Library Pass Organizing, Oreos, and Journals....

Here are library card pockets that I hot glued to the back of my door - I stuck labels from Schoolgirl Style on them and put the kiddos library paddles inside. Easy for them to grab and a quick glance tells me who is out :)













Spent an hour or so at karate practice working on my data sheets. My friend Stacy over at Funky Fresh Firsties made these cuties for me.... my new melonhead is in the corner :)

We have been reading Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space - I have been using their daily journals to gauge interest and as an informal assessment of sorts - see what they are learning - how much they are retaining.... but this one was for fun. And I love the responses they gave me! :)

One of my 'Race' math games from my tpt store. I redid this one and made it really basic ... with just some stars to race to. There were two boards .... 2-12 and 10-20 for those that need more of a challenge. They begged to stay in from recess to play - WIN!

Last - our culminating moon phases activity - an Oreo moon phases chart! :)

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

Math IS Real Life Linky

Long time no post friends! I'm at that point where I feel like I'm treading water... but my head is about to go under.... same way most of you felt about a month ago. 

Back in the regular classroom - week 3

Things I miss the most - bathroom breaks. :( 

But I have the SWEETEST group of kids --- so it kinda makes up for no bathroom. (kinda....)

I am linking up with a few amazing math teachers today for the 

Math IS Real Life Linky.... 

Click on the links below to go visit the hop sponsors! :) 

Miss Math Dork

Teaching to Inspire in 5th

4mulaFun

The Teacher Studio

I wanted to show one of the ways I make my kids use math skills daily. I am a mom to two kids - G1 is 9 (going on 15) and G2 is 5. They do chores around the house to help me, learn responsibility, and earn some spending money...... Said spending money usually never makes it past Books a Million.... {Totally okay with me}. 

On one of our trips to BAM last week my dd (G1) found the next book in the series she had been reading and refused to leave with out it. {I mean, who can blame her....it's a series!}

She promised to pay me back when we returned home - IF - I bought the book for her. 

DEAL. 

Where does the math come in? 

She had to add up her total - pick out her stuff from the receipt...

(I caved and let her get three books.... I have no idea how this kid does it - but she can read multiple books in the same time period - and keep all the events and details straight.)

Once she added up her total - she had to pay me and figure out her change. 

{SHE WILL NOT be that kid that can't figure out change because the register broke later in life.} 

So - there is my math IRL.... 

Hope you enjoyed it! :) Thanks for reading {as always}....

How do you incorporate real life math? I'd love to hear your comments and ideas!

Notice Anything?

So....

IAMJUSTSOEXCITEDTHATICANTSTANDIT. 

:) 

Megan at A Bird in Hand redid my blog for me.

{She did my last design too}

I kinda love her. 

A lot. 

:)

ANDIREALLYJUSTWANTEDTOUSEMYNEWPINITBUTTON....

{seriously - you should go hover a picture now to see it....}

SO...

Here is the freebie calendar for August. 

It is on the freebie page - but it takes you to my fb page. 

Like the fb page and the calendar is yours! :) 

All the digital elements are from Jenn Barrette and Pixel and Paper

Fonts - KG of course! :)

One more thing...
I'MSUPERHIGHTECHNOWBECAUSEIHAVEAFACEBOOKSLIDER!
yeah baby.....
:)

I've been in school (with kids) for three days now - I think I'm delirious.... #justsayin'

Magnets, Magnets, Everywhere!

Wowza Friends! 

We have been making boo-coodles of magnets this week! 

Check out some of those really cute designs my partner Stacy - she's such a pro at designing super cute things.... 

Friday was my first day back at work. Waking up in the morning was NOT fun. I set about four alarms to make sure I was up on time....

And ended up waking up an hour BEFORE any of them went off. 

AWESOME-SAUCE

I spent most of last week working on my classroom (my kiddos were with their dad in the mountains....) 

I chose the World Traveler theme from School Girl Style. 

Here are a few pictures so you can see my progress. 

{I still have a LONG way to go....but it is getting there!!}

Day 1.... 

What have I done? 

  

 Day 2.....

