Cut Up That Grade Book! {A Teacher Tip!}

I have a quick "teacher tip" to share with you all in bloggy world today! I have learned many teacher tips in my student teaching adventure so far. However, this one I'm about to share was one of those things that made me say, "Oh, duh!!" The "why didn't I think of that?! It's so obvious!" moment. :) It's revelations like this that make me feel like I live in such a small little box...ANYWAYS! Here it is:

Write your student's names in your grade book once on the first page and then CUT OUT THE NAME SECTION ON ALL FUTURE PAGES! Tada! It's such a wonderful thing. No more writing your children's names on every page. No more bulky fold overs. (!!!) Just cute little flaps at the top of each page that say the subject and quarter and a big window for you to see your student's names easily!

I also found out that some record book manufacturers like Creative Teaching Press make record books that make name columns that tear out so you can achieve the same effect. I'm sure that many of you already knew this fabulous trick, but for those of you that don't, can you believe that you didn't think of this?! I know, it seems so simple. I know there are some of you that do all of this on the computer too... and now you officially think i am old school. :) I love technology! I just also need hard copies because for me hard copies = security blanket. I do recycle though, I promise. :)

I hope you're having a wonderful week, this week! 

Beautiful Mess

Hi there blogging friends! Student Teaching is going full force and I'm terribly sad that I feel like I haven't seen most of you in over a week! I have so much blog stalking to catch up on. I might get up early tomorrow morning just to do it. {Gasp!} I can't believe I've found something in my life that runs that close in a competition with sleep. :)

I'm blogging quickly on this Saturday night to let you know an idea that I'm loving during this season of all things student teaching...

Quick background: I am doing A. L.O.T. of planning right now. With all of the unit planning I am doing since coming back from Christmas, I feel like ideas are swimming everywhere in my mind! Not to mention swimming around on sticky notes everywhere, in multiple to do lists, and on phone reminders. They are all something like this: "Oh! that time idea I just saw on Pinterest would be great for my time unit in 5 weeks! or "Oh! that life cycle activity I just saw would be great for 2 days from now! I should add it! {grabs sticky note}"

...I started to get a little down about this earlier this week. I'm a super organized person and I couldn't seem to get my thoughts on planning organized and streamlined. Then it hit me that maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. Great ideas come from all over the place, all the time. My ultimate job is to put all of the great ideas together into something perfect for my kids. THEN! I was so comforted when I saw a statement on a pastor's blog that I read often that totally confirmed my thoughts! This is what he said:

The most beautiful ideas are often the product of an ugly, messy process.

Well, of course they are!! I'm a soon-to-be teacher, this is a reality that I must understand! I'm thinking about it this way: The best plans are going to come out of an ugly, messy process of putting everything together just right. 

Some of the most beautiful creations that our students make are carefully sprinkled with extras and glitter, and they are the creations that are the biggest MESS to make! 

Well, if my plans are going to sparkle and shine, I've got to be okay with getting some glitter on the floor in the process! :)

11 in '11 {Take Two}

If you read my post yesterday, then you will see that I had this great list for this linky party, went to publish it, and it got erased. It's okay, I'm over it now... :) Anyway, I thought that I would take a little bit of time this morning to give it another shot since Blogger seems back to normal over here! All of this to say, thank you Kristin and Hadar for hosting this super fun Linky Party!!

11. Favorite movie you watched: 

My old stand by! I love everything about this movie, every year. "Don't you just love New York in the Fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies, I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..." Ahh just so wonderful. :)

10. Favorite TV series:

Oh! Top Chef Texas! I actually don't watch much TV but My DVR is eagerly set for every Wednesday night. (I start getting excited Wednesday morning!!)

9. Favorite restaurant:

Tsunami, it's a sushi restarurant that you can find in a couple of cities here in SC. It's so wonderful and I went too many times this year! I swear the bank would call and think someone stole my card if I stopped going. :)

8. Favorite new thing you tried:

Being a puppy mom! Let me tell you guys, raising a puppy is no walk in the park. You lose shoes, dish rags, anything and everything. It is truly like having a toddler dropped into your house! I now think everyone should have a puppy before having a child. I don't have kids yet but this has given me a taste into what it will be like. However, I don't think that I will ever have to go stand out in the rain, at night, in the cold, for my kid to poop. I'm sure someday I'll be proved wrong? :)  However, I wouldn't trade Cooper for the world. He is a precious little guy that I don't (usually) mind standing in the rain for, he's the perfect first child.

