Summer Goals

The end of the year is so crazy and I have had an extra crazy May this year because my oldest daughter graduated from HS last week! Now that I'm officially on summer break (wahoooo!) I'll have time to do the things I've been slacking on.

I'm linking up with Miss Monica from I Heart Grade 3 for her new weekly summer linky party with new topics each week. This week's topic is Summer Plans and boy do I have big plans! Here's her weekly topic list if you want to join in:

Goal #1: Spend quality time with my girls
Since my oldest is heading off to college in August, I want to soak up as much time with her as I can. I also want to spend more time with my daughters and other family members together. We have a Disneyland trip planned in a few days and I can't wait!
Goal #2: Blog more
I have been almost totally AWOL on the blog lately. I have a million excuses for why I'm too busy but really I just haven't had the motivation. I would love to write 3-5 posts a week and save some for the parts of the year I'm just too busy/tired to write. I think this weekly linky will provide sufficient motivation because my biggest problem isn't the writing, it's deciding what to write to begin with.
Goal #3: Get at least 25 new products uploaded
My favorite part of being a TpTer is the creative aspect of making new products for my classroom or my friends' classrooms. I don't have as much time during the year so I gotta crank them out while I can. I also want to update some of my embarrassingly dreadful 1st products.
Goal #4: Learn, learn, learn
I'm attending several tech related PD opportunities my district is providing as well as the I Teach 2nd! and TpT conferences in Vegas. I. Can't. Wait. I also want to find a few professional books to read this summer. In addition to school related learning, I want to learn to make a few new dishes and get better at painting/refinishing furniture, which is my latest hobby.
Goal #5: Organize & simplify
There might come a day when I'll use those 247 gift bags stashed in my hall closet, but I highly doubt it. I want to clear out a ton of clutter in my closets and kitchen. I also really NEED to organize my home office so that I'll actually want to work in there. Finally, I need to get my daughter ready for college and that means cleaning out 18 years worth of "stuff" in her room and helping her purchase the necessities for her dorm room.
Gaol #6: Relax
This SHOULD be goal #1 but realistically, I'm just not built to relax. My brain is always working and I need to be busy and productive. I feel really restless and guilty when I'm not accomplishing my goals/to do list.  I'm really going to try to schedule relaxation into my summer days. As ridiculous as that may sound, it is something I actually have to do. I love to read so my summer reading list is already in the works. Any suggestions? I love thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction, and anything by Nicholas Sparks (yes, I'm cheesy).

So, what are your summer goals? Link up with us! Click the button below to check out what everyone else wrote.

I'm back for May Currently

Oh wow, I haven't blogged in WAY too long. Let's see if I even remember how to do this! I feel so bad, but life has been throwing me curveballs lately and sadly, my little ol' blog is on the back burner. I decided to crawl out of my cave for one good reason: Farley's May Currently linky!

Listening: everyone's asleep except me and the birds outside. It is so peaceful to have the house quiet and just hear those happy little birds chirping and singing away out there. 

Loving: self explanatory, but now I'm noticing those toes need some TLC...pedicure time!

Thinking: my oldest is graduating from high school and I can scarcely go one day without tearing up a little (ok, a lot) just thinking about her going off to college and not getting to see her beautiful face everyday. She got a soccer scholarship (her dream come true) and will be playing at a small school only two hours away. I'm super excited to help her decorate her dorm room and we are two weeks away from the big P-A-R-T-Y! That reminds me, I have a ton of stuff to do! I hope Party City has really big carts...

Wanting: I would like a big life remote control. I would like to fast forward through the commercials (staff meetings, grading work, giving tests, laundry, chores), pause it for a while so I can get things done, and replay the really good parts (graduation, weekends, parties, soccer games, time with my daughters). Time is one of those slippery things that you can't hold onto when you want to, yet it won't go fast enough when you need it to. 

Needing:like I mentioned above, life has been a little out of whack. I won't bore you with the details, but I'm feeling pretty worn out and truly want to finish the last 3 weeks of school with a smile on my face and the kind of energy the kiddos deserve. I have had such a great school year and have great kiddos too, but they have been driving me totally, completely, 100% nuts lately. Deep breath. 15 days.

Summer yes: I seriously can't wait to go the TpT conference in LV this summer!

Summer hope: I really hope my daughter can find a good summer job so she'll quit asking me for money!

Summer dream: I'd love to reorganize and decorate my home office. It's a total mess and doesn't feel like a place I want to be right now. Maybe a pretty office will make me want to blog more??? It's worth a try, right?

Spring Break/Birthday/200 Followers Sale

I'm having a pretty good week (so far) and it's because I'm on Spring Break, my birthday is tomorrow and I recently reached 200 followers on TpT. I decided that those are excellent reasons to have a SALE! Everything in my store is 20% off! Now is the time to stock up on those task cards, math activities, and ELA activities to get you through the end of the year. These are some of the things I'll be using in the next several weeks.

Maybe your kids are working on 2 and 3 digit Addition and Subtraction (with regrouping)...

Or maybe your students need to practice (or review) counting money. These adorable doggy and kitty themed task cards will be a hit! Get them both in a bundle and save big $$$

 I just assigned this Flip Flap Book Project as a long term assignment to my 2nd graders. It is an open-ended fiction book report that can be done in class or as homework and will work for almost any grade level or fiction book.

Or maybe you just need to review double and triple digit addition before you start regrouping:

Five For Friday: Kids are funny

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs (after a few weeks off) for FFF. This week has been, ummm, interesting.

