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!