More of the Same

 What a crazy year 2020 gave the world. 

There was a shutdown where everyone was in quarantine because of a pandemic. My excitement over my new job was short lived. 

I spent the summer swimming and walking daily. I also was job searching because my new job was only for the remainder of the school year which was pretty frustrating. 

Fall weather was very warm and quite wonderful! 

The holidays came and we were told to stay home so the spread of COVID would lessen. For the first time I cooked two holiday meals. The season is about family and friends and this year was a quiet one. 

The new year began and people were so happy to say goodbye to 2020.

There is a long way still to go but I am hoping that 2021 will bring on better things for all. 

Oh, and GO BILLS! 

My Current Life

Let me start with, I do not blog very often. I love to write, but often I put it on the back burner to other things!

Last week was Friday the 13th. It is my favorite birthday day. It is my good luck day when it comes to birthdays. I went to work to teach at my new job. I gave the kids a birthday treat at the end of the day. Then said " Have a great weekend! See you Monday!" Little did I know that life would be so different a few days later.

I would not see my students on Monday and I am not even sure when I will see them again! There is a crazy virus sweeping the USA. Life is going to be different for awhile. It's pretty scary for someone like me who has asthma. I'm nervous. I am washing my hands like crazy which I already do as a teacher, but I am now doing it more. I have been home pretty much since Monday after I left school. We had to prep some at home work for the students as a grade level.

So, as I sit here way past my bedtime I am reflecting on where my life is headed, which is pretty typical around ones birthday! I am not teaching right now, I am in the house trying to stay here and not go anywhere because that is the recommendation. The book nerd in me is content to read all day, and I know I will find things to do! I am sad that I will not be able to go to the gym. I was getting back into a schedule and it was making me feel good. Looks like I will be using Youtube.com for some at home workouts.

I may be adding more to the blog since I have more free time now. We will see how it goes!

Until next time, here are some random photos.

The last pic I took at work for my #feetupfriday

A sweet note from a kiddo

A favorite teacher outfit

Relaxing Time

Happy Reading!

What... July

It's been a few months since I have blogged. I have been following some amazing teachers on Instagram and Youtube. I have went back to the beach with the hubby for 9 days and it was amazing!
I had a great end of the year and said goodbye to one of the best jobs I have every had! I was sad to see it end!

I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the state of my professional career. I have been lucky to teach the last few years. I have met some great people and worked with some great kids. Teaching in a different school every year for the past 8 years has never been by choice. I envy all those people who get their classrooms/teaching jobs right away. There is a part of me that can't believe this is still my struggle. I often say "This is the plan. This is the path." It's difficult to not know what I am doing from year to year. If you are reading this...send me positive vibes.

Here are a few photos from the beach trip. We did a lot of the same things, but also a few new things too!

Here are some other photos from the school year:

 Small group reading lesson

 

My mom and I on mother's day!

I would let the kiddos do their Orton lesson on the table from time to time.

They would beg to do it!  

Goals

This year I set a goal for myself. (Well, I really set a few goals, but I am only going to write about one today) 

My goal was to work on a teacherspayteachers product every month and publish it. So it is almost the end of March. I can happily say that I made three products and put them up, The nice part is I have had some sales. I will say that I wish I was artistic and could make my own clip art and logos. 

Here's to me for spending some time making products! 

As always, here are some pics: 

 

Valentine's Day Mad Libs 

 

Phonics - Digraphs Word Sorts 

 

March Mad Libs 

 

Syllable Sorts 

(This one was from December, but I put it on TPT in February)  

It has been a busy two months. I have been spending more time on Instagram than on my blog. 

Maybe I need a new goal of blogging more. LOL 

Happy Reading! 

Where Have I Been?

Hello 2019! 

I have been MIA in the blog world. I did not have much to write about in September because I was job hunting. My yearly ritual. 🙄 I went on so many interviews through the summer and the month of September, I was feeling so frustrated. 

In October I had applied for a reading job and after an intense interview process, I was hired. I am teaching reading to grades 2-5 for the rest of the 2018-2019 school year. It is wonderful. I love the school, the kids, the coworkers, and the job. Literacy is my passion and I am so happy in my teacher life. 

Starting a new job is always overwhelming and crazy, so before I knew it two months had flown by and it was Winter Break. 

Now it is January and I am back to work. I plan to enjoy every day and be grateful for this job. As I say a lot, "I am a renter of the classroom and the job for the year, but it's heaven!" 

Here's a quick pic of an Open and Closed Syllable Sort I did one day in the classroom:

 

 Here's another quick pic: 

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year. I will try and post more! 

Happy Reading! 

Where has the time gone?

I use to be so good at posting on my blog. I have been on an Instagram and Twitter kick. I have had a busy few months. Once again, I am looking for a job and teaching summer school. With the arrival of August, I will have a month to unwind. I sure hope I have a position in September. I feel like I am getting too old for this yearly summer job search.  

Here are two pictures of what I have been doing: 

 Vacation by the Beach. . I WANT TO GO BACK!

 First day of teaching summer school

Reading on my backyard patio as much as possible this summer! 

Well, blog friends... until next time! 

Happy Reading!

Here's the Proof

Here is a screen shot of the number of posts I had prior to the Blog Post Deletion. It makes me SO SAD (and a little mad at myself, too)!

