Currently May

Linking up with Oh Boy It's Farley for the last Currently!

Another truth: I've been adding and adding and adding products to my shopping cart on TeachersPayTeachers all week! Getting ready to spend a chunk of change at the big Teacher Appreciation Week sale!

Currently March

Linking up with Oh Boy It's Farley for Currently!

I'm just rewatching some Game of Thrones as I catch up on blogging! I'm loving this lazy Saturday! Although, as I sit here typing, my poor little dog is crying at my feet for treats. She's always hungry. She was crying at the cabinet for treats, but I was doing too good a job of ignoring her, so she came into the living room and upped her crying game at my feet. I suppose I might give in. Soon.

Happy March, everyone!

Currently

Oh me oh my! I really am late to the February party. I'm here to link up with Farley at Oh Boy It's Farley for Currently! I guess, better late than never, right? I'm on vacation right now, so I'm catching up on my pinky parties!

I've been on vacation for one week!

It's been GLORIOUS!!!

But now that it's Saturday and I'm going back on Monday, it's just a regular weekend.

Sooooo, here I am, trying to finish up a TPT product.

I am creating Making and Changing words lists. Personally, I have a tricky time, since transitioning from teaching fourth grade to teaching second grade, coming up with whiteboard word work on the fly during our Skills block. So, I'm creating the lists myself to print and laminate and pull out whenever I need them! I think I'm going to put them out for the kids during Daily 5 too, that way partners can use their personal whiteboards to practice word work in a structured way. Kids love whiteboards, so I think this will be a winner!

Also, my cute little puppy is curled up next to me, being all adorable. 

Currently: January

I'm a little bit late but....here is January 2016 and Currently!

As always, thanks Farley, for hosting Currently!

Listening:

I'll admit it. I love Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey and I've seen every episode. It's one of those go to shows that I can throw on in the background while doing school work or cleaning the house and just giggle at every once in a while. Love it. Don't care that it's a bit naughty. And it is. :)

Loving:

Winter vacation is almost over and I am SAVORING my last day. My body is already getting back into school mode, waking me up bright and early today. But that's cool - I'm usually an early riser. Here I am, blogging a bit while my little puppy went back to bed after I woke her up!

Thinking:

Yes, tomorrow is back to school. I went into school a few times over break to get myself ready for tomorrow, but there's always something else to do! So, of course, I have a mini to do list for tomorrow morning before the kiddos arrive. I am thinking about the fact that I woke up "early" today (6:00am), but that tomorrow morning the alarm will be set to 4:45am. That's going to be a toughie.

Wanting:

I really want to go shopping at Target and get myself something cute to wear tomorrow for the first day back! I wear dresses EVERY DAY, so a new dress would be lovely for tomorrow. Usually I have some cute new clothes from Christmas, but this year I got mostly home improvement stuff. We'll see if I make it to Target today. :)

Needing:

I made myself some coffee here at the house, but I'm thinking about stopping off at Dunkin Donuts for an extra boost today! A sweet treat for my last day of winter vacation! And I got like a million Dunkin Donuts gift cards for Christmas gifts. I think my students know me a little too well.

One Little Word:

Relax. Today, I am not doing any school work. (Well, maybe like one little thing...) But I am going to focus on just enjoying the last day of vacation. Which didn't even really feel like vacation because between my boyfriend's family and my family I think we drove for like 20 hours, celebrated like 8 Christmases, and were sick the entire break. So, last day. Relax!

Happy 2016, everyone!

Currently

I'll be linking up with Farley, over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade, for Currently. I was a lazy bum today and just used the background from my Currently May. Yikes. Sorry!

May Currently

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for May Currently!

Listening: to Kitchen Nightmares

I can't help it. I really love this show. I'm addicted.

Loving: snuggling with my puppy.

Come on. She's pretty adorable. And there is no better way to end a week filled with math state tests than hanging around with my cute pup, Lucy. 

Thinking: about starting some Science test prep.

Yes, I can admit that I am a bit crazy. But with ELA and Math under our belts, we still have one more state test this year...SCIENCE! I made some adorbzies mini review books on concepts like adaptations and food chains to use next week. I also find a neat Scholastic book of short reads and crosswords on topics that need some refreshing. Brainpop is always pretty reliable for reviewing, too!

Wanting: to plan some really innovative and exciting writing lessons!

I do this really cool writing portfolio every year. Right near the end of the school year, I have kiddos wear a chef's hat and pose with a pizza box in front of a red and white checked table cloth. I print the pictures and glue them to pizza boxes. Inside the pizza boxes, we put our published writing pieces. We make a table of contents using a menu format. It's cute and it's easy for parents to store and save.

BUT...I am in need of some fresh writing lessons and fun pieces for the end of the school year. I did Black Out Poetry this week, and plan on writing Perspective Poetry next week. Kids will take on the perspective of an inanimate object and write the poem from that point of view. They enjoy guessing the inanimate objects "speaking" while listening to their classmates' poems. The Black Out Poetry was a relaxing activity after testing this week! I just need...more!

Black Out Poetry

I copy pages from old read alouds that we've done. It's a fun reminder of texts we read this year. Kiddos use Sharpies to circle the words that belong in their poem, which may have nothing to do with the book the page is from. Next, the students design a pattern using the Sharpie. Lots of my kids used a highlighter to make their poem stand out!

Needing: to call an electrician.

My friend used my downstairs bathroom today and informed me that it is like a disco in there, strobing away! Definitely not something I can fix on my own. I love a good DIY project, but wires should be left to the professionals!

Surprise: A parent emailed me today letting me know that his son enjoyed the state test!

Ha! This one made me giggle. A kid who enjoyed the state test? Cool. Probably not completely accurate. He is probably just relieved that it is over and he knew what he was doing. And he did know what he was doing. He had a pretty awesome teacher leading the way. :)