Five for Friday!

It's Friday!  That favorite day of the week...except during the summer! :) I've been up to a lot of different things this week!  

 Hop over to Doodle Bugs and see what everyone else is up to!

First...USA is going through to the knock out round!  Way to go USMNT!  This little guy was dreaming during the game today...

He's saving all of his energy for the next game on July 1!

Okay, this next piece is a bit embarrassing, but I'm so glad I'm FINALLY getting around to it!  So one of the very first things I ever made and put on TpT was my Poetry Unit.  It is still a pretty good seller, but it's needed a facelift and update for a loooooooong (imagine the same voice as gooooooooal) time!  So, this week, I finally got to it!  

This is a picture of my computer screen.  The image on the left is my original.  I'm still working on my cover (tooooo wordy right now), but the facelift is coming along.  I'll be excited to get it finished and send the memo to all my previous buyers! I love when I get surprises that there have been updates/additions to products I've already purchased!

I went into work for a wee bit this week.  One of my goals was to finally organize my files.  My ultimate goal is to color code all of them for different categories (RtI, Discipline, Human Resources, etc.), but I didn't have enough colored file folders at the time.  

They are now alphabetized, and cleaned out.  I forgot to take a picture of ALL the papers I put through the shredder and in the recycling bin, but it was A LOT!  It will be so nice to open my drawers to organized files that I can actually find.

Anyone dream of eating out and cooking gourmet meals during the summer?  I realized that over the summer I usually just eat the same thing, but I get to throw my turkey sandwich on the George Foreman. :)
 

Oh, and I can still be in my pajamas and watching TV!

And finally, while at school I saw this little family of ducklings (there are 5 little guys).  The sad part is that they are currently living in our courtyard which does not have an exit (it's enclosed by classrooms). We are trying to figure out a way to corral them out of the courtyard, through our building, and out to safety without making Mama Duck too upset.  Any ideas?!

Alrighty, well I'm off to a WIDA conference all day today.  Indiana just adopted them, so I need to do some catch up!  I'm hoping they are a positive change for us.

Gotta run!

Five for Friday

It's Friday!  Now usually I'm pretty excited about Fridays, but during the summer, sometimes it makes me think about how few Fridays I actually have left...and for, it's only 3 after this (YIKES)!  Here's what I've been up to this week!

Father's Day!  This was the first Father's Day for my wonderful husband.  I often tell people that I've never loved him more than when I watch him with our little boy.  To be truly honest, there is nothing, NOTHING, that I could get him that would come close to how much he means to our little man and me.  So aside from a cheesy frame with a picture, I wanted to do something meaningful.  So...I went to my good friend iMovie.  Well, actually, I've never made an iMovie, but what better way to learn!  

It's only been 3 months, but we have TONS of pictures of the little man.  So, I put together some of our favorites, some that were taken during meaningful times, some that he didn't know I had taken, along with some videos, and put them all to music with text of what little man has learned from his daddy during his short life.  Things like he can trust him, he knows he'll be there for him.  I was really excited to watch it with him on Father's Day morning, and although I wanted to take a picture of the moment, it would have ruined it.  Happy Father's Day, babe.  You deserve it!  

And now, a little less sappy! Well, I'm finally sitting down to truly dive into this book.  I've taken notes in it, skimmed it, and used pieces of it, but I feel like I need to read it front to back and soak it all in.  

Have any of you explored this book?  Thoughts?

PBL Conference!  On Wednesday and Thursday I attended a 2-day conference all about PBL.  It was terrific, and about 10 teachers from my building went too.  It was a great planning time for them.  Teachers were encouraged to pick 1, yes, just 1 standard, and then develop a PBL unit around that 1 standard.  I will continue to share out more, but here are a couple of the brief outlines for their units  (again, I said brief!)

