Meet the Teacher Blogger {Linky Party!}

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS . . .

• Birds: If I lived in a woodsy area instead of suburbia, I would be a crazy-obsessed bird watcher.  Sitting in silence and watching birds hop from branch to branch is pure bliss.
• Starbucks: I get a venti black tea lemonade with two splenda every morning on my way to work.  
• J. Crew: The best teacher outfits EVER. 
• Art museums: Some people like to go to movies alone, I like to go to the Getty alone. 
• School supplies: How many types of colored pens, post-its, stickers, and award certificates does one teacher really need?  A LOT, according to my supply cabinets!
• Dollar Tree: This is one of the best places for teachers, seriously.  There's a lot of crap to be found at the Dollar Tree, but a lot of gems, too, especially when it comes to books for my classroom.  The secret is to go all the time, because you never know what you're going to find on any given trip.  
• Professional Development Conferences: I love being in school as the student!  So whenever my principal will pay for me to attend a conference or seminar, I'm there!   (I know, NERD ALERT, right?)  Many of my colleagues dread PD, but I absolutely LOVE it. 

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

If I couldn't be a teacher, I'd want to own a little shop, like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail.  I'd sell not only books, but stationary, and colored pens, quirky lamps with pretty shades, bright mixing bowls that look pretty sitting on the counter, ooh and comfy cashmere cardigan sweaters with big pockets.  It would be like an amalgam of the Paper Source, Anthropologie, and Williams-Sonoma.  

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU:

Sensitive, Creative, Smart

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "_______________" SAID NO TEACHER, EVER!

"I can go to the bathroom whenever I want!" said no teacher, ever!

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE, DEAD OR ALIVE TO THE PARTY.  WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

C.S. Lewis

IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

Oooh, tough one this is a tough one.  I'll have to think about this and update the post when I come up with a title. 

YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPER POWER.  WHAT IS IT?

I actually already have at least one super power, and it comes in handy more often than one would think: I can put in and take out my contact lenses without a mirror.  Yes, I know, Hollywood has yet to make a movie exploiting my gift, but it's only a matter of time.  

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The thought of having to sing a song on American Idol is the stuff nightmares are made of.  But let's see . . . I think the last time I sang in front of a huge crowd was when I did karaoke during undergrad with my sorority sisters, and we sang Here I Go Again by Whitesnake . . . Please don't make me go on American Idol.  

ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

I'm definitely a night owl!  Getting up in the morning can be torturous, especially after those nights when I was up until 2:30 in the morning reading teacher blogs and designing TPT products.  (I have dozens of TPT products that I've started, and yet to finish because I keep starting new ideas without finishing the old ones!  It's possible I may have a touch of ADD when it comes to creative ideas . . .)

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED ON TPT?

(See the above question!)  I have a ton of products that still need a bit more formatting and a great cover before they can be posted to TPT.  However, my best selling resource that I've already posted on TPT is a unit on the Nicene Creed, for Catholic school teachers.  This product is actually one I wrote when I was teaching fourth grade, so it's way too advanced for my little firsties now, but I'm happy so many other people have found it to be a helpful resource in the older grades!

SHARE SOMETHING THAT WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU!

I was a huge band nerd in high school.  I played the clarinet, and I thought I would grow up to be a band teacher when I grew up.  (Turns out, I wasn't too far off!)

Your turn!  Here's what you need to link up to the party:

Tell us all a little bit about you. Follow that up by copy and pasting the Q&A Session and adding your own answers. Make sure to include the square "MEET THE TEACHER BLOGGER" button (above) at the end of your post and link it back here so others can find the linky! When your post is published, link it up and join the party below!!!

Favorite Things ~ J. Crew Martina wedges

Okay, folks, it's my next Favorite Things post!  (I feel just like Oprah on her Favorite Things show!  YOU get J. Crew shoes!  YOU get J. Crew shoes!  YOU get J. Crew shoes!

I ADORE these J. Crew Martina wedge heels - I have them in several different colors.  When I realized I could stand and teach all day in these shoes, and then leave school to have dinner with friends still wearing them, and not have aching feet, I went online and bought them in every color available in my size. (Luckily for me, they were on sale at the time.)  But it was completely worth it.  Because it's not very often that you can find a beautiful heel that allows you to simultaneously chase a six-year-old AND make virtually any humdrum outfit look polished, put together, and fancy.  And sometimes you need to step your look up a notch.  Like on those mornings when you have to choose between ten extra minutes of sleep or putting on makeup, and you decide you don't care if your students greet you with "Your face makes you look like you're feeling sick," (Don't worry, honey, Miss Bergstrom is fine!) or, "You have a mosquito bite on your chin!" (It's not a mosquito bite, sweetie!), if only you can press snooze one. . . more. . . time.  So, yes, these heels were worth every penny.  

