip on the homefront.  I am just hoping that things settle in soon before the real craziness of the the holiday season kicks in too!

For this, my first blog back I am joining in with Farely over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her Currently link up.  I sooooo love this linky! I really enjoy reading what everyone is up to- I've funny how many things we have in common all across the country :)

Listening... the loveliness of siblings getting along for once.  No fighting just playing- music to my ears. Hopefully it lasts 'til quiet time!

Loving... my class.  Doesn't that just say it all?  I have a super bunch of fourth graders who are not afraid to try new things and are really coming together as a team.

Thinking..... I really do need to start correcting papers since they won't correct themselves.  Midterms were sent out last week and it felt like a marathon of making sure I had everything current.  How can it only be Tuesday and my bag is full yet again?!?!

Wanting... a personal assistant/secretary/maid/cook. Need I say more. LOL

Needing... a day to get reorganized.  Seems like I'm running around like a headless chicken and some things are not getting back where they belong.  Those first units I had laid out are almost done and it's time to get out the next round.

Treat...my treat is a book recommendation.  If you haven't picked up Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein  you are really missing out!  I read about this one over at Eberopolis and was intrigued, so of course had to order it from Amazon that day.  I started it Saturday with the intent to read an hour then finish my housework....didn't happen had to read it all in one sitting!  

Well that's it for tonight.  Those papers are calling my name.  I solemnly vow to get at least one blog post up a week from now on. (I'm making a date with my computer for just that purpose and putting it on my calendar LOL)

Currently and setting August Goals

Wow.  I can't believe it is suddenly August.  Part of me says yeah it is about time to head back to school while the other part is hollering "Are you crazy? You have so many things to do yet!"  Guess the two parts are just going to have to compromise. LOL
Well, since it is August that means it's time to link up with Farely at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for the monthly Currently party and Jesse at I {Heart} Recess for the new months goals.  I love these two link ups.  The Currently posts are great to see what everyone is up to-it's funny how many things we bloggers all have in common.  I really liked linking up with Jesse last month for the Goals..it kept me honest and gave me more focus to get those goals accomplished since I'd actually written something down and shared it with the world (What was I thinking?!?) No really it was all good.

Without further ado, here they are:

 I think these are pretty self explanatory, so I'm going to leave it at that.  My book is really calling my name and it is not a professional book hehehe.  My dining room table has been my "office" this summer so everything I've been working on for school is ALL over it.  It's a good thing we have a small table in the kitchen or there wouldn't have been places to sit down and eat.

Personal:  The kids' schedules keep me running and I tend to get a bit obsessive about school, so I don't often take time just for me.  I want to be better about that this year and strike a better balance.  How do you all do it balance work, family and personal time?

Organization:  I love how my room looks at the start of the year all fresh and tidy, everything in its place.  Unfortunately when I'm in the thick of planning and teaching I don't always put things back where they belong in a timely manner, so this year I am making a standing appointment each week to file and put things away that have accumulated that week.

Professional:  I am team-teaching with our grade level resource teacher this year.  I am really hoping we can plan things out better this year to mesh our teaching and lessons better than we did last year.

Students:  I love making those personal connections with students.  They really respond and give you all they have plus some when you know and understand them as more than the little person in the classroom.

Motto: "Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he is born in another time." I've really been doing a lot of thinking about how kids learn and respond to education today.  It is so different from when I was a fourth grader. I honestly think how kids learn has changed in the past 20 years I've been teaching.  It isn't enough to teach the way we were taught as educators we need to rise to the challenge and find ways to engage our students' minds and foster their learning in a ways that works for them.

Ok, that's it for me.  Now it's your turn.  Be sure to head over to check out the other goals and currentlys going on.  Here's to enjoying the last days of summer!

Monday Made Its- A Little Late

Sorry I've been MIA this past week.  It's been hectic but productive.  I have a few new crafty, cute projects I have been hard at work on plus a major classroom overall. (The hottest week of July, guess who decided she should paint all the bookcases in her classroom...a room without windows or air conditioning I might add) Yep that was me.  I will say the shelving looks marvelous-no pictures today but I promise to add some as I get things put back together.

Ok for my Monday Made It (yes, I know it's Tuesday but I was crazy swamped yesterday and didn't really feel like getting on the computer at 11:30 before I went to bed) I have a couple projects I have finished up.

MMI #1: READ Letters.

I've seen these on several blogs and different Pinterest pins and just had to make a set for my room. I just happened to be in Hobby Lobby for their 50% off sale on scrapbook papers and cardboard letters so the time was right.  Today I attached the letters to ribbon and am going to hang them on the wall in my room library.  I'll be putting up pictures of my new library once I have it all put back together so you can see how it came together.

MMI #2: Teacher Binder

This year I decided to try something a little different. I typically keep my schedules, calendar, notes and other important teacher information in a large binder. Its bulky and I don't like to haul it plus my laptop to meetings. So I've been working on my teacher binder off and on for the last few weeks.    I recently found out I can have a spiral bound notebook made for $3.50.  I can customize it to what I need (think I need) and organized how I want it. I do my lesson plans on the computer so I don't need a section for lesson plans.  (I am going to use planbook.com this year-but that's for another post.)  I have a spot of a week at a glance-I laminated it so I can use it over again rather than have 36 different pages, a calendar (which I have already plugged the important school dates), a note section for meetings, and my roster. I am also putting in a section for my substitute information with procedures but that section is still in the process as I team teach I want to hold off to be able to talk with my teaching partner before I finalize it all.  I am super pleased with the sections I have done and can't wait to get it all finished up and bound.

MMI #3: ELA I Can Statements

My third MMI for this week is my set of I Can statements for English Language Arts.  I am super tickled with how these turned out.  For each standard I used a different colored edge to help make them easy to organize. Next I need to get them laminated and they will be ready for my new bulletin board.

Well, that's it for right now.  I have a few other projects I want to wrap up for next time.  Two more Mondays before we officially start back.


                                                    Until next time...