Currently: February

It's February? What?!!! I'm a bit confused since I've been off school for the past 4 days due to snow. Here's my currently for this month:

Listening: I'm currently still relaxing in bed and am enjoying the quiet. :)

Loving: Since I've been off school since Tuesday, I have sincerely enjoyed sleeping in. I can't sleep in much these days - 8:00 is about the latest, but it is nice to wake up and not have to rush to be anywhere. Most mornings I've enjoyed some reading or watching TV.

Thinking: My mom's birthday was this week and we are celebrating tonight. My family has a little surprise for her and I can't wait to give it to her. I'll let you in on it later.

Wanting: Mmmmm pancakes. I've been eating healthier lately and working out tons but a girl's still got to indulge. I found the AMAZING recipe for chocolate chip protein pancakes and I've been making it every Saturday and every snow day so far. I love that it has lots of protein as I've found that it helps be eat better for the rest of the day if I eat protein at breakfast. And chocolate chips? Yum! Here's a link to the recipe from teachers_get_fit on instragram. The only unusual ingredient you need is protein powder. I LOVE Jay Robb's brand - it's super yummy and you can find it in the natural section at Kroger. It should be noted that I usually put in about 1/2 cup of almond milk to make the batter thinner.

Needing: I need to catch up on a few school things to get ready for February. I also want to get my students valentines done early so I'm not stressing last minute. I found cute Valentine's pencils in the Target dollar section and am putting a little tag on them that says "you're just write for me". Simple, easy and involves giving the littles any kind of sugar! Score!

2 Truths and a Fib:

TRUTH - I do hold my scissors upside down. I put my fingers in the thumb hole and thumb in the fingers hole. Why? That's still unknown. When I was little my family lived in Germany and I went to a German speaking preschool. We think that I just picked up scissors like that and the nice German teachers thought it was a funny American thing and never corrected me. Ooops! I'm pretty accurate cutting that way though. I can hold scissors the correct way and do in front of my students but it's much easier my way.

TRUTH - I am doing a sprint triathlon in May. 5 lap swim, 9 mile bike, 2 mile run. Why? I'm still figuring out why I'm doing this but mainly as I get healthier I wanted to set some fitness goals for myself. I figured this was a good way to get started and give me an end goal. It's a women only race and is sponsored by the local YMCA where I work out. I'll do a training program in April with certified race coaches. Right now I'm doing the couch to 5k app on the treadmill to train myself to run and I'm biking on the spin bikes at the gym. I'll add the swimming in soon. 

FIB - I don't have a dog but I sure want one! My current living situation doesn't allow pets but someday I know I'll have a doggie of my own!

Go on over and link up your currently with Farley! Have a great Saturday!

My Truth about Fitness

The lovely Denise from Sunny Days is hosting a fun new linky party every Monday. The series is called My Truth Monday and each Monday will focus on a new topic. This week's topic is fitness.

Fitness and I are slowly becoming better friends. Two years ago I joined the local YMCA and started going to classes and LOVED it. I finally felt like I found a place where I could work out where everyone was so kind and encouraging. Sadly a few months after I joined I was in a bad car accident. It was a setback but in the end I think it's given me a healthier outlook on life. After finishing physical therapy for my neck last fall, I began going back to the gym again. I haven't always been consistent but I'm trying to get motivated and keep going. I recently joined a small group weight loss/training group at the Y and I love it! We work out 2 days a week together with an awesome trainer who pushes us to do our best. I'm excited to continue on this journey to a healthier me!

Monday Made It {Linky Party}

Happy Monday! I'm finally linking up with 4th Grade Folics for Monday Made It. I've made A LOT of things to start off the new school year but sadly I haven't been awesome about taking pictures and blogging about them.

So I have this chair. It's the one I use on the carpet when I'm teaching mini-lessons. I found it my first year at Home Goods on clearance for $25. It's actually a lawn chair and had a crack down one of the arms but I knew it wasn't anything a little wood glue couldn't fix.

