July Currently

Happy July!!

I can hardly believe that it's July and that the fourth is this Friday! It makes me happy and a little sad. I am working two different jobs to compensate for the lack of paychecks we get during the summer. Not to mention that I am applying to jobs all over the place for next year. Don't get me wrong.. I love the warm weather, activities and freedom summer gives me but there is nothing better then seeing children in school learning. That's why I try to incorporate learning in the activities I do with my kiddos. This week we learned about the Statue of Liberty and the White House! Today marks another first in my blogging life, my first Currently with Farley! I've always wanted to do one and thanks to Teacher to the Core I learned how to make one! Yay me!

Listening:
If your into trashy magazines then you've already heard all about the Robin Thicke/Paula Patton split (really thought they were gonna make it). My husband reminded me that his new album was out and I heard it was all about Paula. If you've seen his Get Her Back video it seemed like this album was going to be very personal. It didn't disappoint, it was definitely the soulful Robin Thicke from his first album. I love it!So if you haven't listened yet, it's streaming on iTunes. Check it out!

Loving:
I am obssessed with the new teas at Starbucks. I really wish I lived closer to a Tevana instead because that's all I've been ordering from there lately. I love the shaken ice teas in the afternoons when it's hot. My next tea I want to try is the blackberry mojito!

 

Thinking:
 My search for a teaching position continues and I've been applying like crazy! Just keep giving me those good vibes, I know I'll find something!

Wanting:
My husband and I are planning to head back to the happiest place on earth in t-minus 17 days! I can't wait, so far I've used my annual pass twice and this will be the third time! We're planning to take Megabus down and spending three days down in SoCal.

Needing:
It's so hard to want to blog after a 8 hour day with kids in the hot sun. I'm exhausted and just ready to chill for the night.

4th Plans:
This year we are planning to go see the Oakland A's play on the 4th of July. I love going to baseball games the fans, the food, and the game, it's the perfect summer time treat! Thanks to my mom for $50 bucks you get 4 admission tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 peanut bags basically all you need to enjoy a baseball game. Last year we went to SF to spend time with our friend and see some awesome fireworks over the Golden Gate.

Me and my friend Lauren last year on the 4th

Five for Friday:Last Days of School

Five For Fraturday

Happy summer! Another year in the books. I just finished year 5 of being a kindergarten, first grade, and second grade teacher. Yup that's right I teach three grades, although I don't have the same amount of students as in a regular classroom planning three curriculum each day has it's challenges and is definitely time consuming. It's been nice not having to plan for those three grades every week. Well, I'd love to say I'll be by the pool all summer reading Gone Girl all summer long but that is not my reality. This summer I have taken on two jobs in hopes of buying a laptop at the end of the summer.  I work at a camp three days a week and babysit two of my favorite students twice a  week. Now to talk about my last days at my school. 

One

Aren't these cute! I saw these on Pinterest and thought how cute! Seems easy enough plus I only have 10 students. This was a perfect end of year art project. I asked the students their preferences (the project had a survey with questions about themselves and school) and printed out all the clothes, heads, accessories and hair. We put them together and they were perfect for our Promotion Night! Thanks Donna Glynn Kinderglynn for such a fun project!

Two

Promotion night was filled with entertainment. Our music teacher did some songs with my little peaches and the big peaches. We also got two grants to have this wonderful program called Young Imaginations which is music and dance program that sends teachers to schools that don't have liberal arts. Young Imaginations performed songs, the peaches played the recorder and ukulele. Both performances were awesome! I loved the big peaches rendition of Yellow Submarine.   

Three

Onto the awards. Every year we switch between candy awards and people awards. Both talk about their personalities which is a big part of who they are at school. I had so much fun giving out the awards and even got teary eyed at the realization of how far they had all come this year. I had such a bright and inquisitive class this year. The hardest part was listening to my colleague's speech for a student I've known and taught for five years who was leaving to attend the junior high. I tried to keep it together but the tears just started flowing. It didn't help either that one of the big peaches was asking what's wrong... gahh! Anyways the night was full of smiles, laughter and tears.. another successful Promotion Night!

