End of School Countdown Day 6 - Breakfast

Oops! A day late on my end of school countdown. Oh well, better late than never right?  Since I have to drive so far to school (about 45 minutes) I usually leave pretty early in the morning and I am not usually hungry at the crack of dawn.  I usually need something healthy, filling, and on the go. Here are my three favorite go to breakfasts from this school year.


Creamy Chocolate Avocado Smoothie from Against All Grain

I know you are thinking, ok Heather, a smoothie for breakfast? That's not really filling... Trust me, this one is! It has avocado, banana, almond butter, almond milk; it really does fill you up and keeps you satisfied for a while.  I think it is absolutely delicious and you really can't taste the avocado.


Overnight Maple Blueberry Oatmeal

Oh my gosh, I just love this. This has been my go to breakfast for so long for so many reasons: it's easy, you can make it the night before, it is so portable because you can make it in a half pint mason jar.... I really just can't say enough good things about this.  When blueberries are on sale I buy a ton of them and then flash freeze them. That way I can make this year round no matter if I have fresh blueberries or not! I just put a small handful of frozen ones in when I make it the night before and they turn out perfect the next day.


Avocado Toast

I don't really know how healthy this is, but it is darn tooting good. Just grab some bread, whatever your poison is and toast it. Put some Veganaise on it and top with some sliced avocado. Smush the avocado a little bit, put some Spike seasoning* on it, and a little squirt of lemon juice.  Sooo delicious!

*If you haven't tried Spike seasoning you should because it is pretty tasty. You can find it in most grocery stores in the dry spices section.

What are your go to early morning breakfasts? Do you have time to eat breakfast at home in the morning or do you have to take it on the go like I do?

End of School Countdown Day 7 - Remembering Our Best Moments

I just love Graffiti Walls! I decided to put one up in the hallway and let the students "go to town" remembering back on their favorite moments throughout the year. Well, "go to town" might be a relative term, there are four magical rules that go along with our graffiti wall...

I have loved seeing what stuck out most to our students throughout the year. Of course, everyone is picking the most recent event which was field day, but some students have been reaching for the stars a little more and going back in time more than 3 weeks.

Here are some of my favorites...

This student wrote about when we mummified hot dogs in the science lab. It was totally disgusting but fascinating to see how the baking soda preserved the hot dogs much like natron preserved the mummies in Ancient Egypt.

This girl cracks me up! I am not sure why this is her favorite moment, but it just fits her personality so well. I am also not sure why her nickname is "Hobo" - just go with it and don't ask questions, I do.

Of course the teachers need to take part in the festivities. Here's mine.

Quite a few students need to still complete their square and it has been a little difficult to find the time to have them go out in the hallway to finish.  It's been a cute end of year bulletin board and a fun activity for the kids.

What would you write on your graffiti wall from this school year???

End of School Countdown Day 8 - My Adorable Students

Have you ever had that group of kids that just makes your heart melt? I have been through a lot of classes and a lot of grade levels and this one is my favorite group by far.  They are so kind and considerate of one another and have this perfect combination of innocence and maturity.  They make me want to come to school every day and become a better teacher. They inspire me every day with their good hearted nature and ability to have a great attitude no matter what lands at their feet (well, haha, most of them at any rate).

I have to tell you one quick story and, no, this post doesn't include any freebies or pictures - it's just a good old fashioned story. The names in this story have been changed for confidentiality purposes but mostly it's just fun to come up with quirky nicknames. 

We had field day a few weeks ago and my class was just getting slaughtered - by slaughtered I mean every other class was beating us in EVERY event. My class definitely does not have talents when it comes to hand/eye coordination.  

We were playing kick ball and we were versing another class in our grade level. The other team was on the field and we were up to "bat".  The next student up to bat was Wolfgang. Wolfgang never really hangs out with other kids and is kind of a loner; he marches to the beat of his own drum and often will be seen skipping and playing by himself.  The kids all really feel protective over him though.  Wolfgang goes up to kick and we all brace ourselves as he kicks the smallest little bunt you have ever witnessed. As he races down to first base, something happened that I will never forget.  The other class started messing up purposely to let him get a home run. One girl, Prudence, kept picking up the ball and dropping it, over and over again. As Wolfgang rounded second base, one boy (we will call him Sasquatch) dove over the ball in a dramatic fashion completely missing it by 3 feet.  The ball was then thrown clear out into outfield so far from any human occupancy.  As Wolfgang crossed home plate, we all cheered our hearts out for him. He was so excited and I was bawling like a baby behind my heart shaped sunglasses.  

