The One With The Small Group & A Party

State testing began today for my students.  It's going to be a long week.  Something I may never understand as a teacher is how administering a test can be so much more exhausting than teaching all day.   I came home absolutely exhausted today.  It's a good thing I don't have any lessons to plan for this week.

I'm testing a small group for the first time this year.  I'm reading the test for the first time this year.  We tested 1.5 hours longer than the other students today.  It made for a long morning.  But watching those sweet kids working so hard makes it all worth it.  

This test is what we work for all year.  Though I don't consider myself to be a teacher who solely teaches to the test, I do stress its importance to my students.  They know that this week is a pretty big deal.  

I've started taking things down in my room.  Normally I would just cover them up, but since this is my last year in this particular classroom I decided to just take it down.  It makes me sad.  I could only take down so much before my heart began to hurt. 

With that being said, I'm ready for the end of the school year.  I love my students, my coworkers, and my school.  They are my second family.  HG is my home away from home.

But as the saying goes, home is where your heart is.  and right now my heart lives in a different town.   I'm more than ready to live with my husband and our sweet furbabies again.  I'm ready to meet my new coworkers and start making QES my home.  

And there you go.  That's my whining for the day.  

Okay fellow teachers, can I be completely honest with you for a moment.  Eeh, I always try to be honest with you...even when it means sharing that a lab was an absolute flop.  

I shared with you a few post ago about a party I'm having just for us.  Obviously I really believe in the product.  That's why I'm an independent consultant.  I'm slowly adding to the organization of my classroom with Thirty-One products.  

I love how this teacher uses large utility totes to organizer her supplies. 

The Fold N' File is also a great way to help you get organized. 

If you haven't joined the party yet and started shopping, it's not to late.  You can check out our catalog here.

Of course don't forget about all the awesome giveaways I've got going.  These giveaways are just for you as a way to help some of you earn some more free products. 

One of you will earn hostess rights for this party.  That means you have the opportunity to earn FREE products, Hostess Exclusives Items, and 1/2 Price Items!

One of you will win FREE personalization on any one item.

One of you will win 10% of your order.

When you place an order online, you will automatically be entered to win one of three great offers.

It doesn't even stop there.  If you blog about our party and invite others to join the fun, you will be entered to win FREE personalization on any TWO items!  Be sure to leave me a comment with a link to your blog post.

I'm working on reaching a personal goal and moving forward in this business.  It would mean the world to me if you would join our party and do a little shopping.    And there's the honest truth.

I'm hoping you can help me reach my goal and I can help you with these giveaways.  

What do you say?  Team Work! 

The One With Random Thoughts!

Yay!  The party has started.  Michelle over at The Organized Senorita was our first guest.  Thank you Michelle for your order.  You are going to LOVE the organizing utility tote.  It makes the perfect school bag.   Don't let her have all the fun!  Come party with us!

Tomorrow is the last day before the big state test.  Thank goodness!  I'm so ready to be done with it.  I know my students are too.  They've worked hard all year long preparing for this week of test. They are ready!

I only have 38 days of school left.  It's bittersweet.  I'm so ready to move and live with my husband again.  I'm super excited to meet my new coworkers and see my new classroom.  But it also breaks my heart to think about leaving my friends at HG.  I'm going to miss them!

How many days do you have left?

I've been thinking about how nice it would be if next year I worked at a school where I could wear jeans every day.  Right now I can wear them on Friday, which I love.  I'm curious - Can you wear jeans every day, certain days of the week, never?  If you could wear jeans every day, would you?
I like dressing up.  But there are some days when I'd be happier in my jeans.

In 18 days, I leave with my friend/co-worker, two parents, and 32 7th-9th graders for California.  We are pumped!  Several are nervous about their first time flying.  They all hope to see someone famous in LA.  We are going to have a blast!!

The One With The Party

I love the blog community.  You are all so sweet and helpful.  I really believe this is one of the BEST resources we have as teachers.  Who can help you better than a fellow teacher?

Thank you all for the sweet words about my new job.  I am super excited.  God is so good!

I have something that I want to share with you.  I have a second job.  I am an independent consultant for Thirty-One.  This is a Christian based company (Proverbs 31) that sells purses, totes, and home organization items.  I recently purchased a couple of things for my classroom.

I want to share them with you, not because I'm a consultant, but because I'm excited about how they are going to help me get organized as a teacher.

My current school bag has our mascot painted on it.  I was in need of a new one since I will be at a different school next year.  It arrived a few weeks ago and I'm in love with it.  It is big enough for all my stuff, but small enough that it prevents me from taking home too much.  My favorite part is easily all the outside pockets.  They are perfect for my calculator, keys, water, and everything else.

I think I'm even more excited about this next item, especially now that I will be teaching in an elementary.  It is the Hang-Up Home Organizer.  I had it personalized to work for me.  It has five pockets - one for each day of the week.  I'm going to get some bright, fun file folders to put in each pocket.  When a student is absent I will simple place his or her work in the appropriate folders.  It will be a procedure for students to check here when they return from being absent.

One of my other favorite resources as a teacher is pinterest.  Oh My Goodness!  I waste a lot of hours on there looking for wonderful ideas.  I decided to see if I could find other Thirty-One products that were being used in the classroom.

This teacher looks completely together and organized with her products.

Because you all have been so helpful to me since I started blogging, I wanted to return the favor.  

Let's party together!  I have set up an online party just for us.  You can shop online and have your order sent directly to you.  I can't tell you how exciting it is to get home from school and find a Thirty-One box on your doorstep.  You will love it!

You can start shopping here.  But before you do I want to tell you about ways to win something for your classroom for FREE!

One of you lucky ducks will earn hostess rights for this party.  That means you have the opportunity to earn FREE products, Hostess Exclusives Items, and 1/2 Price Items!

One of you will win FREE personalization on any one item.

One of you will win 10% of your order.

When you place an order online, you will automatically be entered to win one of three great offers.

It doesn't even stop there.  If you blog about our party and invite others to join the fun, you will be entered to win FREE personalization on any TWO items!  Be sure to leave me a comment with a link to your blog post.

So what do you say?  Let's party!!

Almost forgot.  We will party until April 11.  I'll announce the winners at 7:00 Central time next Friday.

The One In April

The One With a Job

I have accepted a job offer to teach 5th and 6th grade Math next year.  I am super excited.  This will be something totally new for me.

So....

What websites can you not live without?
What manipulatives do you HAVE TO HAVE?

Status: Elementary Teacher seeking help.

The One With the Water Cycle

Today in class my students all became water droplets.  They lived their little water droplet lives traveling through the water cycle.

Though it is probably a little too "young" for my students it is a game we love.  You can find it here.

You set up different stations around your room - clouds, groundwater, animal (my students' favorite), ocean, lake, and a few others.  I randomly assign students to each station.

They roll a number generator and find the coinciding number on their station.  It tells them what happened to them.

For example - and this is why the animal is their favorite - If they start in the animal and roll a one the directions say "Water is excreted onto the soil through feces and urine."

Gotta love those 7th graders!

Some years I set a timer and they go through as many stations as they can during that time.  Other years I have them go through x number of stations no matter how long it takes.

They carry paper with them recording their life and all the station they visit.

When they are finished with that part, they can do a variety of things.  Again I vary it from year to year.  They can write a creative story about their life using vocabulary such as evaporate and condense.  They could create a comic strip about their life.  There are lots of possibilities.