Almost there!!!

I haven't been on much lately in the past few days/week. Currently in the midst of an IEP/Re-eval sandwich. Literally. Two IEPs and a Re-eval. All meeting on the same day. Yay. Factor in the Mister being out of town this past weekend and next weekend...and forgive me if my attendance is spotty for a bit.

But..I do have one bit of good great awesome amazing super fantastic <insert adjective here> news! My long-term substitute position is ending....either before the end of this school year or prior to the beginning of the next school year. Why, you ask, am I so excited? Only because this means I shall be transitioning from my role as a substitute to a full-time permanent position. Yes - a full-time, teaching position with benefits! There are still some minor details to work out but as long as the paperwork is processed and there are no cuts made, I'm in!

This news has been the answer to our prayers. I finally have a 'home'. No more job searching. Now, I can settle in and begin planning the other aspects of the Mister and I's life. So, to borrow from last Wednesday's post...life is good. Really, really good.

Fonts galore!

Wednesday was wonderful. Thursday and Friday....not so much. BUT - the weekend has begun and it's already getting off to a good start. Caught a great episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured in Baltimore while snuggling with the Li'l Mister. Put him to bed and soon pulled out the laptop determined to blog. And yet....I find myself distracted and Seussing.

While my kiddos are in 5th grade and their grade level is not hosting any Seuss-specific activities, I'm determined to ncorporate the Doctor somehow....and in a non-related web search, I found this amazing website: fontspace. It has thousands upon thousands of fonts free to download to PC and Mac...and the best part - Dr. Soos (Seuss) fonts! /grinning/


I definitely plan on playing around on fontspace this weekend and collecting more fonts! And now...with the Mister away for a guys' weekend and li'l man in bed...this Momma is off to catch up on some Hell's Kitchen with my foodie love, Chef Ramsey. /sigh/



Good night!

Wacky, Wonky, Wonderful Wednesday....

Today was good. A really, really good day.

I didn't accomplish nearly as much I had planned to. I didn't know things that were considered "common knowledge" among my colleagues. I am not on track with our lesson plans. I have not tackled the majority of my growing To Do lists.

BUT - It doesn't matter. Today was a good day.

I had a number of questions answered. This marked the first consecutive five school days with no serious behavior concerns or outbursts from a typically non-productive math class. One of my lowest readers has progressed at least 3 Guided Reading levels and is doing amazingly well with her current leveled book. A kiddo in my math class with little-to-no word recognition and listening comprehension skills successfully matched his solid/plane figures with their corresponding words on 2 out of 3 review practices. My principal asked how my long-term substitute position was going and I replied that it was challenging but I loved it and would love to stay on permanently, he reciprocated the feeling. *fingers crossed* Come on Human Resources!!

So...while the inside of my head looks much like an overcrowded city highway....I'm blocking it all out. The weather was gorgeous today. The li'l Mister is trying to run...and signing more everyday. I'm learning so much everyday at work and falling deeper in love with my job and the kiddos.

AND...the Girl Scout cookies have arrived! YUM!

Samoas + Thin Mints = HAPPY Squirrel.

Life is good. Really, really good.

/SIGH/



the WIMP'd version of myself.

So...I love loathe *cough*, I mean LOVE three-day weekends. I got to sleep in at least one of the days followed by the Mister's homemade maple bacon and cheddar cheese omelette...I got a ton of much needed chores completed...and I got to have a much-needed and anticipated date night with the Mister.

Which, for all you movie buffs out there, go check out Safe House. Ryan Reynolds + Denzel Washington + non-stop action + genuine hotness + gripping storyline = GREAT film. Which was only solidified by the amazing sushi we had following. <insert sighs of bliss here> 

Unfortunately, I did not accomplish nearly as much as I had planned to do so on my ever-growing to do lists. Including posting several intended blogs prevented only by my lack of motivation + sick baby + deferring to new episodes of Hell's Kitchen on Hulu (sorry - but Chef Ramsey is intense!) Have you ever feel like you've organized yourself into such a box that you've forgotten you're actually in a circle? No? Not making any sense? <insert sigh of embarrassment  here> And...it's only Monday.  

Wait...what?! It's Tuesday? Oh man...I'm so confused. THIS has been my on-going mantra for the day. Needless to say....this explains why even this post is NOWHERE near making any point. But - instead, leaving a promise. A promise that tomorrow - I will include an in-depth, concise, and possibly even captivating post outlining all that has been going on in my classroom. But for now...I leave you...with a glimpse into my randomness and scatterbrained self (see wimp'd version of myself above and click  HERE  to make your own! ) and look forward to a more sane, determined and scholarly representation of myself.

Until then...aideu!

I Mustache You...

....to check out Farley's blog and her super cute giveaway! 

*fingers crossed* for a win!! but LOVE knowing where Farley found her awesome mustache stamp...just hoping they've got something squirrel-y for me!

