I'm still working on The House of Hades by Rick Riordan.
The final in the Heroes of Olympus series was just released and I'll be purchasing myself a copy from our Scholastic Book Order or our school's book fair.
However, I just wanted to take a moment to share the dedication page of this novel:
Yup. Rick Riordan has solidified his place in my top five favorite authors with this dedication (which quite frankly, may be my all time favorite).
While it's a few days late, I was inspired to be reflective with the blogtember task of how I've changed in the past year.
Change is good. Change is sad. Change means leaving things behind. (paraphrased quote from Lowry's Gossamer. )
A year ago...
I was living in an apartment. It was a cute set up and by far my favorite of the several I've lived in post college. It was close to the freeway and major shopping areas. I had fairly nice neighbors and maintenance was always friendly.
I was teaching fifth grade and loving my grade level. But the issues were starting, which would only get worse in the coming eight months. I was starting to think about moving schools in September.
I was eager to see Wicked with my best friend when she came to visit.
I was stressed beyond belief with work.
I was just starting my store on TpT.
I was surrounded by friends getting engaged, married, or pregnant.
Now...
I have my first home which I'm loving. It's very close to work, which saves easily a hundred dollars a month on gas. Hooray for that!
I am still teaching fifth grade and adore my new grade level. There are some learning curves but nothing is making me want to leave. In fact, I don't ever want to move my classroom library again!
I'm eager to see Wicked with B. This will be his second musical (the first being The Book of Mormon).
Now I'm managing my stress. I'm working hard at work, but also taking time to enjoy my weekends. I'm savoring my time off and treating myself to rewards. I'm making time for me as a person, not just me as a teacher.
I'm continuing to build my TpT store. But I'm also pleased to announce I am a Jamberry consultant! As part of my treat myself, I'm going to have pretty nails. All the time!
I applied these a week ago. 168 hours of teaching, cleaning, cooking, and well, life later...they look the same! I love them. I'll be hosting my first party in November but you're welcome to shop now. Our special is buy 3, get 1 free! So for the cost of a mani/pedi at a salon, you get 4 sheets of your choice. Jams last 2 weeks on your fingers and up to 4 weeks on your toes!
I can't wait for my new ones to get here:
(You can shop here!)
And...I'm still surrounded by friends getting engaged, married, or pregnant.
Sometimes things change. Sometimes they don't. It's crazy what a difference a year can make. I do know that I'm much happier now and that's what matters.
With September's Blogtember challenge nearing its end, I'm a little bummed. I liked having these daily reflective tasks. I did about half of them, which is admirable considering my work schedule, the shared laptop, and that this was my first time participating.
For those who are visiting from Brave Love, hello! Hopefully you'll pop back over once in a while after this challenge ends.
Today's prompt: What are your highs and lows for the month?
Highs:
1) My new school is amazing. I feel supported. I feel like I have the freedom to make instructional decisions that benefit my students. I don't feel like every choice I make is questioned. Everyone is super supportive.
2) My students are excited to be in school and eager to learn. They want to read. They ask questions. There are a few hallway chats each day about being on task and being nice, but it's nothing major. It's such a refreshing change.
3) My new grade level is so welcoming. I'm able to be honest with them about the things I'm unsure of (procedures, RTI expectations) and not feel judged. They're willing to help and allow me to contribute (without expecting me to do more than my fair share). Plus they're really awesome ladies and since no one plans on leaving, I think I've found a new group of friends.
4) My morning routine is so much more relaxed. I have time to eat breakfast at home, not at the copier. I have time to blog, check emails, and relax in the morning. I have time to do stretches and a few household chores before leaving for work. I bought fruit and yogurt, so I'm going to start making smoothies in the morning. Last year, I'd get up at 5, be out the door by 5:30, be at work at 6, and have until 7:10 to get work done before meetings started. Now I wake up around five, leisurely take my time getting around, leave at 6:50 and am at my computer by 7:10. The shorter drive gives me an hour of my life back each day.
5) Our class weebly is getting a lot of positive attention and responses. This year, my new school purchased weebly accounts for everyone. It's a classroom blog where I share information about our classroom with students and parents. I've given them homework to do online and put up polls and pictures. I've gotten parent responses on it as well. It's just nice to have a positive, open line of communication with my students and their families.
