Finishing projects one by one

So my girls are gone for a month visiting their dad and stepmom in Virginia.  While they have been gone, I have been working on redecorating their rooms.  Squirt had a really big room, but she is kinda messy.  It's a little hard for her to keep the bigger room clean.  I switched her to the smaller room and decorated it very girly.  It's definitely a room for a young lady now.  Since she is 9, I didn't want to give her a little girl's room.  Goose had the smaller room, but since she is still young, most of the toys went into her room.  She now has the bigger room, but it gives her more space to play.  Her smaller room was already decorated in Frozen, but i expanded on it a little more when I switched the rooms.  A lot of time was spent refinishing furniture, sorting toys, painting walls, and an assortment of other tasks.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  I will post photos at another time.  

Since I've been busy on the rooms, I haven't spent much time on classroom prep.  Since I have to fix my printer first, it will probably be another week or so before I get to it.  I need to start doing something.  The summer is coming to a fast close.  I have 31 days before I go back.  We have two days of Institute, then the weekend.  On Monday, the kids will be there.  So there's only 35 days until then.  I am happy because I will know some of the kids.  I've met them and seen them in the hallways.  It will make things a little bit easier.  Hopefully I will remember their names.  

Well, I better get going.  Since I have done nothing but work the last week, I am taking a break today, but part of that break includes diving into my summer reading list.  Unfortunately, this list does not include books for pleasure.  It is mainly books on struggling learners, differentiating, motivation, and similar topics.  I am always trying to extend my own learning.  The more I know, the better teacher I will be.


Until next time,
Katie

Summer Fun! I wish...

June 26 and it is only 68 degrees outside.  Where on Earth is the nice weather? My littles are ready for summer weather and to be able to go swimming and play outside.  I walked across the street to talk to the neighbors, who are having a garage sale, and they were wearing sweatshirts!  Hopefully it will warm up soon.

I was planning on spending today working on some classroom prep.  I had a list of things to do, including printing my new word wall labels, book bin labels, and an assortment of other stuff.  Unfortunately, things don't always work out as planned.  I went to start printing, but for some reason my printer won't print blue ink.  What the?  I tried a head cleaning and nozzle check, but to no avail.  The ink levels appear to be fine, so I don't know what is happening.  I have been having zero luck with technology lately.  Last week, I logged on to the Cricut Craft Room to cut some snowflakes for Goose's 6th Frozen-themed birthday party.  My computer wouldn't recognize my Cricut!! So frustrating!  I ended up having to cut snowflakes out by hand.  This was the point of getting a Cricut in the first place, so I would not have to cut stuff out by hand.  Now, that is on my to do list of things to fix. I will spend more time on it when I have the patience.  

I'm sure there is some other prep work I can be doing.  I opened a TPT store to sell some of my writing.  I write a lot of the short stories I use in class.  I've realized it can be a great encouragement to the students who don't like to write.  Once they have realized I wrote the story they are reading, they get really excited to try and write something of their own.  It also is convenient when I can't find a story that will relate to what I am doing.  

Well I better go get my littles some lunch.  Have a great day everyone!


Katie

And so it begins...

Hello to all!  I have been toying with the idea of creating a blog for awhile, so here I am.

I am getting ready to begin my third year of teaching.  I teach 4th grade and I absolutely love it!  4th is such an amazing grade to teach.  They are independent, but they still work hard to please me.  I don't have to wipe noses or worry about littles missing mommy, but I still get hugs and pictures that say "BEST TEACHER IN THE WORLD."  I am definitely living my dream!

I am also a mom to three littles of my own: 2 girls, Squirt and Goose (not their real names) and 1 boy, Bub (definitely not his real name).  Squirt is 9 and getting ready to go to 4th grade. Goose is 6 and going to 1st grade.  Bub is almost 4 and almost ready to start pre-K.  My hubs is a wonderful guy and extremely patient, considering the amount of half-finished crafts I currently have laying around the house.

I am from the south suburbs of Chicago (GO HAWKS!!) and I am an avid reader, sports fanatic (Bears, Hawks, and Cubs), Pinterest addict, and a crafter (although I have trouble finishing them).  Hubs thinks I have ADD, which I don't agree with, but I digress.  

I am currently on summer break, officially beginning today.  I spent the last two weeks working on a phonics timeline that will be implemented in the new school year.  At present time, my district did not have a phonics program.  Teachers pretty much did what they could and fit it in when they could.  Hopefully this will help things.  It's been interesting because while researching best practices, I found a lot of things that I can use in my class this year.  There are so many things I struggled with this year, word walls and guided reading being numero uno.  There's such a wealth of information out there that it's a little overwhelming.  I found several great ideas to help implement word walls and vocabulary.  One in particular will be a great way to help differentiate since my students will all be different levels, from way below grade level to above grade level.  I can't wait to try them out.

Even though it's summer time, I have been busy working on projects for my room.  Since I am switching themes this year, from polka dots to sports, I had to do a little repainting/repurposing.

 

I am really excited about how these turned out.  The Chicago Fire stool (soccer team) will be used as an incentive for the Team Player of the Day.  I am not entirely sure how this will be used, but students will have the option of sitting on it for the day.  The Blackhawks stool (our 2015 Stanley Cup champion hockey team) is what I use for read alouds, class talks, and just other randomness.  I love my stool! 

I still have a couple of shelves I need to finish painting and redecorating.  Hopefully it will keep me busy.  

Until next time,

Katie