March Madness

Long time no see!  Well, that's not exactly true. I've been seeing you, but I've been MIA from this little bloggy home of mine. I'm not exactly sure that I'll be around a lot, I have a lot going on, but I do know that I'll be posting more variety here.  I like journaling my life and my classroom.  I hope to be better about making that happen for myself.  And honestly, not trying to keep up with the Joneses!  I'm very competitive and so when I saw this March Blogger Match-Up I was super excited.  I spent my teenage years in Indiana, so yes, I'm a Hoosier.  It can't be March without me filling out at least a few brackets.  I have no rhyme or reason when I fill them out i just pick who I want. Ha. I never win, but it is fun! So be sure to follow along with us as we traverse March Madness, Teacher Blogger style. Each Losing team means YOU win!  We'll each be offering up one of our TPT products as a giveaway. Special thanks to The Creative Classroom for setting this up!  

Learning with Mrs. Langley cheering on Belmont

Second Grade Stories cheering on Indiana

The Neat and Tidy Classroom cheering on UC Irvine

Live, Laugh, I LOVE Kindergarten cheering on Coastal Car.

Miss Johnston's Journey cheering on Maryland

The Creative Classroom cheering on San Diego State

Fifth in the Middle cheering on Wichita State

Lessons with Coffee cheering on Arkansas

The Kinder Garden cheering on Notre Dame

Exploring Elementary cheering on NC State

Inspired Owl's Corner cheering on Oregon

Frampton's Fundamentals cheering on New Mexico State

Learning in the Little Apple cheering on Michigan State

NC Teacher Chick cheering on Utah State

A Tall Drink of Water cheering on Baylor

Sara J Creations cheering on Oklahoma

ELA Everyday cheering on Duke

The Blessed Teacher cheering on Lafayette

Mrs. 3rd Grade cheering on VCU

Rock & Teach cheering on Albany

Create Teach Share cheering on North Dakota State

One Happy Teacher cheering on Gonzaga

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas! cheering on Iowa State

First Grade Roars! cheering on SF Austin

The Learning Chambers cheering on Hampton

Teaching is Sweet cheering on Eastern Washington

Sounds Like Fun cheering on Louisville

Confessions of a Teaching Junkie cheering on Cincinnati

Year2tastic cheering on Kansas

Sparkling in Second cheering on Wyoming

Making Meaning with Melissa cheering on Purdue

One Sassy Teacher cheering on Villanova

Brittany Kiser cheering on Texas

Coach and Teach 24/7 cheering on St. John's

Hardcore Teacher Resources cheering on LSU

The Whole Wheat Class cheering on Oklahoma

Mixing It Up In The Middle! cheering on Mississippi

Teaching Maddeness cheering on UAB

Its Elementary My Dear cheering on Ohio State

Live Love Serve Teach cheering on Providence

 Education Kingdom cheering on North Carolina

A Dab of Glue Will Do cheering on Dayton

Learning to be Awesome cheering on Kentucky

Technology Timeout cheering on Harvard

Kovescence on the Mind cheering on Butler

Blossoms of Blue in 2 cheering on North Eastern

Mrs. D's Corner cheering on Robert Morris

Where the Wild Things Learn cheering on Buffalo

Bright Concepts 4 Teachers cheering on North Iowa (UNI)

A Trendy Teacher cheering on Valparasio

Lucky to Be In First cheering on Wisconsin

O-H So Blessed! cheering on Virginia

Tales of Teaching with Tech cheering on Woffard

Very Perry Classroom cheering on Arizona

A Kindergarten Life for Me cheering on Georgia

First Grade Buddies cheering on Iowa

Miss Case's Classroom cheering on Georgetown

A Grace-Filled Classroom cheering on West Virginia

Third Grade Cupcakes cheering on SMU

The Class Couple cheering on Xavier

More Time 2 Teach cheering on Georgia State

Owl-ways Learning cheering on UCLA

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!