tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33720732951727685682024-03-14T02:41:25.207-05:00See Bean TeachMelissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-8960622369297716582015-10-02T05:30:00.000-05:002015-10-02T05:30:00.659-05:00George the SharkLast week, I was contacted with an awesome opportunity! I was asked to review the book, <u>George the Shark</u> by teacher/author, Mary Dave. I was very flattered!<br />
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I read the book a few times just for fun, and then read it with my specific class in mind. G<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">iven the vocabulary level and length of the text, I would most likely <u>George the Shark</u> as a quick expository text read aloud (a great way to link science and reading) and then add it to my classroom library.</span> That whole train of thought set my brain spinning, so I began making a list (is that just me? Or do all teachers love lists?!) of...<br />
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<b> Reasons I Would Use <u>George the Shark</u> In My Classroom:</b></div>
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-It contains high level vocabulary, which I especially appreciate when teaching my students who are ELLs. There are plenty of words that are related to shark-specific content, but also generally useful, but interesting words for students to learn ("blotches", "tourists", "enormous", "social", and "cooperative" were some of my faves) use in and out of our science curriculum.<br />
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-The book provided lots of interesting details about a wide variety of shark breeds, so if you happen to do an animal research project or have a friend who <strike>has an obsession</strike> is very interested in sharks, this would be a fun resource!<br />
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- Each shark described had at least one "I am different because..." sentence. I love a book that celebrates the differences, especially in a classroom where we all VERY different! I could also see myself using this do to a little compare/contrast work (maybe even with a triple Venn for some differentiation?)<br />
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-At the end of the book, there are dry erase activities. One requires students to connect each shark to the type of hat it was wearing in the illustrations of the book. I could see this being a lead up to the "look back in the text to prove your answers" skill (something my third graders sometimes struggle with).<br />
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-The illustrations and layout are simple, which could encourage my students to be authors and illustrators.<br />
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If you'd like a copy of <u>George the Shark</u>, or want to check out some Mary Dave's other fun books you can check out her website <a href="http://www.rainbowseries.com/">here</a>!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: cabin;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">To be clear: </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: cabin; line-height: 20px;">I was contacted to do a review of this book and provided with a digital copy of the book to review. HOWEVER, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: cabin; line-height: 20px;">the above review/opinions are MINE and they are honest!</span></span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-23320819156492855072015-09-26T14:53:00.000-05:002015-09-26T14:53:47.971-05:00Five for Friday... late.<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2PxFpwsdwOs/U9qh8FNkMcI/AAAAAAAAY4U/zfWiMmEwpSg/s1600-h/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #f9389a; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 26px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-H7q39ufrQ-o/U9qh-ezPTMI/AAAAAAAAY4c/x1UdVCvmkzk/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="228" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-image: none; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-top-left-radius: 30px; border-top-right-radius: 30px; border: 0px none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; display: inline; padding: 0px 0px 5px; position: relative;" title="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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i'm linking up with <a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2015/09/five-for-friday-linky-party-september_25.html">doodlebugsteaching </a>for a fun week week review!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Looping is the bomb. I got the incredible opportunity to promote to 3rd grade with my 2nd graders this year and I am 5 weeks in and it has just been <b>amazing</b>. I love teaching this little group of nuggets so much and I am already devastated that I won't get to be their teacher next year. We are just chugalugging right along with small groups and Daily 5 and all that is good and wonderful and the students are continuing to make leaps and bounds academically and socially. I started my 2nd grade class with about 70% of students at a Tier 3 reading level and this year? 14%. Partaaaay, we are going to be doing book clubs all day erryday!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{two}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you follow me on insta, you know that my Yeti cup is my new little boo boo. I am drinking at least 5 cups of ice cold water a day now and I am probably the healthiest teacher ever ever ever (because the water obviously counters the insane amounts of Smarties I'm consuming from my candy jar because my lil smarties aren't earning them often enough... but that's a story for another time). However, then I have to pee during class, and ain't nobody got time for that. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ryan, you swing by anytime, boo. Actually if you are a moderately functional adult and it's about 2pm COME ON DOWN. SERIOUSLY.</span></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{three}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of smarties, I pinned <a href="http://mrslaffinslaughings.blogspot.com/2014/04/stop-talking-with-beat-teacher.html">this little game</a> and then a sweet friend of mine from college said she was using it and it actually worked, so I've been trying it with my little dahhhlings in the class that rotates in for 2 hours of reading and writing. My looped homeroom has their behavior on lock (and they are teaching me sassy phrases like that so I sound hip), but the other class apparently doesn't know how much I love them and want them to succeed and dream the biggest dreams they can and be authors and readers and extraordinary even though you best believe <i>I am trying to tell them</i>. Currently, all they seem to know is if their little mouths are not talking and their little behinds are in their chairs by the time I get to zero after counting down from 10, they get a point and are one step closer to some candy at the end of their block with me. I did read <a href="http://www.blairturner.com/2015/07/teachers-vs-students-the-game-where-everyone-loses.html">this sassy article</a> about why not to do it and while I feel it had some good points, I am seeing success in being able to limit excessive chitchat and increase time on task. I definitely DO NOT celebrate "my" points, I just slap them on the board and move right along. And the only thing that gets us points is when the students are quiet and seated for a countdown from 10. I'm hoping to phase it out, ok?!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theautismhelper.com/fan-favorite-kids-v-teachers-intervention/">read about her version here!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My new favorite cardigans: </span><a href="https://factory.jcrew.com/womens-clothing/sweaters/cardigans/PRDOVR~14041/14041.jsp?color_name=Champagne&srcCode=FAGGPF00001_99101871427&sisearchengine=197&siproduct=14041&noPopUp=true&gclid=CjwKEAjwhJmwBRDGsamBu8Pp7FwSJACKD1KHT45aIqhlyRdCg275leSxCGLrqQQrb2p20j-VD67gAxoCvcLw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">JCrew factory Clare</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. They are not totally cheapo but they last a long time and are the perfect 3/4 sleeve length and hip length if you are the height of your average 5th grader like me. I own them in four colors currently. If you click on the link, you're probably going to think I am an old lady, but they are super cute on. Promise! I would add a cute little picture of me wearing one right underneath this buttttt I am an absolute failure at selfies and I think we would just all be embarrassed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{five}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have successfully been working out three times a week for the last couple of months. I recently added ten minutes of running to that and I am daaaaaang proud that I can run 10 minutes without stopping. However, I am also slightly embarrassed because hello, I was a collegiate athlete not that long ago. I'm thinking of trying to work up to a 5k. Is that ridiculous? Too low of a goal? Are you a runner and if so can you please tell me how to run without feeling like I am going to hyperventilate?</span></div>
Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-33816022097205075702015-05-03T19:45:00.001-05:002015-05-03T19:45:45.692-05:00may currently<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQigazU1GaRboU0ehYSrPYRMh6MfQNzUvuZR6cM_UfSrxe7FF-1zo61ggtQ36o2FElrE9gsR_CpNJ3YGihetNldZRpbrF81-PVhEAKxHfa_DmU2v9T9_4N9k7uOODp-ZN3zSsULS-o8IU/s1600/May+Currently.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQigazU1GaRboU0ehYSrPYRMh6MfQNzUvuZR6cM_UfSrxe7FF-1zo61ggtQ36o2FElrE9gsR_CpNJ3YGihetNldZRpbrF81-PVhEAKxHfa_DmU2v9T9_4N9k7uOODp-ZN3zSsULS-o8IU/s1600/May+Currently.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I am recently <b>obsessed with Downton Abbey</b>. I'm on the third season and it just sucks me in. I'm usually in bed by about 8:30 (#promiseimnot50), but a few nights last week I was up until midnight! It's free on Amazon Prime if you have that option and need something to binge watch.<br />
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My house has been awfully quiet lately, but my <b>sweet puppies and cat </b>are so fabulous at keeping me company. I won't lie, I used to judge people who posted zillions of pictures of their pets, buttttt, I've turned a new leaf... So here's a few of my little nuggets lately:<br />
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Agh. Currently, I have been given the opportunity (LOL) <span style="text-align: center;">to remediate 5th grade students who need to pass a second administration of our state standardized test. I have mixed feelings. I love working on projects like this (plus I get to teach reading allllll daaaaaay). However, I am super sad that I only get to see with my little second grade besties for breakfast each day. I miss them, and I know they were sad when I told them that once again (more on that later...) they would be without me. Here's to hoping for a quick, <i>but successful </i>last week of intensive instruction, and then <b>thoughts on how to spend my last three weeks with my little darlings.</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Speaking of, I have heard lots of talk about where I might be going/what I might be doing next year. I am on a VERY strong team, and as much as I hate to admit it, I know that often the beauty of that doesn't get to last long. I have been pulled to work with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students so far this year, <b>plus</b><i> </i>I was last one hired onto my grade level, so... Who knows. We have a staff meeting on Wednesday this week, so I'm hoping to hear some new </span>information! <b>I'd love to be able to plan ahead effectively.</b> I hate starting out a year behind the curve!</div>
