Meet the Teacher

Okay, I keep seeing this cute little link-up, so I decided today was my time to join in!

I'm a Title I Reading Specialist for grades 3-5 just outside of Richmond, VA. I'm about to start my ninth year of teaching, and I've always been in the same school, just in different positions. I spent one year in 1st grade before the school transitioned from primary to preK-5, then I jumped ship as fast as I could to get into 4th. After teaching 4th for five years and finishing my master's degree, my principal asked me to switch to my current position. This will be my third year, and I love it!

My husband and I got married right after I graduated, and then I moved from GA to VA. It's taken a lot of time for me to adjust, but I really have started to love the city of Richmond! It's so unique, and we have AMAZING food! If you ever come to the area, I can give you a list a mile long of places to try.

We have one sweet little boy, Keagan, who is 2 1/2 and full of energy! He's learning so much right now (I think he's very smart), and he amazes me how much he has picked up on. We would love to have a second soon, but our family of 3 (plus two dogs) is enough for now!

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Books, Chick-fil-A, Shopping, Target, College football, My church (Remnant), Singing

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

Probably something related to chocolate. I would gladly take over Willy Wonka's if it existed! But more realistically, I'd love to be a children's author! I used to write stories in elementary school and would LOVE to publish a children's book one day.

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Laid-back, quiet (at first), friendly

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"Oh yeah, I have time for that," said no teacher ever!

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Probably Jennifer Lawrence. Once I saw her trip on her gown and make fun of herself, I knew she was my kind of person! I would also probably want some of my blogging buddies around!

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

Just a Plain Jane

 Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

To be able to freeze time. I never feel like I have enough time to do everything I want.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING? 

"Life's tough. Get a helmet!" - Boy Meets World

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

That's a tough choice! I love so many songs...maybe something by Of Monsters and Men or The Civil Wars? I like that type of music a lot!

 Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL? 

Definite night owl! In college, I used to stay up until AT LEAST midnight. It was a difficult transition once I became a "real" adult! I usually am in bed by 10 now, but if I was able to sleep in longer, I would probably go back to staying up late.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

I've been creating little mysteries for drawing conclusions for a little over a year, and I FINALLY decided to bundle them together a few weeks ago! My students and I always have so much fun solving the mysteries, and I love that they have to use their critical thinking skills. I plan to create even more, but so far I have nine of them. They can be purchased separately or altogether in my store!

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU! 

I actually sing pretty well! I'm in one of our church's bands and LOVE to do it, but I'm usually pretty quiet about my ability.

Now it's your turn!

A Reflection on Fitness and some reminders

I'm linking up with two posts today, but they are related to one another. Plus this is something I've been struggling with lately and want to get out there. I know I'm not the only one or the first linky wouldn't even have become a topic. Click on the icons below to join each linky.

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The first is a new linky from Sunny Days in Second Grade. Each week leading up to the new year will focus on a different truth. Sometimes we need to sit back and be completely honest with ourselves. For me, I've been in a bit of a rut when it comes to fitness. It started a few weeks ago when I got sick and couldn't do my workout, but I don't have an excuse anymore. It's time for me to get back into my routine and wake up early to work out. I've lost my weight, but if I want to really tone up it's going to take some dedication. 

And that leads me to my "Tried-It". I wanted to share what I've been doing to get in shape (and what I WILL start back tomorrow). 

I bought Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred off eBay during the summer because I LOVE her on Biggest Loser and liked the idea of a quick 20 minute workout. I did Insanity at the end of last school year, and it was great. But I was waking up at 4:30 every morning, and although I was gaining muscle mass I wasn't seeing the inches go from my waist, which is my problem area since giving birth. So I decided it was time to switch things up.

This workout has three levels that get progressively more difficult. Each level has:

• a quick warm up
• 3 sets of Strength (3 mn.), Cardio (2 mn.), and Abs (1 mn.)
• a short cool down

It takes about 25 minutes for all of it. I have done levels 1 and 2, and when I started level 2, I saw my weight start dropping quickly! I actually lost about 5 pounds just in that stretch (which also coincided with the beginning of school and me becoming a little more active in general). If you're looking for a good workout, I would recommend trying this!

Two quick reminders before I go:

I know I'm a week late technically, but this Thursday will be the second Teacher Fitness Thursday, my monthly linky party. I want to talk about motivation this time around because I know I need it! What motivates you? Get your posts ready, and PLEASE help spread the word! I'll be honest. I was pretty discouraged when only 2 people linked up last month. I hope this will become more successful and really help create a community of teachers who want to get healthy.

