Currently July

Linking up with Farley's July Currently!

All of mine kind of go together, but we are moving this weekend and I am so excited and nervous all at the same time. If you have read my blog, you know that my husband and I have been living with my mother in law for a few months.  I am so excited to just see my things - it's funny how attached you get to your "stuff" when it's been in storage for months.

We are moving into a significantly smaller home (about 850 square feet, yikes!).  I actually wanted to go small in hopes that it would force us to purge our junk and focus on living more simplistically yet meaningfully.   It might end up exploding in my face and meaning that we live like hoarders for a few years, but hopefully we can embrace the challenge ahead!  I've had this book in my library queue for FOREVER, but I heard that it is total inspiration for decluttering.

Has anyone read it??

Tonight I am making tostadas so we will see how they taste. I had eaten them at a friend's house before so I am hoping that I can replicate their righteous tastiness. Haha, yes you read that correctly! Righteous... ;)

Five for Friday

Whew - what a week! I'm so excited about telling my big news towards the end!  You'll just have to wait until the very end to find out!!

My mom is doing so much better from her stint in the hospital last week! I am so thankful and hope that she continues to get better quickly.  I will be back in Texas in a few weeks so luckily it won't be too long in between visits.  :)

I drove back from Texas on Wednesday and saw the most beautiful sunset ever! Sunsets are so magical to me and completely take my breath away.  It definitely made the drive a little less unbearable.

We went and saw Neighbors yesterday and went grocery shopping together for an impromptu day date. When did seeing a movie and grocery shopping become a day date? I guess this is what happens when you get older.  George and I love going grocery shopping together - does that make us dorks?

I have gotten a slew of new cookbooks lately and am excited to sit down today and scan through them today. Have any of you cooked with these before?

OK, so now here is the big announcement.  Haha it's probably only really that exciting for me, but big news none the less!

A few months ago I took a plunge and apply to be a Curriculum and Instructional Coach to see where it would land me.

My interview was early last week right before I left for Texas and I accepted the official offer on Monday!!! I still can't believe I won't be in the classroom next year. I need to go pack up my classroom sometime next week - whew that's going to be a doozy!  I know I am going to miss the kids and my coworkers, but I was ready for a change and am excited for new challenges and opportunities.  I am not sure what direction the blog will take but I am excited to be able to dive into multiple grade levels and be able to blog about a wide variety of topics!

Don't forget to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for your Five for Friday!

Monday Meet Me

I just found The Teaching Tribune's Monday Meet Me and love it! I love finding new blogs to follow and let's get real here people, everyone loves a linky party.  

I teach 6th Grade science and social studies in Peoria, Arizona and I just love this grade level. The kids understand wit and humor, but let's face it, are still babies. I know some people are horrified of teaching middle school, but the students are really just tall kindergarteners.  To be perfectly honest, I admire lower grade teachers SO much because I could never do that! I always picture cat herding in my head; you all are so patient to teach the wee ones.  

I have two chihuahua mixes that we rescued from the animal shelter. It's funny because I am actually not that fond of the chihuahua breed, but there are so many unwanted little chihuahuas here in Phoenix we just had to do it. They are our little sugar plums! :)

I watch way more TV than I would like. Please don't picture me as this couch potato that sits and watches TV all day with bits of Cheetos stuck in my greasy hair. It's not that bad, just more than I would like. Half the time it's just background noise for me, but I am going to try this summer to cut it down. 

We purchased a record player a year ago and we have absolutely love having it. I like to play records when we are cooking, eating dinner, or just hanging around at home. My husband and I also love to have day dates where we go record hunting in antique/thrift stores so it's become our "thing". 

The others are pretty self explanatory. :)  I can't wait to meet some of you via this linky party! 

Monday Made It - Adorable Bell Work Templates

It's the first Monday Made It for the summer!  I had a little bit of "teacher's block" with this one, but I dug up some old goodies and revamped them.

Whether or not you teach a grade level that has bell work, you can use these cute power point slides as part of your morning message or morning work.  I usually had my students answer two questions at the beginning of the class. They usually reviewed previous information or had them apply the information. Sometimes I would throw in personal reflection questions to support our behavior program, Capturing Kids' Hearts.

All you have to do is download the slides! None of them are PDF so you can easily just insert a text box to adjust them to fit your needs. Here's an example of how I used one.

I hope you are able to use some of these! To download just click the picture. Enjoy!  See a template for these beauties towards the bottom.

Science themed bell work or morning message template

Generic template for morning or switching classes - forms are just anything to turn in but like I said before, change it if it doesn't suit your needs!

Another one you can use for switching classes if needed.

Insert text on the white label.

Love this one - it's definitely my favorite and made for a math classroom. Word to the wise, if you don't have LD Shelly Script font downloaded the cute cursive won't show up. You can download it here.

Bright and cheery!

Here's a template that I photocopied for my students at the beginning of every week. All I would do then was duplicate the slide and add in my new questions and click save at the end so by the end I had a whole quarter of bell works saved up for the following year. Super easy and efficient!  Because I taught two classes but did so three days in a row (science for three days, social studies for three days, repeat) that is why I have the subject line.  I have uploaded it to Google Docs as a Microsoft Word document so you can edit it to suit your needs. :)  Click the picture below to download.