After teams of teachers started working through their units, we then went through the THINK TANK process with a larger group of 10-15 teachers and a facilitator.  This was the process we used to go through their units.  It is a FANTASTIC process, and the teachers were able to gather a lot of new ideas to make even more meaningful connections and understandings for their students.  This protocol, and a lot of other PBL resources, can be found at bie.org.  

We hired a new superintendent this week!  We really loved our superintendent, who is retiring (and deserves every minute of her relaxing retirement!), so a new person in charge can definitely be a bit scary.  Although she comes with great references and everyone has terrific things to say, the unknown can be a bit nerve wracking.  So I will remember this...

 

And finally, the rain has stopped!  We have flash flood warnings around here, but I can finally go out with the baby for a walk now that the sun is out.  Peace out, friends!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Gotta run!

Five for Friday!

Happy Friday!  For some it's a bit sour since it might mean the end of your Spring Break, but for others it's signaling the start!  Either way, it's Friday and time for five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

#1 on my list today is that my baby boy is 1 month old today!  What a perfect celebration on this gloomy, but glorious Friday!  He has brought us so much joy and is absolutely perfect in every way, no really, he is!  I mean who could resist this? :)

In Indiana business over the last few weeks is that we are the official first state to DROP OUT of the Common Core State Standards.  Whatever you feel on this topic, it's a bit frustrating that we've started implementing them and then we'll need to make adjustments.  The new set of standards has to be approved by July, and the sad part is that they are very, VERY similar to CCSS.  In my opinion, why the big fuss when there aren't any significant changes?

Did you know that it's Math Awareness Month?  What better way to celebrate than with a math Freebie!  This will be free through Wednesday, so feel free to share with others (and leave some feedback, too!). 

This is a picture of my bracket!  Can you see that I still have 2 teams left - and I'm a Big Ten fan?  At this point, I'm in the lead in my March Madness league and there is no way for anyone to catch me!  I can watch the games this weekend and just enjoy them...and also know that I have money coming my way!

And finally, I wanted to leave you with this thought for the day.  I hope you all are smiling today - it's Friday!

 I'm also linked up with Freebie Friday, so hop over and enjoy some other great Freebies!

Gotta run!  Enjoy your weekend!

Five for Friday, Sale, and a Freebie (for Friday only!)

Whew!  It's been a great week of blogging, finding great resources, and cleaning out closets/sorting baby clothes!  In honor of spring weather coming our way next week (fingers crossed big time!) it's SPRING CLEANING time, and my store is 20% off through Monday!  Check out my TpT shop to get some great new resources for your files and to make your life a bit easier for the end of the year!  

Want to see ALL of the great sellers who are discounting their stores this weekend?  Check out Valerie's blog at Georgia Grown Kiddos for the entire group of Linked Up Sales!

I'm joining Five for Friday to highlight some of my products that may be of use to you, especially since they're on sale.  And be very, very careful, there might be one product that is FREE on Friday!

Okay, first things first.  Don't forget to go back and review previous products you've already purchased and rate them and leave comments.  You get credit for these toward more purchases!  To begin, I'll highlight the product that has the most reviews: Weather Super File!

 *Jam-packed 57 page unit with great weather foldables and only $4.00!

Here are some of my students using their Weather Super Files to review and study!

April is National Poetry Month!  Be prepared with this great Poetry Unit with graphic organizers, writing paper, and mini posters for each type of poetry!

 Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice Posters!  These are a great resource for students to understand the fundamentals of math beyond just the daily lesson and workbook pages.

A new product this week is an added I have...Who Has? Game.  This one is for the skill of multiplying decimals.  Oh, and by the way, it's FREE all day on Friday!  Free FRIDAY!!  Don't forget leave some love in the feedback section if you download it for free.  

And finally, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Spring Break Season!  Although I'm home on maternity leave, my district is starting their SB today for the next 2 weeks.  Everyone deserves some recovery time to reenergize for the last drive of the school year!  If you're already returning, then best of luck in your remaining weeks of school!