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AGH, I desperately <b>need to incorporate a workout routine </b>into my life. I am please with my shrinking figure, but I think now the time has come to focus on maintaining a +/-5lb weight range and begin building some muscle tone and losing some of my delicious bingo wings. Anybody have an recommendations for something I can do at home and still kind of hold myself accountable to?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my year... thank goodness i started paying attention to how i was living!</td></tr>
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<b>This summer</b>, I am in a wedding, and attending three others. I got married a tiny bit young, and now many of the sweet girls my age are jumping in on the adventure, too. I am so excited for the showers/bach parties/dinners/ceremonies that are starting this month, especially because this is likely my last year to live in Texas (and so my last year to easily attend these kinds of events). I hope that my summer flies by, honestly. August is going to be an exciting month for my fambam and without working all summer, I am afraid it might drag on. I am going to a couple weeks of LETRS training, weddings, to see my parents and precious sister, and hopefully prepping for whatever is going to happen next year. I'm dreaming that I'll be able to squeeze in some kind of beach-y adventure before I have to go back to school at the end of August, but it will be a tight fit!</div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-71382840685641889942015-04-12T14:02:00.000-05:002015-04-12T14:02:30.683-05:00Currently: April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let's begin by making it clear. I am the absolute worst blogger. I am joining <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/">Farley</a> for the first time in months... and I'm joining halfway through the month. But better late than never, right?!</div>
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I have taken up binge watching <b>The Office</b> again ever since I finished listening to Mindy Kahling's audio book on my long drive back from my parents' house over Easter weekend. It cracks me up. I wish we could do a little documentary-style show about my classroom. I have some characters that are quite similar. Also, my injured dog is basically almost all the way healed, so I am enjoying listening to two sets of puppy paws prancing around my house again!</div>
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The weather was fairly crappy through February, and I seriously wonder if I have a little bit of seasonal affective disorder. I am generally a pretty happy person, but overcast, rainy weather brings a sister down. I would not be awesome at living in the Northwest, I think (even thought I did live there a couple years when I was little... probably not my best years). BUT, Praise the Lord, it has been fairly sunny the past few weeks and I've been feeling SO much happier!</div>
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We are having a concrete patio poured and a sprinkler system put in to basically complete the amount of work we are going to put into our yard before we get ready to move (OMG) next summer. I am super excited for it to look nicer and be more user friendly, but since the projects are being done in stages it is basically unusable right now and that makes me want to go crazy. I have to take both dogs out front on the leash any time they have to go outside and let me tell ya... they would not be good apartment dogs. And I would not be a good apartment dog owner.</div>
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Have I said this before? I would love to have a chef. LOVE to have a chef. I have been cooking for uno a lot lately, and by cooking I mean <i>eating Chiobani</i> for one a lot lately. I finally found some Amy's frozen meals that didn't seem super incredibly unhealthy, so I'm excited to try them the next couple of weeks. I also made <a href="http://savegreenbeinggreen.blogspot.com/2014/09/make-it-monday-10-paleo-freezer-slow.html?m=1">these ten freezer meals </a>that I found on Pinterest with my mama over Easter break. They are good, but I am still trying to figure out how to adjust the crockpot cook time. </div>
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I need, truly, very little. I like that this always gives me some good time to reflect on how blessed I am. I mean, what do I really, truly need? Very little, my friends, very little.</div>
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Uh. My last name is Bean (no joke, my current students LOOOVE to call me "seƱora frijole"), and I teach. So... there ya have it!</div>
Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-58518761416297714962015-03-07T09:14:00.000-06:002015-03-07T09:14:00.437-06:00What if Everybody Did That?!<div>
In my classroom, we have 5 simple rules, inspired by whole brain teaching. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Follow directions quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Raise my hand if I have something to ask or share.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Treat my teachers and classmates with respect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4.</span><span style="font-size: large;">Make smart choices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. Always keep your dear teacher happy.</span></div>
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Though number 5 probably sounds a little narcissistic, any one of my 22 students could very clearly explain that keeping me happy only requires two things- that they stay <b>safe</b> and <b>learn</b>. No need to bring my gifts or tell me I'm pretty or perform any other brown nosing action... Just stay safe, and learn!</div>
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Earlier in the year (October-ish), my sweet students' behavior began backsliding a tad... I was becoming frustrated, and our Daily 5 and intervention time were becoming increasingly less effective because it seemed as though every 5 minutes I was having to redirect behavior of yet another student. Finally, in desperation, I pulled back out the book I used at the beginning of the year to introduce our five simple rules. It is a little beauty called <u>What If Everybody Did That?</u> We read it again and chatted a little and then I had a streak of inspiration. I scrapped my afternoon plans and we made our own class version of the book!<br />
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<a data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.amazon.com/What-If-Everybody-Did-That/dp/0761456864" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border: 0px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img height="259" id="irc_mi" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511qt3k12aL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 67px;" width="260" /></a></div>
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We began by brainstorming some of the issues we were having in the class. I was surprised to hear that almost all of the troubling things I was noticing, they were too! We made a bubble map and did a class example with "I just followed Mrs. B around to ask her a question instead of raising my hand one time. Mrs. B <strike>fell on me and smooshed me to bits, then</strike> turned around and said, 'What if everybody did that?!'"<br />
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Pairs of students got together and followed the pattern of the book to write their own set of two pages based on one of the bubbles off our map. They pre-wrote the text, then revised and edited it with another pair. After that, they copied it onto nice white paper, and used the illustration style of the book as well to draw some pretty hilarious pictures.<br />
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I bound all the pages with one of those old school punch-and-bind machines and put the book in our classroom library.<br />
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The little novel is super popular during Read-to-Self for Daily 5. We also pull that bad boy out whenever we are on the struggle bus and read it together. It is an awesome reminder because THEY wrote it. It's not me trying to lay down the law once again, it's THEIR words and ideas and illustration. My sweet students tend to remind each other and even remind me of the things that are truly important to keep our classroom functioning successfully. </div>
Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-18716351529007576642014-12-31T17:57:00.000-06:002014-12-31T17:57:29.470-06:00Currently: JANUARYI know I've been a little absent, but what better way to start the year off?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3KRuqXq8iS95oTIowOGbYsW1ZNIOmNpz6hCWUXa4Z9TL8Kp8_olg73g_rSEBOf7wPPQD6y6I8aIOU05-mlnqsy96q3ObVrmDjp_Yg0YRwyxb7O0s5btVAqPbq3ckTO_-ddXIZHTE954/s640/blogger-image--458297922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3KRuqXq8iS95oTIowOGbYsW1ZNIOmNpz6hCWUXa4Z9TL8Kp8_olg73g_rSEBOf7wPPQD6y6I8aIOU05-mlnqsy96q3ObVrmDjp_Yg0YRwyxb7O0s5btVAqPbq3ckTO_-ddXIZHTE954/s640/blogger-image--458297922.jpg" /></a></div>
I'm currently at my precious grandparents' farm with my parents and my sister and my husband. The week has been full of relaxing and catching up (now that we ALL live in different places) and watching football. Love it. (:</div>
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I am so thankful for my new job. I seriously was thinking even before I started working on this post how incredibly thankful I am to be in a position that I <b>love</b> and that allows me to spend Christmas break only thinking or planning ahead because I want to and I'm excited... Not because I am so stressed about what is coming up when I get back. That being said, I am also grateful for my experience last year because I'm not sure I would have understood what a blessing this is without it!</div>
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I would love some prayers for my sweet old man "puppy". To keep a long story short, we left him to be taken care back home, and he was hurt this week. Even though I know he is a dog (vs a child), I have been so upset that I left him in a situation I wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with and now I can't be there for him. Maybe pray for both of us?</div>
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Looking back on my year and thinking about all that I have... There is not a single thing that I truly NEED.</div>
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After I finished my challenging year, I knew one way this school year could improve was by taking care of myself. So I did the Advocare 24 day challenge and pulled my act together. I have lost 23ish pounds from my first challenge and about 30 from my heaviest weight during last school year... And I feel awesome. Not just because of my clothes fitting (some are even too big now?!), but because my skin feels good and I don't feel greasy and I rarely have tummy troubles (which now I can almost always track back to an abundance of friiiiiied food). But now I need to get my exercise on. My primary exercise involves walking the dogs... That's better than the nothing I was doing previously, but being an ex-athlete, I know I can do way better. I'm debating CrossFit. Thoughts on that?</div>
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My goal last year was to make $50 on TPT. I didn't achieve the goal, but I also didn't work very hard at it last about... February. Oops. So maybe I will push up on that.</div>
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Last, I hope and pray and wish that my family and I will remain happy and healthy this year. I think it's going to be our best one yet!</div>
Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-41956188674141222342014-10-24T06:02:00.000-05:002014-10-24T06:02:00.253-05:00knocking out bullying in october!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTILYSfqjV87k67w0f86nLQSxQ9TvsI2dyOBlSjlqDkP268ofmwet38SfgPLZjtcmADF9GgDK_jrt6OktWy-BN5xImg7-MYg4O_bwVx-M99HK6GT1FjKbDPZAeCYpHWyj0Z4fktClJdU/s1600/lowprep_antibully.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTILYSfqjV87k67w0f86nLQSxQ9TvsI2dyOBlSjlqDkP268ofmwet38SfgPLZjtcmADF9GgDK_jrt6OktWy-BN5xImg7-MYg4O_bwVx-M99HK6GT1FjKbDPZAeCYpHWyj0Z4fktClJdU/s1600/lowprep_antibully.jpg" height="268" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-style: italic;">October is National Bullying Prevention Month. </b><a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2012/10/spookley-square-pumpkin.html">My very first ever See Bean Teach post</a> was about that very topic, so I thought it would be a nice throw-back to look at some more anti-bullying ideas! Here, I've listed three lessons I've taught so far this month and two more I plan to teach. I like to be able to to link our content with talking about social skills type topics (just so we can make connections between what we learn and the real world)... I also feel like lessons that help build our classroom community are a tool to help prevent bullying because I've notice that it is much easier for students to pick on those they know very little about... but when they know another's story and where they come from and who they really are, they find it easier to choose to say and do uplifting things. <a href="http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/">Pacer.org</a> is a great online resource for some facts, along with <a href="http://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/campaigns/national-bullying-prevention-awareness-month/">Stomp Out Bullying</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">(1)</span></b></div>
As mentioned, <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2012/10/spookley-square-pumpkin.html">my very first post</a>, many moons ago was about a lesson I did with a kindergarten class during my senior year of college. It all focused around <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760727546/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0760727546&linkCode=as2&tag=seebeanteach-20&linkId=UNDLKNSAYHPT5JKE">The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=seebeanteach-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0760727546" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and how to avoid bullying. It went over really well, so this year I decided to whip that baby back out! My class had a bunch of fun listening to the story on YouTube and then making their own unique pumpkins a couple weeks ago. Of course, I added in an attempt at some academic content and had them make a verbal text-self connection before they could craft their own Spookly, but it was a much needed afternoon of creative thinking and <b>fun</b> after a week of 6 weeks tests (BOO ON THAT.)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">(2)</span></b></div>
We learned about adjectives in language arts this week, so we combined that with <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2013/08/pop-rocks-bubbles-and-blue-crayons.html">a lesson I saw on good ol' Farley's blog</a> a while back. We described my "friend" that I'd drawn on chart paper using adjectives. When the children slung out unkind words, I crumpled it up. When they said kind things, I uncrumpled the paper. We noticed that the wrinkles were still there, and even after we tried to smooth the paper out by saying nice things, the wrinkles didn't totally go away. I think it made a bit of an impact, because after the lesson we did a full on "share you feelings circle" for about 10 minutes. I made sure to end it by asking all of the students to share something that has been a<i> positive </i>interaction with another person in their life so that we could have some emotional closure and a way to bring our thoughts back to a happy place if they'd traveled a little away from there.<br />
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We also drew portraits of a classmate (they had to draw out of a jar so it was random!) and described them using 10 adjectives. I was so pleasantly surprised that no one had unkind things to say on their drawings AND they were all excited about who they got (even when it wasn't there bestfriendevereverever). I am proud of how close-knit and sweet my students are. We even had a "special visitor" from another class in another grade our room that day (yep, I get to be <i>that</i> teacher) so I threw his name in the bucket too and my sweet little nuggets just acted like that was totally normal and drew him a beautiful portrait as well!<br />
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We watched the <a href="http://www.brainpopjr.com/health/relationships/bullying/">BrainPop Jr. video on bullying</a> and then did a class sort to clarified the difference between true bullying and teasing someone of having a "mean moment" using the phrases I cut from a chart that I found on <a href="http://mssepp.blogspot.com/2013/11/is-it-bullying-what-is-it.html">Ms. Sepp's Counselor Corner</a>. It sparked a lot of great discussion about what kinds of things we could problem solve on our own or by talking with the person who offended us, versus what kinds of things we couldn't solve unless we got help from an adult.<br />
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We read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439206375/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439206375&linkCode=as2&tag=seebeanteach-20&linkId=AAYGD5V7TQ4AKXZH">The Recess Queen</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=seebeanteach-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0439206375" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688147321/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0688147321&linkCode=as2&tag=seebeanteach-20&linkId=VPWRXTZBHKQM7H6O">Chrysanthemum</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=seebeanteach-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0688147321" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439287197/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0439287197&linkCode=as2&tag=seebeanteach-20&linkId=AJTRCWZGO72MRUW3">Giraffes Can't Dance</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=seebeanteach-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0439287197" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Then we practiced making Text-Self connections. We talked about how we felt and how the characters felt, and experiences that we had that we similar to experiences the characters. We used Venn diagrams to compare both our life experiences and that of the characters AND the characters in the books. There's a <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Text-Self-Connections-Venn-1513406">freebie in my TPT store</a>- it's not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but it works! (:<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Text-Self-Connections-Venn-1513406"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoX3x_KEAnOIuslzOVvq9CjC-c-HcEEWDrit1yPm1XogJtJXR114g42m_Ro7fihtqFmMDNCf_34tYsvhXo6OT92aBFnkdbZRhCeaNpaUKHOfG05a24PcvYOozWCFGFYC-gYJWgLoBQYeM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-22+at+6.10.46+PM.png" height="295" width="400" /></a></div>
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<u>I linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share these five ideas! You should participate, too!</u></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">P.S. Real talk- this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Check out my <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/p/meet-miss-nelson.html">About Mrs. B</a> page for more info on that!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-72188159416991400212014-10-17T17:07:00.001-05:002014-10-17T17:07:39.378-05:00liebster!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://thirdtimeinthird.blogspot.com/">Kaitlyn at Third Time's A Charm </a>nominated me for a Liebster Award!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">This award is for bloggers who are new to the game and trying to grow their readership! I have to answer the 11 questions from Kaitlyn, and then nominate 11 blogs of my choice that have less than 200 followers!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">1. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Why and how long ago did you start blogging</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? I started this blog twice, actually. Once in 2012 as a project for one of my classes in college, and then I picked it back up again in June of 2013 right before I began my first year of teaching! I started blogging because I'd always gotten such fantastic ideas from the <i>real</i> teachers and wanted to be a part of this beautiful, giant professional learning community!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">2.</span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? <i>Honest.</i> I am secretly terrified that someone I know in real life reads this baby because it is really more like a journal for me.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">3. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Is there something you learned late in your blog journey you wished you knew before</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Hmm... I feel like I am still pretty early in my blog journey... but I wish I'd known that I could pay someone a fairly nominal fee to make it look nice! (: I am also about to start focusing in on learning how to take decent </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">pictures, so that will probably be something I look back and wish I'd known earlier! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">4. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">What is your favorite past time other than blogging</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Ugh, I'm not so awesome at "favorite" questions. My answer is always different... So here are a few of my faves: I coach swimming a couple days a week, which is fun! I like to binge-watch series on Netflix with my main squeeze. I really like to read, but I am one of those obsessive readers (</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i>think like the way you watch a stereotypical 13 year old boy with an xbox... that is me with a good book)</i> so I have to save reading for pleasure for Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer... I want to make exercise a favorite </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">pastime, but I am still working on finding enough time to fit more than walking the dog in!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">5. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Yikes. Maybe like 2? More in the summer, but I haven't reached that point in my career where I have a ton of down time!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">6. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? I totally have to agree with Kaitlyn on this one- I like real-life, nitty-gritty, nobody's-perfect blog posts that share highs and lows so I can feel like it is ok not to be a Pinterest-perfect teacher. However, for quick reads, I also like EASY, healthy recipes and </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">wish list-y kind of posts!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">7.</span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> Where does your blog inspiration come from</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Initially, it came from all of the big names <a href="http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/">Abby Mullins</a>, <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/">Farley</a>, <a href="http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/">Cara Caroll</a>, etc. While I still <i>L.O.V.E</i> to read the hilarious and inspiring things those chickadees write, I am trying to find my own voice and be more inspired by my life and my students!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">8. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Which post that you've written are you most proud of</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Oh man. My most popular posts come from <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2013/07/nailed-it-how-to-interview-like-champ.html">my how to interview series</a>... But I think I'm most proud of <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2014/06/ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.html">this</a> post because I pretty much just let it all hang out and it showed the side of teaching that isn't always so fun.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">9. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have postponing it for a while now</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">?</b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> I have been planning to do more writing about the focus I've put on a healthy lifestyle this year and how I make it work with teaching... but often lesson plans and life are calling <a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/">Five for Friday</a> is a much easier way to brain-dump! #oops</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">10. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">What is your favorite aspect of blogging</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? Um, I swear <a href="http://thirdtimeinthird.blogspot.com/">Kaitlyn</a> literally took the words out of my mouth. I am literally going to quote her, because there is no way to even paraphrase my thoughts better "I find it very cathartic, even writing posts that I might never publish. I feel that I express myself much better in writing than I do verbally, so sometimes typing something out helps me talk about it better with others in person." I am the kind of person that will type out notes on my iPhone before a conversation about a sticky-issue before opening my mouth... I would ALWAYS rather send an e-mail or text than call... Not because I am rude, but because I am much more eloquent when writing! <i>Side note- Kaitlyn, I feel like we may be having one of those blogger Step-Brothers moments...</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">11. </span><strong style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you be most likely to try yourself</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">? I really want to try to make the </span><a href="http://thirdtimeinthird.blogspot.com/2013/08/meal-plan-monday-white-chicken-chilli.html" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">White Chicken Chili</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> recipe... Sounds like a great fall Saturday "cheat meal" (: I am also really excited to get my TPT store up and moving (one day!) with all of your awesome detailed tutorials! I started some this summer, but I am going to do a better job narrowing in next summer!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">My Liebster Nominees:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://charleysclassroom.blogspot.com/">Charley's Classroom</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Courtney @ <a href="http://misscraftyteacher1.blogspot.com/">Miss Crafty Teacher</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mrs. R @ <a href="http://fourthfizz.blogspot.com/">Fourth Grade Fizz</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Krissy @ <a href="http://krissyskindergarten.blogspot.com/">Krissy's Kindergarten</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kristin @ <a href="http://mycarolinaclassroom.blogspot.com/">My Carolina Classroom</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jennifer @ <a href="http://storiesandsongsinsecond.blogspot.com/">Stories and Songs in Second</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jennifer @ <a href="http://www.teachingwithgrace.com/">Teaching With Grace</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sheri @ <a href="http://earlyyearswithsheri.blogspot.com/">The Early Years With Sheri</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://joysofblt.blogspot.com/">Northern Mama from the South</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Paige @ <a href="http://paigesoflearning.blogspot.com/">Paiges of Learning</a></span><br />
Sarah @ <a href="http://runteachsave.blogspot.com/">Run Teach Save</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of y'all are blogs I follow... Some are great Currently finds... and some follow me! Can't wait to learn more about you! (:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">Now that you've been nominated, here are the "official" rules for accepting:</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out."</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">2. Answer the 11 questions given to you (the ones I answered above).</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">3. Nominate 11 blogs of your choice that each have less than 200 followers. Provide them with 11 questions to answer or have them answer the questions above.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">4. Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with a link to your post so that they can accept.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">5. Send your nominator a link to your post so that s/he can learn more about you as well! (You can just put your post link in the comments below!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Y'all have fun! (:</span><br />
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-45900163207890878142014-10-03T19:39:00.000-05:002014-10-03T19:39:36.608-05:00Five for Friday: October?!<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2PxFpwsdwOs/U9qh8FNkMcI/AAAAAAAAY4U/zfWiMmEwpSg/s1600-h/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #f9389a; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 26px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-H7q39ufrQ-o/U9qh-ezPTMI/AAAAAAAAY4c/x1UdVCvmkzk/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="228" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-image: none; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-top-left-radius: 30px; border-top-right-radius: 30px; border: 0px none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; display: inline; padding: 0px 0px 5px; position: relative;" title="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{one}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are you in an end-of-first-six weeks slump? Or maybe almost-end-of-nine-weeks funk? I read this last week when I was feeling a little tired and a <strike>lot</strike> little just... well... OVER IT and it totally turned my mood around. <a href="http://www.firstgradenest.com/2014/09/handling-teacher-stress.html">The post</a> has great tips for teachers specifically, but you could apply it to your life in another profession or your life as a college student. It will also probably make you breathe a sigh of relief to know that you are not the only one feeling like you are under pressure all the time! A few of <a href="http://www.firstgradenest.com/">The Second Grade Nest's</a> suggestions were promises I made to myself this summer so that I could feel more like myself this school year. I planned to leave school at a decent hour, do things <i>other than teaching or crafting for teaching or planning for teaching</i> and pay attention to maintaining a decently healthy lifestyle. It has made SUCH a difference for me this school year. <a href="http://www.firstgradenest.com/2014/09/handling-teacher-stress.html">Scoot over and absorb this post. </a>Maybe read it two or three times if you need!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of healthy lifestyle... have I mentioned that I am really working hard in that department? I am about to do another <a href="https://www.advocare.com/140711233/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=W3171&id=D&flavor=C">10 day Herbal Cleanse</a> and I am super excited! A couple of friends and I are starting on <b>October 13th</b> and you can join us- shoot me an email at losdosfrijoles@gmail.com or click on the link above to order. I mean, for $31.50, you could buy a meal at the Cheesecake Factory... or you could put some focus on your health. Check back in a couple of days for a post with some tips for how to manage the cleanse during school!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{three}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My vice-principal sent out this video this afternoon. Add that to the fact that <i>totally unprompted</i> a student put on her Open House sheet that her favorite part about school is that "our class feels like a family" and I was a puddle this afternoon. Get some tissues and watch. You make a difference. You matter. Don't forget that.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{four}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I need a pencil solution. I hear a lot of good things about a pencil challenge- can someone explain that idea to a sister before I go crazy?! (:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We skipped pumpkin decorating last year, so now I am totally planning to make up for it... Pinterest seriously has the cutest ideas. I was originally thinking something like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH6f8N-MRHIFdkuAIALeAwbmprB26l4LnDzCRS8RpYPxed15knIPixS5RgR3qM2BbRz2Mhrixc45JgqrJ5TAjrGRa49vYqR1zAY0d8MdLzs_kvpnzEohn0V7tpXXLgT-L5FaDsoJDX40/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-03+at+7.35.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH6f8N-MRHIFdkuAIALeAwbmprB26l4LnDzCRS8RpYPxed15knIPixS5RgR3qM2BbRz2Mhrixc45JgqrJ5TAjrGRa49vYqR1zAY0d8MdLzs_kvpnzEohn0V7tpXXLgT-L5FaDsoJDX40/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-03+at+7.35.32+PM.png" height="320" width="235" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But then I saw <a href="http://allthingskatiemarie.blogspot.com/2013/09/60-no-carve-pumpkin-decorating-ideas.html">this post</a> that has some fantastic no-carve ideas compiled! Can't wait to convince B that this adventure is happening tomorrow!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-65183767281224397072014-09-27T18:54:00.000-05:002014-09-27T18:54:00.276-05:00Five for... well, you know...<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2PxFpwsdwOs/U9qh8FNkMcI/AAAAAAAAY4U/zfWiMmEwpSg/s1600-h/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #f9389a; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 26px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-H7q39ufrQ-o/U9qh-ezPTMI/AAAAAAAAY4c/x1UdVCvmkzk/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="228" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-image: none; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-top-left-radius: 30px; border-top-right-radius: 30px; border: 0px none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; display: inline; padding: 0px 0px 5px; position: relative;" title="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{one}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I've been on the <a href="http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/">Bountiful Baskets</a> train, I've been trying really hard not to let produce go bad... so I was devastated when I found two bundles of celery that was like flubber in my fridge. ): But low and behold, did you know you can firm it back up?! <a href="http://themamasgirls.com/how-to-revive-and-regenerate-your-celery-with-one-easy-technique/">Check it out!</a> This is real life. I was so jazzed. I wonder if this works for any other veggies...?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, check out my haul this week below. Everything pictured for <b>15</b> smackeroos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Week <i>FIVE</i> of school is in the books. WHAT?! I am 100% in LOVE my students. They are precious and I am already sad that they won't be mine for more than a year. I am still working on managing my time well and I spend the first three-ish weeks about to go nuts because I did not have a working computer monitor. That meant no BrainPop, no doc cam, no projector, no <a href="https://www.gonoodle.com/home">Go Noodle</a>.... It was alllll song and dance for this tired teacher. I finally found relief and now we are technological wizards up in Room 16!