Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tri-State Blogger Meet Up, Valentine's Day, and CALLING ALL CREATIVE MINDS!

So, since my computer at home is on the fritz, and I am pretty close to being caught up with everything, I thought I would use my only free moment of the weekend to do a quick post!! Since we have had a snowday-less year so far, we have a long weekend, which is fabulous, but super busy! Things are finally starting to come together with the wedding, and with our last competition in 2 weeks, the dance season is starting to wind down, so I will have a liiiiittle more time to blog! Hopefully!

First of all, I know this is a little delayed, but I have to tell you how much fun I had at our Tri-State blogger meet up in Cincinnati on the 4th! Thanks SO SO much to Michelle and Abby for organizing the whole thing! We had such a great turn out and I got to meet so many sweet, fun, and interesting teachers! We met at the Cheesecake Factory at the Kenwood Mall, and spent 4/5 hours just eating, talking, gossiping, etc... It was a BLAST! I hope we do it again sometime!

What a turnout!! Incredible ladies right here!! 
Myself and these FABULOUS hostesses! Michelle (above) and Abby (below)
LOVE you girls! :)



New Friend! Amanda from One Extra Degree!

Second of all, I have to post about how much fun my kiddos and I have been having with all of this Valentine madness going on around us! Even though this January/February, no-break-in-sight gloom is my least favorite time of the year, I LOVE Valentine's Day! There is something about it that just brightens my life! Probably because I am a total girl and love all things pink, frilly, sparkly, and lovey! This year I was so thankful for the blogger community because I have gotten to use SO many of the fabulous ideas I have swiped borrowed from you fabulous, creative people! :)



First, my kiddos made these "love monsters" for their valentine holders! I got the idea and all of the templates from Lindsey at The Teacher Wife. I downloaded her All You Need is Love Unit from her TPT store. We also got to do all of the other fun activities in the unit, but the kids absolutely LOVED making those little love monsters! One of my little sweeties even made one for me at home on her own time, so that I could have something to put my valentines in! :)

I also took full advantage of a few other awesome Valentine Units, but of course, I left my camera at home and did not take pictures on the days we did them!
The first activity is Abby's Sweetheart Snatcher Unit. I used her Candy Corn Bandit unit back in October and fell in LOVE, so I knew this would be just as fabulous! My kids were SO excited to have a candy caper back in our classroom! They immediately suspected the Candy Corn Bandit when they discovered our candy hearts were missing!!

I also used her Mustache Activity, which was SUPER cute!! My kids had so much fun making them, and the parents LOVED them! They also made one for our 6th grade buddies that we meet with for weekly activities! :)


Well, that about sums it up for now, but I do have one tiny favor to ask: HELLLPPP!!!! Every year our kindergarten classes come visit first grade for a day to see what first grade is all about! My partner and I usually have two different activities and take turns with each class. They are coming on Thursday and I am having a very hard time coming up with an activity!! I am trying to stay with my garden theme, but can only think of like one idea. So please please PLEASE, let me know what you think: I was thinking maybe we could read a story and then do a main idea flower as a craftivity. I would have the materials copied onto construction paper, and the middle of the flower could be the main idea of the story, and the petals could each include one detail. Do you think this is too difficult for Kindergarten? Do you guys have any other ideas?? Please please let me know what you think! I am open to any and ALL suggestions!!!
Thank you SO much!!! You all are fantastic!
Much love,


Friday, February 3, 2012

Three Weeks of Broken Promises and a Game of Tag

Ok, so no more promising to get my life together because this week, I came to the conclusion, that I will NEVER have my life together! I will say, however, my mom and I got a LOT of wedding business accomplished this week, so head on over to Soon to be Mrs. C. and check it out! :)
I have been so behind on everything I can't even see straight. My attempt at the clutter free classroom project was an epic fail, as I never posted my pictures or updates and stopped having time to even check the site for updates sometime after the second linky party.
As if I haven't had enough going on with the wedding, mid-quarter assessments, and getting my high school dance team ready for their next performance...this week was CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK. Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Ok, so what's the big deal?" Well, when you work in a Catholic school, at least I know in my Catholic school, it is the single most time consuming and exhausting week of my life!! I did take the day off yesterday to go wedding dress shopping, but as fun as it was, making decisions SEVERELY stresses me out! So, after a week filled with faculty recognition breakfasts, open houses, PTO meetings, and a day full of wedding shopping yesterday...a quiet Friday night at home is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered!

I do have some really great pictures to share with you guys from this week AND a couple of ideas to post, but of COURSE I forgot my memory card at school!! But since I obviously stink at making promises, I am not going to promise that I will post them! At this point, I can only hope I remember in the next two weeks!

In non-teacher related news, Jessica from Apples and Papers has included me in her game of tag (which I am SURE everyone has already been a part of since I am so behind the times!). That being said, I am going to participate, but if I tag you and you have already been tagged, don't feel obligated to respond! So, here goes!!
The rules are:
  1. Tell 12 things about yourself.
  2. Answer 12 questions from your tagger.
  3. Make my own 12 questions.
  4. Tag 12 people
First thing's first, 12 things about myself:

1. My nickname in college was bird because I take tiny bites when I eat and only eat a little bit at a time.

2. I get along better with 6 and 7 year olds than I do certain people my own age.

3. I watch entirely way too many movies and television shows. I kind of live in a fantasy world in which I believe random song and dance numbers should break out at any given moment.

4. I would give anything to be in a broadway musical. Or the movie version...I'm not picky.

5. I absolutely HATE it when people use the wrong there/their/they're, your/you're, its/it's, and ESPECIALLY when people use an apostrophe to make a word plural. I mean really people, it's NOT that hard!

