My School Halloween Costume

Where's Waldo?

Our Past Two Sundays

The past two Sundays Ryan and I have been at church/school from the time church starts until about 8 PM. (Okay, two weeks ago we were so late for church, we didn't go, shame on us...) But still we've been there a long time.

I'm pleased to announce though that because my husband is brilliant, our school now has a web filter. That's right, in his free time, the husband-extrodinare has been building us a filter so that the kiddies can't access any information they aren't supposed to access. Sweet huh? (He threatened to block Facebook which nearly sent me into cardiac arrest, {I only check it on my recess breaks, sometimes, and before and after school} but in the end he hasn't blocked it...yet)

Tonight was our back to school picnic. We had a lot of new faces there with our CDC program. I love parents of preschoolers! They are so cute and it's all so new to them to have a child in school that they are eager to help out. All through my presentation there were three moms smiling and nodding their heads with everything I said.

Tomorrow Ryan took the day off so we can spend my last day of summer together. Sweet, huh? Yeah, he's awesome like that. Here's what I would like to do tomorrow...

Here's probably what we'll actually do (especially since we don't live near a beach...)

Him working on the filter and me blogging, blog searching, pinteresting, or working school stuff. 

Thought we might go here...

We'll see.  I'll let you know.

I'm SO EXCITED

You may notice the background layout has changed.  It's no longer teach-y.  That's because I'm excited to announce a new blogging adventure.

All summer I've been reading blogs.  Mainly crafty and teachy blogs.  I've often wished there were more blogs out there for middle school teachers.  I have a hard time finding them.  Then I thought, hmmm, maybe I could start blogging about teaching middle school.  But I love my Only Grace blog.  I love that it's a smorgish board of all things me--teaching, traveling, crafting, photography, living, etc.  I don't want to give that up.  So my solution was to begin a new blog.

Yesterday when I was delivering flowers with Colleen I had, what I think was, a brilliant idea.  I would name my new blog *drum roll please*........... TEACHING TWEENS!  Perfect!  So last night I came home and got to work on it.

I've provided a link to the right on this blog so you can check it out if your interested.  This blog will continue to exist in its original purpose--to keep family and friends updated on our life.  There won't be as much teachy stuff here though, you'll have to click over to the other blog for that.  I'm super excited about this adventure and am hoping to really link up and get & share ideas with other middle school teachers.

Here's the button to link over to the other blog.

 

10 Reasons You Know It's Back to School Time {Link Party}

I'm linking up with Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits on this one...

10.  I've spent more time in my classroom than in my office since August 1.

9.  I'm not at school alone anymore, most of the teachers are popping in a few times a week, sometimes day.

 

8.  I've spent close to my tax deductible $200 on school supplies and still have a list of a few things I need to pick up yet.

 7.  I took the plastic covers off of my bookshelves and dusted them.

 6.  The laminator smell is permeating the hallways almost daily.  

 5.  When I get online my first stop is a list of teaching blogs and checking Pinterest for new ideas.

 

4.  I've been at school everyday this week, including SUNDAY!, for about 6-8 hours a day.

 

3.  I started setting my alarm again in hopes of training myself for school hours. {early to bed, early to rise}

 2.  I've made phone calls or visits with my students & their parents.

 
1.  The calendar says August 7th!!!  Only 8 more days of summer!

U-Printing

Did you know there are other companies other than Vista Print that can do printing?  Jan is giving away 100 postcards from U-Print on her blog!  Click here to enter!  I've already begun looking at designs to try and figure out what kind of other postcards I can use within my classroom!

I did it!

I saw a pop-up ad for 80% off of Vista Print, so I ordered a few things for my classroom!

I ordered 250 business cards to use as Homework Passes.  I wanted to just have them print my name in pretty script, but I decided that would make it too easy/tempting for students to try to access them on their own.