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of technology: I have a couple sweet nuggets in my class that are still having a tough time with letter sound correspondence... I'm talking basic consonant sounds and short vowels... in <b>second grade</b>. While I am <strike>obsessively</strike> casually taking data (#formerspedteacher) <strike>and spending time wondering how they got this far without anyone else documenting their struggle</strike>, I have been using the <a href="http://www.mayersonacademy.org/online-digital-solutions/orton-gillingham-card-deck-app/">Orton-Gillingham app</a> with them while we are building our Daily 5 stamina. The app is <i>FREE </i>and I downloaded it after I attended the LETRS training this summer. I just kinda set them up and let them run it on Friday with very minimal instructions, and my heart was just singing as I walked past the sassiest of my two totally engrossed in the app and heard her proudly repeating each letter, sound, and key word. I think the best part of the app is the video option. After the students touch to hear the name of the letter, the sound, and the key word, they click "video" and it shows the mouth/face of a real person saying all of the things again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKRgA5rFEPjyf2FQJ2OnEtE4lU9dU9a56Gk6wTXBBEn87kBz9CWrlFDIlgguu2yFTThkrS3aNXiXVyRALTYIijkOpYnxuSgO290kRDKbcOVkPJ0IR4Nq2vlU2l5a7HVhyphenhyphen_vQxV2PW1AM/s640/blogger-image-2004495794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKRgA5rFEPjyf2FQJ2OnEtE4lU9dU9a56Gk6wTXBBEn87kBz9CWrlFDIlgguu2yFTThkrS3aNXiXVyRALTYIijkOpYnxuSgO290kRDKbcOVkPJ0IR4Nq2vlU2l5a7HVhyphenhyphen_vQxV2PW1AM/s640/blogger-image-2004495794.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am so darn close to getting Daily 5 up and running. My darlings can Read to Self and Read to Someone like champions. We still need to introduce Listen to Reading (my start up has been a little off of the sister's plan due to the technology snafus early on...). I have been doing some basic intervention and pulling kids here and there, but I am itching to really get my guided reading groups going! Any great suggestions for second grade higher level book study books? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mentioned that we adopted a little (OLD) monster, right? Well, we have been slowly working on getting him adjusted to normal living (aka, not being on da streets)... I left him in the house unsupervised for about 20 minutes yesterday and this is what I came home to:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQT1BlhXzy6JClcSU2mngNgpOfC1pfCYYdUbFEWLzjiuDyoof7UAiZ_XBTWsIwTvxW2a182WOlKqppJ6SMiWgCl1cEQ-KLgWnjhPp-yak32ywsr5XXg_tgA8uwJy1NZr3iWOAxzNmIc4/s640/blogger-image--1600747493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQT1BlhXzy6JClcSU2mngNgpOfC1pfCYYdUbFEWLzjiuDyoof7UAiZ_XBTWsIwTvxW2a182WOlKqppJ6SMiWgCl1cEQ-KLgWnjhPp-yak32ywsr5XXg_tgA8uwJy1NZr3iWOAxzNmIc4/s640/blogger-image--1600747493.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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I love bossy lady watching to make sure he doesn't get off his bed!</div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-85196973014279309232014-09-01T16:32:00.004-05:002014-09-01T16:32:51.091-05:00Currently: September 2014<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2014/08/currently-september-2014.html">Thanks for Farley for the ORIGINAL ;) and always fun link-up!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am happily <b>listening to my husband mow the lawn</b> while I do "inside chores"... lol I am thankful that he is willing to be out in the sun. It is still triple digits most days here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A couple weeks ago, B saw a dog almost get hit by a car out of our window. He went out to check its collar and return the poor guy to his home... and long story short, there was no room at the local rescue, so <b>Walker ("Dubya") is now enjoying living the good life in the Bean house</b>. The vet says that he is an older gentleman who is really malnourished (he gained 4lbs last week though- partay!) but otherwise in decent health for his age... and we just love him!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKOZ9As0LocljMH9Fm7ppNJ7ZdNnFyo6PDCDLwO8qJOXtzUnnTYn5GMvr6INeN2cMCF6NdtJ4wrpP_7Bh0-8fAMl2qMyi8jGGgi9iI3_bb6uXlReS3QRKO9W2845beaPhtzpjD8eQkFs/s1600/DSC_0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKOZ9As0LocljMH9Fm7ppNJ7ZdNnFyo6PDCDLwO8qJOXtzUnnTYn5GMvr6INeN2cMCF6NdtJ4wrpP_7Bh0-8fAMl2qMyi8jGGgi9iI3_bb6uXlReS3QRKO9W2845beaPhtzpjD8eQkFs/s1600/DSC_0038.JPG" height="456" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I adore my new class of sweet 2nd graders! SO sweet and very respectful for the most pat. They also love to learn. I had students asking me for homework on the first day... and then again on the weekend! They are a liiiiitle chatty, though, so I am looking for <b>new ways to arrange their desks</b>- any ideas? We're currently in groups of 4, but I'm open to just about anything!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would love to have a <b>personal chef.</b> I am enjoying the effects of my healthy eating lifestyle (<i>all of my teacher clothes fit again! hallelujah!</i>), but sometimes it is really hard to come home after a long day at school and want to whip up a meal that is nutritious and delicious. Shockingly, those are hard to find in my neck of the woods. Especially on my budget...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After one of my sweeties told me last week that she didn't have a toothbrush at home because they had to wait for her mom to get paid again, I am thinking about this "needing" question in a whole nother light. I do not <b>need anything.</b> Not a darn thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Three trips I would seriously love to take are: <b>(1) Machu Picchu</b> (I've been dying to visit ever since I learned about it in my 8th grade Spanish class!) <b>(2) Euro Trip </b>(I've never been anywhere in that part of the world!) <b>(3) American Landmarks</b> (I lived in Australia when I was little, and you best believe I saw just about every historic and/or amazing national landmark they had... However, my American adventures are lacking! I'd love to visit the Grand Canyon, NYC, Mount Rushmore, D.C.... just to name a few!)</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 941px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 941px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-4912769852102291022014-08-25T05:00:00.000-05:002014-08-25T05:00:09.393-05:00first day of school<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">a wise, wise woman once said:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; line-height: 22px;">āI love the second gradeā¦ Itās so much better than first grade where you donāt know whatās going on, and definitely better than third grade with all the politics and the mind games.ā </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; line-height: 22px;">āPhoebe Buffay</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">happy first day of school, friends! </span><br />
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-22868960300999827652014-08-04T08:00:00.000-05:002014-08-04T08:00:06.775-05:00Monday Made It: August 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9RsqeNVFYSTavtFZsVAQMufNIaHm6I3if3ruNAO6Ez7whTy8CSG_D-RkmOeJKR_AvuPero-7PRXDQIQUwy6TbilcHcFNxoedb37l8NQfFmELY42fJujVw7EvyMXZLl2nP7tSqeTowg7u/s1600/Monday+Made+It+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #943c80; font-size: 22px; line-height: 30px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9RsqeNVFYSTavtFZsVAQMufNIaHm6I3if3ruNAO6Ez7whTy8CSG_D-RkmOeJKR_AvuPero-7PRXDQIQUwy6TbilcHcFNxoedb37l8NQfFmELY42fJujVw7EvyMXZLl2nP7tSqeTowg7u/s1600/Monday+Made+It+1.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; background-image: none !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{one}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ok, so we did not actually <i>make</i> the fence. A kind gentleman who spoke primarily espaƱol did all of the construction (and did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself!), and then quoted us a pretty high number to seal it. Both B & I decided that was a project we could take on ourselves to save some money, so we marched up to Home Depot, purchased materials and weather sealed that bad boy. BY HAND. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...until I realized that a sprayer is less than $20 (and our brushes were like $9 each...) and picked up one of those to use on the second coat. We worked two days + one morning with my darling father and sister on staining/sealing/whatever, and both days it was well over 95 degrees. Probably closer to 105. Brutal. And of course, we did it between like noon and 5pm each day. The whole time, I told B that when we list the house I am FOR SURE insisting that the phrase "hand-sealed fence" be added in. His response every time was a variation of "Um, we'll see when the time comes..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My second project of the week is my teacher planner/organizer/binder. I mentioned in my <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2014/08/currently-august.html">August Currently</a> that I am fighting off mild feelings of panic and overwhelmingness about my classroom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me tell ya what: when I printed out that lesson planner and started filling it up with all of my grand schemes and plans for the sweet nuggets that will waltz into my room and demand that I fill their heads with knowledge (<i>... a girl can dream, right?</i>) I felt better. This is what it's all about y'all. My classroom will come along. It will be reasonably acceptable by the time school starts. BUT my kiddos will have things to learn and do that are super fun and engaging and they will all become a part of our classroom community because I will be intentional about it. That, my friends, is the part that I am truly jazzed about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back to the "MADE IT" part: (<span style="font-size: x-small;">which again, I didn't actually <i>make</i> BUT I did put together!</span>) Check out this cutie planner from <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/A-Modern-Teacher">A Modern Teacher</a>. I am loving it. I downloaded one from her last year, but it just didn't fit my needs as a special education teacher so I rarely used it. Nothing against the planner- it was awesome!* I couldn't find the file from last year to reuse it, and I just loved the new colors and patterns + I wanted the forms that matched so I went ahead and bought this year's version. I put it in a 2" binder (overkill? We'll see...) and I really like the way it looks. I also like the options I have for layout, and I LOVE the small group planning sheets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">*If you are a multi-age/multi-group special ed teacher, I might recommend <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Special-Educators-Everything-Binder-1302760">this guy</a>. I haven't used it, but it would have been a MUST HAVE for next year if I stayed at my last job. It looks like everything I was missing in my life and more.</span></div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-i3FMxkeF7rY%2FU96FMbMO0XI%2FAAAAAAAABVg%2FYuZ240W1fzs%2Fs1600%2FDSC_0028.JPG&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtJrvGtZXMMEds8GfZv4R72NcbCHvqqtFk8glRMQKAKb1fohZyo1c-aFSnih2Nf0Suh3DPHHW5e7zR1XNYUftgGIGeodd65dOQFPlNhlLfNPtVmUG3cS7YdHauFNbLRsPwmst0z5V_wI/s1600/DSC_0028.JPG" -->Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-78265082943757957162014-08-03T13:10:00.000-05:002014-08-03T13:10:29.457-05:00#healthyteacher: Bountiful Baskets<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Y'all, I had the best experience picking up my <a href="http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/">Bountiful Basket</a> last Friday! The whole pick up process ran like a well oiled-machine, and I really think the baskets are going to a) make it easier for me to eat healthier during the school year and b) push my boundaries when it comes to cooking! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I got the "conventional basket", and for $15 it came with:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-6 bananas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">-5 figs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-a large bag of seedless red grapes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-7 limes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-4 large navel oranges</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-8 tomatoes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-1 head of lettuce (cabbage?