It's moments like that that make me so honored and blessed to be their teacher. 

End of School Countdown Day 9 - Classroom Management

This isn't the most revolutionary idea for classroom management, but it's a cute one.  I got this idea from my mentor teacher during student teaching and have been using it ever since. It's a "May Bag". Do you all use this or have ever seen it? I love it, but to be honest things very rarely get put into the May Bag these days. When I taught 2nd grade it got a lot more use because it would be filled with random legos,  action figures, etc.

The idea is relatively simple and we have all encountered it. A kid brings something to school and even despite a friendly warning/reminder, they continue to play with it. The mighty May Bag now enters into the equation.  Once a toy goes in there, it stays until May (dun dun dun!!).  The last day of school I go through the May Bag and it is always pretty funny because the kids either had completely forgotten about their item or no one even knows who it belongs to.  I had to make a rule that if there is any arguing over an item and its owner, then it gets "put away until next year" (aka usually thrown away).

Here's your very own May Bag sign for your classroom. Make sure you choose a jazzy, flashy bag - the more attention getting the better! ;)  Click the picture below for the link to download. Enjoy!

End of School Countdown Day 10 - Coffee

COFFEE...

How I love thee.  

I understand everyone may not appreciate this post because not everyone likes coffee. My husband hates it and I have been perhaps a little persistent (aka downright forceful) at trying to get him to like it. I have this fantasy that when we are old and retired we will drink coffee together in the mornings in our rocking chairs out on our fabulous porch. And that fantasy just gets ruined if he is drinking a soda! But I digress, back to the topic at hand. :)

I don't know about you all, but there are some mornings that I just want iced coffee. Especially here in Phoenix, it gets so toasty the last thing you want to do is cuddle up to a nice mug of hot joe.  Iced coffee is such a pain because if you pour hot coffee over ice, it just gets all watered down and then you have this weird cold, watery, burnt tasting coffee. Yum...

I saw on a blog the idea to make iced coffee overnight in your french press and it is AMAZING and totally works.

The night before when you are getting ready for the next day, put however much coffee you would normally use in your french press with however much water you would normally use on top of that. I usually pour in two cups of water and add in 4 heaping tablespoons to that.  That might be a lot or too little, everyone is a little different about how much coffee they put in their machine.  

Ignore my messy fridge.

Stir together and push the lever down, just to the liquid level and then stow away in your fridge over night. The next morning, push down the lever into that dark mud liquid gold and that my friends is the best iced coffee you are ever going to make at home.  I usually just add milk or half and half at this point and enjoy!

A little variation that I have done in the past is to add like 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and part of a cinnamon stick (2 inch piece) to the coffee liquid the night before and that's delicious! More of a special occasion iced coffee.

If you love sweetened coffee but want a more natural sweetener, you can mix a little maple syrup into your milk or half and half.  Swirl them together in the glass first and then add your iced coffee and that is super delicious too.  

Have you all ever tried this? If you don't own a french press and are a coffee fan, you should definitely make thine way to a store nearest you to purchase one.  They are amazing!  I hope some of you can use this "recipe" and share any variations that you discover with all of us! 

The Countdown Begins

It's almost summer!!! 10 more school days are all that stands between me and freedom. Well at least for a week until school starts. I thought I would use these ten days as a blogging celebration and each day blog about a theme of something that has gotten me through my year which, by the way, has definitely been my best year of teaching so far. Who would've thought year seven would be the lucky one?

Day 10:  Caffeine (I mean, let's be honest, that should probably be #1, obviously)
Day 9:    Classroom Management
Day 8:    My adorable students
Day 7:    Remembering our best moments
Day 6:    Breakfast (random, yet essential)
Day 5:    Organization
Day 4:    Giving Gratitude
Day 3:    Routines
Day 2:    Home
Day 1:   Appreciating the little things

Anyone else close to the end of their school year????  How are you celebrating?