Then be sure to stop back by my blog on Friday for the big blog hop. I can't wait to see what other great freebies have been created for you (and me)!

Teacher Fitness Thursday - Eating Healthy

Hey yall! I'm so excited to kick off my very first week of Teacher Fitness Thursday! This will be a MONTHLY linky party starting on the third Thursday of each month and remaining open for the rest of the month. Each month, we will focus on a new topic for how to stay fit.

This month's topic is eating healthy. Feel free to link up with a story, what's inside your lunchbox, a recipe, or just some tips! There's a few different ways you can go with this. Mine is a combo of my story (especially with this being week 1) and a few tips for eating healthy!

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Before I got pregnant, food was never an issue for me. My metabolism took care of everything! I mean, it slowed down some when I went off to college and was eating more frequently, but it didn't take a lot of work to get it back off. A few days of being sick and I was right back in the game! I actually weighed 95 lbs before I got pregnant (I know some of you are sick reading this, but bear with me), but I never worked out or tried to eat healthy.

When I got pregnant, I still ate what I wanted and actually brought a pair of regular jeans with me to the hospital thinking I may go home in them. Boy was I wrong! I had gained close to 50 pounds during my pregnancy, and I only lost 11 naturally by my 6 week check-up. I knew it was time to do something!

So I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and started tracking calories. It was really hard at first because my portions had grown immensely while I was pregnant, and I had to scale back a little at a time. For a while, I just focused on eating as close to 1200 calories as possible - forget that 500 may have been from one slice of Chocolate Creme Pie. That still worked for the first month, but after that I HAD to change things up.

I pinned a million things on my Pinterest board every day, but one of my favorite weight-loss pins is from Bob Harper. The link was broken, but the picture is all you really need!

I liked that this list was very specific with the rules. I don't follow every single one of these and I don't do them all the time, but it helps to have them in the back of my mind and take a few of them to heart. For me, I started with not drinking my calories (water only MOST of the time), going to bed hungry (I read somewhere that you shouldn't eat 3 hours before you go to bed, so 7:00 is my cut-off time), planning my splurge meal (although I usually just have one and say "That will be my splurge for the week!", and I TRY to eat my carbs before I leave school - so as close to lunch as possible. This actually means that I usually try to do my dessert with lunch instead of dinner. For dinner, I try to stick with veggies and a meat. This is a little harder now because my husband does not need to lose any more weight and has to have heartier meals now, but I stick with it pretty well for the most time.

What do you do to eat healthy?

New design, Giveaway Winner, AND A New Linky Party

Hi friends! Have you noticed anything new around here lately? I am in LOVE with my brand new design that Megan made! If you're in the market for a fresh new look for your blog, I highly recommend "A Bird in Hand Designs". Not only is this one beautiful, but Megan's prices are reasonable and the turn-around time is super fast!

Please feel free to grab my new button and add it to your blog roll if you do that kind of thing. I'm actually not an owl person OR a fall color person, so this one fits me SO much better!

I also wanted to officially announce the winner of my pencil sharpener giveaway. I promise that I didn't forget about it. It has just been a really long week. I'll explain in more detail tomorrow in the Five for Friday (that I may start today while I actually have some time).

Like my new matching papers I got with the blog design?

I even contacted Sarah already, and her pencil sharpener is in the mail. For those of you who didn't win but still want one, remember that Classroom Friendly Supplies is donating $1 of the sales for EACH PINK SHARPENER to cancer research. It's such a worthy cause to support, PLUS you get an amazing pencil sharpener.

Oh, I'm planning on starting a new monthly linky party for teachers who want to get/stay fit and hold each other accountable.

We'll do this on the THIRD THURSDAY of every month, and I will try to share the topic earlier in the week so you're ready to link up when it's time! The first date will be next Thursday (Sept. 19), and we will share about how we try to eat healthy. This can be what you pack in your lunchbox, a favorite recipe, a meal plan, tips, whatever! I would love to get as many people to link up as possible (my last linky party was a complete flop), so please spread the word if you have other bloggy friends who are trying to stay fit!

Teacher Week '13: Taming the Wild!

This will be a shorter post, but today is about classroom management. Since I'm not a regular classroom teacher, this has become VERY simple for me. I use Class Dojo, which I HIGHLY recommend if you don't already use it.