6) I tried Jamberry nails and I'm hooked! A week later (and a week of teaching and cleaning no less!, there are no chips.) I ordered my first set, am going to host a Jamberry/31 bags party in November (with an online component where you can order) and going to be a consultant. I've decided that having my nails look nice makes me happy and Jamberry is an inexpensive way to do that. It may seem shallow, but having pretty nails makes me feel put together and on top of things, which is a message I want to convey to others.
7) I also tried doterra oils and love those as well. I have occasional migraines and frequent joint pain from years of sports and I like how the oils helped with those. I'm excited to try a natural remedy to common ailments.
8) I felt appreciated by those closest to me. My birthday was at the end of August and for several reasons, I didn't really do anything special. However, a few close friends made the effort to make me feel special on my birthday.
Lows:
1) I didn't see my friends as much as I'd like. We all have busy schedules and our own lives, it's just a rough adjustment going from seeing them daily to seeing them monthly. I need to get better at calling and texting them. It's also becoming apparent who will remain a friend now that we are in separate schools and which friendships are fading. That's life. It's just a sad situation when friendships dissolve because everyone is too busy.
2) I lost my planner. I've meticulously cleaned my car and home, so I know it's not hiding anywhere. I'm pretty sure I left it at a math training at a high school in the early parts of the month, so I don't have high hopes of it returning home. I bought a replacement, but since it was September, my options were severely limited. I'm just irritated that I have to go back through and enter commitments again. I've also felt very disorganized without my planner, which is frustrating.
3) I still don't feel like I have everything in my classroom under control. I know as a teacher, I will never accomplish everything on my to do list. I just finally built another filing cabinet insert (the metal part to put the folders on) to organize student data. I have five weeks' worth of filing awaiting me Monday...yikes!
4) My students didn't do as well on their first math test as I would have liked and that's disappointing to me. I haven't taught a traditional math block in a few years since we were departmentalized and I know the concept is difficult. There were just a lot of careless mistakes (skipping problems) that I'll need to address as a class. I know that they need more review and that I'll be giving the test again. I just hope parents don't freak out. I know they don't have it yet. We have until June to master the concept. Learning takes time.
5) The gradebook. The entire district is trying a new gradebook and needless to say, it's a learning curve. Last year, I only entered summative assessments (end of unit tests) and nothing else. This year, I have three categories: summative for 90%, formative for 10% (quizzes, exit tickets, assignments during the unit of study) and a not for grade category (obviously worth nothing). I'm used to entering grades as emerging, approaching, meeting, or exceeding and having each assignment broken down by standard. With this new grade book, my standards are clumped together which I don't exactly like. For example, in reading, RL 1, 2, and 3 are grouped together, then averaged. This means grades for quoting accurately and making inferences (1), determining the theme of a story, drama or poem (2), and comparing and contrasting story elements (3) are put together. I don't like this, but I don't have any say in the matter. I just think it gives a misleading picture to parents. Students may be struggling with one particular standard, but if several are linked together, the numbers are skewed. Hopefully this problem is addressed soon by those higher ups. We also aren't allowed to enter any grade lower than 55%, with the mindset that it's still an F, but students won't have as far to recover from a failed test. We are to make notes of the actual score for parents to see. I agree with this idea, I just wish I'd known before I started to enter grades because I had a good dozen assignments to go back and revise.
6) I haven't been to the gym...and feel really guilty about it! I want to start going more, it's just hard at the end of the day. I need to start taking my gym clothes to work with me and giving myself permission to leave on time. I get there early, so it's okay to leave when my contract time is up.
7) My new crockpot recipes failed :( Not failed persay, but definitely not a pinterest win. The first one went awry because I used the larger crockpot and the sauce spread out, thus burning and not flavoring the chicken. The second failed because it's a recipe that needs to be stirred a few times while it's cooking. Perhaps we'll try that again on a weekend day when I can attend to the crockpot.
Overall, not a bad month. It's strange to think it's almost October!
I usually type my lessons for the day into a smart notebook. While this takes a good twenty minutes each morning, I think it helps our day flow smoothly. I like to start my morning with everything fully prepared and loaded, leaving my prep free to conquer any numerous tasks or handle unforeseen emergencies without panic.
However, sometimes when I have a lot of instructions typed on the board, my students zone out. They're ten, I get it. I still go over the purpose for each activity and imbed some spiral review to remind them what they're learning and why.
So I switched up my strategy:
I read what's in black font and they read what is in another color. This way they're actively engaged in the directions and if they forget what to do, the key parts of the instructions or directions practically jump out at them.
Plus, by only giving them a few words or a phrase to read, they aren't shouting over each other and they are able to read together (most of the time).
