Desperately in need of some inspiration!

I haven't even thought about my blog, school, or much of anything in the past couple of weeks.  After a FABULOUS vacation in Mexico with my husband and kiddos, I had another surgery (my 5th in the last 12 months) and I am really struggling with getting back on my feet.  I have mastered getting back on my butt, however, as I regularly make it to the chair every day and watch hours upon hours of The Andy Griffith Show and The Big Bang Theory.  It seems that's about all I feel like doing these days!  I need a project or something to get me going!  I could start working on another novel study or heaven forbid... start planning for the upcoming school year, but neither of those options really get my motor running right at the moment!  I suppose I could hit up Pinterest for an idea.  UGH!  I hate feeling like this!  Help!  Any ideas for something fun I could do to get me moving again?

                                       I wish I was back in Mexico!  That would get me going!

My First Novel Study Is DONE!

One of my goals for this summer was to finalize and prepare my novel study units for sale on TPT.  After a solid week of working pretty darn hard for summer, my Seedfolks novel study is complete!  I am really proud of this one!  I absolutely LOVE this novel.  It is the perfect way to kick off the school year as it tackles such issues as appreciating and overcoming diversity, making a difference in one's community, and learning to work together for a greater good.  The story takes place in a trash-filled lot in inner city Cleveland, where a young girl plants lima beans to honor her deceased father.  An old woman notices the young girl and immediately assumes she is up to no good.  She enlists the help of a neighbor to find out what the young girl had done and discovers the small garden.  Inspired by her project, other neighbors begin to plant in the garden as well.  They soon learn to put aside their individual prejudices and work together to turn the once garbage-filled wasteland into a community garden that fosters a new sense of family.  My novel study unit includes a 40-page reader's response journal with a variety of activities to engage the reader and have them dig deep beyond the text to find greater meaning in the story.  My unit also includes whole class activities to carry out throughout the novel, a science lab wherein students plant their own lima beans and compare the growth under natural and artificial light, a comprehension test and a modified version for SpEd students.  I had NO idea how to price this item, as this was my first one.  I started with $8.50 but I am more than willing to adjust that!  Please message me with advice!  I have 8 more novel study units to work on so stay tuned!  If you are interested in Seedfolks, please visit my TPT store here:

                             Purchase the Novel Study Unit here!

Inspiration...

I ran across this quote on pinterest today and just had to make a couple of designs that I will use in my classroom next year.  Feel free to snag one if you'd like!  I love this quote so much I will probably make a few more designs for friends.  Message me if you have a particular theme or color scheme and I will be glad to whip one up for you!

First Week of Summer is Already Over :(

I can't believe week one is already gone!  Why couldn't the weeks we were in school fly by this fast?!?  Most of my week was spent whining about my wretched sore throat.  Nothing like a little strep to force you to slow down and rest!  I just couldn't lay around all day today so I made some shirts.  That is my happy place, my little workshop area in the kitchen, making cute shirts, watching The Big Bang Theory, and yes, drinking a glass of wine.  Today I finished an old order for my friend Jen, made 3 for my friend Jenny who is leaving me for a new school (makes me tear up) and made 3 for my cousin's adorable wife who teaches in Corsicana. I LOVE making shirts, and I am hoping these cutie patooties will wear them and get me some new orders! My friend, Karla, and I have a little side business.  We make shirts (duh) and all kinds of crafts.  Right when we started this, Karla goes and gets knocked up, so I am kinda winging it on my own.  (I miss my Karla though!  She came over today, so I am not sure why I miss her, but I do!  Karla and I are weird like that.)  One of my summer projects is to update our etsy page with all the goodies we have made.  I always forget to take pictures of shirts, so there is no wonder we don't ever actually get any business!  We sold at least 50 shirts at school, and hopefully will sell more to our friends and family teaching at other schools.  That's a marketing plan right?  Don't I sound all business-y!? Our little company is called Prickly Pear Creative Designs, and we have a sad and extremely limited Etsy Shop, but we have some really cute stuff taking up space in my garage!  Take a break from school and do some shopping!

Prickly Pear Creative Designs on Etsy

First Day of Summer!

I almost made it through the first day of summer without creating anything school related!  Almost!  I have been spending the day with my wonderful husband and we have been binge watching Major Crimes.  While its a pretty good show, I had this idea on my mind and wanted to get to it before I forgot.  I created these Warning Tickets for teachers to use as a silent warning for poor behavior choices or a messy unorganized desk that needs to be cleaned.  My hope is that these will serve as a reminder for the kids to make better choices without having to get onto them in front of the class.  If you like them, please purchase them from my Teachers Pay Teachers store by following the link below!  Enjoy!

                                                  Warning Tickets on Teachers Pay Teachers

Another One In the Books!

