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Love, Love, Love!

Let's get in the cheesey, love-y, Valentine's Day mood!

I'm going to share some of the things I just LOVE.

Keep in mind that I love SO many things, it's just so darn hard to narrow it down!

 

I love a good workout! Now, I don't always like getting started with a workout {I'll have days where I can come up with a million excuses. For example: "My hair looks great today.  No need to mess it up!"} But, I ALWAYS feel so amazing after I finish an awesome run or workout.

 

Traveling!  My family always went somewhere for vacation every summer, usually the beach, but occasionally we mixed it up.  Thankfully, my parents were both teachers and had the summers to travel with us {mostly to get us out of the house & keep us from driving them completely crazy}!

I've also been lucky enough to find an amazing friend who loves to travel just as much {if not more} than I do - we're on a mission to visit all 50 states!

 

E-cards! Who doesn't get a kick out of these?!

I send them to my teammates to give us a pick-me-up on those tough days, or just save them on my phone for when I need a good chuckle. :)

 

 

My FAMILY! These crazies are the best family I could ever ask for - no more explanation needed. They're amazing & I'm so blessed their mine!

 

What do you LOVE???

 



WOW Moment - WBT!

I'm a little late for WOW Wednesday, but I still wanted to share my WOW moment for the week.

I mentioned once before that I was beginning to dive into this book:

 

Well, I'm absolutely loving it!  I have a hunch that Whole Brain Teaching might just change my whole classroom dynamic.  I happen to have a pretty wonderful class this year - SO smart, rarely a behavior issue (minus the typical chatter on holidays or days that it snows, ya know).

As I began reading, I thought I'd let all the WBT goodness sink in and then decide if I wanted to try it all out next year or not.

 

Then I thought, wait till next year?! What kind of teacher can hold out that long on such awesome ideas?!

Not me!

I just HAD to try it right away!

 

I started out by downloading these adorable posters from Christina DeCarbo to remind my kiddos about our new "class rules."

These are introduced with gestures that really make the kids giggle AND motivate them.  We practice these rules often - in the morning, before lunch, after recess...

I can already see a BIG difference in the number of kiddos who attempt to interrupt my small group lessons, or get up to use the restroom (they're in our room) while we're working.

One poor kiddo was even working at a station while I was teaching a small group and had his hand up for almost 5 minutes before I noticed.  He knew he wasn't supposed to be moving around or talking without permission, so God bless his little heart, he just waited patiently!  But then said, "I'm sooo glad you finally called on me.  My arm was going to get stuck like that!"

 

Georgia Grown Kiddos has an awesome overview of WBT here.

 

So far this week, we've covered:

*Class-Yes!

*Classroom Rules

and

*Teach-Okay!

 

I've also been incorporating more gestures into my teaching, especially during writing.

 

Beginning to use and feel comfortable with these teaching strategies THIS year will hopefully help me feel more confident to kick off next year with them on day one! *Sprinkles!*

I'm really just beginning this WBT adventure, and I can't wait to see where it takes me!

All You Need is Love & Mustaches

While we were busy catching up from all of our snow days, Valentine's Day crept up on us!

 

(We haven't even had our 100th Day yet! Which *gasp!* just happens to be the same day as V-Day, thanks to all the winter weather. You can all feel bad for us having to deal with that crazy mash-up.  Praise the Lord it'll be a Friday, at least!)

 

Just in case you're like me and wait till the last minute to prepare valentine's for your kiddos, I'm here to help!

These gems are only 97 cents at Wal-Mart!  For a 4 pack! *Bonus: They're sugar free!

 

 

Since my class LOVES all things mustaches this year (oh my word, almost a little too much), that means for $5.82 my whole class will be loving life on Valentine's Day.



 

 

I tied them up with a free book coupon with purchase that came in last month's Scholastic box (no cost to the teacher), and this sweet little tag.

Here's one for you!

 

And just in case your class isn't into the whole rockstar theme...

 

Now, I mustache... what are your plans for Valentine's Day???



Goodbye January!

What happened to January?! Seriously, I think we've been in school for maybe 7 days this month...  Ooooh my word.

I feel like I don't have a whole lot of teaching excitement to share with you since I've spent so many days at home, but I'll dig down deep and try to come up with some to share. :)

 1. I finished all three books in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.  {Thank you snow days!}

I just couldn't put them down - it was very Hunger Games-ish all over again!  Now what do I read?  I'm taking suggestions {although, with all of the school catching up to be done, I think my nook will be on hiatus until July}.

