5 Things for Friday

Doodle Bugs (First Grade Rocks) is having a linky party! 5 Things for Friday!

This has been a busy two weeks. I've packed up my classroom and said good bye to my school of 14 years!  I will be teaching first grade in Paramaribo, Suriname, South America! I am beyond excited. Here are my 5 things!

1.  I packed up my classroom. I said good bye to my school. I taught here for 14 years, the last 6 were spent in this room teaching 4th grade. I loved 4th grade! I will miss the teachers and students.

2.  I've been busy this week getting all of my Visa forms in order. My passport finally arrived! I got my work visa papers sent off the Suriname Consulate!

3. This one of my lunches from this week.  I love bacon. I try not to eat it very often. But when I do, I buy the organic kind with no nitrates. It is really tasty. :) Pictured are blt wraps with avocado. Yum!

4. I absolutely LOVE sharpies!!! I found these on sale! They will be in my suitcase when I leave for Suriname!

5. These are my 3 purr-babies. Baby, on the porch, Pookie, headed back inside, and Jack sitting in the doorway. They are inside cats, but like to sit on the front porch with me in the evenings. I will miss them when I move. My daughter will be taking them.

My New Adventure

When this school year ended, I had been teaching for 19 years. 5 years in Pre-K and 14 years at a Christian school in grades K, 1, 3 & 4.  Fourth was my favorite. I loved working at this school. Made a lot of friends and memories. However, my dream has always been to teach overseas as a missionary teacher. (You can read more about that here)

When this school year began, I knew it was going to be my last year at this particular school. At the time, I thought it was because I would be working in a public school. I needed insurance and retirement, and it seemed like the logical conclusion. However, as I began applying to different districts, it occurred to me that I could go anywhere!  My daughter is grown and recently moved to another state, and my sweet daddy died in September, 2012. (Blog post about how I dealt with his death)  Nothing was holding me to my current city. The desire to teach overseas resurfaced. So, I began applying to different mission organizations. I had a few interviews, via Skype. After much prayer, I accepted a position at The International Academy of Suriname in Paramaribo, Suriname, South America. I will be teaching first grade. I am beyond excited!  I will be leaving the states sometime in late July. It is a 2 year commitment. I will get to come home at Christmas and summer break.

It is an English speaking school that provides internationals an American education. They follow the Texas state standards and use American curriculum. I am so excited.  I will finally be able to develop my own stuff. At my previous school, that was limited because we had to stick by the curriculum. It was hard doing extra stuff due to time and curriculum restraints. I've already been doing some planning based on the Curriculum maps they've sent me. I am excited to finally be able to start contributing my ideas on this blog! :-)

I will post updates as I make the transition from 4th grade, American teacher to a 1st grade teacher abroad.

Worse blogger ever? Yes, that'd be me!

So, here I am at the end of another school year. What did I blog about? Absolutely nothing! I admire all of you who regularly blog AND sell stuff on TPT. Kudos.  :)

I think one of the reasons I didn't blog much is because my school is curriculum driven, not standards driven. I taught at a private Christian school. So, there was not much of a need for me to create my own homemade stuff  like many of you do.  However, that is about to change. I have resigned my position at my current school and accepted an overseas position! I am so stinking excited! I will be teaching first grade in Paramaribo, Suriname, South America.  They are standards based. So, like many of you, I will need to start coming up with different stuff. Now, maybe I'll have stuff to blog about! :-)  I leave for Suriname at the end of July. It is a 2 year position. 

I have a second blog entitled, Living a whole and healthy life. On it, I chronicle my journey as I try to get healthy both physically and spiritually. I will also chronicle my adventures in Suriname. Please feel free to follow, if you'd like! Here is the link to Living a Healthy and Whole Life .

Summer Eating

It seems I have settled into the lazy days of summer. Lazy being the operative word. I have searched for and found new things that I want to do in my classroom this year. However, I haven't quite got the "umph" to actually create yet. I want to participate in the wonderful "Make it Monday" linky party. But maybe next Monday! Ha.

Here is what have been doing. I have revamped my eating habits. During the school year, I tend to run in survival mode and make unhealthy food choices. I was gaining weight, achy all the time, and had incredible mood swings. I'm not blaming all of this on food, but it was a place to start. So, on the first day of summer break, I cleaned out my pantry, fridge, and freezer. I am NOT on a diet. I am making lifestyle changes. I've cut out sodas, processed foods, prepackaged foods and fast foods. My fridge & freezer now contain organic produce, dairy and grass fed, hormone & antibiotic free food choices.  Today starts the 4th week since I've made the change. The most difficult thing has been the higher cost for the hormone, antibiotic free meat. It is very expensive in the stores. But I have researched and found some cheaper alternatives. Whenever I have a slight panic attack over the food bill, I remind myself that in the long run, this is cheaper. Because I am no longer buying sodas, junk food and eating out. I have been keeping busy by making my own breads, granola and freezing fresh berries and vegetables.  I have also started walking in the evenings for exercise.  Over all, I do feel better.  Most of my pains are gone. Again, was it the food?? I don't know. But I don't want to ever go back to the old way of eating. I want to live a long life and be able to see my grandchildren (when I have them) grow up. 

 Here are some pictures of just a few things I now make homemade. Above, whole wheat blueberry muffins. These can be frozen. I usually make a big batch and freeze them. I just pull out one whenever I have a hankering for something sweet. :) Below is my homemade granola. It is so good. I will never buy store bought granola again!