The Reading and Literacy post total is over 50. Oh, the humanity!

What Was I Thinking?

It has been a stressful school year. I will not take the time today to write about it.. maybe someday... 

Anyway, I think the stress and lack of sleep has been effecting me because the other day I DELETED MY WHOLE BLOG! 

It pretty much looked like this: 

  

I went and did what any tech savvy person would do... 

I googled "How to recover deleted blog posts?" and was lucky to find these tips: 

Blogger Tips & Tricks - Recover-accidentally-deleted-posts 

Thankfully I have found some of my posts using these tips. I am slowly re-posting my favorites. It is interesting to go and see some of my posts and think "Yeah, I do not want to repost that."

I have not blogged since January. However, I did start this blog as a grad school project and have been posting on it for a long time. The MOST frustrating part is I do go back in my reading posts for ideas and to lose ALL THOSE POSTS is real kick in the pants. 

I am trying to stay positive and remember one good thing which is the photos are all saved in google, so that is something! 

I admit I have been using Instastories a lot more than blogging the past five months. Another positive.. no posts to recover from the past five months. 

So if my blog looks to be missing something.... well.. it is! 

I guess I have one summer project, now. Other than reading and sitting by the pool decompressing from this year! 

Happy Reading 

Happy New Year !

I am happy to start a new year!

I have to say 2017 was a tough year for me for a lot of reasons. I was working in a job I loved, teaching reading all day - my dream job! Then February came and I had a health scare. This health issue created other concerns, so it has been a challenge health wise. I also had a car accident in June and then I was in a walking boot in September. With all of  these things, I would do my laps at the Y pool when I could. Being in the water helped with my stress. I love swimming! 

My job ended and I was unemployed at the beginning of the school year. I was lucky enough to be called for some interviews and I was hired for a part time position. My new job is different and now I am challenged in many ways. Learning common core math has been a daily struggle. I miss my friends from the past two years and I miss teaching reading all day. 

December came and some of the sweet students gave me gifts. I also did a secret Santa hoping to give myself a lift since work is stressful. Here is what I got from my Secret Santa:

Coffee = Happiness 

When December arrived I was happy to know I would have a week off to decompress and relax. I had a medical procedure where I had mostly good news. I spent time napping and reading. I was thrilled this crazy year was ending. 

2017 wasn't all bad! I went on two vacations. I taught some great kids to love reading. I enjoyed a relaxing summer, spent time with friends, and learned more about me. With all these joyous days, I am happy to see a new year begin. 

Here's hoping 2018 will be better than last year! 
Happy New Year everyone!
Happy Reading, too! 

What..... November

I've been so busy! 

Starting a new teaching job after the school year has already begun is HARD! I truly feel like a fish out of water... and I LOVE THE WATER! I am enjoying working with the 5th graders, which isn't a surprise to me because I taught them reading the past three years.

BUT..... 

The math is SUCH A CHALLENGE!  

One of my jobs is to modify and teach the math curriculum. I am learning right along with the students. After spending the past 5 years focused on reading, this really is working my brain!

I have been teaching writing and reading to the students and when several students leave for AIS and Enrichment I have an hour 3 days a week where I plan lessons.

Here are a few random pictures. I have been so busy learning the new ways of a new school district, I have not had a lot of time to take photos. Plus I am working with another teacher in a classroom that isn't really mine.

I know from last year that the students learn figurative language in grade 5 ELA. I always start with alliteration. The kids love it and it's a great way to hook the kids into reading and writing poetry. 

I am so happy when it's writing because I get to teach the class these lessons. he classroom teacher prefers teaching the math and science. Perk for me.  We started a new writing unit. The students are researching a state and then going to write about it. I combined informational and persuasive. The kids have to entice me to want to visit their state.  I am using New York as a model because they studied it last year. They have 4 key categories they have to write about in their essays. These charts were from the Day one lesson. 

One sweet student made me a sign below which I have by my desk. This job is challenging for several reasons. Maybe someday I will write about it. When I get a note like this, it helps to see it on he difficult days. 

Below is a poster I used to teach the students how to write an intro paragraph. It comes from the book the school uses for writing units. 

 

Happy Reading! 

School Started.. and I am Jobless

I did not start the school year. I am feel frustrated because I am not teaching reading right now. Last year after being in a job for three years, I thought for sure, I would be back at the middle school.

On another note, I have been dealing with a severe foot sprain. I have always been a bit of a klutz and I slid on my wooden steps almost falling. I have been in a walking boot and it has not been fun. My DH made me throw out my flip flops. Oh how I love my flip flops, but I has slide on them twice prior, so I had to say good-bye.

I have an appointment tomorrow and I am hoping I can say good bye to the walking boot! 

I have had a few interviews for positions that popped up after school started. It's been a stressful few weeks with everything, but I keep telling myself... things could be worse. I have cousins in Houston and Florida where the hurricanes are right now!!! 

We all have out hill to climb (even in a boot)! 
Here's hoping for an upturn!

Happy Reading!

Happy August & Lots of Pics

Wait... What happened to July? The summer school program was great and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We did a marine study during the 4 week program. 

Here are a ton of photos from the class:

                                            

 

We invited another class for a book sharing: 

Last day reflections from the kiddos:

 

Summer reading has ended for the kiddos. I continue to job hunt and enjoy the sun! 

Happy Reading!