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-4-5 radishes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-1 clamshell of cherry tomatoes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-1 large avocado</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-2 heads of broccoli</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-1 box of mushrooms</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also ordered a bag of cherry pecan granola (an extra fee, of course, but it came with TWENTY-EIGHT servings), which I immediately began putting into portion control ziplocs because it is SO delicious that I would not be able to stop chowing down if I ate out of the big bag. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apparently there was another someone in the house who enjoyed the process almost as much as I did...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My meal plan for the coming week looks like this to try to accommodate some of the fruits/veggies that I received:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>How do <b>you</b> maintain healthy eating habits during the year?! Let me know!</i></span>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-37517123399252699362014-08-02T08:45:00.001-05:002014-08-02T08:45:18.021-05:00currently: august<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">thanks to <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/">farley</a> for another fun month of <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2014/08/august-currently.html">currently</a>! (:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SERIOUS QUESTION: do we think 2nd graders could handle doing a monthly 'currently' in the classroom?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My ridiculous feline has been <b>running laps around our house</b> all morning. Not sure what has gotten into her, but I can hear her little feet scrambling on the tile as she rounds the kitchen...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am loving that <b>there is Someone with a greater plan than I have</b>. I had all sorts of grand plans to round out my summer and they fell through, but Praise the Lord that happened because I found out that I basically start work in two days! I would have been in major panic mode trying to get home (driving from Florida to Texas!) in time to make that happen! I just have to keep reminding myself to<i> trust trust trust</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All that being said, I am thinking about making lists to calm myself. I will be attending the LETRS training for the next two weeks + New Teacher Orientation, and our school closes at 4pm everyday soooo I pretty much have one full day, and then parts of days during teacher inservice week to finish my classroom and get ready for school to start in there. WOAH. Lots of stuff is done, but I have lots of things left to do, too. I know it will all come together, but sometimes <b>I feel a little panic-y</b>...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...and then I remember what the real deal is. If my classroom isn't Pinterest-worthy, IT'S OK because I will love <b>my students</b> more than I will love a perfectly designed and decorated bulletin board. Seriously cannot wait to meet this group of hooligans! I'm going to honestly say (and maybe step on some toes here... yikes! bear with me!) that right now, at the beginning of a new job and new school and new district and new class and new grade... <i>looking at precious blogs and Pinterest boards kinda stresses me out more</i>. I feel like there is a bar set, a standard for how my room needs to look and function and if I am below the cut, my kids will run screaming from the room and refuse to learn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BUT, what I have to keep reminding myself is that these awesome bloggers/pinners are putting on display the work they are proud of (as well they should!), but there are likely behind the scenes things that they still have to improve on. <b>I'm trying to focus on 1-2 things per day that I am proud of</b>, and then keep adding the extras to the list!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I kinda basically start work <b>this coming Monday</b>... I have a Monday-Thursday training for the next two weeks, plus an orientation on the second Friday, and then teacher inservice week starts. I'm not sure it has hit me yet that my summer is over.......</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 93px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 93px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-42268144680243682482014-08-01T17:57:00.001-05:002014-08-01T17:57:35.329-05:00Five For Friday: AUGUST 1<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2PxFpwsdwOs/U9qh8FNkMcI/AAAAAAAAY4U/zfWiMmEwpSg/s1600-h/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #f9389a; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 26px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-H7q39ufrQ-o/U9qh-ezPTMI/AAAAAAAAY4c/x1UdVCvmkzk/fiveforfriday2_thumb%25255B3%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="228" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-image: none; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-top-left-radius: 30px; border-top-right-radius: 30px; border: 0px none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; display: inline; padding: 0px 0px 5px; position: relative;" title="fiveforfriday2_thumb[3]" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First of all... check out the post title^^^^ <i>AUGUST</i>. What the heck just happened?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{one}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I ended up sadly having to scratch the road trip I was planning on because my darling father got saddled with jury duty. I am quite upset that I won't get to see the sweet friend I'd planned on staying with in Alabama this summer, buttttt: Blessing in disguise, because I found out that <span style="color: blue;">1)</span> I <b>do</b> <strike>have</strike> get to attend a two week literacy training (LETRS, anyone?) STARTING ON MONDAY <span style="color: blue;">2) </span>I was able to start working in my classroom this Monday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{two}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of classroom, my darling father and my sister hauled it down here to help me work in there a little bit. I <i>hate</i> covering bulletin boards. I think it is the worst. But they have a beautiful method so I let them go to town butcher papering all of those bad boys. My crafty little sister also freehanded this mug for me. Is she the stinkin cutest or what?!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{three}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have been doing shockingly well with balance in my diet [not <i>diet</i> as in "only drink cinnamon fire water three times a day with only vegetables and hot dogs to eat"... just my general eating habits]. I've been able to splurge on summer trips a little, but reign it in enough to still have even dropped a couple more pounds past my ending <a href="https://www.advocare.com/140711233/Store/24Wizard/Landing.aspx">24 Day Challenge </a>weight! Woohoo! I am headed down to pick up my <a href="http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/">Bountiful Basket</a> this evening (Click the link if you haven't heard of it- seriously a really cool endeavor, especially if you live in no-man's land like me). It's my first experience, so review to come... but I'm hoping for lots of delicious fruits & veggies that will help keep this healthy train rollin!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">{four}</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200269514654743562/">This recipe</a> for baked french toast is delicious and awful for you... but mostly delicious. I first made it in mass quantities while I was cooking on the middle school mission trip I helped run last week AND THEN I made it yesterday morning for breakfast since my dad and sister were in town and there were actually enough people in the house to eat a full sized recipe AND THEN I cried tears of joy while I ate it with my side of turkey bacon. It's all about portion control, right? Or something like that.... OMG delicious. Still drooling over it a little bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{five}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To quote some of my favorite bloggers and teenage drama queens: <i><span style="font-size: large;">I JUST CAN'T EVEN</span></i>... <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/164229393/monogram-pocket-t-shirt-for-teachers?ref=shop_home_feat_3">this shirt</a>... Perfection I tell ya. I have added it to my not-so-secret wish list for birthday gifts, etc. pinterest board and will likely purchase it even before a holiday opportunity arrives. Check out <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/PandSMonogram?ref=l2-shopheader-name">this precious little etsy store</a> for more!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-30631423439882299982014-07-27T11:58:00.000-05:002014-07-27T11:58:00.830-05:00New NAILED IT Adventure<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjNL-nwQGIrg3m6jft6f-l67mmDwMm7lPw3pd9NlHsWE5qsM7aM8xOAZ-pz50KWW0gVZfNPlQTPYhUU2dadrzEoUvvDjGZfJwRpqOiuwFK1MxQEQTR01Us7rzvQUz-0Xf5nLrfVP3Pzo/s1600/Nailed+It+pic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjNL-nwQGIrg3m6jft6f-l67mmDwMm7lPw3pd9NlHsWE5qsM7aM8xOAZ-pz50KWW0gVZfNPlQTPYhUU2dadrzEoUvvDjGZfJwRpqOiuwFK1MxQEQTR01Us7rzvQUz-0Xf5nLrfVP3Pzo/s320/Nailed+It+pic.JPG" height="320" width="316" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hi, friends! It looks like <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2013/07/nailed-it-part-4-interview-questions.html">interview questions</a> are by far my most read post in the <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/search/label/NAILED%20IT">Nailed It series</a>. I've also gotten a shockingly large number of e-mails regarding my "golden weakness"...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">...so, I'm ready to potentially try something new:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"> <u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Practice Interviews</span></b></u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you are still looking for a job, <b>I AM LOOKING FOR YOU.</b> <u>Contact me ASAP</u> by clicking on the email link at the top of the blog. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'll only have time for a few before the craziness of back-to-school starts, and it will likely be a first-come-first-served kind of set up, but I'd love to try this out with a few of you sweet thangs, <i>fo free</i>. I'm not super intimidating (just ask the people who I've been e-mailing back and forth with for months!) and I reallyreally like to be a helper! Let me KINDLY help you <b>hone</b> your people skills, learn to <b>speak</b> your brilliant thoughts out loud, <b>adjust</b> your answers if need be, and <b>practice</b> answering tough questions with a random stranger in a situation where you won't lose a job opportunity! ;)</span><br />
