Currently, August

It's been FOREVER since I've done currently!  I know you all must know Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade!  Stop by, link up, share in the fun! 

Here's what's happening with me this August. 

Most of these are perfectly self explanatory.  Ask questions if you have 'em!

Long time no see!

Oh man, I don't know how all of you teacher/blogger/tpt authors/humans keep up with it all!  I just can't! And since I couldn't keep up, I just stopped all together.

Like with everything else, I tend to be a perfectionist.  I've learned it's tied in highly to my anxiety/depression issues.  So, when I had my break down last summer, blogging was one of the things that I chose to let go of.  It was one of the only things I had the control to let go of.  I also sprung my unhappiness on my poor husband on the way home from picking him up at the airport after 35 days apart (he commercial fishes in AK in the summer), wrote my principal an e-mail voicing my displeasure in myself and my performance as a teacher, and FINALLY (in September) lost it at my annual doctors visit.  Thank goodness, the nurse and I have a great relationship.  She knew something was up, and just wouldn't let it go. After an hour of crying about nothing, I left with some new prescriptions and a hope that maybe I could one day be happy again and not feel like my world was crashing down around me because I wasn't good enough.  (Irrational much? Don't worry, I SEE that now, looking back.)

So now that I've had almost a year of being properly medicated I've realized that I can do bits and pieces of everything I love. (seriously, SO thankful for doctors, medication, and the fact that I don't have to feel like I did last summer for the rest of my life!) None of it has to be perfect, it won't ever be as perfect as I want, anyway. But if I enjoy it, which I do love connecting with other teachers out there in the world, then it is worth me doing.

I'm not making any promises about how often, or how much I'll be blogging, because I want it to be a hobby.  I know lots of you do it for a job, and as a marketing tool for your products, but those aren't my top priorities. Although, I do now have a real TPT store and TN store with a few products in them (I'm giving away my latest product over on TN right now!).  Nothing too fancy, and not very many, because I refuse to make something I'm not going to use in my own classroom, but it's there and I made enough money to pay back my premium upgrade last year and cover this years :) I also started a FB fan page and am on Instagram.  Look at me being BACK!

I finally want to post and blogger is being stupid. Help a teacher out! Only 11 days to get funded! Use code ZONKER to double your donation. http://www.donorschoose.org/project/ipads-for-learning/1007337

Classroom Reveal!

I am proud to show off my classroom.  It isn't as fancy as most of yours out there.  There isn't one common theme or color scheme. However, I've used the resources I have and really like how my room turned out this year! So, here are the parts I took pictures of.

 This is my rug area.  I quit buying rugs several years ago so now we just sit on the carpet.  In the pocket charts I put my focus wall and weekly vocabulary for our Journeys reading program.

 I saw on facebook, that Literacy Spark had redone her cubbies!  I TOTALLY stole her idea and ran with it!  This obviously isn't done, but we ran out of the cute tape. It's all ready to be put all together tomorrow morning before the kiddos arrive.

 This is my extra supply station.  I've used cups to sort the scissors to make them easier to pass out. And I've sorted the crayons and colored pencils by color.  This will hopefully make everything much smoother when it comes to supplies!  I'm also using Aimee's Jar full of Memories this year.  I can't wait to have something to go back to and review what we've done each day from various students' perspectives.

 I got rid of my teacher desk! YAY! I'm seriously, SO excited about the layout of my room this year.  I moved my writing area from one corner to another. I have SO many resources in this corner. Hope's Writing to the Core unit is the biggest one.

 The white board is pretty empty right now, but will get much busier come tomorrow! Underneath are several different math helps that I'll use throughout the year.

My classroom library. All of the red boxes are all of the books that are leveled according to AR. The green boxes aren't in the AR system.

Well apparently, I did a really great job of taking pictures of various areas... but not of my entire classroom.  I'll do that at school on Monday if I remember and update this post.  Hope you enjoyed the tour of my room!

Linking up with

Back to School Blogger Exchange Goodies

A couple weeks ago I signed up for the Blogger Exchange hosted by Covered in Glitter and Glue and Adventures of Ms. Smith.  

I had a great time shopping for my exchange buddy, Jane, from Learning in the Little Apple (I hope she liked her package and it made it to her in one piece!).  I got my package from her on Friday and it was the PERFECT ending to that long week back before school really starts on Monday.  

Jane must have went back and found one of my many posts when I mentioned my LOVE of the Zebra Flight Pens.  She got me 2 packs!  She also sent me a binder hole punch, stickers, post its (the perfect little square size that I always run out of first), highlighters, expo markers, and M&Ms! 

Seriously!  I got spoiled! Look at all of that good stuff! 

I hope these ladies host again because this blogger exchange was a TON of fun!  Thanks Jane! 

Currently, August

I'm linking up with Farley for another month's Currently. 

I can't believe it's August and time to go back to school already! 

Listening: Johns watching one of his NASCAR documentaries. This one features my favorite driver so I don't mind watching, too.  :) Oh the things we decide to like so we don't always argue with our spouses! 

Loving: I'm going to do a great big post about my teacher planner I designed and had printed, that I'm planning to put in my TPT shop as my first paid product! Exciting stuff! 

Thinking: I'm not looking forward to my summer being over. I've gotten so much done, but I'm not sure it's enough. 

Wanting: I'm fairly certain we've all had those times when nothing feels right about what may be coming in the future. I just need some clarity and a plan then I won't feel so unsettled. Not that I have anything in particular planned, but I'm thinking that may be the problem. 

Needing: to spend some serious hours in my classroom. I'm just not letting myself, until Monday because I don't want summer to be over! 

My b2s must haves: (I'm probably not following the rules here, but these are my MUST haves!)

John...he's so wonderful and spends hours in my classroom setting things up and moving things around and generally helping me out. LOVE HIM! I for sure wouldn't be ready for school in a week if I didn't have him around and don't want to think about ever getting ready without him!

Pens... Every teacher needs great pens. My favs are the zebra flight pens! 

Sharpies... I use sharpies for everything! Can't wait until I get to buy some new ones! 

What I'm Loving Linky

I'm linking up again with Covered in Glitter and Glue for her weekly party.  I LOVE this linky!  It's important to remember the little things... or big things that sometimes we take for granted. So here are the things I'm loving this week. 

#1. John is HOME!  I'm so happy he's back and as you can see, so is Tuffy.

#2. I LOVE this face!  After 35 days without it all I want to do is stare at him. (and his patchy beard if you can see it in this picture)

#3. I'm thankful that I've gotten a ton done in my classroom already.  If I had to, I could spend maybe only 2 more hours in here and teach. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be workable. However I realize how lucky I am to not be locked out of the building until the week before school starts.

#4. Brad Paisley's Wheelhouse album.  I'm not a huge country music fan, but I am a huge Brad Paisley fan and I can't wait to go to his concert next month!  This new album is awesome. I've been listening on Spotify since my birthday, but we finally bought the exclusive Cracker Barrel version on Monday. Beat this Summer, Outstanding in our Field, Mona Lisa, and Officially Alive are my favorite tracks so far. Music is for sure one simple thing that can make me happy!