This is a self-inking stamp.  It was 99 cents!  I've been looking for a stamp to quickly stamp late papers.  I picked up a business stamp a few years ago that says "Past Due" which was good, but this one I can make say what I want.  I also added a place for parents to sign the paper so that they are aware that their child has turned work in late.

This is a postcard.  It's modeled after an old EVHS idea.  The "up" slip.  I want to focus on being more positive this year and one of the things I want to do is send parents a note when their child is doing great in class.  I got 100 of these post cards for $10!  Perfect for writing a quick note to parents and sticking in the mail!

Finally, a pen.  It was free!  I was hoping it was maybe 10 free pens, but only 1.  It says Mrs. Glover's 5th & 6th Grade.  I removed it from the shopping cart to see if the shipping and handling was cheaper without the pen, and it wasn't so I figured, FREE PEN!  Sure!

I'm super excited!

Genius!

Through Pinterest I have found a GAZILLION teacher ideas and blogs! I love it! This is the newest one that I've found.

 

She gets free things from Vista Print and uses them in her classroom.  Such a great idea!  I think I might order some homework passes from there.  I used to buy these cute homework passes for $1 for about 40 of them at the Dollar Store.  The kids loved them.  But I was constantly running back and forth to the Dollar Store.  When I ran out I would just use Post-It notes, but they kids didn't dig that as much.  Wouldn't it be great to have custom made homework passes?!  I think so!  I could order the free business cards, 250 of them for $4!  And if I wait for some sales I could order other things!  I love it!  Things like this make me really excited to get started back at school!  So many simple solutions for classroom management!  

Book Blog Hop

One of the teaching blogs I've started following is The Schroeder Page.  On there she links up to a Book Blog Hop hosted by Mrs. McCumbee--a new blog to add to my classroom collection of blogs.

Mrs. McCumbee's book blog hop is about sharing your favorite childhood/young adult book and the lasting impressions they had on you.  She is doing this to help her prepare for Reader's Workshop in her classroom.  I thought it would be good to link up with it also because I have been trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to read with my students this upcoming year.


I recall reading The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen in Mrs. McKenna's 7th grade.  I have always loved reading.  I am one of those readers who lets her mind wander and I visualize what I think things look like based on the author's description of the details.  I still can remember quite vividly what Hannah would look like (and she didn't look like Kirsten Dunst). 

When I was a sophomore in college I went to a Sedar dinner with a pre-sem guy and I remembered learning about the Sedar in this book.

I have read this book once with my class, and had forgotten about it until I started to brainstorm for this blog.  I may have to read this book again with my kids.

Outdoor Ed

Tuesday I took my class up to LVR for our annual outdoor ed trip.  We all had a good time.  Tuesday it was snowing up there, which wasn't fantastic, but sitting in the Lodge by the fire sure was. :)  Wednesday was BEAUTIFUL so we hiked up to Cedar Mountain after breakfast.  After lunch we headed to the climbing and repelling area and did that for a few hours.  The fifth graders LOVED it.  I think they repelled about 5 times each.  After dinner we played a game of softball with a 16 inch ball, and ended the evening with campfire and s'mores.  We headed back home on Thursday after lunch.  Here are some pics from the trip.

Repelling

Snow, day 1--The sunglasses kept the snow out of my eyes.

Trust activity

Cedar Mountain...this is the best class I've taken up there.  Not ONE of them complained once.

Achievement Testing Week

This week has been Achievement Testing week at school.  BOOOOOOOOOOOORING for me.  I'm glad I don't teach K, 1 or 2!  Those teachers have to read each and every test out loud to their students.  Me, I read directions and then get anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes of free time...answering an occasional question here and there.  Normally this is fabulous.  However this week, it's not been as great as it could be.  You see, my computer is sick.

