My Summer Bucket List

Happy Memorial Day y'all! Another taste of summer break this weekend has wishing these last 9 school days would fly by! I got home about an hour ago from a visit with family in Oklahoma. This was only my second visit to Oklahoma. I shopped, ate, and saw some gorgeous views.

I certainly don't have any views like this in my part of Texas!

I also paid a visit to the Oklahoma City Memorial. My family lost a relative in the bombing. I don't remember much but I do remember attending the funeral service. I tried looking for the family member's name but wasn't successful; maybe next time.

I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class to share my summer bucket list. 

Here's my list in no particular order:

1. My humble 'lil blog will be turning 1 in June! I want to get a blog makeover. This item on my list is a MUST!

2. I've got to try my hardest to not be too lazy this summer and keep up my gym routine. Since it'll be blazing hot I'll switch to working out in the morning instead of 5:00 in the afternoon. 

3. Going along with #2 on my list, this summer I vow to wear a tank top in public. I conquered my shorts in public fear last summer and want to add to it. It may sound silly and vain but I've literally sweated my badonkadonk off on this healthier lifestyle journey, and wearing a tank top in public will be an accomplishment I never thought possible.

4. Read at least a couple of books. Allow me to keep it real with this one. No, I'm not talking some professional development book although I do read those. I'm talking something mindless I can read by the pool or under a cool fan. I know I'm not the only teacher who cracks open a cheesy romance novel or two. 

5. Go somewhere! I'm one travel loving girl who can't get enough of new and familiar places! My heart sings a happy song whenever I pack a suitcase. 

Hershey, PA was one of my first trips I took after I started teaching.

San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities I've visited hands down.

I try to visit New Orleans every year; maybe I can squeeze it in this summer.

6. Discover and learn about one new app/techie thing I can use next school year.

7. I MUST attend one EdCamp this summer There are 3 happening in Texas. I won't be happy if I don't make it to at least one.

8. I've already decided I'll be bringing home 3 classroom projects to work on during break. 3 and that's it! As much as I love teaching, I want to spend most of my time relaxing.

9. Eat lunch and go to the bathroom whenever I want!

10. In the chaos of these last 9 days, I want to remain as calm and possible so I can enjoy the time I have left with my minis before they're gone. 

Class Raffle

Oh. My. Goodness. All the chaos of May! I forget every year how craaaazy it can get! I think I look like Princess Tiana every morning lately. Only 15 days left, then it's sweet summer time! Don't get me wrong I love my class and all but I need a break.
Yesterday I held my class raffle which holds a few different functions. Probably the most important is the sneaky built in classroom management. Every student will want to participate. The other great thing about this raffle is it helps me get organized at the end of the year. Somehow us teachers always end up with odds and ends that can quickly clutter and take over a classroom space.
There's a few important reminders I keep in mind about the raffle:
1. Nothing glass or fragile
2. Age appropriate
3. Make sure it's nothing a mini gave me during the current school year
4. It has to fit inside a backpack
5. Everyone "wins" something
I'd been gathering my raffle "prizes" for a couple of weeks now.

 Then I laid everything out on the floor for all to see.

In order for students to participate in the raffle, they had to sit quietly while they waited for their turn and not influence another student on what they should or shouldn't pick. 

All student numbers/names go into a bucket for the fun to begin. It's not my most cutesy work, but it's functional and moves the raffle along smoothly for us.

 I reach my hand into the basket with a bit of dramatics to pull out the first number. The minis become so quiet you could hear a pin drop! They're all on the edges of their seats anticipating what comes next.

One by one the minis come up to claim their prize. 

 Our classroom has definitely been lived in. I'm not a fan of my book baskets this year, bleh! One of my summer projects will be to find new ones.

Voila! Quick, fun, and easy. The minis were all excited about what they won and I cleared up some valuable storage space.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Hump Day teacher friends. I left school early today with craaaaazy annoying allergies. I'm normally a cheery person, but today I'm just a little bleh. I just want to breathe!

It's time to link up with Sugar and Spice for another Wordless Wednesday. I'll try not to be too wordy with this one.

Since I've started teaching, I've been fortunate to have some great parents be a part of my classroom. I've been so spoiled and blessed this week with teacher appreciation. The gifts and sweet notes make me smile every time. 

How have you been blessed this week? 

May Currently

Happy Sunday teacher friends! I'm up and running around, but feeling a little bleh thanks to allergies. It got so icky I tossed and turned last night and missed church this morning. Thankfully I'm feeling better today and was able to get out and about in preparation for this week.
It's time to link up again with Farley from Oh' Boy 3rd Grade for May Currently.

Listening- As a girly girl sometimes people are surprised to learn I love basketball.I'm bummed the Dallas Mavericks didn't advance in the playoffs! It's alright though, they'll always be my team no matter what! 

From basketball to shopping...

Loving- This weekend I went to First Monday in Canton! Every Texas lady with an eye for getting crafty or shopping knows about the goodness of Canton. The weather was just right to get my bargain hunting on with a couple of teacher friends.