2. Let's stick with this reading thing... I've been reading a lot about the whole brain teaching phenomenon, & am super interested to learn more.  I don't know that I could just pick up and start it halfway through the school year like this, but this lovely book was just delivered to my doorstep.  So, I'll be reading and deciding if this is something I want try next year.

3. We're wrapping up our fairy tales unit & working on writing our OWN fairy tales! My 2nd graders were sooo excited about writing their own that they started cheering.  Crack. Me. Up.

Here are a few kiddos working on the make-shift graphic organizer we came up with for brainstorming.  {I promise there's a nice, neat, typed version in the very near future. Just hang tight!}

4. I'm on a {semi-healthy} fruit smoothie kick this week, folks! This one I just LOVE. YUMM-O!

1 banana

1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen ones)

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. sugar

Blend away!

5. We just started diving into money - and oh my goodness, the CCSS barely touch that topic!

Well, we need some serious practice with counting money, so I whipped up this little activity to help us out.  I haven't decided yet if I want to use it in small groups or as a whole group Scoot game.  It could also be an independent center for your math bins! You can check it out here. Or click the pictures.

Have a relaxing weekend! Bring on February! <3



'13 in 13: Why 2013 Was Amazing!

New Year's Eve already?!  I didn't even get to think about sharing all of my Christmas fun - I blinked and it was over!  {sigh}  I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, and boy were we BUSY having fun this past month and all of 2013!

I am linking up for a 13 in 13 review!  And {fair warning} it's a picture overload!  Continue at your own risk! :)

I hope you enjoy my favorite {er, if I can even narrow it down} memories of 2013!

{one}

I had an amazing opportunity to coach the most wonderful 1st & 2nd grade girls at Kids in Motion!  It's the brainchild of my friend Julie, and is a truly fabulous program where we would teach the girls all about fitness, nutrition, and {most importantly} self-esteem.  These girls really learned and helped me remember that God made us perfect just the way we are! <3

{two}

I was busy workin' on my fitness! Oh, it's totally all been undone by the past month of holiday deliciousness, but in 2013, I LOVED hiking, running, and working out with my friends.  I even ran my best 5k time yet!

{three}

I TRAVELED!!! Between North Carolina, the beach, Washington state's Olympic National Park & Seattle, Oregon {totally got to walk on the Oregon trail & Mt. Hood}, and even Smith Island Maryland, it's been a busy traveling year.  Wonder where I'll get to in 2014?! 

{four}

I moved to Delaware!  Talk about a crazy ride!  This move has been a huge adjustment, but I think I've been rolling with the waves pretty well.  I absolutely love our adorable house.  {Even if it is located right in "airplane alley"}

Bonus: we're not that far from the beach! 

{five}

We had some amazing visitors at our new house {and these are only a few of them...} We loved the beach! So blessed!

{six}

New state = new school! And new grade level! I moved UP to 2nd grade this year {gosh, they are such smarties}!

{seven}

It was an unbelievable year to be a buccos fan!

The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first post season appearance since I was super little! {For real, it's all because my dad FINALLY made the trip to Florida for their spring training...}

{eight}

I got to wear this awesome little white dress... TWICE!

I loved it at my wonderful bridal shower,

& then at the {then} fiance's Firefighter Ball.

{nine}

My maid of honor sister & best ever bridesmaids threw the most hysterically entertaining wine night/sleepover bachelorette party! It was soo fun - we legit laughed ALL night.

{ten}

We totally rocked our homemade Halloween costumes this year.

{eleven}

We had a super fabulous date wandering around Annapolis {oh my word, it's beautiful there} & got to sit right up front for an awesome concert with The Clarks!  {They're an amazing band from Pittsburgh... for real, you should check them out.}

{twelve}

WE GOT MARRIED!!!! {And the pictures... I can't pic just a few!}

Our photobooth & adorable flower girl niece, were some of the highlights!

{thirteen}

Decorating our house for Christmas was a highlight for me!  As was a first ever {& very rare} Christmas morning with my new hubby.

His job just does not work around the holidays well, so I was loving every second of this Christmas morning {in our Christmas jammies, of course}.

That was my indescribable 2013.  I have no words.  Just wow.

 I hope your year was all that you prayed for & more!  Wishing everyone a fabulous end to the year & an even better beginning to the next.

Merry Christmas {a little late} & Happy New Year from us<3