Currently-February!

What better is there to do on a snow day than link up with Farley for her monthly Currently? It's been a few months, and I've missed the fun. So...here we go!

Listening: My 3 kiddos (plus one friend), have been tromping up and down the stairs all morning. I think they might be having a little cabin fever, and it's starting to drive me a little nuts! We might have one more day of this ahead of us based on the 3-4 feet of snow drifts that are surrounding the entire neighborhood. Yikes!

Loving: The valentines I made for my daughter's class turned out too cute! I used heart-shaped glasses from Target. They were a pack of 12 for $3. I wrote a blog post about the HERE. You can download an editable copy of the valentine to use!

Thinking: I procrastinated on all my work this weekend anticipating at least one snow day. Then one turned into two at about 7pm last night, so that allowed me to procrastinate even more! And lookie at what I'm doing now...procrastinating more by blogging!

Wanting: I really, really want to finish my Snow Day School pack. I started it in December when we had a snow day, thinking it would be a great resource for families on snow days. And...we're going to be out of snow days if I don't finish it soon!

Needing: I'm taking part in a SUPER giveaway with some other fabulous bloggers to celebrate the Broncos' Super Bowl appearance. We have some great prizes including Sit Spots gift certificates, pencil sharpeners from Classroom Friendly Supplies, and Tieks gift card, and MORE. It's definitely going to be SUPER!!!

Swooning: I am in LOVE with my new glasses. My contacts were just killing my eyes, so I gave in and bought some new glasses. Can you say SWOON??? My BTF said I was channeling my inner Amy Harris...which I will take as a BIG compliment!

Make sure you head over to Farley's blog to join the link up! Click the button below!

Well, I'm off to be productive. Maybe!

Currently November

Can you believe it's already November? I am spending the day decorating for Christmas!!! That's right! Our weekends are pretty busy once November hits, so I like to get it done early. The only downside to decorating this year is that we have to buy a new tree since our old pre-lit one blew out last year. Two of the 4 sections of lights randomly stopped working last year, and when you're talking about a 12 foot tree...well, we strung up new lights on the broken sections and made it work. Having to fork out the money for a new huge tree...YIKES! But I can't wait to see my 3-year old's face when we're done! But for now...on to this month's Currently linkup with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade! You can join the linkup to by clicking on the picture below.

Listening: I'm watching the Hallmark movie Northpole from last year. Remember all the magic snowflakes at Walmart? Yup. This is that movie. It's pretty cute. And it's reminded me that I love the name Clementine.

Loving: I can now decorate for Christmas! My boys cannot wrap their minds around it, but my husband knows how happy it makes me. First up this morning is decorating the kitchen in gingerbread men.

Thinking: I should be prepping for this week. But, come on! Where's the fun in that???

Wanting: Earlier this week my coffee travel mug, which is usually airtight, somehow opened in my bag. (Yeah, yeah...I put it in my bag. With my Macbook. And an iPad. And my Teacher Anchor.) The bag turned on it's side in the floorboard of my car, and by the time I realized it, it had spilled all over the side of my bag that had my Teacher Anchor in it. I cried. I was sooooooo sad. My husband was thankful that it didn't get on my laptop or iPad. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was, too. But...everything in that Teacher Anchor was handwritten. Total bummer.

Needing: The Teacher Anchor tragedy leads me needing to find the Erin Condren Teacher Planner I bought this summer. I had decided to save it for next year, but now...sigh. It could be worse, I suppose.

Yummy: I love mac and cheese. But I especially love this mac and cheese. It's a recipe from Trisha Yearwood on Food Network. You can check the recipe out HERE. It's definitely a winner for a cold day.

Well, that's how my month is starting. I hope you have a great one!

Currently October 2015

It's October! And you know what that means??? Fall Break is in one week!!! My kiddos have been in this district for the past 7 years, so they're used to these fabulous breaks, but I worked in a different district. But now that I teach in the same district that we live in, I get to enjoy these fabulous breaks as well! I will definitely enjoy the long time off.

But, in the meantime...I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her monthly Currently. You can head over to her blog and join int he fun. Just click on the picture below.

Listening: It's not the Atlanta Falcons, but I'll listen to or watch pretty much any football game. It's really the only sport I can handle. I think my husband likes that about me. ;)

Loving: I don't want to sound like a broken record, but...I'm loving that Fall Break is in one week!!!

Thinking: I have big plans for conferences. Too bad I haven't really started on them yet. And they start on Monday. Ugh! But...I did have the kids start some awesome forms I found on Jodi Southard's TpT store for FREE!!! Click on the picture below to go download them now!

