Creating a GIF for my Quote Box

So I am really trying to follow along with the Seller Challenge Academy and one of the lessons was about creating GIFs for the Quote box on TPT.  This is my attempt.  I will blog about it more if I am successful.

How This Teacher Relaxes In the Summer!!

Relax.  What a great theory, right?  If you are a follower of my blog, you probably think I took a moment to relax and got lost.  It has been entirely TOO long since I allowed myself the opportunity to write out some of my thoughts.  Apologies are definitely due.  

Truth be told ---- I wish it could be because I was spending time relaxing (as we all should), it was really just me balancing a full plate once again.  I'm pretty sure this is what I look like inside my head.

You know, I don't know if I really do take the time to relax in the summer.  I typically find PD and other classes to attend.  It's almost like I am deliberately sabotaging myself out of my relaxation (I really need to get that in check -- I think).
This year, I decided to plan myself a little vacation that had all the potential to bring in some relaxation that I could enjoy.  I am SO thankful that I did.  My bloggy friend, Laura from A Grace Filled Classroom and I planned to attend the TPT Conference in Orlando, FL and so I added a little to the beginning of the trip and then added a little to the end.  My trip went from a 3 day conference in a nice hotel, to a 10 day trip in FL complete with a little amusement park fun.

Yeah - you should have heard how that conversation went when my hubby found out that it was 10 days.  I think I played it off pretty cool but he doesn't seem to be willing to let me forget that it was a full 10 days.  It turned out amazing!  I spent some time visiting old and dear friends in Jacksonville.  Then I traveled down to Orlando and got my TPT on with some amazing new and old TPTers/friends.




To top off that, Laura and I decided to hit up Harry Potter at Universal and a quick 1 day trip to Magic Kingdom.  We totally were BOSS at making our time work so we didn't have to wait in long lines with the hot Florida sun shining down on us.  And each day we made it back to our hotel to grab a nap, which by the way, made us the perfect travel buddies.


Okay - so Disney was awesome!  It was magical and grand.  It was full of happiness.  But Harry Potter was the BEST TIME of MY LIFE!!  Being a HP geek, I will admit that as soon as I stepped into Diagon Alley, I teared up.  I couldn't believe that I was literally walking around in a book that I have loved for so long.

 

Now I am back home and my head is swimming with things to do.  TPT, Back to School, Summer with my family, etc.  Relaxation doesn't seem to be in that schedule.  I can say, however that amidst the many things floating around in my head, there is still a tug at an afternoon nap and a little Netflix binging before the school bell rings again.

So how this teacher relaxes???  By continuing my journey of being a #couchhustler.  By attempting to make time to take a nap and being sure to enjoy the things that make me feel young at heart.
So how do you relax during Summer break?  Do you plan a trip?  Do you sign up for PD?  Do you find moments to take a nap?  Link up with us and share.

It's GIVEAWAY Time! You Don't Want To Miss This!

Are you ready to win some prizes, friends!!

My good friend Laura, at A Grace Filled Classroom has met an amazing milestone and wants to celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!!

Take a look at the prizes:

&

You can enter for your chance to win HERE.

Good luck & congratulations, friend!

Took A Chance...Met A Hero!!

Hello friends,

I had to stop and create this post after one of the most AH-MAZE-ING mornings!

Please bear with me as I unload the details.  

After a fabulous night with my hubby at the Delta Sigma Theta Convention party held by his fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, I dreaded hearing my early alarm clock screaming for me to get out of bed.  It was Day 2 of a K-2 Literacy Institute my district was holding.  The first day was "OKAY."  I think our speaker had a wealth of knowledge but the plethora of info she was presenting was a baseline for something greater and I sort-of already had that under my belt.  Let's just say I did a lot of yawning and social media updates to pass the time.  Today was supposed to be better.  But getting in at a late hour probably didn't help give me the energy boost I needed to become excited (which if you read any of my earlier posts, I absolutely l-o-v-e workshops and trainings because I'm a student at heart).  