I can set up separate classes for my groups (which are easy to edit since my kids are in and out). Then I can also set up positive and negative rewards. I give these from my phone and/or computer (whichever is closest at the time), and I don't have to worry about interrupting instruction.

There are two different sounds: one for positive and one negative. Students are quickly redirected by either sound. At the end of each group, students get as many Skittles or M&M's as they have positive points (negative cancels them out though). Simple, but they love it! And I love that I don't have to break the bank to keep them excited about coming to my room (even when we may not be playing games).

Okay, I promised pictures of my classroom, and I am delivering today! There's a LOT to be done, but I'm getting things ready. Then I can make it pretty next week.

I will be putting my CAFE board on that back wall along with some other posters. The white cabinet is in need of repainting (thinking a nice blue), and I will be getting rid of that filing cabinet, although I may move my other one back there. I also want to get stools for my table and send those chairs somewhere else.

This is my desk area. I added my para's chair to the other side so we both have work space. I'm also going to probably move this filing cabinet, like I mentioned above. I haven't pulled out any of the personalization (except for my Chick-fil-A calendar that never moved), so it's looking pretty sad right now.

Not sure why this picture is so fuzzy. I have NO idea what to do with that rolling white board thing. It's so big and awkward, but it was purchased with Title I money, so I can't just give it away. I use it some, but I mostly use the Promethean. I may just lend it to someone permanently. Any of my coworkers reading this, we can talk!

This blue bookshelf came with the room, and I realized last week that I could turn it on it's side like I pinned two years ago and make it a bench! It's also in need of a paint job and some cute bins to hold books. I will be taking this and the white rolling shelf home at the beginning of next week to paint. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Oh, and this adorable rug is from Walmart.com. Don't you love it? I bought it last summer!

That's my tour so far. I made more of a mess today than anything, but we have SEVEN workdays before the kids come back. I usually come back earlier, but our principal is giving us two of those days (the two we don't usually work) completely for us, so I decided to enjoy as much of my summer as possible. The only reason I went in today is because we had to meet and discuss our plan for an in-service about CAFE. This will be our second official year with CAFE and Daily 5 as a school plan, so we're working out kinks from last year.

Teacher Week '13: Now Teach!

Okay, so I skipped out on yesterday since I've only been in my classroom once this summer (that's HUGE for me), but it looks basically the same as last year. So, for now you can click here to see my room reveal from last year. When I actually finish it this time around, I will post again!

Today, the theme is organizational ideas. I have evolved my organizational strategies a lot over the years. For a while, I was ALL ABOUT file folders, but I hate how they bunch up and how it's not as easy to stick something back into the file neatly. Last year, I moved to the binder system. I liked it okay, but I didn't want to invest in all of those page protectors. So I just hole punched and moved along. My only issue with the binders is that they're SO bulky. I'm very much a minimalist (which makes set-up and tear-down of my room pretty simple), and I hate clutter. So I'm working to get almost all of my files digital. I've already narrowed down a LOT. 

We use gmail at work, so I have most of my files on the Google drive. Not sure how much it holds, but I think I may find out this year. I also got a dropbox account and am working to put all of my clipart and TPT products there. That way I can use it at home or school.

Dropbox is free, and you get extra storage for referrals (up to 16 GB). If you don't already have it, I recommend getting it! You can even download it on your phone and get some of those freebies that pop up while you're away from your computer! Click on the image above to get it.

The only thing that I want to keep in my filing cabinet (because I'm going to get down to just one) are games/centers and student files. My student files are the biggie because I am Title I and have to keep a file for EVERY child who received any services while they were at our school. They may have only gone for a week in kindergarten, but I have to keep it until they leave. Since I just have 3-5, this takes up 2 drawers. I keep one drawer for students I currently see and another for those who have been dismissed. I'm working on color coding these by grade, but I need to buy more colored files. Right now I only have green.

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I've been creating almost monthly literacy center sets. I wanted to show a picture of how I prepare them so they can be pulled out and easily used, but apparently I've never taken a picture of them. Something to add to my picture list (I will try and be better about that this year). Anyway, I took my inspiration from Amy Lemons because she's a genius and made a cute instruction page for each center. When I print, that page is glued to the front of a file folder and then laminated. I put all of the cards in a baggie that is stapled to the inside of the folder (I open the bag and staple inside so it can be opened), and then I make a few copies of the graphic organizer that accompanies each center to add to the folder. The centers go into a hanging organizer, and I write a short description on their tabs so I can pull out (or have my kids pull out) what I want easily. So easy, and I look forward to making it full circle so I can reap the benefits of my hard labor last year. 