I can't believe I survived this one!  (I guess I should save that... I still have to stay here for 2 more hours and 57 minutes.)  I can honestly say that I thought this would be the year to break me.  I have never shed more tears, than I have in these last nine months.  Im sitting here now, in my completely empty, barren classroom, and choking up thinking about the way things used to be.  The last day of school used to be bittersweet.  It was so hard to say goodbye to my 5th graders and send them off to Middle School, but we always had such a blast getting things wrapped up for the few hours after the kids were gone, that it made the day something to look forward to.  Things, as I may have mentioned before, have changed.  This is not fun.  It was hard to say goodbye to some of my kiddos, but it is very nice to know that I get to have most of them again this year, so that aspect of it was not too difficult.  The hard part about today is 29-fold, not all aspects are ones that I can share publicly.  I will say that having to say goodbye to one of my teammates was very unexpected and impossible to get through without more tears.  That's part of the change, people that I thought would never leave are doing just that.  In the case of this friend, it truly is what is best for her and her two adorable children.  It's just so hard to say goodbye though!  We have been friends for years, but this was the first year we had the opportunity to work together on the same grade level.  She has been so much fun and such a safe teammate to share the turmoil with.  I honestly don't know how any of us in "the group" are going to make it through next year without her.  It is very hard to be so happy for her and yet so sad for those of us she is leaving behind!  

I have a million more things to say but they just called us down for dinner!  This chick does NOT miss a meal!

It is the day before the last week of school and what am I doing?  Making stuff for next year of course! NERD!  (I know, I know)  Anyway, our district gave our 4th grade students (as well as 7th and 9th) iPads for use in the classroom.  While I am not a huge fan of the program, it has been very exciting for our students. (I am stuck in Mayberry, 1967 and would love to teach the old fashioned way!  I barely know how to use the thing!)  My team is super into this technology thing and they LOVE the iPads!  They came up with this idea for a technology license, something the kids would keep with them as a reminder of the rules they agree to follow when using their iPads.  I created this 2-sided license for our kids to use and wanted to share with anyone who also has iPads in their classroom.  (I would be glad to change the wording to fit any sort of technology that a teacher has for their classroom, just leave a comment if you need that!)  My plan is to take pictures of each child and layer that over the iPad clipart electronically, or use the little sticker pictures that come with their school picture sets.  I haven't decided if I will actually type their name into a textbox or just print them all and write them in.  I guess we'll see how I am feeling in the fall!  I will paste the pics of each side of the license into a word doc, (I know, I already told you I'm old fashioned!  I like word!)  print in color, cut each out, then glue the front to the back and laminate.  If you have any suggestions or need this license tweaked in any way, please just let me know!  Enjoy!  (As usual, the adorable clipart is courtesy of Melonheadz enabler of my clipart addiction!)

                                                             Technology License (front)

                                                             Technology License (back)

I cannot believe this year is really coming to a close!  Its been... ehem... a year.  I set so many goals for myself, and due to circumstances beyond my control, I don't think I accomplished one of them.  That's awfully depressing!  I am resetting some of those goals for this summer.  While I have the time and energy to think and focus, and the joy that comes from "working" in my jammies with a glass of wine at my side, I am going to accomplish some stuff!  One of those goals is this blog.  I have so many friends that find blogging to be truly therapeutic, and boy do I need some therapy!  I have a Teachers Pay Teachers store, and one of my goals is to link my products to this blog and try and offer other teachers a place to share thoughts and ideas.  I have several products in my TPT store, but I want to go ahead and highlight one item I created today.  (I am home recovering from a spinal tap I had yesterday, so I had some free time... and what did I do with it?  School stuff, of course!  Geez!  What a nerd!?!)  Here is the link to my set of Superhero Themed Classroom Awards.  There are 25 awards, each one made for a boy and a girl.  (There is a bonus Fashionista award that I just had to include for one of my students.  This chick has the cutest clothes ever!)   If you like them, please let me know!  I had so much fun making these, and I have a million ideas to make more sets!  (Ideas... I'm full of those!  Time to act on those ideas?  Well, it took a spinal tap to slow me down enough to get these done!)   End of Year Awards

So enjoying my whopping 15 minute break from STAAR testing.  I am soooooooo bored!  I have made a to-do list, I have colored my brains out, and I have eaten ALL the snacks I packed.  It is such a beating to sit in there all day, try and make my kids be silent, and try NOT to look at that stupid test!  UGH!