Wanting: This week is a busy weekend. I really want to take E to the library's Harvest Festival on Saturday, but I'm also running a race in Denver (Hot Chocolate 5K!) early Sunday morning. So, it would be really nice to finish all my work for next week on Friday night so I can have the whole weekend free. We'll see...

Needing: E is obsessed with Jessie from Toy Story and wants to be her for Halloween. I've been procrastinating a bit on ordering it, thinking she would change her mind...but she's firm. Or at least as firm as a 3-year can be. I need to hop on that pretty soon!

Boo-tiful: Seriously. Colorado in the fall. 'Nuff said.

I hope you have a great start to your October...I'll see you soon for Five for Friday!

August Currently

I'm sorry...where did July go??? I blinked, and it's August 9th!!! Agh! I went back to work on July 24th, so I'm sure that where the black hole of time began. Between that and the first week of school, my days have flown by. All I can say is that I {PUFFY HEART} my new school. My teammates are awesome, the admin and staff are fantastic, the kids are phenomenal...and the lunches aren't half bad either. I totally miss my old school and teammates, but I know this is where I'm meant to be. It has been a transition for me, which is why I've been a bit MIA on the blog the past couple of weeks. I hope to get into a better rhythm this week.

But in the mean time, here is my August currently! You can link up by clicking HERE.

Listening: I was watching Soney Day's Periscope from her school in Frisco, and let me tell you-that school is amazing. And her HOWDY bulletin board was pretty stinkin' cute. Oh! She periscoped from her backyard one night after spray painting, and it was HILARIOUS. You must go check her out! Her blog is Sunny Days in School. Click the picture below!

Loving: Speaking of Periscope, I must say that I love it. It has become my newest obsession. I love it because I can multi-task while watching. And I learn so much. It really makes you feel like you're there. I just wish I did more of it myself!

Thinking: The wall decorations in my school's hallways are out of control. I've never seen so many amazing displays. Maybe I'll scope from there, so I can share it with you all!

Wanting: Seriously. I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper. I really want to stop drinking it. But it's so good. And it makes me miss Texas a wee bit less. Actually, it makes me miss it more.

Needing: So, I follow Clean Mama. And her cleaning schedule is great. Except I don't want to clean at ALL during the week. So, I have to come up with some sort of system so things don't get out of control. 

B2S RAK: I would really like to leave more encouraging notes for my new colleagues. And it's really convenient to do this at my new school because they have a "thank you" note station. How cool is that???

Well, I have a few things to square away before the new week, so I must sign off. Have a great week!!!

July Currently

Where has half my summer gone??? I go back to work in 24 short days, so I need to make the most of them. But first, how about a little Currently with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade??? Click on her button below to see what it's all about and join the link up!

On to this month's Currently...

Listening: Everyone else is the house is asleep. I am enjoying the quiet. It doesn't happen often.

Loving: I am in love with my new Erin Condren Life Planner. I'm not all obsessed with decorating it and turning it into the amazing piece of artwork, but I did make some stickers for it on my Silhouette. They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

Thinking: Last year my classroom library was genre based as opposed to leveled. The year before it was leveled. I prefer genre, but I'm struggling with finding a good fit for my new school. Maybe I could find the best of both worlds???

Wanting: I have a few new products for TpT in the works, but I've got to dig in and finish them. It's so easy to get sidetracked by this cutie-patootie 2-year old shadow I have around all day. 

Needing: After deciding not to go to Texas this summer, the boys were pretty bummed. So, we decided to make a shorter drive to Kansas City to the Great Wolf Lodge. They have no idea we're going, so it should be a fun surprise! But, packing is a whole different beast...

All Star: Sometimes it's so easy to get bogged down in life. One thing I think I'm good at it seeing the good in situations. I had a principal who used to say, "It is what it is." Actually, I think it's more, "It is what I make of it." I can choose to be miserable, or I can choose to make the best of a situation. And I choose to find the good!

Have a great week!!!

June Currently

It's time again for Currently with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade! You can join up by clicking on her button below.


Before I get into my Currently, I want to challenge you to donate to Wimberly Adoption Group and Rescue (WAG), something that is near and dear to our host's heart. You've probably heard of the devastation in Wimberly from the massive flooding in Texas. What I wasn't really aware of was how much this affected pets and other animals. Thank you, Farley, for bring this to everyone's attention! If you are feeling lead to contribute to WAG, head over to Farley's page this week and find the donate button.

On to June Currently!!!