Candy Hearts and Sugar Highs...

I have learned a lot and seen quite a bit since I started working solely at the elementary level for the first time this past year. I've seen a lot of C's - crazy, cute, cool, curious, captivated, challenging....and today, I saw a combination of all....all because of the holiday that boasts the most candy, chocolate, and conversation hearts: Valentine's Day!

I took a very laid back simplified approach towards the holiday with my students only incorporating a Valentine's read aloud activity (which did not happen), V Day bingo, V Day scrambled words and decorating their treat bags after they wrote one to two sentences on the back about their favorite thing about Valentine's Day. 

Today was a blur of math and language arts blocks...then shooing my kiddos off to art class, followed by their lunch/recess. My foursome split up into their math/language reinforcement blocks and we got in about 10 to 15 minutes worth of learning before it was time to usher them back to their homeroom class for THE party!

With a few instructions from the homeroom teacher and a smorgasbord of junk food, sweet treats and a few fruity friends...the 5th grade kiddos lost their ever-loving minds!! I didn't know what to do with myself beyond being a fly on the wall, telling kiddos to pick up their missed grapes (the hand mouth-eye coordination is still so bad) and throwing a dance move or two, I got to see my DHOH kiddos break out of their shells a little bit and interact with their homeroom peers. I even discovered one of my boys has mad break-dancing skills! Definitely worth standing among the chaos for!

How was your Valentine's madness?

Tired and Uninspired....

...and a completely random rant. I apologize in advance for the topic-hopping. This post is not my finest moment. :/

So since Phunxatawney Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of winter, we've had at least four days of snow... not to discount the credibility of a groundhog versus that of trained meterologists, but I've immensely enjoyed that a little ball of fur and his shadow have given us snow...and more winter-appropriate weather. Not that I've completely minded the random 60 degree days, but I'm an old-fashioned girl and to me, winter = snow, cold and NOT capris. Either way, Phil needs a raise.


I would like to say that I got out and enjoyed the snow this weekend...but alas, I did not. Instead, I completed a marathon of chores  followed by absolute sluggishness yesterday. My overproductiveness caught up with me.

I did accomplish one new feat, however:  assembling 30+ heart-shaped cake bites for the Mister's boss' daughter's Valentine's party. Despite the Mister's normal aversion to cake and cupcakes, he likes a cake pop...and thus, my newest baking project this year is making cake pops and trying a new design or flavor each time. I'm planning to attempt a chocolate-peanut butter batch next.



The finished Valentine's cake bites...

So far...I'm dealing with quite the case of the Mondays. Office Space lovers, you feel me? Between the mad behaviors displayed in math and the absence of a student doubled with two others being pulled for speech, I will be working 1:1 for the remainder of the afternoon. Here, I have mixed feelings. The student in question is an absolute joy to work with...but the frustration itself stems from having to decide: do I teach the next lesson/concept to my one student and then reteach it the next day to the remaining three? Or do I simply work on reviewing of various skills and wait to teach the next lesson on Wednesday (tomorrow afternoon is booked with Valentine's parties)?

Not to mention the impending staff meeting this afternoon all about *gasp* standardized testing...YAY! Be still my heart....

All sarcasm and crankiness aside, I'm determined to find a happy medium and focus on all the good stuff that happened and will be happening...so I am cutting myself off and as the Mister says, "Hip...Hip...Hooray!"

Currently...February!

Joining my first EVER Linky Party! Came across Farley and her Currently Linky Party and her even cooler mustache stamp (which will soon be added to my own wishlists) and wanted to party too! Head on over to link up!

Sunday! Sunday! Monday?!

Have you ever had one of those weekends where despite no matter how many different ways you outlined your To Do list you didn't come close to accomplishing more than a fraction of it? Well, I definitely had several of those...and it JUST happened. While we were able to get several important things done (or almost done), I still didn't feel like I did nearly enough on Friday/Saturday. Sunday was reserved for the most important game of games...the Superbowl and with no other choice,  the Mister and I chose to support the underdogs, the New York Giants over the Patriots. We instead chose to don our own teams' respective colors, the Mister in blue/gray with his Dallas Cowboys hat and myself in black/purple (Go Ravens!) and the li'l mister in his Ravens' Ray Rice jersey.

All football aside...I did get a little bit of prepwork done in outlining the upcoming unit in math that we're due to start this week. I have to say, I look forward to the day when I can trade in my long-term sub "hat" for a permanent teaching position. I think I spend more time tracking down grade level curriculum objectives and concepts and figuring out what's essential before I can even get my modified lesson plans started. This week we're in our transition from one unit to the next (modifying the curriculum = condensed and sometimes off schedule starts/finishes) in math and science.  And in the midst of that, we've got our 2nd practice session of the state tests this week for our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Makes for a bit of an easier morning (lesson-wise), but disrupts the order of things and definitely throws my kiddos off a bit.