It's time for an anchor chart update!
My walls have quickly been overtaken by colorful anchor charts to guide our class discussions. This year I'm trying something new and color coding my charts. My math ones are pink, my reading ones are blue, my reading foundation skills (fluency, phonics) are yellow, and our read aloud mentor text ones (for The Lightning Thief) are white.
Our close read poster:
They're doing a really good job with this skill this year!
Today's prompt: Your fall bucket list. What do you want to do before winter rolls around?
For those of you hopping over from Brave Love, good morning! (Or afternoon, or evening).
As a native of the Southwest, the whole season concept is a bit murky. However, I like to pretend that when we are in 90 degree weather, this counts as fall.
Plus, I LOVE making lists, so I was eager to blog about this topic. It must be the teacher in me :)
My Fall Bucket List:
**Purchase some jamberry nails because in the long run, it'll be better for my budget. I got a free sample from a friend Amy and applied them Sunday night:
(The accent nail is the jamberry one. The rest are Sally Hansen Miracle Gel.) It took maybe five minutes to do both hands and as of Wednesday, no chips! They're supposed to last three weeks and come out to be about three dollars an application. I can treat myself to that little girly indulgence.
**Fully clean my house. I've still got book piles in the living room and the guest bedroom/craft room is in need of some attention. Since I'm having people over Saturday, I guess I'd better get on that!
**Return to the gym. Now that the beginning of the year chaos is settling down, I need to get into the routine of going a few times a week.
**Try new recipes, especially crockpot recipes. I hate to cook. Luckily B went to culinary school and does most of the cooking (I do other chores, it evens out). However, I want to put the crockpots to good use! I'm really good at dumping ingredients in the crockpot and ignoring it for hours on end :)
**Carve pumpkins, or at least be supportive while B does it. Disclaimer, I hate carving pumpkins. I don't have any happy childhood memories of it and this always seemed like a chore rather than a fun holiday activity. I don't really like anything pumpkin flavored or scented (the horror, I know!) and the insides always grossed me out. However, B flat out asked if we were going to do it and seemed so excited about it...so I should be supportive. Apparently that's what you do in adult relationships. (I'm kidding, I love him and will happily watch him stab the pumpkin into an intricate shape while I enjoy some tea and grade. Or I will happily buy fake pumpkins and paint them with polka dots while he carves real ones!)
**Enjoy my fall wardrobe. I'm excited for the scarves/boots/cardigans parade that will be escaping from the closet in the next few months. My winter wardrobe is essentially the same except lightweight cardigans are replaced by sweaters and hoodies, thus limiting the scarf potential. (Scarves and hoodies is just silly).
**Have a crafting day. I've been wanting to make a burlap wreath for our front door basically since we moved in. Now seems like an excellent time!
**Refinish the bathroom cabinets. All our cabinets are builder grade oak, which is fine if you like the light color. I don't. One bathroom is done in shades of gold, white, and mother of pearl, so the cabinets will stay oak in there because it matches. Our living room has a cherry red hardwood floor, so the cabinets looked awful until I repainted them over the summer:
Yes, that was my summer task...all 37 cabinet doors and frames. Now that I seem to have forgotten how time consuming the task was, I want to tackle our master bathroom ones. Our house is an open floor plan, so the master bedroom and bathroom connect. We painted the walls a slate blue color with a gray accent wall behind the bed. I want to paint the cabinets Seaside, Meadow, or Federal Gray:
We used rustic on our kitchen and the whole process was pretty easy, it just took a lot of time. However, I redid kitchen counters, the island, and an entry way cabinet for under three hundred dollars so it was definitely worth it if you have the patience for a DIY project.
**Have a picnic. One of our first dates was Panera in the bed of his truck, watching little kids play softball. I'd love to recreate that.
**Enjoy our patio. For the first time in years, I have a backyard. My three apartments all had various sized patios which could comfortably fit two people and folding chairs. That's not the case with our house. We have a wrap around back patio and oversized yard. We're waiting for our tax return to do anything with the yard because right now, it's desert landscaping...also known as rocks. Lots of rocks. But in the mean time, I want to enjoy the patio with some dinners outside. Perhaps tomorrow I'll take my tea and laptop outside to blog!
**Enjoy time with friends. Now that I've left my previous school (as many others have), I don't get to see my close friends on a daily basis. I want to see them more.
**Switch out our scentsy for apple cinnamon or other fall scents. This will be an easy task, but I just need to remember to do it!
What's on your fall list?
