July "Currently"

Oh Summer, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
I must say that this whole "teacher summer" deal is pretty fantastic. This is my very first summer not working summer school (after teaching for 10 years!) and I am LOVING it. It is a little strange to not have to be doing anything at any certain time and I keep feeling like I am late for something but it is still amazing. I am getting so much done around the house, reading, watching funny shows, relaxing by my "pool" ( I will post more on that later, it is FANTASTIC ), really just enjoying myself. It is fabulous.
I have linked up with Farley over at Oh' Boy, 4th Grade for July's Currently. You should too!

End of Year Gift

     As the end of the school year approaches I always ponder over what to give my students as an end of 3rd grade gift. I like to give them something fun, but also educational and useful. Books are my usual go to gift for my students. I decided to have each of them chose a book (from the $1.00 section) from the Scholastic Reading Club. I heart Scholastic Reading Club!

     They were super excited to pick out their own book. Many of my students do not have many personal books at home, let alone get to chose whatever they want from the book order. They keep asking me when they will get their book and even though I have told them multiple times they will get them on the last day of school, they keep asking. That makes me happy.

     Books are fantastic and I am thrilled that my students are so excited to be getting one from me but I really wanted to do something that was very personal and meaningful for my class. I decided to use Tagxedo to create a word cloud! Tagxedo is kind of like Wordle but I like it better because it lets you list your words then chose a shape or image for your word cloud rather than just a jumble of words. I used meaningful words to our class and each of our names. Check it out!

I am SO happy with how this turned out. I printed them full size on 8.5 by 11 inch paper and am going to laminate them with my handy Scotch Laminator (that I am in LOVE with) to make them nice and sturdy.  I can;t wait to see what my students think of their very own apple. 

June Currently

Oh my goodness, it is already time for the June Currently. I CAN NOT believe it. Now, don't get me wrong, I am totally ready for June to get its lil hiney into gear, I just amazed at how it is all the sudden here. So, anyway, I am linking up once again with the fabulous Farley over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade to share in the Currently fun.

Listening: So my hubs is born and raised in the South but he is a die hard Chicago Cubs fan. The game on in the background is soothing while I type away. Weird? Maybe...but I love it. 

Loving: 11 days my friends! This will be my FIRST EVER "teacher summer" and I just over the moon excited to not be working. WAHOO! 

Thinking: The end of the year rush is in full swing and I have lots of lose ends to tie up in pretty little bows in the next 11 days. 

Wanting: We start on End of Grade assessments tomorrow morning. My darlings are as ready as they can be and I just want them to be cool, calm, and collected. They rock and it sucks that they have to spend 6 plus hours testing over the next 2 days. They are 8 & 9 years old of gosh sakes! Oy. 

Needing: There are a lot of changes coming our way as teachers in North Carolina and at my school. I need to remind myself to focus on what I have control over and stay positive about my career. 

Summer Bucket List: As mentioned earlier, I am not working at all this summer, WAHOO! I am looking forward to relaxing, enjoying my time off, and reading all of the books I have been collecting over the school year. 

Congrats to those who are already on break! For those (like me) who are counting down the days, stay sane, strong, and fabulous! We got this! 

Top Ten Things I Want To Do This Summer

Hello!
     I am so on the countdown. 13 school days left until my first    real    teacher    summer...and the crowd goes WILD! I have worked Summer School ever single summer of my 10 year career, crazy talk, I know. So, in honor of my first real "teacher summer", I am linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class to list the Top Ten Things I want to do this summer.

1. Organize my classroom BEFORE I leave for the summer. This is what I was doing in July last year and I refuse to do it again.

2. Hang out with these two adorable darlings. My niece and nephew are 7 and 5 years old. Looking at this picture is like looking into a mirror of my younger brother and I. Love them! 

3. Spend A LOT of time looking at this view. My dad lives on a great little inland in Michigan. I had the pleasure of spending my summers here as a little girl and am lucky enough to get to go back and visit every summer. This is a view from his deck. 

4. Ride my bike. My husband gave me this fantastic bicycle for our anniversary back in February. It's turquoise, vintage-y, and fabulous. 

5. Spend more time with our wonderful pups. I don;t get to spend nearly enough time with them during the school year sos I am really looking forward to some quality pup time this summer. 

Miles the Calm One

Ava the Diva

6. Eating more Shorty's hotdogs and fries than I probably should. They are amazingly delicious and only a short bike ride away!