Remember to link up with Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics to show off your Monday Made It!

Currently June

I didn't even know it was June 1st!  It came so quickly!

I always love Farley's Currently designs - every month they just get cuter and cuter.

LISTENING:
Yikes! This show is so creepy! My husband has it on and I am not really watching it but there has definitely been some visuals/screams/creepy noises that have caused me to look up every now and then. I'm totally going to have nightmares tonight!


LOVING:
My husband and I have a new plan going right now - if I cook, he cleans, if he cooks, I clean. We will see how long it lasts but tonight he cleaned! ;)


THINKING:
I think French macarons are so beautiful.

I have heard they are pretty difficult to make, but would still love to try. Have any of you made them and have a really great recipe?


WANTING:
I usually am not someone who desires a beach vacation - usually I like city vacations. Lately, I have been craving just being whisked away to a remote beach. No cell phones, no internet; just me, my husband, a beach, and a good book.


NEEDING:
I am doing curriculum writing for the next two weeks and have an early start time of 8:00 AM which after sleeping in for a week I need to definitely set an alarm!

SUMMER BUCKET LIST:
1.  I have the fabric, I have a sewing machine - I might as well make it when I have the time.
2.  I want to make these honeycomb shelves for my dining room. I just love them!
3.  I want to lose weight - just really any weight. I don't want to put a specific number on it, I just want to be healthy and feel healthy.

Don't forget to link up with Farley's Currently!

Five for Friday

Yay for summer break! I am kind of sad that a week has already gone by in a flash! Hopefully the rest of the summer will go by really slowly. I know, yeah right...

Here were my top 5 from my first week of summer!

1.  I know I technically already blogged about this, but I am so so so glad that I repainted this desk.  It makes the room look so much brighter and happier.  I have been meaning to do it forever and finally got it done on Sunday. Happy dance!

2.  My vegetable spiralizer came yesterday and I am so excited to use it! Do any of you all have one of these? I would love some good recipes to use if you have any!

3.  I had ordered these little cuties a long time ago and they came in this week also (geez, it sounds like I shop a lot).  My husband is a big Star Wars fan so this is really the only way that I can sneak in a little embroidery into the house. They are so itty bitty!

4.  Tomorrow we are going to Tucson for the day and I am really excited! I have only been once before.  There's a few things on my to do list but I don't want to ruin it since I will most likely blog about it sometime next week.

5.  Tonight I have a dinner with some friends celebrating one of our own who got an Assistant Principal placement recently. We are so excited for her and there was some stiff competition! We made her the cutest little present and I will share more about it tomorrow, but here's a little sneak peek. :)

I hope you all had a marvelous week and if you aren't out of school yet then hopefully you will be soon!  Be sure to link up to Doodle Bugs Teaching to share your top 5 from the week.

Currently May

It's MAY!!!! That means that I only have 16 more school days left of school until summer break!!! Let's take a moment to appreciate that...

OK, I'm done with my small party for one celebration.  

LISTENING: My husband is watching Game of Thrones so really it's background noise for me. I hear great things about Game of Thrones and I really have tried to watch it, but I think since I wasn't fully invested when it started, it's just all over for me. Every time I try to watch it, this is what it sounds like: "Wait, who is that?" "Is that his brother?" "Wait, which family does she belong to?" "Why does she have dragons?"  Too many characters for me to keep track of, but of course it might help if I have seen every episode and not 8.3% of them.

LOVING: We had a family night tonight; I was pretty sure that no one was going to show up and a TON of families did! It might have been because we served food, but I like to think it was because they wanted to see our historical posters and were chompin' at the bit to play our math station games. ;)

THINKING:  That I am so excited that tomorrow is Friday!!! Who's with me?? Not to mention that on Saturday, I am going to a really exciting event called Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market that I am so pumped for.  Anyone else from Phoenix going to that?

WANTING:  Ice cream...  I love love love Jeni's Ice Cream. It is expensive, but so good.  My favorite flavor is the Brown Butter Almond Brittle. Holy cow, no joke, you guys have to try it.

NEEDING:  I have to leave for school pretty early from my house (around 6:30 AM) so in order to get as much sleep as any normal lazy person needs like myself, I have to do everything the night before. Get the coffee ready to go, pack my lunch and breakfast, etc.  It's kind of a pain, but I would rather do it the night before than be in a panic the next morning.

SURPRISE: Who doesn't love freebies? If any of you do socratic seminars in your classroom you have got to check out Lisa Tilmon's Socratic Seminar Circles Numbers. They are awesome and have helped so much with organizing my students.  Thanks Lisa!!!

Don't forget to link up to Farley's Currently to complete your own!

Five for Friday

I am so so SO happy it is Friday! This week felt so long and I am pretty sure all weeks will until the end of school. Only 20 more school days left, people!

***Side Note: To be honest, this group that I have this year is so wonderful. They are my little sugar plums. I will probably be crying buckets on the last day of school.