Sunday was my first soccer game since mid summer, when I broke my pinkie toe. I haven't really worked out, but have kicked the ball around a little. Sadly, we didn't have ANY subs and we played one of the best teams in our division. It was a tough game, but we had fun anyway. It's all about the adult beverages after the game after all. Monday morning I woke up and was SO SORE all over. Even my feet hurt! To top it all off, my spring allergies decided to kick in. Sore muscles + sneezing attacks = BAD NEWS.

Tuesday I was even more sore and lucky for me, I had a field trip planned for that day to the nearby Petroglyphs (ancient stone carvings) which are located all up and down a fairly big and rocky hill with a not so amazing trail. The kids really enjoyed scrambling up and down the paths and trying to determine what the pictures on the rocks were portraying. I was desperately trying not to tumble down the hill while keeping an eye on those little darlings that have the frightening combination of no fear and boundless energy. They also kept asking me why I was so slow.

So, I guess I have a challenging class. It isn't my worst, but I'd have to agree that they aren't the easiest. The other day one of my colleagues came up to me and told me that she prays double for me. I asked her why and she said it's because of my class. Ummm wow! I wasn't sure how to take that. I love them to death and they have all grown on me in all their quirkiness and difficulty. Here's a conversation between two of my students that I overheard that pretty much sums it up.
Kid 1: I don't like Mrs. Palmer.
Kid 2: Why? She's nice.
Kid 3: Because she makes us go back and fix all our mistakes. It takes forever!
Kid 4: Dude, that's what makes you learn.

Kids say the darnedest things, right? Well, they also write the darnedest things! My team teaching partner does the writing part of the day and she just had to come over and show me what they've been working on. Here's what one of my kiddos wrote for this prompt: Would you rather be the kindest, richest, most attractive, funniest, or smartest person?

You really can't act attractive.

We've been working on counting coins for a couple weeks now and one thing the kids love to do when we have a few extra minutes is to write coin riddles for each other. They love trying to stump each other and I am just blown away by how challenging they are getting. Talk about rigor!! They write them on the chalkboard app on our iPads and then take turns jumping on AppleTV to display their riddle on the interactive white board. They literally beg me to do this! Some days I feel like a genius. LOL

Favorite Things Linky: Brain Breaks

Hey everyone, I'm linking up with The Teaching Trio for a fun monthly linky party called Favorite Things!

I am a GoNoodle-aholic and so are my students! I swear this isn't a paid endorsement; I really do love GoNoodle. I bribe reinforce positive behavior with GoNoodle brain breaks all the time. I have to admit that some of them are quite annoying, but there are several that I personally love and make the children watch because I like them so much. Often I let students who are being extra awesome have a chance to choose, but when it's "my turn" to choose, they all know what I'm going to pick. They also know that if they make fun of my dancing, they are in big trouble.

First off, I can't quite explain what it is about those two guys that make up Koo Koo Kango Roo. Is it the mustache? The glasses? The choreography? Not sure, but I love them. My all time favorite brain break they do is "I Get Loose" for two reasons:
1. I know all the words
2. I can do all their moves

Now, we can't always be getting loose in the classroom. Sometimes we need to focus and rock the math test I'm about to give. This is when I go for Brainercize with Mr. Catman. At first, the cat mask was a little creepy, but I quickly got hooked on all the cat puns and more importantly, how it seemed to make the kids able to concentrate better. There is no scientific research that backs that, but I don't care. I also like the variety of options, but Swirly Fingers is the one that gets me because I just can't do it!

Finally, when we are a little too wound up, I like to Chillax (in the dark) with Koo Koo Kanga Roo. It usually works...until the end when the feet come out.












Now, for all you east coasters freezing your tushies off and having the dreaded indoor recess, GoNoodle has a few Indoor Recess Mega Mixes! All you gotta do is select the one with the appropriate length and hit play. Then you can sit back, relax and enjoy (or rest your head on your desk and eat chocolate). You're welcome.

Movie Clip Monday: Volcanoes

I'm linking up with The Techy Turtle Teacher for Movie Clip Monday.

This month, we're studying landforms and while this isn't always the most exciting topic, you can jazz it up by showing videos. Kids are fascinated with volcanoes and I found a great informational video on Scholastic's Study Jams site.

If you haven't checked out Study Jams, you should! There are videos, slide shows, and quizzes on all types of math and science topics.

Link up with us below!

An InLinkz Link-up

March Currently

I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade. I'm so glad it's March! It means spring break, daffodils and my birthday at the end!

Listening: I just got done making fresh pasta and it is a requirement to listen to this Pandora station whenever I make Italian food. It gets me moving and grooving and reminds me of my grandma. Last time she came over to "supervise" the ravioli making she loved the music and was tapping her toes and humming along.

Loving: We had a snow day on Friday and all our soccer games were cancelled, so I had so much time on my hands to make new products, clean, cook, and watch movies. It was an awesome weekend!

Thinking: Homemade meatballs and marinara simmering on the stove and pasta drying on the counter...it's making me really hungry. Or maybe it's because I forgot to eat lunch...

Wanting: We had record breaking snow the past couple of days. I know it's nothing like the east coast but we had several inches! Desert dwellers don't know how to behave when it snows. The funny thing is that most of it already melted! I'm ready for flip flop weather though.

Needing: I've been cooking for about 4 hours. Now it's time to put my feet up and drink a cold one!

Spring Break Plans: I don't have any plans yet but that's ok because my birthday falls during spring break! Wooooo hoooooo!