Currently... It's November!

There are many (MANY) things I love about Farley's Currently. But one of the things I love most is the fact that so often it is a Currently post that brings me back to blogging. Doesn't seem to matter how long I have been away, Farley's Currently is like an invitation to come back home.

So here I am. I feel like I should I have some sort of confession statement: "I'm Kim and I'm a blogging slacker." That is, however, more than obvious... considering my last post is dated August! It seems to happen that way with me every year. Each August, I get excited about posting the adventures of a new school year. And each November, I look back and wonder: "Why didn't blogging happen this time?"

Enough looking back. Let's move forward. It's November! The month of football and turkey dinners (and lunches!) and report cards and parent conferences... and days away from school! I panic each year when I realize there are no holidays (without school) in October. So November always seems like an extra blessing!

I am spending this weekend checking in homework, grading papers and planning some quick assessments. We have a new report card this year and it's not ready yet. We saw a prototype, but we can't enter grades yet. I always procrastinate when it comes to report cards, so I have NO room to complain. In all honesty, the program will likely be ready before I am! But I am guessing there ARE people at my school whose grades are actually ready...

Conferences are around the corner. Initially, we thought there would be interpreters to attend our conferences to explain the new grading system to the parents. So, I submitted my request: I needed interpreters in Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese. Alas, there isn't any money for interpreters after all, so we will need to get creative. Thankfully, our secretary sets up a schedule for a few conference sessions in Spanish. And our principal jumps in too. I guess we will need to operate on the bring-a-friend system for the other languages. Sometimes the students present their part of the conference in their home language. It is always so impressive to watch!

All of this talk about report cards and conferences is making me want cheesecake. It's my "feel-better" food. I went to the Cheesecake Factory with a group of friends a couple of weekends ago... Oh the deliciousness! This was my pick for the day... Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake!

Let's stop thinking about cheesecake... Unless they will deliver?

Have you read Number Talks by Sherry Parrish? It's a wonderful book and I am learning so much about number strings and math conversations. I can't wait to teach kids who have learned math in this way starting in kindergarten. It is so fun to listen to kids think! (Click the picture to check out the book on Amazon.

I hope that this November finds you well and happy. I am looking forward to seeing what is Currently going on in everyone else's lives. In the meantime, why not hop by to Farley's and make a friend or two at this month's link-up. I'll see you there!

Not-Even-Close-To-Currently

First (and most importantly), HAPPY Thanksgiving One Day Late! 

I hope your day was happy... and filled with friends and family and lots of JOY! I love this pumpkin-pie-eating buddy from Pink Cat Studio. Click on the turkey to take you to the collection on TpT... It's actually a fraction set. Neat-O!

Next, if I hurry, I can hit "Publish" while it is still NOVEMBER! And then I can link up with sweet Farley for the DECEMBER Currently tomorrow! (Or, knowing me, some day in December...)

As I type, the washing machine is humming away--filled with clothes from a spur-of-the moment adventure. With little advance planning, we decided to do some traveling and spend Thanksgiving with our "extended family" in San Francisco. We got up at four in the morning on Thursday and drove eight hours northward (Is that a word?!). A few hours later, we sat down to enjoy dinner with twenty friends and family!

The next morning, I was in Starbucks by 5:00, happily sorting and grading papers and sipping my current fav: a mocha macchiato (keep the vanilla, hold the foam!). I got so much accomplished, and it was just... BLISSFUL!

By noon we were in downtown San Francisco... half of the group went ice skating while the other half went shopping (Shouldn't take you more than three seconds to know which group I was in... Hint: Shopping doesn't require skates!) Then there was eating and sight-seeing and general merriment... followed by left-overs and more visitors.

