So...what have you been up to?

So...what have you been up to?

Full disclosure: I hate this question, especially during the summer time.

If I share that I've been working on classroom stuff, especially with other teachers, I'm sometimes met with attitude.  Yes, I know it's summer but my brain and teaching ideas don't just turn off.  I'd rather do a little bit of work to make the transition back less painful.   (Read more about my decision to cut my summer short {here}).

If I share that I've watched a lot of Netflix, I'm met with a similar attitude from non-teacher friends.  Plus I feel like a lazy bum if I wasn't amazingly productive.  I'm not cut out for the stay at home mom thing.

I just can't win sometimes.

So, here's the recap:

Crafting
 
I've enjoyed crafting time.  I made a wreath for my mom, for a good friend, and for hopefully my future SIL Leah.  

(L's wreath)

  

(Mrs. K's wreath on her front door)

(Mom's wreath)

I'm working on a banner for my classroom and a photo booth frame (inspiration from another teacher on Instagram).  

(Pre-cut banners were a find at Target! Hooray for less work.)

I've got three more wreaths in the works. 


Reading

I knocked out Teach Like a Pirate, Your School Rocks...So Tell People, and The Essential 55 this summer.  Professional reading keeps my mind sharp and the ideas flowing. 

I also read The Dark Prophecy and created TpT products. 

I also read several magazines and some just for fun books on the airplane ride(s). 

I enjoyed:

I'll be writing a more in-depth book review with my "a ha" moments in a few days, so stay tuned!

I'm also working on:

We'll start with the classroom first because that's a less daunting task.  Plus it coincides with my {clean desk} goals!


House Improvement Projects

I deep cleaned and reorganized the pantry:

(Yes, we have a doomsday-prepper sized pantry and I love it.)

I cleaned out closets.

I finished staining our cabinets so they could be installed.  

(More on that adventure {here})

I continued to tackle organizing the garage.  With classroom supplies in there, it's difficult!

I made sure the guest bedroom is ready for when friends from Florida come to visit in September and October.


Teachers Pay Teachers

I am no where close to my end of the summer goal of 250 products, but I did make a {year of journal prompts} and various activities for {The Dark Prophecy}.

I also started a journal of my future projects:

(I'll try to create one new thing a month.  That seems reasonable.) 


Prepping for Next Year

I picked out bulletin board ideas and started the banner.  I snagged supplies for 70% off (thank you Joann's).  

I'm reusing blue fabric for one bulletin board, undecided on a second, and snagged a tan sheet for the third at Goodwill for $2.99. I'd call that a win!

I bought pillows for my classroom library (thank you sales at Joann's and Target).

I revised the grade level long range plans to fit my teaching ideas:

I brainstormed future lesson ideas...by looking at Pinterest.

I also felt very strongly about Target rolling out back to school items right after the fourth of July. 

There was still over a month left of summer at that point.  Calm down guys.

However, {this video} does a pretty good job of summarizing how teachers feel about school supplies being out too early.


Helping Others

I helped K with her upcoming Labor Day Weekend wedding by finding table center pieces and loaning her various items (head piece, card box, etc).  I loved it, she's an awesome friend, and it could be her something borrowed.

I am helping host a baby shower at the end of September and we've had a few planning sessions on the logistics of the event.

I had lunch with another friend several times to help her plan her son's Sweet 16.  I went shopping for materials with her and loaned her photo booth props.  While I didn't attend, from the looks of it, he had a wonderful time and that's what matters.

I went into work to help with open library on a few Wednesdays and reorganized the Sunshine Club's cabinet.

I continued to clean out the garage and donated boxes to a friend who is moving.

I brainstormed paper topics for friends who are finishing up teaching degrees and loaned out books (so the published authors were the experts). 

I helped my mom with the start up logistics of her Etsy shop (coming soon!)


The Rest 

We went bowling. I'm still awful.  Wait no, I'm a teacher and this is a growth mindset situation.  

With practice, patience, gentle guidance (and beer), I transform from awful to mediocre over the course of several games.  I ended up with a 105 (without bumpers).  Hubby is still undecided if he wants to do a bowling league with me.