After 4 years of being loved, I noticed that the chair was starting to shift. I had already had our wonderful custodian help me tighten the screws one time. Sadly at the end of last year it completely fell apart. Like, one side of the chair just fell off.

My coworkers told me to throw it away and get a new one but I wasn't ready to give up yet! This chair is SO comfortable and I love it! I took it home and put it on my porch.

Yesterday my mom and I decided that we would try to fix it. We looked at it, realized it definitely needed some screws and bolts, but being the blondes that we are had no clue what kind.

So we took the chair to Home Depot, put it in a cart and pushed it inside the store to the hardware aisle. I was laughing the whole way. I'm pretty sure we provided lots of entertainment for everyone at Home Depot.

A nice Home Depot worker came and helped us figure out what exactly we needed. I'm sure he thought we were quite odd, especially when I took a picture and said I was going to blog about it. :)

After we got the right screws and bolts we took the chair home to my parents and fixed it up. There's still one spot that we couldn't find the right screw for but it's much sturdier and stays together. I'm excited to be able to use it again! I will be establishing a no kids sit in it rule. I want it to last me for many more years!

In more teacher related made it, I made a quick pick me up for my team this week. It's been a busy and somewhat stressful start to the school year and I thought we all needed a reminder to keep calm.

I got the lotion from the travel toiletries section of Target. It's called "Melt Away Stress: Lavender & Chamomile Lotion". I love the smell of it! 

I made the little tag, printed it and laminated it before attaching it to the lotion with washi tape.

The best part is, I'm sharing the label with you! Just click here for the download!

Have a great one!

Easy Peasy Whole Brain Scoreboard & Rewards {Freebie}

This is year 2 of my attempt at Whole Brain Teaching. After watching a few Whole Brain videos last summer I was hooked and knew I wanted to try it. Last year I took the plunge and learned a lot as I went. This year I know more but am still learning.

One key part of Whole Brain Teaching is the Scoreboard. Students earn "happy" and "sad" points as a whole class. I call them "Oh Yeah" and "Oh No" points and the kids say oh yeah or oh no when I make a mark. The rule of thumb (that is AMAZING) is to keep the score within +/- 3 points. That way the kiddos aren't winning too easily or losing too much.

To match my new green/blue chevron theme this year I made my own scoreboard. I made a few colors that you can grab here as a freebie.

I laminated my scoreboard so that I can use a dry erase marker on it every day. It hangs with magnets on the chalkboard behind my chair at our meeting area. I find that it's extremely useful when I'm teaching on the carpet (which I do a lot of) and it's not hard to walk over and mark points on when my kiddos are at their desks.

At the end of the day if there are more "Oh Yeah" points the kiddos get a prize. Last year I started with some small prizes and then had the kiddos earn one extra minute of recess for every day they "won". Once they reached 15 minutes we would use them.

This year I decided I really wanted to emphasize the small rewards to start with to really get them motivated and hooked. Through some searching and brainstorming (and looking at what I have in my classroom) I came up with some fun rewards that are very simple. It's key that they are easy, don't cost anything to me, and don't take up a lot of time.

This is such a simple one. I grab one of my coveted Scento Markers and give each student a "smelly circle" on their hand. 

I put my easy button on a desk next to my door and each student gets to push it as they leave for the day. They loved this one!

Turn up the music and dance! I play some fun music (Kidz Bop on Pandora) and let them air guitar and dance their hearts out for a minute.

Simple yet my second graders still like it. 

We use Brain Pop Jr all the time in our classroom. It's so educational and fun! The kids start humming along when they hear the intro music. Since they love it so much I figured, hey why not make it a reward? I let one student pick a favorite video and we all watch on the ipad.

I haven't tried this one yet but I'm pretty sure my kiddos would enjoy it. :)

What simple rewards do you use in your classroom? I'd love to hear in the comments!

A Few Of My Favorite Things {Beauty Basics}

I may be a day late but I'm excited to link up with Across the Hall in 2nd Grade for the Favorite Things Linky for Beauty Basics.