6. I am currently teaching at the Elementary School I attended when I was younger. My principal was my first grade teacher, and is one of my best work friends, along with my 4th grade art teacher! I absolutely love it!

7. I am from a small town and went to an extremely small high school. I graduated with 22 people and 8 of them are going to be in the wedding.

9. I worked at Red Lobster for two years during college.

10. I have exactly two words that I absolutely cannot stand to hear. Seriously, my face turns red and I feel like I am going to throw up. Seeing how this is a teaching blog, they are not quite appropriate to post, not that I would be able to stand to type them anyway. :)

11. I collect season DVDs of all my favorite shows and watch them incessantly. It also stresses me out when I have an incomplete series of said TV shows. Yea, I know I have issues.

12. I have a huge dance background. I love dancing and choreographing dances. I coach a high school dance team, danced in high school, and was a cheerleader all through high school and a year in high school. I love everything about it!

Jessica's Questions:
1.If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead who would it be?
Ok, this list is like 20 miles long, but I guess if I have to just pick ONE...I would say...
Jack Johnson. He is seriously my idol and I have spent the last 8 years worshiping his music. I love his island like music, his beautiful voice, and most of all...his genius lyrics. Yes, I have a weird obsession with music and his makes me happy no matter what the circumstances. So I would love to meet him and get a feel for where all of his genius came from!

2. If you weren’t teaching what would you be doing?
Either photography or cooking professionally. Even though I have absolutely zero experience with either one, I have always been interested in a career in either of those things. Actually, my number one dream has always been to be a broadway musical star or actress on a hit TV show...but that just isn't going to happen now is it? :D
3.What was your favorite thing about school when you were a student?
Grades K-3: Reading. I couldn't get enough of it. I was always reading my Goosebump or Bailey School Kids books and couldn't wait to tell my teachers about what I was reading. No, I was not the teacher's pet...just a slight nerd. :)
Grades 4-12: Socializing...and boys. :)
4. What do you wish you were better at?
Arts and Crafts. I can come up with so many cute and creative ideas, I just don't have the talent to execute them. Seriously, I can't draw a straight line to save my life. I know, I am sure you are wondering how I could be a first grade teacher being so terrible and artsy things, but somehow, it works. :)

5. What is your favorite store to shop at?
While Francesca's Collections and Forever 21 take a great deal of my paycheck each month, I have to say Target will always have my heart as my number one store. I can seriously stay in that store for HOURS on end. My college roommate and I used to make a day of it and spend the whole afternoon just walking around looking at EVERYTHING! I could spend my whole life savings in that store (And then some, because let's face it...my life savings could probably only buy me a couple of tops, and maybe a Starbucks:))
6.What are two things you need for your dream classroom?
More organizational tubs, drawers, and bins ...and... self discipline and organizational skils!! It seems like every time I get organized, it lasts abouuutttt 30 seconds and then my life is back to chaos! So I definitely think that if I could just keep my room the way it starts out looking, I would have pretty close to my dream classroom right now :)

7.Where do you want to travel to?
Italy or Greece. I went to France on a high school trip when I was a junior, and absolutely fell in love. I have always wanted to go back to Europe and go to Florence and Santorini Island. The pictures are just beautiful and the experience would be even better! :)
8.Favorite TV show?
Well, I'm pretty sure you guys know how much of a 17 year old girl I am when it comes to television, and how much of a TV junkie I am with my 3 shows a night all week long, so I won't go through my whole list of extremely slightly embarrassing shows. I also go back and forth on which show is my favorite each week depending on how exciting each show is, so I will just pick one. I have to say right now that Glee is taking the reigns. I was a little let down at the beginning of the season, but they have really stepped up their musical numbers and storyline these past few weeks...not to mention this week was a Michael Jackson episode, so of course I was pumped.
9.What is your least favorite chore?
Doing the dishes. I absolutely hate hate HATE dishes. I always lose patience with them and never get them clean enough. I would take laundry or bathroom cleaning any day over doing one little dish. Now dishwashers are a different story, so if I always have one of those, I will be just fine. :)

10.Would you rather be an actor, singer, or athlete?
Actress for SURE. I am obsessed with movies and tv and even though I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world, I think it would be fun to pretend to be someone else for a while.
11.Who or what inspires you?
My mom. She is my best friend and is one of the hardest workers I know. She never gives up on anything and has taught me so much throughout my life. She and my dad have done so much for me in my life and I am so thankful and lucky to have such positive and influential role models in my life.
12. What’s your favorite children’s book?
Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie DePaola
I can't even read it to my kids without bawling, but it is such a sweet story.




Ok...TAG!


Caitlin from Ms. Preppy

Erin from Teaching With Love in Heels

Alicia from First Grade Factory

Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade

Alissa from Frolicking into First Grade

Kelly and Diane from Made for 1st Grade

Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants

Mrs. Nunley from First Grade Magic

Michelle from Fabulous in First

Ms. Thomas from The First Grade Jungle

Jennifer from Rowdy in First Grade


My Questions:
1. If you could eat one thing all day everyday, what would it be?


2. How long have you wanted to be a teacher?


3. What is your favorite book of all time?


4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?


5. Have you ever wanted to be anything other than a teacher? If so, what did you want to be?


6. Who is your favorite musician or band?


7. What is the best concert you have ever been to?


8. What is your biggest fear?


9. What cheers you up when you are sad/angry?


10. Who or what inspired you to be a teacher?


11. Who is your best friend?


12. If you got to choose to go back to high school or college, which one would you choose and why?


Ok ladies...have at it! Can't wait to read your responses! Happy tagging! :)

Much Love,