Either way, I'm excited to start our new science unit on Astronomy -- espeically after having read Zathura last week with my kiddos, outer space isn't an entirely new...and one that seems to really excite a couple of them. Ironically enough, my li'l brother is studying astronomy now in his 8th grade science class...so it's fun to compare textbooks and infromation - especially that my kids' 5th grade textbook is a much more recent addition including the revelation that Pluto is no longer a planet...which we can now say, "You know...when I was your age...Pluto was still  a planet!"

Now, I leave you with some snapshots of this past weekend and what we've been doing in class so far....

our paper snowflakes and snowflake facts...created after reading Snowflake Bentley!

my completed Find It! shakers

laminated directions for my Find It! shakers

my Superbowl sugar cookies...iced in Ravens purple!! =D

our K-W-L chart for Astronomy...

our 2nd Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting Jumanji and Zathura

School's Out!

So...I went and jinxed myself Wednesday. All my bad thoughts about so many staff being out this week and being frustrated with the lack of good subsitutes...it was my turn to be out - an opportunity to check my emails during my student's library time and I was soon scooting out to pick up a sick li'l mister. All in a panic from him having a few rough tumbles this past week and fearing the worst I was relieved to find out it's only a virus (thank goodness for an amazing pediatrican who REALLY is always on call!) which seemed to work its way out of li'l mister's system through the night. He woke up this morning with smiles, no fever and less gross side effects.

While I enjoyed having the afternoon off...I never like having to be out. It always seems like a step backwards. But - I did get a little bit of work in...specifically, I finished two of my Find It! shakers I've been brainstorming up...a Grammar Find It! and a Jumanji-Zathura Find It! I also managed to dig up some of my old scrapbooking supplies in the process which I think I'll start putting to good use towards school craftiness.
The Mister is off work on Fridays so he's on li'l mister duty and I over-snoozed and slept in until 7:00. Thank you Tresemme and your dry shampoo - I made it to school on time and returned to find that I didn't miss too much but was definitely soon feeling a million miles behind in my plans. :/

As I've probably already said a million times over...this week was a rough one minus my regular para educator during my Language Arts block. I do a lot of my independent/1:1 centers with my 4 kiddos during that time and wasn't able to get very much done in the way of informal assessment, much less touch a formal one. It definitely gave me food for thought in re-evaluating some of my literacy centers and developing strategies to enable my kiddos to be more independent. HELP!!!! This is the first year some of my students are out in their mainstream classroom and for the rest, they remain self-contained for the entire day in a small group. Factor in the fact that my room is 10' x 20' and with no windows...and it's no wonder we go a little crazy and/or break down.

Either way - something has to change...starting with my classroom and how it's set up and how my lessons/activities are structured. My first step - creating more clear-cut and useful classroom visuals/organizational tools: Daily Schedule, Homework folders, a revamped word wall...and soon a new Homework chart (one of my little projects this weekend).

Pictures to come of all the little goodies I've made and/or are working on soon!!!

MaXed OuT!

There really is no substitute for the real thing. We've had several people from my team out this week and it's made quite a difference in things. Report cards went home today and I managed to get my comments and progress reports stuffed into those lovely yellow envelopes before the end of the day despite my kiddos' homeroom teacher being out again. My para educator has been out all week and let me just say, I miss her! I want her to get well but soon...and will definitely be smothering her with hugs when she returns.

In the meantime, it's been quite a hectic few days and I've been cramming as much as I can into my planning and lunch period modifying grade-level materials, making my own materials and brainstorming WAY too many other materials pushing my To Do lists to the max! Finally managing to sit down with a few minutes to myself before the Mister comes home from work...

My kiddos are starting to get into the Chris Van Allsburg author study and are really enjoying the read aloud activities. We struggled a bit with outlining the story elements  - they still have trouble identifying problem and solution as well as picking important events from the story rather than listing every little thing. We read Zathura today and 'discovered' the boys at the end of Jumanji are the main characters in this story. Tomorrow I plan to review the books with my students and attempt to compare and contrast the two books.

My Mister finished off the orange juice last night so I'm hoping to get labels and cards printed/laminated for my Jumanji-Zathura Find It! activity. I've also got an Allsburg timeline sort activity and am thinking of how to incorporate The Z Got Zapped into a center activity or project. I've only got 4 kiddos...so it'd be at least 6 alphabet letters apiece I'm thinking...

Speaking of alphabet letters...does anyone know where to find alphabet magnets for a good deal? I seem to live in an area where they no longer exist...

But for now, the bed is calling so I'll leave you with a favorite from yesterday. I borrowed this idea from One Extra Degree and her glossary skills activity as seen here. I had my kiddos look up new/higher level vocabulary from Jumanji and define it in writing and with a picture. I loved what one student came up with! Forgive the poor picture quality - all I had on me was my camera phone.

When asked to explain..."a gigantic shark that eats people and trains and destroys bridges...that's dangerous, right?"