Maybe I can do this...

Day 3....

I'm finally getting somewhere! :) 

Three days until open house. 

Think I can make it? 

:) 

Beach Week.....Check!

We are home from our week at the beach. 

SADNESS! 

It was nice to relax for a week, have all my girlfriends around, divvy up the chores, and sleep! :) 

Hahaa.... not much sleeping.... my two littles don't know what sleeping in is... so we were up by 7a.m. EVERY DAY. 

We had some fun early morning excursions though! :) 

One of the first days there, we found a dead shark on the beach. The kids were THRILLED...(in a gross kinda way....) I think the up close and personal with a shark took over the 'dead' part...

There was a lady fishing next to us - who caught a LIVE shark about an hour later. The kids swarmed her and like good moms - we took pictures.... :) haha! I was excited to send pictures back to my summer school teaching partners - since we had just learned about sharks in summer school.....

It was also homeschooling at it's best.... we learned all about some of the ocean animals that frequented the beach... and with our hikes at low-tide.... we were able to find many of the small creatures for an up-close and personal look! :) 

Stacy and I woke up SUPER early one day to go on a turtle walk with the Turtle Rescue people. Amazingly - there was a successful crawl and nest! YAY Mrs. Turtle! We watched as they located the original nest, counted {139 eggs},  and transferred the eggs to higher ground... Maybe next year we can actually catch a turtle crawling up to lay her eggs..... 

<<<<   This was not the morning we woke up early.... FYI.....

And last - our annual picture of the kiddos. We've been counting down for 285 days for this trip - and I think it was a great one! 

Super Slacker Here and The Best Thing Eva....

Hey friends....

Long time no post.

Let's just say that life got a little crazy.....

The amazing boyfriend... turned out to be not so amazing.... but definitely crazy.

And I will survive.

Today was my only post-planning day {all the others were furloughed} 

SO - 

It was my LAST DAY! 

I'm pretty pumped.

I found out today that I might be moving to a new classroom {ahem...trailer} next year - so that is nagging me now. I really dislike moving. REALLY, really... but - there isn't a thing I can do about it so I will put my head down and drive on. {and try not to obsess about where I'm going or if my room has a smart board or not...}

I will be teaching summer school again this year - but I have a few days off before that starts to get some well deserved rest. 

The BEST thing eva- 

The kids and I are heading to Fripp Island in 18 days.

That's right.... 18 days sucka! 

I. Can. Not. Wait!

We have been making this trek for the last four years with my good friend Stacy and her two kidlettes. This was the one thing I looked forward to the most while I was going through my divorce a few years ago. It pretty much kept me going... We have another bestie joining us this year with her two kids and I am beyond excited {she makes some kick-butt fruit pizza .... that I may or may not have eaten most of last year...} While I loathe the idea of getting into a bathing suit, g1 and g2 have been asking about the daily countdown as well - so they look forward to this trip as much as I do - which makes my heart happy. 

My little bubby (g2) is on the end... he was still in diapers the first time we went. 

I will soon be hearing the never-ending chant....

"I see your hiney.... so white and shiny"

I've lost my groove somewhere in the last two months - so if you see Stella - send her my way please. ;)

To Do Lists and Another Meme ;)

I cannot believe how quickly that week off flew by! I mean, really? 

It was busy for sure... .and fun filled.... but FAST - dagnabit! {as my son would say...}

I did want to share something that I did today. I posted it on my fb page, but wanted to share here as well. It's so simple - you are probably going to be shaking your heads at me - but for me - it was TRUELY an ah-ha moment. 

My life has been super chaotic lately. [Who's isn't?]

My friend suggested making to-do lists so that I could organize my tasks and feel a sense of accomplishment when I was able to cross something off. {Great plan!}

But what really happened....

I would write out all these lists - and stick them in my planner, or notebook, or purse, school bag....

only to find them a week later - still full of stuff - that hadn't been finished. 

<<<<>>>>

[insert dramatic music here]

I had this simple idea to use one of my photo editing apps to make a daily to-do list. 

THEN.... 

I saved it as a photo

AND THEN...