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-53345768984860035752014-07-21T07:00:00.000-05:002014-07-21T07:00:10.499-05:00Monday Made It: 2<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lBVs-SE5g7bBOr6Y07DxRJsarX4zYX7Pgc2l_iii-nh0Ld_818EipaFkNq1Nnnl7Oiic04vqHu9ojdwVhrnylw4OaxWKfqK4r3eXPj7mflNDN1AgojEGQtt-jA7ks1tQ-8hXaDUAPKys/s1600/Monday+Made+It+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #943c80; font-size: 22px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0px !important; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lBVs-SE5g7bBOr6Y07DxRJsarX4zYX7Pgc2l_iii-nh0Ld_818EipaFkNq1Nnnl7Oiic04vqHu9ojdwVhrnylw4OaxWKfqK4r3eXPj7mflNDN1AgojEGQtt-jA7ks1tQ-8hXaDUAPKys/s200/Monday+Made+It+1.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: initial !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-width: initial !important; border-width: initial; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Am I the only one who is amused by the fact that my <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">second</span> Monday Made It link up is a <u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">TWO</span></u>?!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anywho... I was pinspired by <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200269514654520107/">this pin</a> and then had craft night with some of my darling teacher friends from college. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I haven't decided if it is a "<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-who-totally-nailed-it">Nailed It</a>" (click on the link... This is not to be confused with <a href="http://seebeanteach.blogspot.com/2013/07/nailed-it-how-to-interview-like-champ.html">my surprisingly popular* series</a>) version of the project or not.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But it was {SUPER} easy and maybe will look cute on my classroom door? What should I hang it with?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">*ok, so I'm no Cara Carroll or anything... but if you still need a job, check it out!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-35926071974104901562014-07-18T07:00:00.000-05:002014-07-18T07:00:05.072-05:00Five for Friday: July 18<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This time last week I was on a plane to see some of the sweetest, most hilarious ladies I know. We had a BLAST doing the Warner Brothers tour, going to the beach, cruising around the bay, and seriously just soaking up time with each other. It had been far too long since we'd had a W(h)ine Night!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the rest of the week, I <strike>spent way too much money</strike> enjoyed civilization. Ikea, Target, JCrew, Gap, and Hobby Lobby were just some of the places that viciously stole my money. I did some back to school shopping for my classroom and myself and caught some fabulous sales.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><u>THREE</u></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also had a classroom craft/catch up on life night with another sweet college friend and her precious dog. Check out my Monday Made It on Monday (um, duh) to see some of our projects!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I didn't pay real close attention to what I was eating/drinking on my lil trip, so I gained a teensy bit on weight... Even though it was just a little, I found this to be super frustrating because 1) I just paid to do a "challenge" to help me lose weight and 2) I had all the power and resources to NOT have that happen. However, because I thoroughly enjoyed the after effects of my <a href="https://www.advocare.com/140711233/Store/default.aspx">Advocare</a> adventure (and couldn't find anyone less that an hour and a half away to buy from), I decided to become a distributor. I'm hopping back on product here pretty soon and have also started a <a href="http://www.forblognesssake.com/2014/05/3-weeks-no-cheats.html">Three Weeks, No Cheats</a>. My goals were: no sweets, drinking only water, and exercise 30 minutes a day. So far I've definitely exercised, but I've only been able to check off NO 100% successful days of no sweets (margaritas one day, GF cookies the next). It is soooo hard on not being at home but I am determined!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">the bikes = exercise... not true winner days ):</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><u>FIVE</u></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am mission tripping next week and then going on a road trip to round out my summer. And suggestions for audio books? Driving by myself can be pretty lonely and I'll have LOTS of time to listen!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Happy weekend, friends!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-78665670776590401332014-07-14T14:11:00.000-05:002014-07-14T23:26:16.820-05:00Monday Made It: Class Synergy Board<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Class Synergy Board:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Pinspired by: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200269514654450080/">this</a>, but the link didn't take me to the printable ):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Hundreds Chart from<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/120-Chart-Puzzles-with-or-without-errors-747660"> here</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Cutie Frame on the bottom right from <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frames-Scruffy-Wavy-907948">here</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">{Check back in August to see how I'm really using this bad boy in my classroom!}</span></b></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-65787113210600651142014-07-11T14:02:00.000-05:002014-07-11T14:02:00.619-05:00#healthyteacher<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My official 24-Day Challenge is over! (well- actually my last day was on the 3rd... but I was not about to write up a lil post on the FOURTH of JULY! Or the weekend following... Ain't nobody got time for that.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are my final quantitative stats:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>L-Bs Lost:</b> 8.8</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Total Inches Lost:</b> 16.5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I<b>nches lost around my gut (because "belly" is waaaay too cute a word to describe what I was previously rocking):</b> <u>SEVEN INCHES</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though the weight loss aspect was nice, I was much more excited about the inches coming off. Those numbers are really what directly relate to how well my clothes fit and on day 24, I was squeezing back into my student teaching pants!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I followed the rules of the challenge fairly closely. I would say that I ate dairy products maybe 4x total during the program, and had something off of the complex carbs list an average of 1x day. I ate TONS of veggies (carrots, broccoli, peppers, corn, asparagus, green beans, snap peas, etc.), fresh fruit (mostly apples, bananas, oranges, peaches, pears, blackberries, and raspberries), almond and peanut butter, chicken, ground turkey, shrimp, egg whites, and almonds. A couple of times when I was starving and knew I might cheat, I had veggie sushi (brown rice, avocado, carrots, and cucumber) for lunch from good ol' HEB. When I was craving something sweet (which was actually pretty rare), I usually had an apple or banana with peanut butter, OR a no-sugar added fruit cup.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I honest and truly thought that it was easy to stick with this challenge, even when we ate out a few times... But I also honest and truly know that a huge part of the reason I found it so easy is because I was home most of the time and I could plan my snacks and meals ahead or spend the time to cook whatever I found in the fridge. <b><i>P</i></b><i><b>lanning ahead</b></i> is definitely something I will take into next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, back from my weekend of indulgence and Independence celebrating, I am back on the wagon. I gained about two pounds back over the course of my long weekend of fun, but I know it will not be difficult to shake off. I am not currently on Advocare products (but really only because I ran out and didn't have anyone to order from!), but I am sticking pretty closely to the Max Phase eating plan (because when you break it down, it is just a plan to help you make healthy choices- nothing ridiculous) and intend to do so throughout the rest of the summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...speaking of, my next challenge is going to be eating healthy while I am traveling. I will be flying, mission-tripping AND road-tripping over the course of the next few weeks. Maybe sticking to an 80-20 rule? Here's to hoping!</span><br />
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-66169269780204919302014-07-01T13:06:00.000-05:002014-07-01T13:06:09.816-05:00currently: july<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>it is a summer miracle! i actually have this month's currently up ON THE FIRST! thanks again to <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/">sweet farley</a> for this always fun link-up!</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ok so that first bit was a little fib- I am not rightatthismoment <b>listening to <u>The One and Only.</u> </b>BUT I have been doing so while I run! It is my motivation. I like walking/running with others but I haven't quite found the right buddy for that yet... And I am loving the book and I've told myself that I can only listen to it while I am actually running. As soon as I slow down to walk I pause it. Don't be toooo impressed though, I am only about 20 minutes into the book so far... (:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am super jazzed that <b>our backyard plans are in full swing</b>! We've had tons of people come out to do quotes and measure and make estimates and we're hopefully going to start having this beauty overhauled next week! Can't wait to grill on the patio instead of the driveway for the rest of the summer!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>This summer </b>I am definitely visiting Los Angeles to see some of my favorites from college, doing a pitstop in Austin to see my bestie, and then coming back for a mission trip in a nearby town with my sweet sister. Following that, I'm planning on spending some quality time in Florida with the fam...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...but I'm waiting to find out when I'll </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">be able to </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">get into my new classroom!</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I don't want to wait around this super entertaining place all summer if I can't get in until right before school starts BUT I also don't want to spend a whole extra week away when I could be soothing my stress by easing into setting up my new second home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This new healthy lifestyle business plus having to go back to a job where I wear real teacher clothes (as opposed to the jeans and tee combo of my PPCD/Sped days) means that <b>I need to add a few more basic pieces to my wardrobe. </b>However, there are verrrry slim pickings I the way of shopping in my little city. Think JCP, Marshall's, and Ross as the PRIMARY options within 2 and a half hours. Not bad stores in a pickle, but not awesome if you have some definite pieces in mind. I also just ordered some black linen pants for work. Thoughts on that? I tried them on in the store but needed a "short" size so I had to wait. They are incredibly comfy and look mildly professional... What would dress them up enough for school? So far I've only thought of a tank and cardi combo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I am pumped for the 4th! </b>We are planning on floating down the river and then hopping out for a nap (and probably some much needed hydration) before we head over to see the Eli Young Band at an awesome outdoor venue! In keeping with my healthy-ish choices: any suggestions for yummy and low-cal river drinks?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy July!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-60197136091578233342014-06-27T08:00:00.000-05:002014-06-27T08:00:08.357-05:00Healthy Five Favorites for Friday!I am going to attempt to make this work for all three link ups (it was too hard to pick just one!)<br />
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I haven't been real quiet here about my body being on the struggle bus during the last year. BUT, just in case you didn't know: Something about not being a full time athlete for the first time in 12 years... + driving 90 minutes each day to my first teaching job... + living in a new place with few true healthy choices... + my first year of wedded bliss... did not do pretty things to my waistline over the last year.<br />