Speaking of literacy centers, these are the themes I currently have in my TPT store:

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Winter

Valentine's Day

St. Patrick's Day

Spring

Summer

Camping (for summer and/or fall)

Each back has at least 8 centers geared toward grades 3-5. I have about half for major comprehension needs and half for word knowledge. Many of the skills are repeated through all packs, although I change it up for some. I plan on creating Back to School, Fall, and Halloween centers soon, but right now I'm enjoying my last full week of summer break! Can't believe I just said that...

Hop on over to Blog Hoppin' to see what other organizational tips you may find, and I PROMISE pictures later this week!

Teacher Week '13: Let's Talk About Me!

It's Teacher Week! I believe this is the third year I've actually linked up. The first two would have been over at The Dalton Gang since this blog isn't quite a year old yet. Soon though! Anyway, some of you have been following me for a little while and know a decent bit about me. Still, I think it's fun to learn about each other's personal lives every once and a while. We spend so much time talking about school that it's nice to learn what we do when we're not "being a teacher".

So here are my 10 things:

Steven and I are a successful long distance relationship story. We met when he came to visit my college roomie (she was his show choir partner in high school) our sophomore year of college, but he lived in Richmond while I was in Macon, GA. So we "made it work" (to quote Tim Gunn) until I graduated in May 2006, then we got married about a month later. This summer marked our seven year anniversary, and I couldn't be happier with my choice!

I have the COOLEST little boy ever! Keagan will be 20 months this week, and he really is an awesome kid. His latest deal is to wear his fedora everywhere. Literally, he wakes up in the morning and puts it on. I call him my little blue eyes.

I was scared of dogs for most of my life, but about 3 years ago, these two sweethearts stole a place in my heart. I love my "boys", even though they're now at least twice the size we were planning on!

They were only 3-4 months old in this picture. Now John can rest his paws on my shoulders.

I've taught in the same school for 7 years but have held 3 different positions. The first year was 1st grade (while the school entered its final year as a primary school), then I taught 4th for five years. Last year, I became the reading specialist for grades 3-5 and love it! I miss having my own group of kids and getting to do all of the cute crafts, but not grading papers and being able to visit multiple classrooms is a lot of fun!

Possibly my FAVORITE class - my first group of 4th graders who are now about to enter their SOPHOMORE year...eek!!

My hubby and I decided to cancel DISH a while back (GASP!), so we are dependent upon the weather for good signals. Fortunately we get all of the main channels and can watch morning cartoons on PBS. The main thing we miss is Food Network, though.

I'm crazy about anything nautical, and we decorate with it a LOT! Keagan's room has sea animal decals, our living room has a painting and sea animal prints, one bathroom has seashells, another has a crab painting, and our guest room has pictures from Key West. It helps that Steven is as into it as I am. We could move to the beach tomorrow.

We actually painted these chairs ourselves (Steven drew it, and I painted in the lines), but we had to throw them out this year because they had rotted. I miss the chairs!

We're also obsessed with Christmas. We're those annoying people who start decorating before Thanksgiving (sometimes immediately after Halloween), but it's because we have SO much stuff and usually are traveling over Thanksgiving break.

We actually went into the woods to get this tree a few years ago when our old living room was open to the upstairs. The tree ended up being about 12 feet by the time we FINISHED chopping it down. SO fun!

My very best friend, Amanda (Teacher at the Wheel), lives in Atlanta, so we don't get to hang out enough...

Hanging out with Jesse at our alma mater - Mercer University!

...but I've started building a close relationship with these lovely ladies from our "life group" at church. 

Even though we've recently decided to go to a different church, we plan on staying close with these families. We all had kids around the same time, and it's always fun to get together with or without the kids!

This pic is actually missing two kids - we're a little behind on the quota!

I don't know if I'll be able to make the post tomorrow (Classroom Tour) because I don't plan on going up to school again until Thursday (got called in to the principal's office over the summer! No worries, we just have to plan for an in-service), but be sure to follow the party! I may do a double post later in the week to catch up!

Currently August? NO!!!

I've been hoping to post more this week, but it's been busy. We have summer committees to look over the SOL test questions for the state, and I was selected to be on one for Grade 5 Reading. They are awesome because you get paid and fed during the week, but you also get to decide if items are fair or appropriate and suggest changes to them. It's a great learning experience to see how they create the test items and passages that actually appear on the tests, and I have a little more respect for test-creators. Plus I don't think many other states allow their teachers to form the committees that actually make these decisions. If you live in VA and teach a testing grade, you NEED to sign up for one. They have the committees for every SOL test in VA.