Four

I am lucky enough to be at a school where the graduating kids get to pick something for the upper grades to do at the end of the year. It has consistently been sleeping over at the school. This involves creating a "haunted house", watching a movie, eating lots of junk, and maybe a little sleep. Luckily I get the girls room where they pass out pretty quickly but for the boys next door they go into the wee hours of the night. They all have so much fun and it's a memory they will have for years to come, seriously who can say they had a sleepover at their school! Yes that's me below with two of the girls in my room. And the little guy at the bottom of the picture, whose usual bedtime is 8:00 p.m., stayed up until 2:30 a.m. CRAZY!

Five

My last two bulletin boards for the year! I tried my hardest (starting in January all year) to change up the bulletin boards monthly. We had our end of year countdown going on and thanks to Fluttering in First Grade's father's day craft a Father's Day bulletin board. Both were really fun to make and I love the dads my peaches made, the mustaches and beards make me laugh.

So on top of all the craziness that is the end of the year I decided to celebrate our dads. After a successful Mother's Day Tea I took on the Donuts with Dads project with ease. Mrs. Plemons Kindergarten has a great program. Using her program we sang two songs, read a story, and sang a donuts song.  It was the perfect ending to the school year/last day of school. Very proud of all my peaches and all their achievements this year! That's all for now, "donut" want to keep my birthday hubby waiting!

Five for Fraturday

I’m taking a break from applying for teaching jobs to post about my busy week. I can’t believe I’m in the home stretch for summer. I can’t get too excited though because I am taking on two  jobs for the summer to get my own laptop and go on trips with the hubby. Right now I’m in that in between phase at school my to do list is growing by the minute and longing for a change of pace once summer hits. This summer I am babysitting and working at a camp. So the busy times won’t end anytime soon. Enough rambling lets get to it, linking up with Doodlebug once again!

One

Last weekend at this time I was trying to get some sleep after experiencing Disneyland’s 24 hour event Rock Your Disney Side. It was so much fun and I made lots of memories with my mommy, sister and her boyfriend. This picture was taken at 6 a.m. on Saturday, I’m happy to say that I survived 14 of the 24 hours! Can’t wait to go back with my hubby at the end of June.

Walt and Mickey

Two

This past weekend was also a holiday weekend and I got to spend some quality time with my family, which included lots of napping and recovery from Disneyland. My mom made some tropical sangria and we enjoyed some time watching our favorite channel Investigate Discovery (ID). It was so relaxing and just what I needed to get me through the last few weeks of school.

Cheers

Three

Tuesday afternoon I found my two first graders just kicking back and enjoying the sucker I got them from Disneyland. It was too cute not to capture. Summer is near…ahhhh!

Four

Right now I am in the midst of assessments and report cards. The area that I was really impressed with was the results of their alphabet letter sounds. Since I started using the Better Alphabet Song in early April/end of March my students improved their recognition of alphabet letter sounds at least 20% from their last assessment in March. I’m so impressed with their achievements especially looking back at August. They all did such a great job and I can’t wait to gush about them to their parents on their report cards.

 

Assessments City

Five

Speaking of parents, one of my kindergarten parents dropped off this lovely basket on Wednesday, with a card saying “Orange you glad it’s almost summer.” It was the cutest thing ever and very unexpected. This family is so sweet and I love everything my kinder picked out (with help from mom). It’s always fun reading how much they appreciate my efforts and how I’ve given their daughter the best first year experience in school. Being a kindergarten teacher is so rewarding!

So many wonderful treats!

Last but not least, I’m so sad that we’ve lost another legend. Maya Angelou was so inspirational. In the hard times of applying and getting rejection letters, I’ve turned to these words to help me through. I have had much success with applying this year but take it to heart when I get a rejection email from a potential school district. I’m trying to stay positive and this quote is helping me do that!