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But now that I'm getting ready for a fresh start in August, the pressure is on to fit back into all of my cute professional wardrobe and honestly, just <b>feel good</b>.<br />
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I've been doing the Advocare 24-Day Challenge for the last 18 days. I've definitely stuck to all of the accompanying strict rules/advice, but I've tried to make this thing my own. I want it to be something I can easily carry into the next school year without having to bend over backwards. I've been trying new recipes and meal planning like a fiend, so without further ado...<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">My Five Healthy Favorites for Friday:</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://recipeswelove1.blogspot.com/2011/11/salsa-chicken-crockpot.html">This salsa chicken</a> is a super versatile, easy recipe that we definitely eat at least once a week. I use organic chicken broth (I know, I know... but it IS less than a dollar more than the other AND it has waaay less sodium!), my favorite Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa, and chicken breasts. If we're just doing it for dinner, I only throw in two good sized ones, but I could easily do 3-4 breasts and take it for lunch a few days during the school week. I cook it on low pretty much all day, and my husband knows that whoever gets home first is just supposed to switch the crockpot to "keep warm). I like this meal for US as well, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">because I can eat the chicken over a salad, in whole wheat tortillas, with some avocado... etc. and my main squeeze can load up a big ol' flour tortilla with sour cream and cheese and guac and rice (sigh) and make a burrito. Two happy <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(and skinnier)</span> campers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pins like <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200269514652380258/">this</a> + my extreme hanger + my tendency to lean towards any and all things sweet or fried when I get hungry have inspired me to keep my fridge well stocked with quick, easy snacks. I also like to think to myself when I am perusing the fridge, "Am I <u>actually</u> hungry, or am I thirsty?" I like to drink a glass of water, and then decide. A list of things I currently have: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-cherries</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-pineapple</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-carrots</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-cucumbers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-bell peppers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-hummus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-guacamole</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-string cheese (avoiding until i'm done with the 24 day challenge)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-greek yogurt (avoiding until i'm done with the 24 day challenge)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-left over salsa chicken<span style="text-align: right;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smoothies- these puppies are only $1.50 (which thinking about, is kinda expensive for ONE homemade smoothie... but I'd say the convenience factor is worth it) at our favorite Tejas grocery chain. I can make them for a snack now, but they're also easy to make at night and put in the fridge for breakfast (with some kind of protein to keep a sista full) once school starts back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200269514654524481/">Crockpot buffalo chicken</a> is basically just another easy dinner like the salsa chicken I described above. Tasty, versatile, and SUPER EASY.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Justins-Nut-Butter-Natural-11-5-Ounce/dp/B002ATEZOG/ref=sr_1_3?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1403538747&sr=1-3&keywords=justin%27s+almond+butter">Justin's Almond Butter</a> with bananas, apples, celery... a spoon... OMG so delicious. I have to really attempt to measure out proper serving sizes of this stuff when I eat it or I might just inhale the whole jar. The link above is to Amazon because that's how I have to buy it, but if you live anywhere civilized I'm sure you can buy it at your grocery store.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyone else having a #healthyteacher summer? How's it going? Any good tips? If so, maybe link up with one or two or three of these pretty ladies!</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-15270071676389871052014-06-20T05:00:00.000-05:002014-06-20T10:21:11.166-05:005 for Friday: June 20<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/">love this fun link-up!</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{1}</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week, I got crafty making a care package for a friend who is spending the next 9 months in the big ol' sandbox. It was super fun to make a box to send to a GIRL because I felt like I could anticipate wants and needs a little better. ;)</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{2}</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started teaching swim lessons this week and I'm having a blast being nerdy and incorporating learning to swim and academic skills. For example, I'm having the little nuggets dive for "wishing stones" from the <strike>teacher</strike> Dollar Store. The stones have letters on them and the first one to spell a word wins. Or, they're swimming "perfect strokes" to grab sponges with numbers and then making number sentences. #Parentsloveme, I tell ya what. And thus far, the kiddos have been duped into believing thIs is all just a game! ;)</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{3}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made my sub tub last week. It's got about three days worth of work that a sub can pull and easily guide students through in the event that I couldn't plan on being out. Love this little guy! Year two is looking better already!</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{4}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I knoooooow they recommend that you only weight on days 1, 11, and 24... but when you see nice things, it is <strike>not as traumatic</strike> a lot more fun. Check out my graph for the past 11 days!*</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">*yes, i cut it off a little... maybe i will get brave a share the actual numbers at some point, but just check out that pretty little trend line!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>{5}</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am excited to be visiting LA in a few weeks- any fantastic ideas for what to do?!? We're definitely planning on doing some of the touristy stuff, but would love to do some fun local things as well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">* PS- I am NOT getting any kind of payment to talk about these products (because oddly, no one contacted me to advertise on my blog that gets about 10 page views a day)... I also don't sell them... I am just a wee bit pleased with the results.</span></div>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3372073295172768568.post-65746685766128863912014-06-14T12:47:00.001-05:002014-06-14T12:47:37.086-05:00Sell It Saturday: KISS<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though I am moving into a new phase in my teaching life, I did (and do, and maybe will again!) love my time in special education.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two of my favorite products on my very undeveloped <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/See-Bean-Teach">TPT store</a> are my favorite because they are <b>{not fancy}</b>. When working with students who have more significant needs, I like to remember this lil phrase:</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u>KEEP IT SIMPLE, S...ILLY</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Both of these products you could easily make on your own, I'm sure, but if you slip me just one smackeroo, I can save you at least five minutes!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Matching-Numerals-Words-Dots-1-5-878491" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-J6HjpGuombpWv193xdo6Q8NN1gFdR_PxOALT1mAyWsuWryS8A6kQZyyX78NoIufay2zNOb_yBZxqBwRs7Y4KXPEQgL8mGJS75FaCeavcE2qfxwhMRd5INuUNMyhwCZuNKo9dYHnnWk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-14+at+12.41.37+PM.png" height="182" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Matching-Numerals-Words-Dots-1-5-878491"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">check it out here!</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Clothespin-Match-Number-Cards-870208" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZl71G2To-s_rCsNcynVlG8qpo2ijTrOcm_y2xsKmj3g6UHUTy5W9YxHz8DyFnC3hONzWAbOO3sV-e6WTIScdFGPyAsRBgnumg-du_smGXe8JkO-54dMeGrn7bFJh7sINu5UES9ESgow/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-14+at+12.42.03+PM.png" height="177" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Clothespin-Match-Number-Cards-870208"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">check it out here! </span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They can be used in a special education classroom OR a pre-k/kinder class, and the possibilities for use are pretty much endless. They support differentiated learning opportunities, too, so lots of kiddos at lots of levels could use the same materials at the same time. I listed some ideas on <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Matching-Numerals-Words-Dots-1-5-878491">my TPT product listings</a>, but just off the top of my head you could use either of the printables to make:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">flashcards</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">file folder games</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">matching games for 1-1 correspondence</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">matching games to learn numeral/set correspondence</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">matching games to learn numeral/number word correspondence</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">matching games to learn number word/set correspondence</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">matching with clothespin games</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">laminate and glitter glue them for tactile counting practice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">________________________ <<i>your idea here!</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We also know that with young children and students with significant special needs, using the SAME things when teaching a skills can be really beneficial initially. So, you can use these bad boys over and over again!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alright, I'll get off my soap box and back to working on my Sub Tub! Happy Saturday!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e92145; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="-webkit-box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; background-color: white; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; line-height: 24px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><a href="http://teachinginanutshell.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbbWqia4Lfaw67iXcyDbMyBOCm9bLNTbTYVjpiyp-tX1PcDGEKv6uY_OHV6k6cXtpcM9pDHCr1zQtnD3ZY5hmtlz7k5hrU1DWDPZWcQGg-AmaBbXUpqN3NzfsApQg3Kgv1ixOU3JAmQM/s200/Sell+It+Saturday-01.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; background-image: none !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px !important; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="200" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://teachinginanutshell.blogspot.com/">[<span style="text-align: left;">Thanks for the cute linky,</span><span style="text-align: left;"> Kristin. It's motivating me to get to work!]</span></a></span></td></tr>
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Melissa http://www.blogger.com/profile/15949514396586115264noreply@blogger.com4