Making sentences with Magnetic Words

The Dollar Tree really is the best place to find inexpensive teaching resources.  The pack of magnetic words below cost me (duh) a dollar, and so did the cookie sheet underneath it.  My white boards are magnetic, but I love using the cookie sheets so the little monsters lovely children don't scatter the tiny pieces all over the floor.  (And in my classroom, the floor is like a black hole.  Once something leaves the desk, it disappears like a sock in the dryer.)  

Each part of speech is color-coded as well, however I haven't taught them this yet.  Once we've reviewed the parts of speech more, I can start talking about how all sentences need a blue noun, a red verb, and even better sentences have green adjectives, etc.  Until then, students just had fun reading the sight words and helping each other sound out the other words they didn't know.  

Some of the sentences they created were pretty funny . . . My favorite may have been, "She is old."  The little one who wrote this called me over to show me, and I strongly suspect he was talking about me!  (Oh, God, thirty-three isn't old yet, is it??)

Choosing "Just Right" Books

I wrote this up to give to my parents during Back to School Night, to help them choose independent reading books for their child at home. 

New (School) Year's Resolutions

I know New Year's resolutions are supposed to begin on January 1st, but I've always felt that the fresh start associated with the "New Year" really begins in the fall, with the beginning of a new school year.  So, in the spirit of my own personal New Year's Eve (the day before the first day of school), here are my  New (School) Year's Resolutions:

Resolution #1: Write more thank you notes.
There are so many people who do wonderful and generous things for me throughout the year.   I need to be better this year about writing a proper thank you note to let them know how much they mean to me.  I've stocked my desk with fun thank you notes and cards to make it easier to keep thank-yous a priority.

Resolution #2: Leave by 4:30pm (okay, 5:00pm at the latest) everyday.

I need a social life!  I can't just go to work, go home, go to bed, repeat.  This year I'm going to make it a point to leave at a reasonable hour every day.  (Unless report cards are due.  That's a different story!)

Resolution #3: Change student work on my bulletin boards more often. 

I need to just put students' writing up each week, even if it's just a quick-write, or I don't have time to make a cutesy heading with letters at the top of the board.  In the picture below, I didn't make a heading, list the standards I covered, or even keep the board consistent with the same assignment (which makes me cringe to look at it now) - but the important things is that the parents loved seeing their kids' work when volunteering in the classroom, and I got it done.  I didn't wait to make it perfect first - otherwise I would have the same work on the board for three months before I'd change it.  

Resolution #4: Do more art.
I love doing art with the kids.  It's probably one of my most favorite things, and yet I get caught up in covering all the material I need to get through by the end of the year, so art is always the first thing to go when I feel like I'm falling behind.   But the kids need it, it makes them happy.  And it makes me happy too.  And a happy teacher = happy students.

Resolution #5: Pray more often throughout the day - both with the kids and to myself.
I want to try to remember to turn to prayer instead of Starbucks when I get stressed or overwhelmed during the day.  One of the reasons I wanted to teach at a Catholic school in the first place was so I could help my students in their faith, so I need to remind myself to share the experience of spontaneous prayer with my students.  

Who knows how well (or for how long!) I'll be able to stay true to my resolutions!  Leave your own New School Year's resolutions in the comments section!

Personalized Notebooks

I love all things paper, especially things I can personalize. My fabulous sister ordered me a set of these May Designs notebooks for Christmas last year.

I just happened to go to their website today (maydesigns.com) and noticed the entire site is 40% off through August 10th!  It may be time for a few more... (After all, a girl can never have too many notebooks or too much stationary.)

Bulletin Board Borders

I love using a double border on my bulletin boards, with white on the inside and another color on the outside. It takes a little more time to put up though, especially since my teacher-OCD forces me to use a ruler to measure the spacing between each border so it's even.

 

After you've measured, you can put up the inside-border. (I really like using white for all my inside-borders.)

Here's a close-up:

Then staple up the outer border, simply following the edge of the bulletin board. 

Here's another close-up:

And voila!  You're done!

Common Core Reading Literature Assessment

I finally finished my new Reading Literature Assessment!  It uses the story "The Kite" by Arnold Lobel, from Days with Frog and Toad, which is part of the Imagine It! reading program we use at our school.  Unfortunately, Imagine It is not Common Core aligned, so it's up to the teachers to create our own Common Core assessments.  

It will be on sale on Teachers Pay Teachers for a limited time, so if you grab a copy please leave feedback and a rating!