It's Currently January... WooHoo!

Wasn't I just talking about Currently YESTERDAY?! Oh yea... and I completed the December edition so late the "collection" had already closed?! (That's a first... and not one I'm proud of! My heart ached over that one But I've moved on! It's 2014 and I have another twelve tries to do better!

Swirly frame by Ginger Snaps Clip Art HERE on TpT!

So, for January, I am not last. And I will be "in the collection." It's like being in the in-group in high school (I wasn't, by the way. I was in the middle. Does that make sense?) Oh dear. I am digressing in paragraph two after spending twenty minutes trying to find the right shade of turquoise for the font on the Currently graphic! I am never going to get on the list this way!)

Well, if I type really, REALLY fast, I might be able to break into the first one hundred. What a great way to start out the new year. I was looking for a post from my pal, Middle School OCD, and a Currently graphic flew by! Do you know Susan? She is a true sweetie pie. And if you are an upper grade teacher, you should stop by her blog. You will love her language arts posts. She works with some struggling learners (like me!) and she always makes me feel motivated... and hopeful! Click on her button below to visit her! By the way, Susan REALLY wants to get to 300 followers on Bloglovin' so if you're reading this... Please click on the BlogLovin' botton (It's very cute!) on her site. She would be so thrilled to see that "magical number" and you could help her do that!

Which brings me back to Currently! The thought that this vacation may someday end is starting to creep into my conscious thought. I keep pushing those thoughts away, but I know in my heart that one of these many "Sundays" (during vacation, all of the days seem like Sunday to me!), it really will be a Monday and I will have to go "back." Ooooh. Big shiver.

Time out for coffee.

Mmmmmmmmm. Good pot o' Joe! (Hey! Why Joe? Why not Kim? I'm sure I drink more than my fair share!) I'm particularly pleased with this batch of goodness. I didn't have any coffee filters so I ended up using tissue paper from the Christmas wrapping box. At that last minute I decided against the red-and-green striped piece. Wouldn't THAT have been a mess!

Don't you love my cup?! I bought it during my first year of student teaching! That makes it over thirty years old! It's probably made of some toxic lead-based material that is mutating my chromosomes as we speak (heeheehee). BTW, any reports that I have a hoarding problem are absolutely UNtrue!

I know... A better photographer would not have had that funny blue blur in the middle...

Now, back to Currently. I really want to be more HOPEFUL and POSITIVE this year. I don't think those are my one two little words this year, but I was trying them out. I have been feeling a bit discouraged that my kids don't seem to be learning much this year. One day they even told me so! (Now THAT is a blog post for another day...) So, I want to go back to school BELIEVING they will learn more... and doing everything I can to make that happen! Believing. Nice word... But, no, not it.

Which brings me to another part of Currently. I am SOOOOO bad about writing my lesson plans. I always usually know what we are doing. After thirty years, I can predict where we're going, where we've been, where we could have been, and where we are not going. I just don't write things down. And I don't compress the activities into the amount of time I have, so I just keep teaching and teaching... and then June arrives too quickly. So, I am VOWING (so NOT my one little word) to be more consistent and diligent in writing down my plans and planning farther ahead.

Well, it's clear that I have wandered all over the place with this post. And I forgot to add in the Currently graphic. So here it is! (I'm rather pleased with the shade of turquoise in my favorite Christina Bainbridge font... It's called CBPlain and you can find it HERE on TpT). And, honest truth, I am going to rush and post this, since I have slipped from a possible #28 spot all the way to spot # 52. Afterwards I am going to go back and edit all of my spelling and typing mistakes. Let's hope I don't add in another paragraph or two of semi-connected thoughts!!!

With that, I am off to another cup o' Kim (Joe can get his own coffee!)

Now, remember to make Farley proud (and happy). Check into Currently. Add your lovely (filled in!) graphic and your thoughts. And then join in the party. Most importantly (and dearest to Farley's heart), leave some love for the people before you and after you in the link up. In fact, click all over the link-up. Find some new friends... you don't even have to click on the links in order! (Although some people do... because they're just that way...)

Wishing you a HAPPY New Year with many wonderful blessings in 2014!

 

PS I'm not positive--but I just think it's likely... that my one little word might be... JOY!

Recapping Spring Break... in Five for Friday

I have been thinking about my Five for Friday post all week! And now I am typing it on SATURDAY! Ah, well, I'll just think of it as The Week in Review... and suggest that Friday had to be over so that I could include it in my post! (Okay, that's not really true since Friday was the same as all the other days this week, but my reasoning certainly sounded convincing...)