I can't wait to wear my cute new dress tomorrow for school!

I can't resist blingy teacher shirts!

I also picked up some new Scentsy bars for my classroom and some target practice paper.

Thinking- My mind is going a mile a minute y'all. When I think about the May calendar and everything crammed into it, I have to remind myself to breathe. This week alone is enough to make anyone's head spin.

I'm still scrambling to think of a Mother's Day gift for mom and a craft I can do this week with my minis. My mom told me today she's going out of town next weekend, but will be back Sunday evening which gives me a bit more wiggle room to plan. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Teacher Appreciation Week starts tomorrow and I need to put together goodie bags for my team. Speaking of Teacher Appreciation I hope you all get shown the love and spoiling you deserve this week teacher friends.

I keep going back and forth with finally caving in and joining Instagram. My fear is I'll finally join and not post a single picture.

Wanting- I HATE seasonal allergies! It seems like no matter what I do I can't get any relief. 

Needing- I'm in the process of rearranging my bedroom, and currently have shoes everywhere. Sadly the shoes won't pick up and organize themselves.

Surprise- Have you heard of The Picture Book Teacher's Edition? If not your missing out on this amazing blog! Carve out some time to sit and browse the fantastic resources galore you're going to find. 

Wordless Wednesday

I was catching up on Bloglovin and found another linky party. I'm participating in my first Wordless Wednesday over at Sugar and Spice.

I'm fortunate to work with a great team of second grade teachers. We show support and back each other up when needed. Love this team! 

The Final Countdown

I feel horrible for not blogging more lately! Every year I forget how much can happen between the end of March through the end of May. This afternoon I was able to see more light at the end of the tunnel when I switched our calendar.

What happened to this school year?! I feel like there's still so much to teach and do with my minis with only five weeks left. 

There's been lots going on I've been intending to blog about, but time seems to have just got away from me.I'll share a couple of exciting things that's been happening in and out the classroom.

Earlier this month students displayed some amazing work with our landmarks project. Seeing those landmarks always gives me the travel bug to visit new and familiar places. 

Peek-a-boo!

Yellowstone National Park

One of my favorites every year; the Golden Gate Bridge.

Meet Sasha our new guinea pig! A student of mine last year ended up being allergic to Sasha, so she joined our class a few weeks ago. She's oh so sweet and cuddly. Sasha must love science and math; this is when she is most vocal.

To celebreate National Poetry Month, we've been in a poetry creating frame of mind. I've been impressed with the quality of writing and attention to detail the minis have shown lately.To create these spring acrostic poems, we integrated a little technology with Read Write Think.

 

I don't post many personal things, but last week I reached a milestone. I celebrated my two year anniversary with Crossfit!

Crossfit has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I've done for myself. I won't even lie to y'all some days I just want to quit and go home to sit and eat. Two years ago I would've never imagined the positive changes I'd make. 

Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog more next week!

April Currently

I'm baaaack! I had to dust the cobwebs off my dashboard, folks! Sometimes school and personal life can be pure chaos as y'all well know. There's a hundred things I feel I need to get accomplished. I'm determined to get back into the blogging world and catch up on what I missed. 

To get back into the swing of things, I'm linking up with Farley for April Currently. Here we go...

Listening- My annoying neighbor has decided now is a perfect time to BLAST music. I'm seriously tempted to call and make a noise complaint. As the Southern expression goes, some people just weren't raised right. It doesn't help that she comes across as a witchy, cold personality. Bleh.

Loving- Today I got back from my first trip to NYC! I had such an amazing time even if the weather wasn't quite warm enough for me. I'll definitely visit again. The food, shopping, sights, fast pace, and interesting people made for a great trip. 

The Empire State Building is a must do! Even if it's a cold day, you can't get an experience or views like this anywhere else. 

My inner child couldn't resist playing the big piano at FAO Schwartz.

My advice for any first time NYC visitors? Carry a brush and hand sanitizer! 

The frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 can't be missed! 

Thinking- Yes I need to eat dinner, but I also need to finish a blog post from last month. I need to finish my Liebster Award post. I am normally not this behind, but as I said earlier it's been busy busy busy. 

Wanting- I finally braved the light rain and got my suitcase out of the car. Thankfully my team plans together, so I just need to type science plans and save. Too bad I don't have a magic wand that will do everything for me.

Needing- It's the time of year when all teachers feel like there's not enough sleep to catch up on. Can I get an amen??

Hours and Last Day- Contract hours for teachers are from 7:30 to 3:30. Pshh those hours don't do a thing. My goal is to get to school everyday by 7:15 so I can do minor housekeeping things. My goal is to leave everday by 4:40 so I make it to Crossfit on time; sometimes this works out sometimes it doesn't. 

Our last school day with students is now June 6th. Thanks to the crazy winter we've had we'll be using all bad weather makeup days this year.