Vegas..... Swag and Reflections

I am linking up with Mrs. Russell today over at Mrs. Russell's Room for some Vegas reflections! 

Overall - Vegas was a wonderful and humbling experience. I learned more about what it means to be part of the TpT family, laughed, cried, made new friends, and met some amazing people! 

Here are just a few things that keep replaying in my head ....

I need to keep doing my own thing. I tend to get very competitive and I can be very hard on myself when things aren't going so well. The reality is - I am a single mom, with a full time teaching job. My journey is different than others. My goals are different... I've done TpT for a very long time now - but after my divorce, I kicked it into high gear. My goals have been to keep my kids in the house they have grown up in, keep food on the table, pay the bills, and provide extras for my children {karate, ballet....} that I wouldn't be able to do on a teacher's salary. 

 So this should go without saying, but I need to remind myself. . . please don't think that I expect favors, or special treatment.... NOT the case... but just because I am super excited to meet someone - doesn't mean they are excited to meet me. We each have our own 'agenda'.... this played out very clearly during most of the Vegas trip. I have to keep this in mind as I proceed. 

I LOVED being part of the first TpT conference. 

But it was so overwhelming. 

So..... Very.... Overwhelming. 

I have a quirky personality. 

I am a dork. 

I am not a girly-girl.

I am SUPER sarcastic. 

All of these things make it hard for me to meet people and to be myself. 

I get very anxious and I am a people-pleaser. 

I WANT EVERYONE to like me.... but not everyone will.

This is hard for me to learn and remember without getting my feelings hurt. 

It has gotten better with age, but I am still {and always will be} a work in progress. 

Before I go....

Let's have a giveaway!

I got a LOT of AMAZING gifts while I was in Vegas. 

I can't possibly use it all, 

so I wanted to share! 

If you weren't able to go to Vegas.... 

or went and want more SWAG.... 

Enter below! 

And caring is sharing! ;)

{or is it sharing is caring?} 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Snow Day and An Accommodation Checklist to Share...

It's noon.... and I'm sitting here - watching Pioneer Woman making donuts... yummy. I think I'm gaining weight just watching this show. 

We are expecting snow today {in a few hours} so our county actually called off school for TWO....

that's right

T W O

days. :) 

My friend posted this meme and I thought it was so cute that I had to share

;)

We flooded last month and had school - so this is big time folks. BIG. TIME. 

I'm so excited I {may or may not} have washed some of my windows so that I can sit and watch it fall. :) That sounds bad... In my defense.... I have a dog... and he likes to lick and slobber all over them - so they have been cleaned - but I cleaned them again. No spots people.... no spots...

The last time it snowed g1 was 5 and g2 {bubby} was 4 months old. We don't get a lot of snow in south Georgia. 

Anyway - while I am on my snow day - I have been catching up on some of my paperwork. I redid my accommodations paperwork and I'd thought I'd share them here. These are for my ESOL general education teachers - but they can work in most any setting - just cross out a few things. I had a basic checklist when I was a general education teacher ... so that I could keep track of ways I was differentiating instruction in my classroom - extra supports that children were given - These became invaluable as we head into meetings. I guarantee that you are already doing many of these things in your classroom - if you aren't - here is a great way to add some things in!

Click on the picture below and it will take you to my dropbox where you can download my documents! :) 

Happy Snow Day! 

So in love....

With my new erin condren life planner... :) It's become a mixture of a smash book and a planner - I am so excited about it! I have washi taped it, put stickers in it, added envelopes for keepsakes...















At first I was so hesitant to write in it, being so pretty and new... But now I'm excited to make it my own and add flair to it! My goal is to keep a page updated for my out of pocket medical expenses, keep up with all the birthdays, and get my stuff together! I'm not sure if it's a teacher thing - or a Tara thing - but I stinking love planners and pens! Anyone else, or am I totally alone in this boat? :)

I've been working on my second round of parent conferences - most of them have been wonderful, but there are a few doozies of course. I have such a hard time with conferences - I am so accustomed to being the parent on the other side of the conference! I always run my comments through my head to see if they would bother me - so I guess I have a tendency to sugar-coat things so that I don't hurt anyone's feelings, but then I feel as if I don't get my point across. It's such a tedious meeting for me, especially when there are children who are struggling. Any ideas? :)