Sunday Reflections

Can you believe I got sick...again?!

I had 5 kids out Thursday, 2 on Friday, and yesterday afternoon was my turn.  Some awful stomach bug going around.  Thankfully, I'm getting better. 

 Before I got sick, I spent the morning with a chai tea latte and addressing announcements.  My kids are seniors and graduate on our last day of school.  Ayyy, the realization of my baby girl graduating is slowly hitting me....  Well, actually my cutie pie is my baby girl, but there is a 12 year gap between my girls.  Oh, and no I don't have twins, just happens that my stepson, who lives with us, is also graduating.  Crazy, two seniors, one graduation, one happy mama :)

And yes, it's report card time.

I seriously cannot we only have 8 days of school left!

CRAZY!!!

Still left to do:

-report cards

-class profile cards

-finalize honor roll lists

-award certificates

-pack

-pack

-pack

-And prepare for a Graduation/End of year/Let summer begin PARTAAAAY!!!!!

Good luck teachers out in Bloggyland!

I know how hectic this time of year for us :)

The Dreaded Words...

The end of the trimester...

Friday was the end of the 1st trimester, already! I know!

Like most teachers in my district, we'll be busy this 3 day weekend grading assessments and completing report cards.
Friday our janitor  came in to clean and said wow you're here late!  Teachers never stop working, huh?  

But I love teaching and I love my class!
 Seriously, I have thee best class this year!

(My husband would tell you I say this every year :)

Anyways, I'm thankful for the 3 days.

Saturday was all bout scrapbooking.

Sunday will be all about Thor, eh hem, I mean, familia.
Then grading, eating, assessments, and our latest TV love:

Monday, after another visit to the dentist will be all about report cards and lesson plans.  Which I don't usually mind, but now we have to add the 4 C's to our plans, and include Blooms/Websters matrix to our plans...

Adios amigos...

I leave you with my favorite Arrested Development scenes, it sums up how I feel, but makes me smile every time :)

Monday Moments

i woke up early this morning, going over my to do list in my head,

thinking frantically of all that I had to do,

the trimester ends in 2 weeks, which not only means I have only 2 weeks to review skills, but throw in there Halloween for my little one, nope, no costume yet.

a halloween carnival

professional day friday, sigh...one less day with kids

did i mention i'm taking a technology course?

assessments

report cards (well, at least i have 2 1/2 weeks before they're due)

and yeah....i've been fighting off a cold all weekend 

(guess who's winning)

and then a small still voice, 

one i've been too busy to hear:

breathe, appreciate the moments

kids love this time of year, don't let assessments overtake my classroom.

why can't i use the fun poems, chants, and read alouds to review those skills?

but mostly, i need to think about and cherish moments like this one:

my cutie pie had her first piano recital this weekend. 

did she talk to her pal next to her during the recital? yup :/

did i get uptight thinking, oh no, is this how she is in her kindergarten class? yup :/

did she play her music an extra 4 times because she was so nervous? ha, ha yup :)

do i swell up with tears and joy when i think of this moment? absolutely :)

well, thanks for hearing me out, 

i haven't blogged in such a long time but just felt this need to share.

hope to be a little less of a stranger here in my little part of bloggyland.

Slow Down??

I never get this sick.

A cold here, a sore throat there, sure, but the way I've felt these last couple of days, ugh, is this what the flu feels like?  I've had several kids out the last couple of weeks.  The bug that has been going around finally got me :(

Testing, assessments, report cards, parent conferences, trying to engage our kiddos, my defenses were low I suppose, no wonder I've been bit.

I'm home, sick, and while it's normally difficult for me to just do nothing, this bug is telling me to just slooooow down already, do nothing but relax and feel better.

So my lil' cutie pie is taking care of her mama today, and drew this beautiful picture of me.

Needless to say, I'm feeling better already :)

I Think I Picked The Wrong Week To...

Stop drinking coffee.

If you've read my blog for a bit then you might know I absolutely love, LOVE, coffee.
I swear it tastes better with just about anything!
Donuts and pastries of course, but with cold pizza leftovers from the night before,
a handful of almonds, my breakfast sammies... how I miss thee....
It's been almost a week, and my soothing replacement has been Good Earth Tea.
But it has really kept me moving at a snail's pace in my classroom.

School starts exactly one week from today, my normal comment would be:
ONE WEEK PEOPLE!! But amazingly enough, I'm pretty calm considering this is all I've done in my class so far...

I wonder if there's any chance of me being here just one more time before school starts...

                              

Good luck, hope we all get our classrooms ready for our new kiddos.

Adios amigos :)

Why I said NO To A New Ipad Mini

Are you kidding me?  Who says no to a new Ipad mini?

:/ Me, ugh, crazy I know.

For Valentines Day we went to my FAVORITE restaurant ever,

 OMG, it's soooo YUMMY

My absolute, favorite dish, la combinación, pollo y lechón,

the combo plate of chicken and pork,

it comes with white rice, black beans, and sweet onions, in the most savory garlic sauce, mmm delicioso!  (I don't usually mix my languages, but even you'll come out of there reciting any español you know :).

