How I'm Spending Summer Break

1. Pinterest.... Not that this is different from any other day, but I am working on something here.... I decided that my boards are over loaded! I have an enormous amount of pins that I will either never actually use or I have no clue that are there. With that said, I have decided to reorganize my pinterest boards. Instead of yummy recipes, I now have yummy breakfast ideas, yummy lunch ideas, and yummy dinner. My teacher board has been broken into about 30 categories. This is not fun at all, but I feel like I will get more use out of pinterest this way. 

2. I decided to plant a pot garden... Not working out so well. My herbs are doing well. My jalapenos are doing well... the strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and cukes are not. Kind of sad.

3. Cooking! Also nothing new, but I am actually meal planning to help me save money and boost my weight loss! So far, so good! July will be better with the money saving because I will be a little more organized!

4. Reading! I read Diary of A Mad Fat Girl in about 6 hours. It's fantastic! I am dying to read the sequel, but I don't have the money to buy it this month. They have one copy in the entire Hinds Co. Public Library system, but it's checked out right now. I hope it gets turned in soon! 

Other than these 4 things, I am pretty boring. Staying up late, sleeping in, hanging out with friends, playing some games, watching a lot of tv, and doing a good bit of walking. 

Did I mention that I am also facebook stalking all of these people and their pool/beach pictures.... living a glamorous life through the lives of others via facebook!

Door Decor - Dr. Seuss Style

I love decorating my door, as you already know, and I also LOVE Dr. Seuss! Because I already has a newly decorated door for his birthday, I knew I needed to find a time that was appropriate to Dr. Seuss my door! April is the perfect month! For Earth Day, I like to use Lorax by Dr. Seuss as a guide, so I went ahead and used that as the theme of my door! Here are a few pictures!

 Here is a shot of the entire door!! 

 

There are a lot of great quotes in this book, but this is my favorite. 

It can be used for more than just Earth Day!

The Lorax!

MCT2 Madness

If you are working in or around a public school in Mississippi, you know as well as I do that it's crunch. Between mock test, sample test items, missed skills, more sample test items, and more crunching, it's evident that the state test, the mct2, it quickly approaching. 

Here are a few motivational signs that I've created to hopefully motivate and encourage our kids!

This first picture is something I threw together on Friday. The school has taken a "western" theme this year, so the principal wanted to follow that idea with some our test taking motivational signs. We are having shirts made by Southern Designs in Vidalia, LA, and they will be similar to this.

This idea came from some pencils I purchased from Positive Promotions.

This is also an idea I used from some bookmarks I purchased from Positive Promotions.

I cannot really remember where I got this idea, but I kind of like it!

Moor Door Decor- Spring Break Edition

I do actually have other things to blog about, but this is more fun... After spring break, I will blog about Disney!! For March, I wanted something springy, and I wanted to incorperate a little Disney into the door since I will be making magic at Disney World over spring break : )

I am in love with quotes these days... I find that most of the time other people can state think 10 times better than I can, so i have decided to just let them say it best. With that said, I try to let quotes inspire my door themes. For March, I found that easy. Walt Disney once said, "There is more treasure in a book than in all the pirate's loot on treasure island." I used this quote to inspire this little mural....

***i will be the first to admit that these ideas are much better in my head. i am inpatient, so i work quickly. this creates numerous flaws in the design compared to the image i pictured.....

This is a view of the entire door... Treasure Island

The inspiration...

Mickey in our ship... the kids named is U.S.S. Rice, but you can barely see that.

The tree on the island... poor tree. let's just say palm trees are not my specialty.

The treasure chest..... since Walt Disney says there is more treasure in books, the kids made jewels with their favorite book titles on them. So here you have a treasure chest of awesome books.  They had a lot of fun doing this.

A close up of the jewels.

Have a great spring break! I will make a little magic for everyone out there!!

5th Grade

It's been so long since I have blogged on 5th grade life.... That's probably because 5th grade life keeps me pretty busy.

Each month, I try to have a theme on my door... Yes, I do teach 5th grade and not kindergarten, but I promise that the kids like the door being decorated just as much in 5th grade as they do in kindergarten.... and, it's therapy for me.


Here are the themes I have used thus far this year.

August - I chose a theme that was store bought... it was a cutesy social network type of theme. I bought it from reallygoodstuff.com. If you're a teacher, and you haven't heard of that website, you should make yourself familiar with it!!

September means the start of football, so of course I had a football themed door. Unfortunately, I cannot find the picture I took of that door. The theme was "kicking a touchdown for reading," since I teach reading. It was adorned with sample reading questions on the skills we were covering in September.

During October, I had fun!!! I found some super cute ideas online, and I made them my own. The door theme was "We are Batty About Books." For an art project, the kids made bats out of coffee filters and they were attached to the door below....

If a door was not enough, I also decorated the hallway... we do not have any bulletin boards that I can use, so I use my door, the hallway, and the extra white board as bulletin boards. 

This is our bulletin board for October--- "Witch books have you read?" The kids wrote book reviews on the stories they were reading during October.

October is also Red Ribbon Week, so I decorated the hallways with Drug Free posters for the occasion. 

Because I was sooooo busy during October, I failed to get a new bulletin board up during November :( 

However, I made the time during December!! The #1 thing I was taught in education school was the power of being able to beg, borrow, and steal.... For December, I used that knowledge and stole a super cute Christmas door from Emily Babb at louisianabrideblog.com (if you do not follow her blog, you should)

The kids traced and cut out their hands, and I glued them to the predecorated door. It was really fun, and the kids liked seeing their hands on the board. 

This year, I have become obsessed with window clings... how silly... 

January!! "Be Cool- Read" I love my snowmen and snowflakes-- perfect for January's wintery conditions! 

February also has a lot going on!! This month, my door will be decorated in Mardi Gras (Laizzes le Bon Temp Roulez), the math teacher is decorating in Valentine's, and the Social Studies/Science teacher will do Black History. March is a secret :)

April will have something to do with MCT2 and Spring, and May will be MCT2!! 

Other than door decorating, we have been doing a lot of reading in 5th grade! We read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry last semester along with smaller things in between. It was a tough read for us, with a lot of interruptions. We are in the middle of reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham right now, and it is their most favorite book ever!! After we finish the Watsons, we will read Locomotion (my favorite)!! 

Well, that is all I have right now! It you are interested in donating money to a great website that benefits students, check out donorschoose.org.

Peace, Love, and Geaux Tigers : )  

Order of Importance

This year, I have a smart board in my classroom!!!! I am SOOOOOO EXCITED!! Currently, the only computer I have in the classroom is not compatible with the smart board software, so it will only act a projector and screen. I am not complaining though because I love powerpoints! However, I will be super excited when it's all up and running!! I am going to try to post some of the powerpoints I create for class, and put them on here, in case there is anyone who would like to use them. Right now the powerpoints are just plain powerpoints. However, you can take them and make them your own, and make them smart board friendly (and maybe you could give me tips on how to make them smart board friendly)!! 

Please let me know if there are any typos! I am trying to get them, but I keep catching new ones! Also, I am new to the smart board era, so any resources you can share, I am all ears :)

This week, we are studying Order of Importance. This powerpoint is on that, and it a good opener to text structure!  Enjoy!! 

In order to view this weeks' powepoint, you will have the click here. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53228736@N05/sets/72157624662101231/with/4918948560/

Sorry guys, this was the best I could do.. I'm sleepy!! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53228736@N05/sets/72157624662101231/with/4918948560/