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.

A work in progress

I've been spending time in the classroom the last few weeks. I am reorganizing, clearing out, and rearranging.  Here are some pictures. Be warned, I am NOT finished. There is still a lot to do.  Most of the stuff you will see are NOT my original ideas. Like most teachers, I see something I like and then adapt it to fit my teaching style. 

My brother is a long distance truck driver.  He is going to text me each time he heads out for a new location.  We are going to track his route. I am going to use this to teach map skills,  estimation and averaging. I am real excited about this idea!  I will post what the students do and what all I use this information for. The possibilities are endless!  (NOT my original idea. I watched a movie a few years ago about a teacher who taught geography by tracking a truck drivers routes. I can not remember his name.)

We study explorers in History at the beginning of the school year.

I am really proud of this cabinet! I purchased storage containers from the Dollar Tree and labeled my art and math supplies.  The baskets on the top left contain class sets of chapter books. I don't have those labeled yet.  I have some empty space on the top left side. I am thinking  about hanging sentence strips from the pole.

This space is a work in progress. I am thinking about taking the left side down and making the entire board a math board.  My behavior chart is on the right.  Then next to that is the chart I am going to use to file the papers the students will take home.  I purchased it from Really Good Stuff when it was on sale during teacher appreciation week. I am looking forward to using it.  I think it is going to make life much easier. 

A view of the front of the room. A work in progress.  I am taking down the alphabet and putting up a different one; one that won't take up as much space. I am also moving the time line.  I usually start the year off with the desks in rows.  It makes it easier to teach my classroom procedures. Then about two or three weeks in, I change it to a U shape.  I LOVE having them in a U shape.  I would rather have the desk and chair separate, but these were given to us and I have to use them. :-)

Again, this area is NOT finished.  I am in the middle of re-doing my book baskets. I was given a bunch of "new" books and have to sort them. I am working on new book labels. I will post them when I get them done.  And yes, that is dinosaur (projector) you see. Hahaha. I'm just happy to have something! :-)

Well, there you go.  It's not finished. And it is small. I will post the finished product next week!

Mrs. Bainbridge's Linky Party...Oh the things we say!

Mrs. Bainbridge says, "We've all got those "things" that we say.  What is something you always say to your students?  Maybe it's something cute that you love... or maybe it's something that you heard them start to say to each other that made you go "uh oh!".
Here's mine...

Two years ago I had a student new to our school. It was the second day. The students were working on a writing assignment. While walking around, I noticed she was trying so hard to write in cursive. I leaned down and whispered, "honey, it's ok, you can print."  I walk on to another child's desk. I then noticed the first child got out of her seat and walked to the back of the room and stopped in front of my PRINTER.  I went to her and asked her what she was doing. She said, "You told me to print it." I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "well aren't you precious."
And it stuck. So now when ever a child does something "odd" or even aggravating, my response is usually, "oh, you are precious."  It has become a school joke.  Last year, during our meet the teacher night, I had a parent come to me and say that I would probably be calling her child precious a lot! hahaha. And indeed, I did! :) Bless his heart.  :-)

The other thing I say a lot is "Do it with a happy heart."  AND, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

Ok, your turn! Head on over to Mrs. Bainbridge's Class blog and post your link!