First Currently

Yay! My first Currently Linky with Farley!

I always love to read these snapshots to see what everyone in bloggyland is up to, so here we go!

I got an emergency alert at 3:26 a.m. about a Tornado Warning, in Southern Cali!

Really?!  I just told my kiddos we're so lucky to live here because we don't have to worry about tornados :/  Well, I certainly couldn't get back to sleep until 6 a.m.  Luckily, all was fine, whew!

I love seeing everyones new blog designs and I think I'm ready for a change.

I usually change it up myself, but I barely have time to blog, let alone design.

Can you guess my last line? Pretty easy and very true... it's been a tough week.

Wanna join the fun or catch up on some bloggers? Clicky below.

To AR Or Not To AR?

Hola amigos!

Cannot believe February is almost over,

the trimester ended,

and parent conferences will be next week!

Just wanted to share what we've been up to.

Our President wall came out so cute!

Is it me or does my picture look fuzzy :-/

We have been busy reading, reading, reading.
We have been rereading for fluency and working on our comprehension skills.

This is our AR wall.

I'll admit, I was extremely hesitant about AR.  

I still don't like how some require students to read only books within their ZPD level.   Kids should be able to read and discuss any book any time.  I know students can read whatever they want, but if we push AR and only allow them to test within their level, will they really choose other books?  

 I was happily surprised when one of my girls told me she was going to take a test on a book at a 3rd grade level.  Her ZPD was 2 levels below that, and yet she got every question right!

I think I actually yelped!  I high-fived her, patted her back and walked away with the biggest smile on my face :)

      

I walked into an upper grade class and she had a super idea for posting AR points, so I tweaked it for our classroom.

For each level you earn a college degree and get to color in these super cute super heroes.

10 points- Bachelor's Degree (Captain America)

20 points- Master's Degree (Elastigirl)

30 points- Doctorate Degree (Iron Man)

So we now have a Doctor in the house!

He's so cute, he's putting Dr. last name on all his papers ;)

Hola Padres

If you're here, then my QR code, worked, YAY!

I've been trying to post on my other sites, but alas, this is my fave :)

I hope to be more consistent about posting info here :)

If you let me know via your child, note on the homework, or a comment I'll have a little surprise for them :)

Wordless Wednesday-Cutie Pie Edition

And I'm Back

Yahoo for Fridays!

Trying to get my groove back, so I thought I'd join the Linky fun!

Here's my Friday Five :)

uno:

I received this beautiful bouquet from one of my sweet girls and her family :)

dos:

We celebrated the 101st day of school.  

We made the traditional fruit loop necklaces and 101 snacks, but we were so busy and I forgot to take pix.  But I loved the way our gum ball machines turned out.

tres:

Love this show!  So glad it's back!

cuatro:

Morning work, my kiddos are so good at counting by 10's :)

cinco:

We finally got it!

I kept going back and forth,

is it really worth it?

the little cups seem so wasteful.

i don't have the counter space.

in a word... joy!

Do Your Parents Follow Your Blog?

Anyone out there?

Anyone...

Anyone...

If you're like me, you're probably doing all you can just to fit everything in at school and check a few blogs on Bloglovin',

no time to post

and

no time to comment.

Well, my New Year's Resolution (hey! it's still january ;)

is to do more of both!

I got a little overwhelmed because I started another blog just for my parents, but, if I can't seem to keep this one up, well, let me just say, I think I only posted once.  Never mind we have a school site that we can post on, but that one just wasn't as easy to use.

I originally started this blog as a place for my parents to take a peek into our daily world, but then with all the linkys I was joining and the personal stuff, I thought whoaaaa, do my parents really need to know so much about me.

And then too, I found out some of colleagues "found" my blog and I wanted to die.

Like this blog isn't totally public, but I don't know, seems like I post and sure "people" may read my blog, but "real people"?  People I know, that was another story.

Ayyyyy, such dilemmas!

So, what about you?

Do your parents know about your blog?

Ode To PowerPoint

Oh PowerPoint, how I've missed thee

my hard drive crashed last summer,

and quickly you did flee.

Okay, that's about as creative as I can get at 5:30 a.m.

Shouldn't I be getting ready to work?

Yeah, yeah, but I just had to quickly post (being the avid blogger that I am ;)

about how over the moon I am to have Power Point back in my life.

I bought Pages and Keynote, hoping to get everything synched with my iphone and ipad.

It synchs well,

and it's user friendly, 

but it's not Power Point.

I had invested time and more time learning how to make activities for my class, posters, 

and the art adjusting and maneuvering clipart to make my stuff POP!

But to relearn EVERYTHING on Keynote and Pages?

Ugh...I tried.

But it kept me from creating new activities, updating old activities, and certainly kept me from adding any products on my TPT.

But the light at the end of the tunnel?

I discovered my district offers Microsoft Office and at a Superb discounted price for employees.

And this morning at 5:15 a.m. my fingers carelessly typed, corrected, and easily inserted accent marks to update something I've been needing for a looooong time.

joy!