7. Spending morning coffee time on my beautiful front porch. Ceiling fans blowing, birds chirping, I am getting relaxed just thinking about it. 

8. Filling in my brand new 2014/2015 planner. I LOVE filling in a planner. 

9. Going to Lake Michigan for a week with my marvelous aunt and cousin! The cottage we are staying in is literally ON the beach. It is going to be incredible. 

10. Being a couch potato and watching some of my favorite funny shows. I heart funny shows.

Well, that's my plan for my Top Ten. What about you? I'd love to hear about your summer plans! 

April SLANTbox

     So I was paired up with two super teachers for the April SLANTbox exchange. I sent a box to Jennifer over at 4mulafun and received a box from Leslie over at a life of firsts. I had such great time shopping for Jennifer! I sure hope she enjoys her treats. I love shopping for other people.
     This month's SLANTbox theme was "Spring into a Good Book".  We had to pick out a book and create box around the theme of the book. I LOVE this idea. Leslie did an AH-mazing job creating my box. She sent a book entitled "Little Owl's Orange Scarf" (which I had never heard of and was SO excited to read!) and created an entire owl themed box. I adore owls and was thrilled to recieve all of these adorable owl gifts. The fab scarf rounded out the book themed goodies. Leslie also included "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus" because her students love Junie B. and she wanted to share that with my class! Such a sweetheart.

     If you haven't checked out the SLANT exchange yet, head on over to Lessons with Coffee and read up on Jameson's brainchild. You won't be sorry.

Hope to meet you through SLANT!

SLANT box Sign Up!

The May SLANT Box sign up is open! Huzzah! I LOVE participating in the Lessons with Coffee SLANT Box exchange. Jameson cooked up this fab idea of Spreading Love Across the Nation to Teachers. Check out her description here:

I knew that it would be fun to email with other teachers. I knew it would be great to receive mail from each other. I never realized how comforting it would be to connect with other teachers this way. The support and love that is shared through SLANT is very real and very appreciated. I hope you all join in. I look forward to meeting you through SLANT! 

C.Jayne Teach

So, have you heard? The fabulous C. Jayne Teach is launching her new spring line and I can't wait!

She has such useful and adorable products in her shop. This "Pep Talk" mug is one of my favorites:

Isn't it great?!? I need this for school ASAP. I think it would make a fab gift for my team members as well. Who does't love a little pick me up in the form of a clever mug?

C.Jayne Teach also has notecards, desk pads, personalized clip boards, the list goes on and on. The color palettes and designs are cheerful and oh so sweet.

Her piece de resistance is the Teacher Anchor.

The Anchor is an organizational binder filled with over 300 pages to help you stay organized and stylish all at the same time. It looks amazing! C. Jayne Teach is accepting pre-orders for the 2014/2015 Teacher Anchor as we speak, er, blog. The 2013/2014 Anchors sold out in just 6 weeks so hop on over to her site, sign up for the newsletter, and get yourself on that list! 

March SLANT Box is Here!

I love to get mail. LOVE IT. I get excited when I hear the little lid on our mailbox clink after the mailman drops our mail in.  I love to sort through our (mainly junk) mail looking for familiar handwriting and new magazines. So you can imagine my excitement when I arrive home to a box on the doormat. When I got home after my first day back after Spring Break I found this lovely box waiting for me.

YAY! I could not wait to open it. I love the SLANT box exchange because you have no idea what you will find inside but you know it will be AH-mazing.

First thing I found inside was this very sweet note from Wendy over at Read with Me ABC . Check out her blog, it is awesome. 

My SLANT box was filled to the brim with these fantastic treats

I LITERALLY just saw this little clipboard at a shop on Saturday  but I didn't buy it. Score!

I keep a jar of Starburst on my bookshelf for a little afternoon (any time of day, who am I kidding.) pick me up. YUM!

This photo does not do this travel mug justice. It is a brilliant turquoise, one of my favorite colors. And you can never go wrong with a K-Cup. Ever.

Owls are my favorite. I can't get enough of these adorable stickers! 

This precious angel was the final gift I unwrapped. Isn't she the sweetest?  

 Thanks again to Wendy for the wonderful treats. If you have not and the opportunity to join in on the SLANT box exchange be sure to check out Lessons with Coffee for all the details.

Maybe we will meet through SLANT sometime! 