I managed to get a decent outfit on and begin the quick 15 minute trip to the conference center.  Along the way, my "hubster" called and told me he was thinking of going to a workshop his district was holding where a fellow teacher was presenting about flipped classrooms.  He wasn't registered but thought he might just show up.  As my training began, I received a text message from said hubby with this:

My reaction:

IT WAS FREAKIN' RON CLARK!!  

Ron Clark who I barely introduced to my hubby maybe about two weeks ago.  Ron Clark who is such an inspirational teacher that I only dreamed I would ever get a chance to hear or see him.  When the fabulous Hope King did a Periscope about her AH-MAZE-ING classroom at the Ron Clark Academy I was floored!  I explored all I could about it and began rambling on and on to my Hubby about how I thought schools like that were only found within the pages of a book.  And there it was.  The school of all teacher's dreams!  I shared all my findings with my husband.  He was intrigued.  What was even funnier is that we sat and watched the Periscope Hope did with Ron as they were on a road trip.  And guess what!  That road trip led right here to Cypress, TX!! 

So of course my husband begins to tell him all about my excitement laid upon him the past few weeks.  He then decides to have Ron Clark Facetime me!  Right there in the middle of my workshop!  And what does Ron Clark say?  He says, "get over here!  You've got 50 minutes!"
Psh!  Who could turn down Ron Clark?  Not this girl.  I grabbed my belongings and dashed out (I hope I don't get in trouble with my district).  When I got there, here comes my husband and he had Ron Clark in tow.  Ron Clark gave me a hug like we were long time friends and said, "you made it!"  

Uh yeah!!!

Ah-maze-ing!!

And to top it off, I got to sit in the second row, right in the center and listen to this amazing teacher speak!  

It was...you guessed it...ah-maze-ing!!  I still feel like a giddy kid on Christmas morning.  I just want to scream out how every teacher should get a chance to hear this man speak!  He is such an inspiring, true, classroom hero.  I think after this morning, I can convince my hubby to take a trip to ATL and visit that magical school that I now know is not just found inside the pages of a book!

I'm Back...for a July Currently.

Okay, okay.  I know it has been like...FOREVER!  

Truth Moment: I tend to take on way too much and juggling grad school, teaching, curriculum writing, and being the team leader took me underground from my blog and TPT creations.

I love to stay busy but sometimes it becomes my own worst enemy.

So why not start getting back in the groove then starting with a CURRENTLY link-up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.

Listening - My family is getting ready to meet me in Vegas to go on a road trip to California and back to Texas.  So our youngest daughter is sharing her playlist with us.  [sigh]

TX Swag for TPT Vegas15

Loving - I just got another of my ordered items for my Vegas swag.  I have to be honest...I have no idea what I should be packing for this conference.  I feel so pressured to find the right "fits" for any possible situation.  Ugh.  Now how do I get this all to fit into my suitcase?


Thinking - This preparation is getting away from me.  I need a list ASAP!  But where do I start?

Wanting - I have this need to be prepared and I don't feel like I know how to prepare for my first TPT Conference trip to Vegas.  I am trolling the blogs and Instagram trying to get hints about what others are doing.  Any advice would be well accepted and will definitely make the list I'm about to start (see above).  Side note - does anybody else have a husband that thinks they are crazy for all the hoopla surrounding this adventure?  I think he's watching me with this odd look.  I don't know how to explain it to him.

Needing - This is my first week of true summer rest since school ended on the 3rd of June.  I (for some reason...oh yeah - extra $$) signed up to help my district write 2nd Grade ELA curriculum and have been feverishly working on it since school ended.  I just finished the first two 9-weeks worth.  I'm so ready for a break!

All * - Best procrastinator of all time.  And when I procrastinate...sometimes I end up with some AWESOME results.  Sometimes.  I tend to do that often with grad school work.  Especially nowadays.  I really probably need to get that in check.  I just feel like sometimes I work best under pressure.

Alright.  I think this is good for my first post in a long time.  It didn't even hurt.

Don't forget to stop by and check out some other July CURRENTLY posts.  I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one trying to get back in the swing of things.