I'm no beauty expert but I do have some favorites I couldn't live without!

Out of all the mascara's I've tried Maybelline is the best. Cheap and works great! I like the lash blast/lash exact kind best.

This primer rocks and really makes my eye shadow last longer. It's not super cheap, but one tube lasts a  VERY long time.

Call me old school but I love the smell of the Dove beauty bar. Doesn't hurt that it's ultra cheap too. :)

I have my mom to thank for my dirty blonde hair. I've never had my hair colored in any way. My mom is in her 50's and hasn't colored her hair either and she still has the most beautiful highlights and NO gray. I'm hoping that my hair color will continue to be just like hers! I also have some natural blonde highlights and in the summer my hair gets even lighter. I love this conditioner because it really brings out the blonde and it smells like pineapple - amazing! I was super excited when I scored a huge bottle at  Ross for a deal!

My hair is cuh-razy! It's naturally curly and thick but it's completely unpredictable. I usually straighten it. This hair dryer is my life saver. Regular hair dryers seriously take FOREVER to dry my hair and leave me sweating all over again. The solia dries my hair in about 5ish minutes and leaves it less frizzy. I also use the solia hair straightener and it's amazing. I've got the straightening part down to a science and can do it in less than 15 minutes. If you ever want to order hair stuff, go to folica.com. They have great deals!

The last few faves are from my Birchbox. Have you heard of Birchbox? It's a monthly subscription to a box full of beauty samples and goods. I love getting mine every month - it's my treat to myself and it is SO worth it! If you're interested in getting your own Birchbox click through here and you can help me earn points. :)

This exfoliator is the best! The beads are super tiny but really leave my face feeling clean and brighter. After I went through my sample size I had to order a full size one from Birchbox because it's that good!

This stuff is great! It's an eye-shadow, highlighter, bronzer in one. I use it as my everyday eye-shadow. It's easy to apply with your finger or a brush and the color gives my eyes a much needed wake up. I'm still using my small sample size after about 6 months of use. 

Sometimes I feel like my hair has too much gunk in it. This clarifying shampoo is perfect and it smells really good!

A Few Of My Favorite Things {Morning Must Haves}

I'm linking up with Across the Hall in 2nd for the These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things linky. The first edition is morning must haves.

I should start of by saying that I am NOT a morning person. I wake up to my iphone alarm on vibrate. I can't stand any sound that early. I hear the vibrating noise since my phone is on my nightstand. And I quickly shut it off for some snooze time. It's an awful habit, I know but I can't seem to beat it. :)

I'm not perfect makeup applier but I do love this primer from Ulta. I put one squirt on and let it sit for a few minutes while I work on my hair and then put on my makeup. It really helps my look last longer. 

I don't drink caffeine but every now and then I swing by the Dunkin Donuts drive through and grab an iced decaf mocha. So so yummy!

Once I'm in the car I need some jams to wake me up. My commute is short but I still need to get my brain going. I either listen to CD's or switch between my favorite country and variety radio stations. I should not that when I say switch I truly mean "avoid all commercials". I can't stand radio commercials! So lame!

What are your morning must haves?

Happy Summer!!!

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit. The end of the school year is always crazy for me as I'm trying to pack SO much in at school plus lots of travel for me. I've now been out for 2 weeks and it has been GLORIOUS. I only get a month since I'm year round but I have been busy having fun!

I thought I'd do a little catch up with some end of year school things with pictures.

I found these cute folders at Kmart and decided to use them to organize papers. My school is using MCREL next year for assessments and we had training the last month of school. I wanted to make sure I had a safe place to keep all of my notes.

We released our butterflies. This is an awful picture but it's always such a special moment. I often think of my kiddos as butterflies ready to fly away at the end of the year. 

I love the sweet things they give me. One of my kiddos gave me this for the end of year/my birthday. 

Isn't this school supply tower so neat? I love it! It's so practical and pretty too!

That's all for now! Check back tomorrow for more about what I've been doing during my track out!