April Currently

I can not BELIEVE it is already April. We are down to 9 weeks. 9 weeks people! Time for April's Currently. I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy, Fourth Grade.

listening: My hubs is watching "Field of Dreams, which he LOVES. I enjoy listening to him enjoy his movie.

loving: My aunt and I COMPLETELY tore up our front yard this past week. We tore out weeds, scraggly "grass", turned soil, laid black mat (to battle the horrendous weeds and scraggly "grass"), planted a tree and a TON of plants. It looks like a totally different yard and I couldn't be happier with the results.

thinking: I am a very lucky woman. I am so blessed to have my amazing family, dogs, home, job...the list could go on and on.

wanting: This past week FLEW by! I could really use a little more Spring Break.
needing: 3rd Quarter ended right before Spring Break so report cards go home tho Friday.

hours and last day: I am usually at school by 7:00 and leave around 4:00 since I don't have bus duty anymore. We share duties and I have 1st and 3rd Quarter. LOVE not having duty 4th Quarter! Our last day was supposed to be June 10th but since we missed a total of 9 days because of snow and ice this year we are now going until the 13th. The last day of school is Friday the 13th...should be interesting.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful April!

Holy Frijoles!

Oh my goodness, I am SO excited! My blog was nominated for a Liebster Award by Jayme over at the ADORABLE Trendy in Third blog.  You really need to check her out.

Thank you so much Jayme for this very special nomination. I am really flattered. I have been a total blog slacker this winter and this is just the motivation I need to get my booty back in the blogging saddle. I am flattered to have my first post of 2014 be the Liebster Award process! 

Here are the Liebster Rules:
1) Link back to the blog that nominated me
2) Nominate 5 - 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers
3) Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator
4) Share 11 random facts about myself
5) Contact my nominees and let them know that I nominated them

My answers to Jayme's Questions: 

1) What grade do you currently teach? Have you taught any other grades? 
I currently teach 3rd grade. I taught 1st grade for one year. I taught preschool for 1 year and subbed every single grade K-12 during college.
2) What is your favorite thing about teaching? Least favorite? 
My most favorite thing is being with my students everyday. They are so funny and fun to hang out with. My least favorite thing about teaching is the ridiculous amount of mandated standardized testing 3rd graders take in North Carolina. 
3) If your school was donated $25,000, what would you want your principal to purchase?
I would want him to split the 25 grand between more technology students and new playground structures for recess. Recess is so important and my kiddlets need more play structures to enjoy. 
4) What is your favorite TV show?
I can’t pick just one! My current favs are Park and Recreation, Brooklyn 99, and Community.
5) If you could go back in time, what era would you choose to visit? 
What a fab question! I would go back to the 1940's so I could hang out with my grandma when she was young.
6) What is your school mascot? 
Panthers
7) How many kids are in your class? 
22. 12 girls 10 boys. I started the year with 14 girls, 2 have moved. 
8) What is your current obsession? 
Candy Cane Trident Layers gum. I discovered it at Target in November and have been infatuated ever since. It is a seasonal flavor though so I have done my best to horde packs. I don't know what will happen when I run out.

9) What is your idea of relaxing after a crazy day of teaching? 
Sitting on my couch in my jammies watching funny T.V. shows and exploring blogs on my computer. 
10) Do you have iPads in your class? 
Just 1. It was purchased by the state for to use for mandatory MClass reading assessments. 

11) Heels or flats? 
Flats all day, everyday. Love me some cute heels but my tootsies can’t handle wearing them all day at school. Plus, being 6 feet tall, I already tower most everyone in our building. Heels would just intimidate them. Haha! 

11 Random Facts About Me

* I live in a house that was built in 1905.
* I am afraid of clowns.
* I have had Type I Diabetes since I was 11 years old.
* I love owls.
* I want to adopt children.
* I have 2 brothers
* I would have 10 dogs if I could afford it.
* I do not like mushrooms
* I am slightly obsessed with office/school supplies
* I am a data nerd. I love tracking my students' progress.
* I go married in my favorite pair of jeans and a white sweater. It was fabulous.

My Questions for the Bloggers I have nominated:

1) What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
2) If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
3) What is your all time favorite book?
4) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
5) How long have you been blogging?
6) What is the school supply you can;t do without?
7) How many students are in your class?
8) What would you be doing if you were not a teacher?
9) What is your favorite thing to do when you are not at school?
10) What is your classroom theme?
11) What is your go to school snack or drink?

I nominated the following interesting and adorable blogs. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks again to Jayme at Trendy in Third for nominating me. Thank you to you all for reading my Liebster Award post! Yay!