We celebrated a friend's 30th birthday.


I had brunch and lunch with gal pals several times.


I went to Gilley's for line dancing and birthday celebrations.

I enjoyed bonding with the couch and Netflix.


I had lots of pet snuggling time.


I had the oil changed in both vehicles and B's truck got new tires.  He put new windshield wipers on my car (because that's love) and I look forward to the annual smog check and registration in a few days (not).


I spent a week with family in Arizona.


I hosted B's graduation party.

All the pets went to the vet.  Some were more behaved than others.


We spoiled our niece and nephews on their birthdays.


I did a lot of blogging,

Sometimes with help.

I had lunch dates and mani/pedis with friends.


Oh, and we enjoyed an amazing two and a half week honeymoon.  We visited Arizona for family time, saw friends in Florida, went to the beach, played mini golf, saw alligators, went to Universal Studios, and then jetted off to St. Maarten for a week.


I've got a few more days until I officially have to be back to work, but I'm ready to ease back into it.

Thanks summer 2017, it's been lovely!

Done!

My oh my, the side hustle game is strong this month!

I'm finally done with the Hidden Oracle and Dark Prophecy work!

Snag the novel guide for The Dark Prophecy {here}

Snag the chronological order comprehension sort for The Dark Prophecy {here}

Snag the student question guide for The Dark Prophecy {here}

Snag the bundle for The Dark Prophecy {here}

Snag the mega bundle (The Hidden Oracle and The Dark Prophecy) {here}

Snag the student questions for The Hidden Oracle {here}

Snag the updated bundle for The Hidden Oracle {here}


Now...I wait for what's next.

I swear this is like Harry Potter all over again.

The novel is done, now what?

As I {shared} last week, I had a time crunch to finish The Dark Prophecy by well, yesterday.

I met my goal, but barely.  I walked into open library with sixteen pages left.  Luckily my former student was understanding.  He turned on all the computers for me so I could finish the book in peace.

Now that the novel is read, the rest of my work begins.  

When I read these novels, I pick out important tier 2 and 3 vocabulary words for each chapter.  I pick out comprehension questions and jot down suggested answers, relying on textual support.  I look for opportunities to highlight figurative language, author's word choice, and making inferences.  I think what homework questions I'd want my students to answer and jot down what type of answers I'd want from my students.

My next steps are to take the 64 pages of hand written notes and turn it into a word document. I estimate it will be around 50 typed pages when I'm done.

After the novel is done, I'll make the chronological order sort and a student question guide (worksheet format with a few comprehension questions for each chapter).  I'll post all of these products separately on my {store}, as well as bundle them together.  My goal for finishing all of this is next Friday.

Good thing I'm powered by caffeine and Netflix marathons (for background noise of course!).

Pause

As I've shared a few times, I'm in the middle of Teach Like a Pirate.  

I've been enjoying the book and all the teaching ideas that are flowing from the author's open-ended questions.

Between tidying the house, unpacking from my trip, and deep cleaning, I've been breaking up my house work with escaping into the book.

Yesterday, I headed to school for two main tasks.  

First, the Sunshine social club cabinet was in desperate need of tidying.  By tidying, I mean I took everything out, wiped down the shelves, organized by item, and trashed some particularly disgusting ancient table cloths and bowls.  It looks so much better now.

Second, we were doing open library.  Students are invited in for two hours to read and take AR quizzes.  There were several teachers there for a half-dozen kids, so I didn't feel bad about only being in the library for the entire time. 

One of my former students (he's off to sixth grade) was there and it was good to see him.  Upon leaving, he inquired if I'd finished The Dark Prophecy yet because he'd like to read it.

The libraries don't have it yet and he is eager to tackle the next adventure.   Wooed by his puppy dog eyes and eagerness to read, I gave in and said he could borrow it next Wednesday at open library.  He was thrilled (as were his parents).

I'm currently on chapter five (page 43ish) of a 400 page book...so I've got some reading (and note taking) to do.