I have truly enjoyed Spring Break this year. Often, I travel or make a To Do list five miles long during the few days I get away from school. I didn't do that this year, and I'm glad. The break has seemed long and luxurious. I know I will be panicking on Monday morning (or Sunday night) about everything that did not get completed, but at this point, I feel rested and relaxed. Neither of those are familiar vocabulary words for me, so I am just enjoying their fleeting ascription.

If you know me at all, you can guess that one of these will be Starbucks and you won't be disappointed! So... what did I do this week?

Coffee! MMMmmmmmm. I do LOVE my coffee! It's scary how many pictures of coffee and coffee cups I have stored on my computer. And here's a new one! It's my warm weather favorite! Iced mocha with caramel drizzle. And then a little half and half that gradually mixes in. Oh. My. Goodness. That's one yummy concoction. I think Starbucks should borrow my recipe and call it Joyful Mocha. It certainly makes ME joyful!

Naps! Morning. Afternoon. Evening. There were naps. Lots of them! Some days I went back to sleep after I had only been up a few hours. Sometimes the room was warm and sunny and I was typing... and then I wasn't. I can't nap when I am stressed out by school and responsibilities. Clearly I was able to put those thoughts aside!

OhBoyOhBoyOhBoy. This is a new favorite of mine! I love many flavors of ice cream... but ice cream with a peaceful spin? My heart be still! And how's this for cool? When you eat all of the ice cream there are peace notes inside the container. It's like having some ice cream with John Lennon. "... Just give peace a chance..." (Did you sway a bit and sing along?) Did I mention that there are little tiny chocolate peace signs in there? I can't imagine an ice cream with a better message! And it's might tasty too!

 

Computer time! If I wasn't drinking coffee, eating ice cream or napping, I was tapping away at my computer. Actually, pounding away would be more accurate. When you don't know how to type, and you only use four fingers, it is hardly a gentle touch. It sounds like this Type! Type! Type! pause... look for punctuation keys... Type!

I chatted on facebook, exchanged e-mails with friends, wrote (SIX!) blog posts, bought twenty-seven (NOT kidding) items from TpT, and printed quite a few. There were linky parties (three) and blog hops (two). And then there were blogs to read, and comments to be left, and things to be pinned and... and... and then I had to eat ice cream and take another nap!

And for the record my bloggy background is purple not blue. And, yes, the cup DOES say Starbucks!

I did spend a little bit of time on school work. And I thought (and worried) about Common Core. When you have been teaching for more than three decades, it is scary to think that the whole world will be turned upside down for something new. I think there are many good things about Common Core... I just fear the "gap" that will exist as we scramble to find materials. And I fear the expectation that kids will arrive having mastered the Common Core standards from the previous year--especially in the first two or three years. I've been through this before. It will take time before the kids can catch up to the system. 

One day this week (although I can't tell you which day!) I went to a training on Common Core standards in math. I gave up a day of bliss. It was more philosophy than strategy and I found myself thinking: Just tell me what to teach! They used an example of having seventh graders build a gingerbread house to measure surface area (could be good) and then having them fill the house with frosting to measure area (could be really bad). My OCD wouldn't let me get past cleaning up after 36 frosting-sticky gingerbread houses. I'm feeling lucky that the people from our math adoption are actually stepping in to correlate and supplement their math materials to match Common Core. I was impressed. And we had a great trainer--which made the time pass much more quickly!

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Now I really need a flower that says "Negative 1" for the things I didn't do. Wait! I'll make one!

 

I was going to make the flower black, but that seemed too ominous, so I made it colorless to indicate the things that didn't make the list of things I wanted to accomplish...

I didn't clean the garage. And I didn't grade many papers. And I didn't do much of the "spring cleaning" you are supposed to do during Spring Break. I didn't read the professional books I set aside for this week (unless you count the first three pages of the one chosen because it had the cheeriest cover). I didn't start the healthy eating plan I should be following (did you SEE that ice cream?). But, for the most part, I didn't worry about what I didn't do, and, instead, enjoyed what I DID.

And that's what Spring Break is for. A BREAK. That falls during the spring. California provided warm, sunny weather and I am thankful for the time AWAY from, well, from everything!

Now, even though it is only Saturday, Doodle Bugs has over a hundred link-ups! So fill up your coffee cup and join us over there. Just click the link below!

If your Spring Break is over, I hope it was wonderful. If you are just beginning your Spring Break, I hope you have time to rest and relax and enjoy the word "Break." If you are a teacher or a mom, or, especially, a teacher-mom, a break is exactly what you need--and deserve...

 PS Don't you just love those flowers? They're from Ashley Hughes and you can go check them out at TpT by clicking HERE.