RTBC!! Woot-woot! The Real Teachers of "Blog" County!

Don't you love it!?!  

For those of you RHOA or RHOBH or RHOOC fans...you know how awesome this Blog Link-Up is!

It's the creative genius of Hilary from 2nd Grade Is Out Of This World.

I saw this on FB and could not resist.  I really should be creating my Kahoot games for this week and instead here I am.  

Not that posting on my blog is a bad thing.  It is definitely about darn time.  I have kinda sorta fell off this train.  Ok -- I'm really not even strolling along side.  Just sitting on the ground watching it pass.  I don't know why.  I just couldn't seem to get my butt in gear lately.  

But now...but this...I just had to start typing.

First of all, the title is PERFECTION! 

Second, OF COURSE I can relate to this stuff!

I am by no means AT ALL the teacher we all see on the blog posts, pins, Facebook links, Instagram pics, etc.  Don't get me wrong, we have fun, we learn, we create and do some amazing stuff in my classroom...but it all is not sunshine and buttercups behind the scenes (or pics) in this case.

  If I have to take a pic for a post, I usually do a quick clean up around the targeted focus.  If I just panned a little to the left, this is what you would see:

I think I have enough bottles of water.  What do you think?

{Oh- the shame!}  & this is after doing a quick clear off a couple of days ago.  

At the end of the day, I turn around and cannot believe how everything gets so cluttered.  I've toyed with the insane idea of getting rid of my teacher desk and then thought...maybe not.  Because then where would all this go?

Or this?

The place where things go to die.

I don't want to even think of it.  My goal is to try to keep my desk cleared each day so that I can lay out the activities/worksheets for that day (I sometimes find something I missed if I leave them in the drawers - Doh!).  As you can see, I'm not doing so HOT in this goal so far.  I don't see one stack of work and very little cleared space.  Ugh!  Gotta work harder!

Alright -- your turn.  Truth time.  Where's your "problem spot" in your classroom?  Come on people, you know you have one.  Don't let us sit alone in this.  After all, this is REALITY... not all of us are "gone with the wind fabulous."

Link-up, friends.  Click HERE

and expose, expose, expose. 

Pick 3 Pinterest Picks- December

Greetings friends!  

I am so excited to finally join some of my Primary Peeps for a monthly link-up you are going to love.  The wonderful Lisa from PAWSitively Teaching and Marissa from Inspired Owl's Corner are doing a Pick 3 Pinterest Picks monthly link that is jam packed with ideas we've found on that favorite little place we all find ourselves in hourly er...I mean daily.  Right?  Daily. 

My number 1 pick is one I have done with my kids for the last few years.

 

I found this cute idea and decided that would be the front of the card we make to go along with our Parent gift.  I went out and grabbed tons of fun Xmas paper instead of just greens.  I cut them into billions of strips and set out a tray with them at each group.  I demonstrated how to start from the bottom with the longer strips and then trim them smaller as you get to the top.  The kids love it and they all come out so different.  You can click on the image above to check out the pin itself.

My next pick is such an adorable craft.  

I usually try to get the kids to earn one of my Get Caught-Up Whole Class Rewards (Arts & Crafts) around this time of year to get a little fun mixed in.  One year we created these reindeer and they came out so cute!!

My last pick for this month is a super fun tradition I started a few years back and can hardly wait for the festivities to begin this year.

 

We have incorporated some Minute It To Win It games into our Holiday Party these past few years.  It has been so much fun for both the kiddos and visiting parents.  I've really gotten some great photos.  Last year one of the games we played involved me, my student teacher, a delicious Oreo cookie, and our faces.  That's all that needs to be said.  No picture attached.  Let's just say, I'm a pro at moving a cookie to my mouth without hands and just some face muscles.  I'm a sucker for a cookie!!

How much fun was that?  I can hardly wait to read some other great ideas found to add to our classroom this year.  And don't forget, it's open to you to link-up with us.  Did you find some great idea you'd love to share?  Share it here by linking up below.

An InLinkz Link-up