Is it June yet?  Is everyone out there as EXHAUSTED as I am?  Trying to keep my class even remotely focused is getting harder and harder each day!  I don't know if it is spring fever or this joyous testing season, but we are just not productive at all anymore!  I pretty much lost it today when one of my little angels claimed she had never done addition before.  Ummmm.... I teach 4th grade!  Then another one of my little sugars asked why we have to do paragraph labels (I am adamant about paragraph labels when doing reading passages) when, as she claimed, "This is so easy."  This same little darling had just missed 10 out of 22 questions on a practice packet so I just about came unglued!  How can you claim it is easy and ask NOT to use your strategies when you miss half the questions?  FRUSTRATING!  Sadly, I am noticing a trend in the lack of effort in my students.  When I first started teaching, 12 years ago, it was just one or two kids who didn't seem to care.  Now, it feels like I have 10 to 12 that just don't care.  I worry that kids have such a high opinion of themselves, that they really believe they don't need to learn anything.  They don't want to do anything that isn't hands on, covered in glitter, or on that dag-blasted ipad.  What scares me is that when we do something hands on and engaging, and technological, and (insert any one of a million current buzzwords) they are unable to transfer that knowledge that was supposedly gained in the lesson.  Unfortunately, we have three standardized tests to take, and the world seems to revolve around these tests.  I can teach fun stuff all day long, but unless they can actually learn from the "fun" lesson, and apply to a pencil paper test, its all just a big waste of time.  I don't mean to just complain here.  I really wish I could get re-energized.  I am in desperate need of my second wind!  I just don't know where/how to get it!  HELP!

I've been pinned!  I am so excited!  My friend Jenny came in to my room yesterday (right at the end of the day, so you know I was spent and needed some perking up... THANK YOU JENNY) and showed me her computer and right there on Pinterest was one of my little anchor charts!  I couldn't believe it!  Someone actually liked one of my products enough to pin it!  I was elated!  (And yeah... I totally just used the word "elated" correctly, on a Saturday morning, after an all-nighter wedding party, and loooooooots of wine!) 

I suppose if I am going to share the measurement activities I made tonight, I should share some of the ones I have made previously that go along with the topic!  Enjoy!

 

My purpose in starting this blog was to share school stuff, but I seem to have found myself lacking the time to actually do that!  Here is my first attempt.  I would love to eventually find a way to organize these things better, but for now, this is the best I can do!  (This whole blogging thing is still VERY new to me!)

Currently in Math we are working on measurement, specifically, area and perimeter.  I created this short quiz to assess the work we've done on these skills.  While working through some of the practice problems today, it became painfully clear that many of my kids had forgotten how to do 2 by 2 digit multiplication.  I made this review for them to give them some extra practice.  Use these if you can!

(Please don't look too carefully at the alignment of the squares on the second page of the A & P Quiz.  I had to align each square separately and they are not perfect- which is driving me nuts!  I blame my giggling at The Big Bang Theory which is on in the background.  BAZINGA!)

It's funny how the only time I actually have time (or the energy) to write on my own blog is during Spring Break!?!  Who else is enjoying the HECK out of this amazing week?  It was about time huh?  I mean, for real... it was for the safety of the children that this break came when it did!  I shouldn't complain, I missed most of the month of January, so I've really only been back at it a few weeks, but DANG (!!!!!) this has been the absolute toughest year out of my 12!  We have a new principal who has changed literally EVERYTHING!  Even our school colors and mascot!  (BTW, I am so not ok with that!)  I think its pretty safe to come clean on here since no one actually follows or reads my blog.  This is just for me.  It is sooooooooo nice to spend an entire week NOT worrying about what I am doing wrong, what I am not even aware that I am doing wrong, what will I find to add to my ever-increasing to-do list EVERY TIME I open my email, what kids I'm screwing up for life, what important lessons I didn't teach well, this list could go on and on!  Nope!  I am NOT worrying about those things this week.  I have been incredibly selfish and frivolous and girly this week.  Today I got a tanning membership I did not need and can not afford.  (PS, it was AWESOME!)  I also used my Valentines Day gift from my hubby and got fake lashes put on!  I am so in love with them!  I feel like a movie star!  Seriously, these are worth every penny!  Of course no one will actually ever see them as I never leave my house (or my jammies) but my dog thinks they look fabulous!  My wine glass is super jealous, and the characters on the Big Bang Theory are super excited about them! 

I brought home my laptop this week and was gonna spend some time catching up on work, getting ready for testing season, making some outrageously cute and life changing test prep materials, and generally improving myself as a teacher, buuuuuuut, my computer is still sitting where I (ehem) dropped it from sheer exhaustion Friday night.  I have changed grade levels this year so I am sticking with the claim that I have no clue as how to prepare these little angles for testing in 4th grade.  That sounds totally believable right?

What I am really supposed to be doing is making appointments to get my car worked on, and for Miss LolaFrancine to go to the vet.  I am also supposed to be looking into pet insurance for the afore-mentioned fancy face.  How am I progressing on those 3 missions? Well, not very well I am afraid.  I was leaving a drawing entry on the Melonheadz blog (one of my weaknesses) and bragging on how cute MY blog is, but being honest about how I NEVER EVER actually write on it!  What a waste!  So... here I am... officially blogging!  It is really fun and therapeutic, or maybe that's just the wine!  (Another perk of being off all week, I am in my jammies and drinking wine at 5:00!  Woot Woot! 

Ok, I have rattled on here (said in my best Ursula the Sea Witch voice) long enough!  Take care and happy hump day cyberworld!