It has a virus.  Or two.  It caught the virus on Friday.  I took it home to my computer savvy husband and demanded  asked nicely that it be repaired.  It's Thursday.  Still no computer.  Yuck!  So I've been forced to sit at the front of the room and use my classroom computer, (read: play on the Internet).  You see I have NO files on my classroom computer that are useful for prepping for next week.  Those are all housed on my laptop.  So I've surfed the net a lot.  I've planned Ryan and I many vacations during my surfing...one that I would love to take tomorrow (okay, sometime soon)-- North Carolina.

You see, my new thing is to listen to books on CD in the car.  I'm one disk away from finisheing The Choice by Nicholas Sparks.  Which like most of his books is set in North Carolina.  And like most of his books, I'm certain someone will die...it's going to be your typical, tragic love story.  

Not only is my computer sick, but my phone is acting the fool too!  It randomly freezes up and has a completely black screen.  I just need it to last until Novemeber because that's when we are eligible for new phones again.  Though, I think that sometimes you can upgrade a few months early, which then begs the question: "Iphone or Droid?" or stick with the ol' Blackberry?  Decisions, decisions.  Currently the phone is rebooting because I yanked the battery from it to show it a lesson.  (And hope that rebooting fixes it)

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In other news, Tank has decided this week to be a momma's boy.  He follows me everywhere.  Even when Ryan is home, which is a change from what it used to be.  Today I was in my bathroom getting ready.  He came in and made himself cozy in the corner on my bathrobe and started SNORING.  (I know, my bathrobe shouldn't be on the floor, but that's not the point.)  He must have partied hard in his kennel last night because usually when I let him out in the morning he's crazy full of energy, but today the snuggling on the bathrobe was where he was the entire time I was getting ready. 

Well, I suppose, my kiddies have been working about 40 minutes now, so they should be finisheing soon.  RECESS TIME!

Well, I survived the first three days of school! I have a great class this year or 12 students--8 girls and 4 boys. I'm excited about all the great things we are going to accomplish this year! I can't wait for my SMART Board to be installed! Today I'm going to leave you with a paragraph written by a fifth grader. This assignment was given on the 2nd day of school "Write a five sentence paragraph about your first day of school."

"My first day of school was a mess! I did not like it. I want to be back in fourth grade again. It's hard being in the fifth grade. I feel like poop. So I will probably not get all my homework done in time. So after school I went home and ate, then I cleaned, and then I played a video game."

I was reading this Friday morning waiting for devotions to start. It made me laugh...she was very dramatic!

Last Days of Summer

Wow, it's been a busy summer. I know I have been a slacker in the blogging world but I feel that my reasons are just...just that I didn't make time to do it. Today begins the the week in which school starts. That's right, school starts on Wednesday. I decided to stay home today rather than go into school for two reasons...maybe three. First, yesterday I was at school from 10:30 until about 8:30 last night. We had the annual End of Summer picnic. My room had been under construction as they prepped the East wall for the SMARTBoard that I am getting. FINALLY right after church the finishing touches were done and now I just wait for the actual SMARTBoard to be installed on August 31st. The second reason that I decided to stay home was that my home is in a bit of chaos. I thought I should knock out some projects that wouldn't take long or that I could do whilst doing other things--ie: Laundry. And finally, I really needed to get some actual classroom work done for school. When I'm at school I don't get anything done because I always end up being the principal when I go in to be the teacher. At home however, while doing laundry I was able to finish up my stuff for the first day of school!

Since I've been up (rather early for one who didn't go in to work I'd say) I've accomplished the following:

• Painted an accent wall in our bedroom
• Made a large pot of goulash for future meals
• Cleaned up and organized the freezer
• Fried hamburger for pita pizza's tonight and for one other future meal
• Fried hamburger for tacos & froze it
• Dishes
• Many loads of laundry
• Checked Facebook more than I should admit to
• Wrote lesson plans

Up next...VACUUMING! :)

The End is Near

Sad reality has set in at 588 Depew today. After spending roughly two and a half hours and a combined $150 Amy and I have realized that shcool will begin in two short weeks. This is sad news in the teacher house. Summer is NEVER long enough! And what you think you can get done during the summer ALWAYS seems to get put off until the last two weeks of summer thus leaving one a bit rushed. Add additional duties on top of that and you have an unhappy camper...or two.