Listening: Texas wasn't the only place getting a ton of rain. I have never seen so much rain in Colorado. We had rain for I think 24 days in a row. Our basement flooded 3 times. Window wells are a NIGHTMARE. It floods during heavy rains, and then it continues to flood after it stops raining as all the water in the ground seeps up into it. Insurance won't cover anything unless there's a flash flood warning issued for our area. So...we used up every single towel-including beach and decorative towels-to sop up water in the basement. It was a constant wash and dry, wash and dry, as we tried to dry everything out for the past week. We finally put a sump pump in the one problematic window well, so hopefully this won't happen again!!! And the laundry is done!!! Hallelujah!!! 

Loving: I love summer break! I taught summer school last year and felt I was robbed of summer, so I am really taking the time to do what I want this summer. One of those things is to work out more. I'm following a couch to half-marathon plan, so I'm really getting those steps in on the Fitbit.

Thinking: I'm having my blog redesigned by Designs by Tenille and I am sooooo excited to see it. I like my design now, but after I saw some of the new blogs out that she designed, I just new I had to have her do mine, too! Can't wait to do a reveal!

Wanting: I have a great Babylock sewing and embroidery machine that my hubby gave me last year, and I love making shirts for my 2 year old. We're heading to a special night at the zoo this Friday, so I think a new shirt might be in order!

Needing: Okay, confession. I told my husband I was moving my classroom home before I move it to my new school. I'm pretty confident he thought into the basement or garage. And I dumped most of it in the dining room for a "couple" of days under the guise of sorting though it and reorganizing. And I have no intention of doing this any time soon. #helovesme

Summer Lovin': I'm trying to wean myself off the Dr. Peppers that keep me standing upright during the school year, but I still like to treat myself to a Diet Limeade on nice summer days. Plus, I bring home a bag of Sonic ice. I love chompin' on that ice! Also, I can't wait to get to Texas to visit my family and go to Canton First Monday. Oh, the crafts!!! The bows!!! The t-shirts!!! I can hardly wait. And finally...I've got a new found love of taking walks with my girl as the sun goes down. It's past her typical bedtime, but there's something so sweet about her noticing the moon and starting to count stars. I'm looking forward to many more walks this summer!

Well, that's a wrap for this month's Currently. See you next time...hopefully with a new blog design!!!

September Currently...

Hmmm...I'm sure I remember how to do this, right? It's been a LONG two years since I last posted. I'm really going to try hard to get this going again because I really did enjoy doing it. Life, in the form of a pretty little girl, go in the way and life has only picked up speed. But...I will still give it a go!

So...to get me started, I am linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her September Currently.

Here's what's been going on...

Listening - Emmalyn recently discovered Blue's Clues, so we recorded several episodes for her. The best part today was walking into the living room and seeing my almost 11-year-old watching it.

Loving - The weather has changed here in central Colorado, and I am sooooo happy! I love opening my windows and feeling a nice, cool breeze.

Thinking - Gah. I need to do my lesson plans. Every week I say I won't put it off until the weekend, but alas, I do. The only thing that prevents me from doing them at midnight on Sunday nights is that our principals want to review everyone's by noon on Sunday. Don't get me wrong...I have an entire plan for the week in my head. But organizing them into plans is mega-time consuming. I am a perfectionist, after all.

Wanting - I've been looking at the awesome material I bought to make pillows for my library. It's been sitting on my craft table for over a month now. I.MUST.DO.IT.TODAY!!!!

Needing - My home printer bit the dust, so I'm in the market for a new one. Any suggestions? I'm really leaning towards a laser printer because of all the black-and-white printing I do, but I still want a color printer. Decisions, decisions...

3 Trips - I lived in Europe for 3 years when my husband was stationed in Germany, so we've been to the "big ones"...Paris, London, etc. But I would LOVE to go back one day.

In the meantime, I would love to go to Washington D.C.. We wanted to wait until the boys were older to go, but now we have E to tag along, so we might just have to bite the bullet and go one day soon before they all grow up!

Rome is on my list, too, because I really want to go see the amazing historical buildings and such. We'll see...

And last-but not least-Hawaii! I think the challenge is getting everyone there. I want to take the kids with us, but we have one who has MAJOR flying anxiety for some unknown reason. I'm hoping he outgrows it.

Well...here's to a nice weekend and hopefully the relaunch of my little blog!

November Currently

What a difference a month makes! Baby E has grown from a tiny 4 pounds to more than 6 pounds! Even though she has gotten bigger, she is still the tiniest little thing! Although I love being at home with her, I miss teaching even more than I thought I would. I probably drive my sub crazy with all the emails, texts, and phone calls. My sub is amazing, and she handles my quirks and those of my students very well.

