September!!

It's September.  The best time of the whole year!  The weather gets better, school settles into routine, aaannnd... it's my birthday month!  I have to admit, I am totally annoying about my birthday.  Every time someone mentions a date in September, I do the math and announce how many days that event is away from my birthday!  I'm trying to tone it down... but it's hard!

Click here to link up.  I'm really going to try hard to plan posts and be a better blogger!  Stay tuned!

Wonder Woman I am not!

Boy, have I been a bad blogger this week.  I had big plans to be a part of the Teacher Week Linky, but only got Monday's post written, before I hit the wall.  We started with kids on Thursday after three days of meetings, and I am wiped out!  I spent yesterday catching up on laundry, sleep, and grocery shopping.  I also managed to write some basic lesson plans for this week.  So today, I have time to relax, read, knit and blog!

Speaking of reading, I am reading a really great story by Chandra Hahn called UnEnchanted; an Unfortunate Fairy Tale.  It was a freebie I found and started earlier in the summer on the school's iPad and found yesterday for my Nook.  In UnEnchanted, Mina is a typical insecure teenager who is unknowingly descended from the Grimm Brothers.  A family curse catches up to her, and she must complete the Grimm tales to stop the characters from living in our world.  I love it.  Click the picture to add it to your Nook library for free!

In other book news, Ivan died this week.  So sad!  Ivan's story was just released by Katherine Applegate (of Animorphs fame) in her remarkable book The One and Only Ivan.  You can read my review of this amazing story here.

In other news, my new class is great!  Although we only have two days done, and who knows what they'll be like when we actually start school work, so far, they have been delightful!  A bit chatty, but I am hopefully attributing that to their excitement of a new year.  This week, they will have so much to do, they won't have time to talk!!!  :)

The scariest night of the year is just around the corner.  No, I'm not talking about Halloween.  Or even Monday...  CURRICULUM NIGHT!  Picture me cowering in a corner...  I don't know if anyone can relate, but I get sooo nervous in front of parents!  I am super silly and have been known to sing and dance in front of the kids, but in front of the parents, I turn into a complete mess.  Even after 12 years, I hate it.  But I have a secret weapon this year.  I have made a Prezi to introduce the parents to room 102; my hope is they will be sol busy being amazed by my tech-savviness, they won't notice how nervous they make me!

Room 102 on Prezi

Back when I thought I was Wonder Woman and could do everything plus three more things, I was going to write about Prezi for Technology Tip Tuesday.  And to wrap up this crazy, rambling post, the movie at the end of my presentation is about Ivan.

Hope the beginning of your year is the best ever!

Must Haves!

It's late, but I'm linking up for Teacher Week at Blog Hoppin!  I don't know how well I'll do the rest of the week, but here goes!  (I originally wasn't going to link up at all; I start back to school this week with meetings and kids on Thursday. I didn't think I'd have the energy, but it's amazing how much energy a great start can give!)

Anyway, on to my must haves!

1. Iced Tea.  I am totally addicted; I don't know if this actually counts, because I MUST HAVE tea every day, not just at school!

2. My laminator.  Love this thing!  I have been using it tons this summer, and can't remember what I ever did without it!  My favorite laminated thing:

3. My ActivBoard!  Currently it's broken - boo!  I am hoping and praying (crossing my fingers, ankles and eyes!) that it gets fixed by Thursday.  BTW this is the second year in a row it hasn't worked after a summer away - what's the deal!?

4. A good book to read.  I feel it is sooo important to model silent reading when I expect my kids to read.
 But if I don't have a good book, I won't be able to get into it and forget about all the work I could be doing!  So I try to keep something great on hand.  I also like to be reading adult books.  I want my students to know that I am a real reader; I don't just read kids' books!  Some of my favorite authors:

Jodi Picoult                    Kristin Hannah                   Diane Chamberlain

See you tomorrow with a Tuesday Tech Tip!

5 things...

Joy of Kindergarten is hosting this great linky, and I couldn't resist.  The kids come today for open house.  Then Monday and Tuesday, we have meetings and we start on Thursday!  While I am really looking forward to a new year, there are definitely perks of summer that I'm going to miss - a ton!

1. Staying up late.  I am a night owl at heart, and during the summer, I allow my late night-ness roam free!  This summer, I've spent my late nights reading, blogging, knitting, pinning even going for late night walks around the block!  This past week, I've tried to go to bed before 10 to prepare for a new year.  It hasn't been easy!

2. Afternoons on the front porch.  This is the first summer I have spent a lot of time on my front porch sipping tea and reading.  I love it!  I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood, and it's so peaceful out there; I'm going to miss my lazy afternoons.

Not my porch, but isn't it pretty?

3. Snacking throughout the day.  I have gotten so used to just grazing all day long.  I have been starving by the time I made it home this week as I was working on my room!  It's going to take some time to get used to eating on a schedule again!

4. Capris and sandals!  I guess it's time to wear 'real' clothes again... sigh.  Meanwhile, to that end I went to the store and bought two new dresses today!  One was only $11!!!

Not the exact dress I bought, but close!

5. Fresh brewed iced tea!  I have such a huge addiction to iced tea.  I always take a giant cup of tea to school, but once it's gone (usually before 10am!) I settle for instant. 

What a great linky!  Click to link up!  As for me, I plan to spend the next few days enjoying as much as I can....

Welcome to Room 102!

I'm ready for Open House tomorrow!  Can't wait.  There are some little things left to do, but my room looks great and no one else will know what's missing.

See the chair pockets?  When I went to Home Depot to buy them, I mentioned that they were for school, and Beekeeper Bill got permission from the higher-ups to donate them!  Although I am super grateful to Home Depot, I covered the logos with duct tape to match my theme colors!

Word Wall.  Don't call it an alphabet!  :)

My math board is a mix of CFC and Laura Candler's math stations.  Love how this turned out!

Bucket Fillers

My library area.  Love this, too!  Please ignore the chart paper laying in the middle of the floor!  I still need to drill holes in my new easel (thanks Dad!) to hang it from.

A little closer of the seating area.  The two square pillows I made from school t-shirts.

My books are sorted by genre.  I don't worry about levels; as long as they're reading!

Close up of my genre baskets.  The labels are courtesy of CFC!

The view from my desk.

My objective board.  Easy to update; dry erase.

I even changed out my toolbox to match my new theme.  Sorry for such a blurry picture. I swear it looked fine on the camera!

Locker Magnets.  Lockers are a HUGE deal to 5th graders because it's their first year to have lockers!

Close up of locker magnet.  I wrote the names on the magnets using dry erase marker, so I can use them year after year.

I'm linking up!  You should, too!  This is one of the best times of the year, and I love looking at everyone's spaces!