As for the upcoming school year, I do hope to finally start making some new things. So hopefully my next post will show case some of my internet finds. :)

Slacker

Hi, My name is Miss T., and I am a slacker!
Oh. My. Goodness.  What a busy, busy year. I don't know how some of you do all you do.  I have not had time to devote to my blog like I wanted. I envy those of you who are able to keep up with yours! :-) 
Things are slowing down a wee bit. Hopefully I will have some time to post some pictures of projects we've done, and field trips we've taken.
I do hope you all have had a good school year so far.
I have such a great group of students. I am really enjoying teaching them.

Hope to post more SOON! :-)

Meet the Teacher Monday linky party

HI everyone. I am participating in "Meet the Teacher Monday" linky party hosted by blog hoppin .

So, here we go.

Yes, that would be me holding the alligator. We were on a field trip at Grand Bay Wildlife Management Center in our town.

Tell us a little something about you...

I started blogging in June.  I am still navigating my way around the blog world. My blog is very basic as I am trying to learn how to spiff it up. :-)  I have one child, a daughter who is almost 20. I never married and at this point, probably never will. I kind of like having sole possession of the remote control. ;-)  I have 3 cats. Two Persians and one Main-Coon. I really want a fourth one, but refrain because I do NOT want to be known as "the crazy cat lady".  But in my defense, one of the cats actually belongs to my daughter.

How long have you been teaching?

This is my 18th year in the classroom. I absolutely LOVE teaching. I have never wanted to do anything else. It is definitely something I am passionate about. I teach at a Christian school in Georgia. I currently teach 4th grade.

You might not know...

I have been two short-term mission trips. One to Peru and the other to Venezuela. My dream is to return to Peru to work with the street children.  Seeing those precious 'babies' begging for food nearly broke my heart. 

                                  What are you looking most forward to this school year?

Oh, I don't know....Fall break, Thanksgiving break, Christmas break............ hahahaha so totally kidding!!! :-)

Seriously though,  Mostly, I love having a fresh start. I look forward to watching my students grow and learn this year. There is nothing better than seeing that light of understanding cross their faces. A beautiful site.

                                                       What do you need to improve?

This year, I wanted to improve the way I teach math. This summer I spent time researching and making math games.  Right now I am teaching them a few games a week.  They are really enjoying the change. And I think they are grasping the concepts a bit faster.

What teaching supplies can you *not* live without?

I heart sharpie markers and colorful pens. I don't like using just red ink to grade papers. I use all different colors.  Another thing I LOVE are pocket charts. I have an obsession with pocket charts. Every time I pass the Target dollar spot and they have pocket charts,  I  always have to get "just one more".  I think I need an intervention. :)      

Well, now it is your time. Head on over to blog hoppin and join the party!                                                        

Taking a breath

Whew! It has been a whirlwind this month.  Teachers went back (officially) on August 1, and students returned on August 8.  What a crazy, busy two weeks it has been. I finally have some finished pictures.  There are still some rough spots to smooth out. The tricky part is finding the time now that school is in full swing.   I have a sweet, little group this year.
I always hesitate showing my room because I don't do a theme and I do not do a lot of the stuff that seems normal now a days, like the daily five and all the anchor charts. Although, this year, I have started doing some anchor charts for reading.  I have always done "posters" and or cards for a pocket chart. So maybe in a way, I have "always" done anchor charts.

Anyway, here is my tiny 4th grade classroom. :-)
DISCLAIMER:  Most of the stuff you will see are NOT my original ideas. I have gleaned them from other teachers on pinterest or right here on blogger.  And I cannot remember where I found the ideas. SO please know that I am NOT trying to take credit!

View from the door.

Our class computer. The white board has their weekly memory verse. Our class rules are above it.

Our book bins.  They are labeled by genre.

I use the round table for small group work. I LOVE the boggle board.  My students are enjoying finding all the words.  I use the other part of the white board for math group instruction.

The yellow board is my math board. (still haven't gotten around to labeling it)

The 16 pocket chart you see "straight" ahead is our student mailbox system. I purchased it last May when Really Good Stuff had their teacher appreciation sale. I LOVE it. Makes passing out papers so much easier.

Our behavior clip system. I know you all have seen these ALL over pinterest! :-)

Daily schedule, helper chart and our "give me 5" reminder.

The green board is my Language Arts board. In the process of putting something up.

A partial view of the front of the room. Above the calendar are our hand signal reminders. Index finger: I need help.  Full hand: I want to speak/ask question.  Two fingers:  I need to leave my seat. 3 fingers: bathroom please.  I love this system. It helps eliminate work time interruptions.

This bookshelf (which you can't see) holds our Literature books, dictionaries and Thesauruses.  The black tray on top is where they turn in their homework.

Daily assignments are listed on the left of the chalkboard and the homework is listed on the right.  The reason I post the daily assignments for each subject is so I am NOT constantly hearing, "What page did you say? What was our language exercise? etc"

This is located behind my desk. It is where I show off their work.

Another view of the back of the room. Oh, the small bookshelf on the right holds our class sets of chapter books.

Our Social Studies board.  We are currently studying early explorers.  On the right, we are tracking my truck driving brother as he crisscrosses the United States. The kids are really have fun with it.

The yellow folders are labeled with our subjects and are in alphabetical order.  They put their papers in the proper folder when they are finished.

View of the front. The pocket chart to the left holds our daily objectives.

Our journals. The ribbon was another idea I got from pinterest.  I hot glued a ribbon to the back cover. The one opened doesn't belong to a student. Didn't want you to think we haven't used them yet. :-)

So there ya go. Our classroom. :-)  For those back in the classroom, I hope you all are having a great year so far.