I used that photo as my lock screen picture on my iPhone!

What? Tell you more? 

OKAY! 

I actually got 3 of the 4 things on my list - DONE! 

holla! 

Yes - I realize that I am a HUGE dork. Some days I'm okay with that.... today would be one of those days. 

Links to some photo editing apps...

Phonto - I love this one b/c I can import all my favorite KG fonts in....

A Beautiful Mess - super cute designs in this one

Rhonna Designs - I love this one b/c of the vintage feel to the embellishments... but it can be time consuming... IMHO...

And... I will leave you with a meme... just 'cause it's Meme Monday... and I can... ;)

This is SO wrong... but so funny at the same time.... 

Have a great week friends! It's the homestretch!

Spring Break is Here & Meme Monday ;)

I think that *might* be the most glorious blog title in a long while..... :) 

For those counting

I have 5 more Mondays

and 26 more days left in this school year. 

I am pretty pumped. 

I am going to TRY to use this break to get motivated again.

I lost my mojo somewhere near the end of February and it hasn't really returned. 

I have a ton of ideas in my head, but the time to sit down and get them into the computer just isn't there! I think I have two or three things started, 10 on my idea list, and NONE done! 

Anyone else? 

Whatever happens, I am so very thankful for this break to re-coup. 

But - no matter what - 

This

Is 

My Motto....

Maybe I shall name today Meme Monday...

One more....

for more funnies - check out my 'funny' pinterest board. 

Have a great week friends! :) 

Blah, Snow, and Yep - It's Broken...

That's pretty much all I've got…. 

I'm just blah. 

Anyone else? 

I want to be creative and crafty, but all I really want to do is sleep! 

Unfortunately with a 9 year old and a 4 year old; sleep isn't something I get a lot of. 

I stayed up late last night trying to catch up on my project life stuff… I have a bunch of ideas for tpt - but it is about finding the time to sit down and actually get anything done - however - I guess this is part of the single mom territory. 

{I really think it has more to do with LIFE… but whatevs}

It is so hard for me to find balance in my life - I don't know if that is because I'm normally a creative person by nature… so I'm kind of hopping from one thing to the next….but I really hate feeling as if I am neglecting something. 

I focus on my scrapbooking and memory keeping - I neglect my blog and my tpt stuff…. 

I focus on tpt - I neglect my scrappy stuff and I get overwhelmed with HOW behind I am! 

{for example… I am still working on part of 2013

…. skipped January - April, but have May - October done} 

Life is spinning on too quickly. I need it to slow down for a while so that I can catch up! 

Speaking of balance….

My foot has been hurting for a few weeks and I finally went to the doctor - they THINK it is a stress-fracture. I wish I could say something cool like, I was running …. It happened during my half-marathon …. that dang obstacle course got me…. yeah… but we all know that I haven't been to the gym in A WHILE… so truth is - I have NO IDEA how I did it. But according to the doc - I'm high risk b/c I'm middle-aged {whoa - what? since when? who you talking to, Willis?} and have a fair completion. {true} 

I still took my kids to Virginia on our week off. :) 

We've had so many snow days this winter - that have been SNOWLESS…. they finally got to see snow…. {more than an inch}

We walked around DC. Yep - me and my air cast did the monument loop, the bureau of printing and engraving, and 3 of the Smithsonian museums. It was too great of an opportunity for the kids and I NOT to go… I think I took 110 pictures on one day. Yowza! 

Goal - Making memories! :) {check}

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! 

life is better....

with friends! :) 

Spent the weekend with my bestie.... in her house {aka 'sweatshop'} 

She made some pretty awesome t-shirts for the 100th day of school 

{ours was last week}

and we put a few on tpt. :) 

I made some magnets... and while I was making magnets for the new store - I made a few for another bloggy friend - Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrations. She's kinda my favorite. I wish I could draw. But I can't. I am crafty and creative, but I can not draw.... or paint.... so all those cute product covers - are thanks to Ms. Nikki and her adorable kidlettes! 

So this has been my stress relief for the last few days.... making magnets, being crafty, and spending time with friends. :)