If you can't make the restaurant locations, and you're ever at Universal City Walk, there's a small food to go in the food court, 

seriously, you can thank me later, You MUST GO!

Ah hem, anyways, 

afterwards we went to Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade,

and as we were enjoying

( so good to know calories don't count on Valentines ;)

when my sweet hubby said he was going to get me an Ipad mini for Valentines Day!

I was so excited! Really?! For me?!

But when we got to the Apple Store, my indecisiveness crept in,

It's a lot of money, what if I don't use it much?

I already have an iphone, isn't it pretty much the same thing?

I don't know why, but I wouldn't hesitate to get one for my hubby if he wanted it, but for me....?

Well, let me research it a little more, see if I really do want one, or better yet, use one.

SEE PEOPLE, I seriously need help,

please help me get over my typical mama's -everyone comes first mentality.

Are You An Oldie Or A Newbie?

Okay, I admit it, I'm still using the older Blogger Interface.

I keep trying to update to the new one, but I just don't like it.

Sure, it looks better, updated, streamlined,

but I just can't get used to it.

I don't like when I scroll down my Blog List the posts scroll up too.

I don't like that when I scroll down the posts, the dashboard information scrolls up as well,

so if I want to view my blog, I have to scroll to the top.

I don't like that when I saved my post I couldn't find it.

But I really don't like how I feel so technically challenged on this new interface

(insert grouchy face here!)

(oh wait, i know how to do that!)

Talk about feeling Techy Challenged,

my font on my blog looks italicized instead of the cuter font I had.

I tried going to Advanced section in Template Designer, and it says I have that font, but nope, it's not showing up...

Ho hum...

Classroom Theme Anyone?

Okay, I'll admit it, in 18 years of teaching (yikes, has it been that long?!)

I've never had a theme.

I mean, I try to have an inviting, organized, colorful classroom, 

maybe add cute things like Polka Dots, DJ Inkers, and good old Suzy Zoo,

(hmmm, I wonder if cuteness counts as a theme), 

but overall, nope, no theme.

Any-whoo (get it? anyone? anyone?)

since I've been obsessed captivated with teacher blogs, I keep seeing themes that are just calling my name...

I do love the super cute owl classroom themes!

But when I asked my husband to guess what theme I was thinking about he said, "Superheroes?"

And my mind has been obsessing thinking about it ever since.

I've seen some adorable clipart already.

My students would probably love it, especially since I'm looping with most of them.

My family, (well, the boys anyways) would encourage it.

And my own lil' cutie pie would love it!

See if you can spot her below :)

I need me some feedback...

Parents? Teachers? Anyone? Anyone?

(Darn that Ferris Bueller)

Book Whisperer Ch. 1

How do I feel after reading the intro and first chapter of The Book Whisperer?

In a word, validated.

When I taught 2nd, 1st, and now Kindergarten, 

all I wanted to show my students was to leave my classroom with a love of reading.

I believe all students can read. 

Some students just take a little longer.

The last month of school, one of my struggling students finally became proficient with their HFW.

When I was assessing his decodable words, he began by saying whatever came to mind, not decoding.

I isolated the first part of the word, he read it.

I uncovered the second syllable, he read it.

I praised him and acknowledged that he was reading.

I swear I saw the light inside him shine!

As teachers, we live for these moments don't we?

He read the rest of the words.

He read sentences.

He started reading books.

He saw himself as a reader, and he now knew he was a reader.

I was so excited, I told everyone, my coworkers, my principal, my husband!

I'm anxious to read more about Donalyn Miller's strategies, and I'm encouraged by her words so far.
I try to foster a love of reading by reading to my kids.
After reading a book, Big Book, or poem I let kids revisit them.
Can I just say it's the best feeling to see kids huddled around books,
seeing them with pointers, reading chants,
hearing the inflection in their voice.

Ahhhh, music to my ears........

Last Day of school

Yesterday was the last day of school,  this is always such a bittersweet moment. 

We worked so hard to learn our letters, sounds, and high frequency words 

so that we can start reading.

Ahhhhh to see my kiddos read, such a gratifying feeling.

I received some really great gifts, but I have to admit, the hugs and cards

I received from my students and their parents just touched my heart.

¡Muchísimas gracias!

10 Things I Learned From Teaching

Trying something new, the Linky Party at Rowdy In First Grade.

1.  After teaching 17 years, I'm still learning new things.

2.  I agree with some other blogs, there are certain names I would never name my child.

3. Too many supplies/ resources isn't necessarily a good thing (clutter).

4.  I should have invested in container products right away!

5.  I cannot leave general sub plans, I come in early to leave specific plans (when will I learn).

6.  Am I really that controlling? 

(hanging jackets on chairs a certain way really is better so they don't drag).

7.  Why is it that when I finally have alone time, 

I want to run to Lakeshore and find new things for my class?

8.  Coffee is my best friend in the morning.

9.  Everything always seems better with CHOCOLATE!

10.  I still love teaching, it really is the most rewarding job!

Well, here's my list.

I enjoy seeing other classrooms and finding new ideas in Bloggyland.

I'm just starting off with this blog,  hopefully I could add to this world as well.