A Day Late & A Dollar Short

It may be Saturday, but is there really a better time to write a Friday post about our week???

I think not! Saturday wins.

There are 33 school days until summer {35 for us teachers}. Not that I'm counting... yet.

Our days at this point are hit or miss, but I'm aiming for more hits.

1. FOOD! My kiddos this year will do ANYTHING for food.  I will feed them every darn day if I have to.  We chowed on some gummy worms & leaves while writing *quietly* about compost piles.  I had a REALLY hard time not just eating all of this delicious gumminess myself!

2. Accountability is key!  Especially these last few weeks.  We have SO much to learn yet, and I need to make sure my little learners are with me.  We use post-its and this wonderful Stick It To Me chart {idea credit: The Inspired Apple} before, during, or after lessons to help me keep track of learning.

My kiddos LOVE taking turns being the "Tell Us Teacher" and choosing 3 answers or ideas from the chart to share aloud with the class.

3. Math Bins were a hit this week thanks to my Buggy Math Centers!  They were perfect for spring, reviewing key math standards, & I love hearing the little giggles of excitement when they read each centers' funny name. You can find them HERE! They're even on sale for the week - just because!

4. Confession... I have a HUGE planning problem!!! It's OUT. OF. CONTROL.

So bad, that when anyone asks my husband to do something or hang out, he always tells them, "You'll have to get in touch with my personal planner."

If I leave my planner anywhere, or (heaven forbid) lose it... well that's just not going to be any bit of okay!

I am a crazy planner person & I need help!  Just kidding.  {Sort of.}

I love, love, LOVE being a planner.  It makes me happy.  It keeps me kind of sane.  Aaaaand I don't "plan" on givng up my ridiculous planning tendincies anytime soon. ;)

I've been fretting for WEEKS now because my planner ends in June, and folks, I've got major plans that happen after June! The running list in the back of my current planner just isn't cutting it for me.  I NEED to write those plans in neat little boxes with bright, colorful pens {or pencils... because life is messy & my planner needs to be erasable}, in my fanciest handwriting.

We finally made it to Target last night (romantic date night, ya know).

Straight to the planner aisle, after a quick stop at the Dollar Spot, of course... and ALL of their planners were January-December!!! WHAT?!

As a teacher, I live from July-June and need my planner to be on the same page.

I sulked.

As we were walking away, my amazing husband spotted a side rack of THESE:

Adorable July-June planners! They came in teal, pink, and royal blue with adorable designs.

I choose the royal blue. To match my classroom of course.

My everything/life planner came in a Monthly/Weekly format (necessary).

The larger planner is only Monthly & is used to sketch out tenative lesson plans.

Yay, Target!!!

5. I've been enjoying the beauty that is spring all week! Hope you are, too!

Sunshine & Freebies!

This weekend's forecast: Sunny. Sunnier. Sunniest! And WARM to boot!

LOVE. IT.

This was our first week back from Spring Break, and it was a bit rough for the teacher.

I was dragging myself out of bed, waaaay later than normal.

My husband actually told me to, "Get it together, already!"  Apparently he's not a fan of my week long snooze button addiction.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I pulled myself together in time for school each day.

Only spilled my coffee all over the kitchen floor once. WIN!

Here's how the week ended up:

1. We've been playing a TON of games to get us through & keep the kiddos motivated.  They really, really, REALLY need to be moving at this point in the year when their attention spans are about thislong.  We've been using our Slap It slappers for everything from social studies to math!

2. Biographies are in full swing, & I'm LOVIN' it!  We've studied politicians and now sports stars!  My second graders eat up these biographies!

3. Keeping with the theme... we've changed up our Daily 5 Listening to Reading station for a bit.  It's currently Biography Bags. Huuuuge hit!

4. We've finally wrapped up our engineering unit on Bridges!  It was exciting and difficult learning all about how forces act upon different structures.  To help drive the idea home, we read The Three Little Pigs & identified the forces acting on the brick house.  You can grab yourself the FREEBIE I whipped up for us, HERE!

5. I'm working on not cheating on my healthy eating, BIG time, because somehow I can always find an excuse to eat an entire bag of Reese's mini peanut butter eggs.

This Caprese salad was delicious & super good for my body!

However, it's Friday afternoon & I'm REALLY feeling like this... EEEK!

Pray real hard that I don't find the Oreos any time soon!

Have a SUNNY weekend, friends!

Surviving!

Spring break is A-Mazing!

...Until you have to go back to work.  It's like a taste of summer getting to play in the sun, sleep in till 6 AM, and actually get your house clean.

{I mean, I can't be the only one who only has a clean house in the summer... please tell me you're with me!}

That sunshine, though.  Makes it sooo hard to be in a classroom all day.

But, there's learning to be done! So here's how I'm surviving the 4th quarter...

Games, games, & more games!  Anything to keep the littles interested in the MOUND of learning we still need to trudge through.

Writing on desks. Writing on tables. Writing on any imaginable surface that some dry erase makers can't damage.  Thank goodness Expos are so easily erased!

Brain breaks. EVERY. DAY. EVERY. HOUR.

Go Noodle is my lifesaver. Ice cream & guacamole, anyone?

And when the sunshine really gets to my brain, & I just can't take one more second of school work. I hit up TJMaxx for some fun Hawaiian vacation shopping! Hurry July!

The #fourthquarterstruggles are real.  But keep on keeping on, friends!

We can make it!

Once Upon a Spring Break!

This past week was spring break! Best week of the year! There's just something wonderful about sunny, spring weather...

except that it's been RAINING (just about all week).

Seriously?!

I shouldn't complain, though.  I accomplished a good bit around the house, & even FINALLY finished filing my taxes. Hallelujah!

Here are 5 exciting ways I spent my break:

1. I had a sleepover with the sweetest littles.  When it was too rainy to be outside, we played The Ladybug Game.  It has soo many awesome reviews, and let me tell you... they don't lie! This game was perfect for counting, and even a 3 and 4 year old were able to play successfully (and I wasn't losing my mind trying to get them to follow the directions either)!

2. Hubby & I ventured to Cabella's for an afternoon.

Don't worry.

He was kind enough to endure a trip to Target afterwards.  

If that's not love, I don't know what is.

3. What's spring break without a beach day?!

Clouds & raindrops can't stop us from having a girls day at the beach... even if it's spent searching for wild beach horses instead of tanning in the sand.

4. Hubby was deployed for my 30th, so we (finally, finally, finally) had a chance to celebrate late this week.  We spent a rainy day at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Then went to see...

WICKED!

AaaaaMAZING!

I'm in love. And feeling like defying gravity. :)

5. Because I'll have to be getting back into school mode here shortly, I'll leave you with some fairy tale writing.

In 2nd, we studied a lot of fairy tales, including different versions of each.

At the end of our unit, we LOVED writing our own fairy tales.

I whipped up a graphic organizer, fancy fairy tale final draft paper, & a prince/princess crown for display.

You can get your own here!