Sorry, Teach Like a Pirate, we're taking a break in the name of making a kiddo happy.

Weeks 2 and 3

With my staycation in Arizona winding down, I'm not really sorry about not accomplishing all my summer goals in a timely manner.

B was supposed to be on a work trip to Texas when I planned this staycation (and birthday celebration for my bro's gf).  However, that got cancelled but he insisted I still take my mini-trip (but without the pets).

So for the past week(ish), I've been shopping, napping, eating out, watching movies, and lounging about with my family.   It's been lovely.  We're spending my last full day here doing brunch at home to celebrate a birthday, then my mom and I will visit Marshall's and Joann's.  

Next month, the hubs and I will be going on our island honeymoon and after a discussion he now realizes he does in fact need flip flops/sandals for the beach.  Thus, the Marshall's trip.  

My mom is also looking forward to launching her quilting Etsy shop later this year (stay tuned), so we've got some props to buy (for staging the quilt) and banner colors to look at (for the photography set).  She's visited the postal store to look at her shipping options.

I've also {crafted} and continued to work on Teach Like a Pirate, although it's not a book I can just breeze through because I stop and jot down ideas about what I want to do next year in my classroom.  (Again, the whole sparking ideas thing might just be the point of the book.)

I'll be driving back super early tomorrow morning to beat the heat.

The rest of the week is devoted to:

1) Picking up my mom's wedding album from Costco

2) Finalizing honeymoon details

3) Cleaning and painting our built ins

4) Two different planning meetings with friends.  One is for her son's sixteenth birthday, the other is for a baby shower in Sept. I'm easily bribed with food.

5) A coworker's birthday BBQ

6) Finishing Teach Like a Pirate

7) Oil changes on both vehicles, plus a brake change for the truck

8) Cleaning out the Sunshine closet at work

9) Manning the library for 2 hours.  Our principal has opened up the library for students to come visit on summer break. I sent out the message on class dojo because I'm hopeful some of my students will come with their younger siblings (my future students)

10) Perhaps getting around  to fixing the format of this blog.  Sadly, adventures in fifth is no longer relevant.

11) Following ITSE posts from a distance.  Maybe one year I'll apply...

12) Posting the morning messages PPT on TpT

13) Continue to work on The Dark Prophecy

I'm exhausted just looking at this list.  

Week 1

I'm officially a week into 

And man oh man, have I been productive (at least in my mind).

In the past week, I've:

1) Attended a {training} with mixed feedback and feelings.  Mrs. O, a kinder teacher at my school loves WBT and offered to let me come observe some lessons. I told her I'd be taking her up on her offer because I don't want to completely write off the entire philosophy based on a less than ideal training.  Plus if she's passionate about it, I want to see that passion and joy in action.

2) Took this one to the vet:

She's pretty much perfect.

3) Read this book:

4) Reflected on {previously mentioned book} and created a teacher Instagram account to build a sense of community.

5) Renewed my teaching license, got finger printed for a background check (again), and got a new badge with my married last name:

6) Attended a beautiful baby shower for a friend.

7) Caught up (ish) on blogging.  With help.  Always with help.

8) Finished a {TpT product} for a dissatisfied customer.  Hopefully the modifications I made will make him happy.  I also uploaded the product into my Lightning Thief {bundle} for free.

9) I continued to work on a morning message board, which I {previously shared}.  My goal is to finish a CCSD version (because that's what I'll use) and a generic version by Monday.  One of my teacher friends has agreed to peer edit and return it to me by next Thursday, so that should be up shortly.  

Sneak peek:

10) Helped a friend celebrate her birthday (by having beer and pretzels). 

Looking ahead to week 2:

1) Lunch date with Mrs. K and Ms. H (as a reward for being done with the previously mentioned product)

2) Teeth cleaning (thanks mama)

3) Celebrating L's birthday with family

4) Seeing family

5) Making significant progress in The Dark Prophecy (if not done completely)

 
6) Finish cleaning out pictures from my phone (to make space for honeymoon pictures)

7) Make vet appointments for the kitties  

8) Finally see Wonder Woman

But first, a nap!