Here are my top 5 from this week:::::

1.  WAFFLES
George and I ate at a waffle food truck last night. It was incredible. I can not even tell you all how amazing it is. I try not to eat sweets that often so this was in pretty rare form for me and I was definitely going to document it.  George got something called the Scoop and I got something called the Mellow.  If any of you live in Phoenix, you have to check out the Waffle Crush food truck.

2.  GALLERY WALL
I finally put up my gallery wall in my living room. It's not done yet; I still have a few more things to hang, but I am so happy that these frames are on the wall finally and not on the *ahem* floor collecting dust.

3.  NEW SHOES
I went DSW and fell in love.  These shoes are perfect and make me smile! They don't make my feet smile yet though, but they'll come around.

4.  DISTRICT TESTING
We finished up our Reading AZAC tests this week and our kids rocked it! We take ours on the computers so the kids can see their score immediately which is a huge motivator for them. I love seeing how excited they get and celebrating with them. One kid almost moved me to tears he was so happy with himself and his progress.

5.  WEEKEND
I get to hang out with these cutie pies all weekend and nothing is better than that. :)

Be sure to link up with Doodle Bug's Teaching Blog to blog about your Five for Friday!

March Goals

The Babbling Box has started up a linky party setting goals for March. I love goal setting! I feel so accomplished when I can cross off (or, er, digitally cancel out??) a goal or even just something simple on a to do list.  It's kind of my favorite.

1.  Keep my garden ALIVE - or maybe plant more plants in it. This is going to be difficult because my basil is already dying...

2.  Organize our closet under the stairs. Carefully. Watch out for evil gnomes.

3.  Repaint my family's ancient desk.

4.  Workout at least 3 times a week. I mean, c'mon, quit being so lazy, sheesh.

5.  Have a cocktail craft party.  I really can't think of two things I love more together in one.

Who else is going to set goals for March? Join in on the fun!

Currently March

I love Farley's new blog design - if you haven't seen it you have to check it out.  Her Currently March looks a lot like her new website so here's a little peek-a-poo to her new blog design.

Listening:  My husband plays candy crush a little too much... I used to, but then I decided that I had better things to do (but really it's because I couldn't get past a level, let's be honest here).  Have you guys seen this video about candy crush addicts? It's hilarious!


Loving:  This is pretty self explanatory and probably my biggest accomplishment this weekend. It's pretty blog worthy.


Thinking:  My grades close next Friday and I can't even express to you the amount of grading I need to do before then.  It's sick.


Wanting:  I really need a new couch. We haven't actually had our current couch for that long, but it's made from a dark microfiber corduroy which makes it look disgusting at all times! No matter how many times I clean or vacuum it, it always looks like a lint/pet hair trap. What is that stain? I have no idea! What is that weird crumby flaky mess? No clue!  Never again.
This is the one that I want... so purty... I am not sure about the color yet, but it will take us like 10 years to save up for the couch so we have some time to make that very important decision.

Needing:  I keep thinking that I should only blog when I have done a groundbreaking DIY or when I have taught something mindblowingly (word?) spectacular to my students. Because of those ridiculously high expectations, I end up blogging only half of the time that I should be doing. Let's face it, not every day of teaching is so special that you can blog about. Not every day is occupied with DIY wondrousness.  I need to blog about things that make me happy because in the end, our blogs are for us.


???????????:  These are the three chores that I hate to do most around the house. Mostly I was thinking about them because I know I have to do them this weekend.  The dread has commenced!

Student Valentines

Don't you just love Valentine's Day?

I always struggle every year on what to make for my students. I want to do something cute, but don't want to spend a lot of money and definitely not a lot of time because let's face it; they just want to eat candy, they don't really care about cutesy stuff at that point.

I wanted to do something different since I didn't want to add to the candy chaos that will not doubt ensue come February 14th.  I was browsing around Target when it hit me! Enter: Angie's Popcorn.

Target sells these little snack packs that make perfect Valentines for teachers or parents that don't want to doll out high fructose corn syrup to their cute little nuggets.

I don't think I will be a huge fan of the "vanilla cupcake" flavor, but it's a good thing they aren't for me. :) It was either this or the Tutti Fruity flavor.

Instead of using the pre written on method of personalizing my bags, I decided to go a more crafty route.

I created printable labels (see below for the freebie) that I just tied on to the bags. I think this project took me about an hour (or at least two episodes of Pioneer Woman, however you choose to view time).

I printed the labels on printer paper, but I would've used card stock if I had some handy. I used my paper trimmer to cut the hearts out.

I just hole-punched two holes into the top of the single serving bags and the papers careful not to break the seal.

I then used baker's twine (I found mine at Target in the dollar section) to tie the paper onto each bag.

I love how they turned out; super cute and easy! I decided to put the label on the back just because I thought the front of the popcorn bag was really cute and I wanted it to be displayed and not covered.

OK so now repeat these steps one billion times, haha!

Click the picture below to download the labels if you are interested in creating these for your students.

Don't forget to add a little note on your loot if you don't want your husband to eat it, haha!

I hope you all are able to use this! Enjoy!