Anyway, I saw this last night and decided to at least start mine before heading out to committee for the day.

Listening: When I started this, no one else was awake. Now Keagan is playing with his car thing while Steven quickly showers. They've had daddy-son week since Steven teaches and is off all summer still.

Loving: My brother has been in Bosnia on a mission trip for most of the summer, so he didn't get to come visit with my parents last month. He goes back to school August 16, so he's coming for a few days. I'm so excited!

Thinking: I have put on about 5 pounds since my trip to Puerto Rico, and I just haven't been able to motivate myself to start working out again. I need to. Last night, I actually cried I was so frustrated.

Wanting: I have two pieces of furniture in my room that need a makeover, and I'm thinking it's going to happen soon. Ace Hardware is having a deal tomorrow for a free quart of paint. It only works tomorrow, so I'm going!

Needing: I have to get going for my last day of summer committees (well, I have one more Monday, but it's for something a little different).

B2S Must Haves: I'll be honest, I kind of rushed on the last one. Couldn't really think of a good one. But it works because I always want to share new books. Plus it's extra important with my new job because I will have some of these kids for 3 years (I guess it could even be for 4 if they repeat a grade).

Two final things: There is a HUGE VA Blog Hop coming up on Sunday that you WILL NOT want to miss.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! You could win some amazing prizes, including a $10 gift card to Target or TPT. This ends Tuesday (or Wednesday technically) at midnight EST.

Tunes Tuesday

I saw this linky idea on Nick's blog last week and thought it would be so fun! Music is a great way to teach some of our less interesting skills, and grammar definitely fits into that category!

Unfortunately when I signed up, I didn't have the foresight to schedule my post while I had a real computer. So I can't easily post all the lyrics and everything for my song. I can at least give you some ideas though!

I'm a Beatles fan, so I went straight to their music for inspiration. My song that I chose was Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Blame the movie I Am Sam for for that becoming a favorite. By the way, you should see it, especially if you like the Beatles. The entire movie is Beatles music (and the storyline is amazing)!

Back to the point of the post: there are many different types of sentences in the song. The only one I believe is missing is exclamatory. I would print the lyrics for each child and have them highlight each type of sentence in a different color. Simple, but fun!

Then to expand the lesson, you could have each student bring in lyrics for their favorite song where they do the same activity either as homework or at school!

That's it for today. I have a toddler climbing all over me, so we need to get busy. Today we're going to the park and then Barnes and Noble for story time!

Favorite Pins Friday #2

It's time for Favorite Pins Friday with Cara from The First Grade Parade!

I'm starting to realize that my summer is rolling along TOO quickly! There's still more left than I've had (just finished week 4), but looking at the calendar is starting to scare me. So even though I haven't done anything school-wise yet except buy one Reading Comprehension booklet from Target's Dollar Spot, I have begun to repin school ideas.

I got this from Head Over Heels for Teaching when she blogged about her reading workshops. I've seen a few inventories over the years and tried some out, but I really like this one. It's SO important to figure out about your students as readers, especially with the struggling readers. They will need so much guidance when choosing books, and you've got to be prepared to help!

Mind. Blown. Unfortunately this picture didn't link back to any website, so I can't give credit. What a great way to store their water bottles without having them all over the desks, though!

Forensic Science for Kids had a great inferencing idea. Set up a crime scene! Now, you could create your own (I have a fantastic hubby with some experience that can help me in that area), OR they provide a link to two great ones for kids that are already created. Obviously a lot of prep time goes into this, but it would be SO much fun!

Collaboration Cuties posted about this last week in their Favorite Pins post, and I love it! I feel like we waste so many paper towels cleaning our white boards. Instead, buy a bunch of Dollar Tree facial cleansers. Now I'm going to try and see if I can attach them to the board somehow for even more ease. Any ideas?

Onto a more personal pin, I'm thinking about actually letting my hair grow out (no source again). Usually I keep it shoulder-length because it's so thick and just gets to be too unmanageable. I saw this hairstyle with long layers, though, and I think we'll try it out! Plus I've starting pinning all these cute updos that my current hair isn't quite long enough for. We'll see if I stick with it, but I could always donate it to Locks of Love if I quit!

And on a similar note....

So true!

What are you pinning this week?