This summer has been quite AMAZING and full of fun, which is why my blogging has been non-existant. I began the summer with a fabulous OKC trip to the HannieLou's, went to AZ with Ryan's family, headed to Spain with Lindz and made two (or three) too many (because the drive is long) trips to Nebraska. Last weekend was the official end of summer traveling, a trip to NE to the Broberg wedding. It was a fun time, but now reality. A meeting this morning, a trip to the school suppoly store, a meeting tomorrow night and two days of meetings next week. (see the theme emerging.)

Well, that's all for now, just thought an update was necessary. :)

15 Credits!

That's all I have left of my master's program! YIPPY!

MaY

Wow! It's been a while! Here's why...most of May, I was away! :)

Here's a quick run down of what I did. The first weekend in May was spent in Las Vegas. Last year was the first time I went to Vegas & had a great time. I was glad to have been there but never put it on my list of places I MUST return to--then I started dating Ryan, who I am sure would go to Vegas EVERY weekend if given the chance. He loves it. We went together for the Jason and Emily Bachelor/Bachelorette Party Extrodinaire! There were TONS of us there for said party. It involved a lot of gambling and alcohol. I stayed up so late--hours I haven't seen for a long time! It was a good time indeed. We arrived late Friday night and stayed until early evening Sunday night. Friday was gambling on Fremont Street, Saturday we spent the day at the pool (well, I took about two hours to wander Vegas) then we segregated and I attended "Thunder from Down Under" (Google it) and we won't even discuss what Ryan and the other guys did. Sunday was lazy day--walking around, gambling, and getting to the airport about three hours early!

At DIA waiting to leave.

At the pool on Saturday.

Saturday night after meeting back up with the guys...somewhere on the Strip.

Sunday--at the Flamingo

Sunday at the Bellagio

I returned to Denver LATE Sunday night from Vegas, taught Monday, took my kids to Outdoor Ed at LVR from Tuesday to Thursday, and flew out Friday morning to go to Nebraska for Mom's graduation.

After two years of schooling my mom graduated from the RN program and is a studying fool so she can take her boards this summer!

Mom getting her "diploma" (We all know those things are fancy and empty...but it's the idea)

Mom and I

Dad and Mom

The whole family--Ashley, Adam, Mom, Dad, & Me!

The following weekend was arush home to Nebraska for not so happy reasons. Adam gave us all quite the scare and we learned the hard way that he has Long Q T Syndrome. A drive through the night to Grand Island with the best co-worker ever! A trip to Mom and Dad's, a trip to Lincoln and long hours of waiting to find out if Adam was going to be okay were the "highlights" of the third weekend in May. The happy news is that yes, Adam is going to be okay! And the lesson learned--phone calls at 1:30 am are no bueno!

The third weekend of May was uneventful. We graduated three students at Emmaus and dismissed classes at 10:30 on Friday, May 24th! Saturday Ryan and I were at Jason and Emily's to watch the Nuggets game. Sunday was church and Monday we spent the day in Castle Rock at Ryan's parents.

This weekend we ended May with the Jason and Emily wedding and a trip to the Rockies game!

At the wedding!

Ryan, Emily, Jason, and I

(Apparently this blue color is the hot color of the season--Ryan was not the only one who happened to match the wedding party so nicely--there were multiple guys sporting this blue)

And finally, Sunday at the Rockies game! (They lost...boo!)

And that wraps up May. Here's what's on tap for June:

June 7- 12 VBS in OKC

June 12-14 Ryan's Aunt's Wedding in Arizona

June 15- 19 VBS at Emmaus

June 22-July 2 Spain with Lindsey!