This morning, we were out the door by 5:00, and eight hours later, we were home again. A whirlwind event--but a fun one--especially since I didn't have to do any of the driving. I spent my time napping, singing (off-key), grading a few papers and trying to use my iPad without feeling carsick. I couldn't read or type very well, but I did polish off a few rounds of Sudoku. (I know, I know, such an old-school choice, but I once read that games might help keep my old brain semi-functional--and Sudoku and Tetris are the only ones I can play for more than five minutes without giving up!)

Since vacation started, I have been planning some fraction lessons for my sixth graders. We went backwards to go forwards... and are looking at fractions in many contexts. Teaching fractions conceptually is so hard when students THINK they already know what they are doing. They have bits and pieces of "steps," but no concrete understanding of how or why. I'm actually having fun inventing lessons "from the beginning." I'm anxious to see if we make any progress... And I have my fingers crossed that we do!

I have my day planned out for tomorrow to finish up some loose ends for Monday. I hate loathe arriving at school with  parts of the day incomplete. Those are the days when the copy machine is broken or you can only find eight dice when you need nine. I want this week to run smoothly. I've got a formal observation coming up on Thursday, so I want the kids to believe that our days always run like clockwork. Do you think they can forget some of the chaos from the last three months? My To Do list is well into the second page, so I will have to be efficient. I'm sensing at least one visit to Starbucks will be necessary to see me through!

This month's (soon to be LAST month's!) Currently asked for something delicious... How can you look at this picture without drooling? It is doubtful that I will ever make this cheesecake. But I would be more than happy to buy it--and tomorrow would be soon enough! Click on the picture if you want to do some chocolatey baking! And let me know if you feel like sharing...

Of course I am leaving a link to Farley's... but it will only get you back to November's link-up. It's been all crickets there for a while. But, by tomorrow, the race will be on! Will YOU be in the top 100? For the record, I am #301 for November, so it's likely you will be posting your link before I do. That's okay... There are THIRTY ONE days in December. We've got lots of time!

Happy November (for one hour and fifty one more minutes) and JOYful wishes for December too!

 

P.S. In case you missed the link, check out all of the cute clip art and other good things available from Pink Cat Studio...

Curently... November!

Ahhhh..... Farley's Currently. It puts order in my life--or, at least, reminds me of what month it is!

November is just-so-crazy! There are far too many things to do--and simply not enough hours in a day. It seems as if a few weeks ago, the students were learning how to put their names on their papers... and now they are expected type an expository piece using textual evidence to support their claim! (And, still, those names are not on their papers!)

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house (I don't cook), so we had to get the carpets cleaned. A one evening vacation felt like a paradise to me. And to come back to an "empty" (of school stuff) house with clean carpets was pretty amazing. (Shhhhhhh. Don't let anyone look in the garage...)

I loved the music link on this month's Currently. I like to play "background music" in the mornings when the students come in and during most of the "quiet activities" in our day.  I prefer to use music that is NOT based on songs I know--I have a bad habit of breaking into song just after I've gotten them comfortably settled! One of my favorites is Daydreaming: Relaxing Guitar. I like this collection because it is calming, but not (completely) sleep-inducing. And they are all original pieces so you won't be tempted to belt out "You've Got a Friend" in the middle of independent reading. Click here to take a listen on iTunes. Or at least to show you a picture--I think iTunes needs to be open for you to listen to the music... or you need to do something else that I don't know how to do... If there were more hours in a day, I could learn a few more technology tips!

Now, click on over to Farley's and get your Currently linked up. Remember to show some love to the links before and after your. I have made new BlogFriends EVERY time I have completed a Currently, and I know you will too.

Wishing you a happy November!

Currently... November! A Linky Party to Join...

Join November's Currently Linky Party hosted by Oh' Boy 4th Grade!
Her design for November is lovely!

So here's what's happening at the party in my head:

Now it's your turn to join the fun!
Link back to the party at Oh Boy Fourth Grade and get the template...
Then share what's going on in your life!
While you're there, read a couple of Farley's older posts. That girl is SO funny. And she's got some great freebies too!

Happy November!