It's hard letting go of the reins in my district since we are pay-for-performance and at the end of the day-I am held accountable for their performance whether I am there or not. They did not do as well as I had hoped on their first assessment set, and I can't help but feel like my sudden departure 6 weeks earlier than planned had a great deal to do with it. I'll report back 3 days before Christmas Break, which is a week after their second set of assessments. We'll be hitting the books hard after Christmas!

In the meantime, I'm going to try to update my blog more often than once a month starting today! I'm linking up after my unexpected hiatus with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's Currently. Go on over and see what it's all about!

Currently and Open House Week!

I have made myself focus on my school work for the past few hours, but now it's time to have some real fun! First up is linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's Currently!

Just remember the rule of 3 when linking up:

Go 2 behind your link and leave a comment and go 1 ahead of yours and comment. What a great way to meet people and find amazing new blogs and resources! Head over and link up now!

Moving on to...

This week Teaching Blog Addict is hosting Open House Week. The schedule is as follows:

Monday: Meet the Teacher- tell us all about you and your teaching style!
Tuesday: Classroom Photos
Wednesday: Handouts for Parents
Thursday: Bulletin Board Photos
Friday: FREEBIES!

So let me introduce myself. My name is Lori and this is my third year teaching second grade. Actually, I've only taught second grade! I'm 33, so you can tell I kind of got a late start. I always wanted to be a teacher, but I got married to a soldier when I was 20 and made the transition to Army wife and mommy. We decided that when our youngest son was about 3 that I would finish college. I started back in the fall of 2006. That November my husband was killed in Iraq. I always think it was good that I was in college because between that and my boys, I didn't really have time on my hands to be dragged down with grief. I had also already registered for the spring semester and it was such a pain to dis-enroll, so I kept going. Sure enough, in the spring of 2010, I graduated cumma-sum-laude with a degree in English and Elementary Education. I was placed at an elementary school in Colorado through an early recruitment program that also paid for my last three semesters in college.

So here I still am, 6 years after that life-changing event, with a job I love, 2 sweet boys that are thriving, a new husband and a baby girl due in 7 weeks!

I'll admit...there have been times when working in a Title I school with a high ELL population, low parent involvement, and behavior issues has made me want to throw in the towel. But each day I am thankful that I have this amazing job where I can change the paths of children. I come home completely exhausted, but I still find myself surfing on my iPad into the wee hours of morning for great resources and fun things to do with my class. I honestly love what I do.

My teaching style is very hands-on. I really believe in the idea of concrete learning whenever possible. I think kids learn better when they are able to actually experience a concept. It's easier to do this in math and writing, but we make it happen in reading as much as possible. I also like to make learning fun! You know you're doing it right when kids are learning and having fun at the same time. To be honest, it's even better when they don't even realize they are learning! (I hope that makes sense.)

I've included an example of how I get the kids involved in their learning. In writing, we use expanding cubes to help expand our sentences and make them better. I have three different levels of cubes. This is what they look like:

The higher level ones include complex sentences. The kids start with a base sentence and then roll the cube. They then add on whatever the cube tells them to add on. This is way more fun than a worksheet and it forces the kids to use their own thinking to come up with the sentence expanders. Click here to download the cubes. 

Well-I hope you've learned a little bit about me and my teaching style. Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Currently...

Yes! I have found something else to link to since I have totally slacked for the past couple of weeks! What can I say...I am enjoying every last bit of time I can get at home with my husband and boys before they go back to school tomorrow and I go back on Friday. Where did the summer go? But-I'll be the first to admit that I am glad on one hand that summer is drawing to a close because it means I am about 10 weeks closer to having this baby girl in October! Poor baby still has no furniture and her room is waiting to be painted...and I'm sure it was on the "to do" list this summer. The Lightning McQueen motif will totally clash with her bedding, so we need to get on it! I'm thinking it will give my hubby something to do while the boys and I are back at school and he is alone ALL DAY. I mean...what else could he possibly have to do? (Besides take kids back and forth to appointments, school, sport practices, cook, clean, dog training, physical therapy, laundry, bringing me something I forgot and am convinced I can't live without, Cub Scouts, chaperoning field trips, picking up the special lunches I promised from McDonald's for my class) We'll see!

But on with Currently! And seriously...how do all you fabulous bloggers make all those great resources? I'm thinking it's digital scrapbooking paper and what-not, but have you ever tried to Google how to do it? Well, let me tell you...I couldn't' find it anywhere! I hate to be that person to email someone and say, "Hey, what you do is so cool! How do you do it?" But I'm about to that point!

This is my first time to link up, and I think it turned out great! Head over to Farley's blog to check it out!

I officially head back to work on Friday, but I'm going in for a few hours each morning this week to set up my room and help with some registration testing. We're trying a new class placement system this year, and I'm anxious to see how it all works out!