Don't worry, I'll hang out on the new curtains.

7. Favorite gift you got:

Pre-Christmas: An Otter Box for my phone. {One of best friends gave me this, I thought it would be too bulky, but I needed to trade super cute for practical cute, it's been such a great change!}

Post-Christmas: A new Macbook Pro {I just feel incredibly blessed to have received this from my parents. If I could afford it, I would buy one for every teacher that reads this! You all deserve one of these.}

       

6. Favorite thing you pinned:

Goodness this is hard, as you all know, there is so much wonderfulness in the world of Pinterest. The one pin that has had me thinking and wondering if I'll want to implement in my classroom next year is from Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files! It's a pin linking to her fabulous post about removing her teacher desk from her classroom and using alternative methods. I just love this idea!

5. Favorite blog post:

I'm such a new blogger that I don't know if I have one yet! I guess I will go with my recent Summarizing Strategies Post. I feel like I was finally able to share something useful!

4. Best accomplishment:

Finishing all undergrad classes and beginning student teaching!

Also becoming a puppy mom {Hes still alive! We've made it this far! Hah!}

3. Favorite picture:

Let me describe this picture a little bit. Last January we got A. LOT. of snow in South Carolina. Usually a flurry is a lot of snow in South Carolina, but no no...this was like 5 to 6 inches. This was big deal in these parts. :) Because we don't get much snow I didn't have a sled (or even a good trash can lid) to use. Being the mature adult that I am I was determined to get some friends together and sled. The closest thing that we could find were these pool floats, made of "super heavy duty plastic" right? Wrong. This picture is me landing after the initial run, on a popped, very flat, pool float. (Note the jagged ice in the picture.) But don't worry! Some unsuspecting kids left their sleds outside right where we were sledding. We nicely asked the kids permission grabbed them as soon as they stepped foot inside and had just enough fun. Yep. Future teacher right here.

2. Favorite memory:

My brother getting married! I wasn't there, because he got married overseas in New Zealand on a 2 week leave from his overseas job.  However, I set him and his wife up, so I was super excited when they tied the knot! Long story short, the day I met her through a mutual friend I told her she needed to meet my brother, and a little over a year later they were married. Trust me, I am no match maker, this was a God thing.

I don't know how they feel about making an appearance in blog world so please enjoy this super cute picture taken on their honeymoon. :)

1. Goal for 2012:

I'm sure you all can guess!!

Finishing...

Student Teaching!! 

{Oh yeah, and finding a job, small potatoes right..?} :)

Also, to simply treat others the way I want to be treated. Mostly for me that means even the way I'm thinking about a situation or person on the inside sometimes.

Hope you all enjoy the last few days of 2011! 

Grr! A Little Venting

Well for about two hours today I was thinking of all the creative ways I could tell Blogger and Google how angry I was at them! I had my whole post written out (that took me forever because it was such a personal post) for Hadar and Kristin's 11 in 11 Linky Party. It was completely finished and then I went to publish it. Nothing. I hit publish and nothing happened. Then I hit it again and it "saved" and didn't do anything else. Except it didn't save, it just wanted me to think it did. Then I thought I could outsmart it and maybe schedule my post. Nope, nothing. I went to hit publish to publish the scheduled post and I got an error message. Well, the error message erased my post. And remember how I said it "saved" it? Nope. No where. Gone, all gone.

(No turkey sandwiches, no turkey gravy, no turkey hash, no gallons of turkey soup, gone all gone!) A Christmas Story reference for the others out there who watch the marathon on Christmas!

All of this to say, I had a fun list following the template that the two wonderful ladies provided. But, it's gone and I have to go to a dinner don't have time to type it all back up.  :( So, while my list is gone, I will leave you with my favorite picture from the list I had created. By the way I don't know why I couldn't post 2 hours ago but I can now? Thank you for letting me vent.

C'est la vie, right? :)

My sweet Cooper at 5 months old. Hes over a year now!!

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Thanks again, I feel better already!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Bloggy Friends! I hope you are enjoying the holidays with your family and loving every minute of your break! I'm so thankful for this community of teachers and the joy that it brings every day!

Summarizing Strategies - Freebie!

I've been using some of my wonderful free time this week to catch up on some reading I've been wanting to do. Today I read all about quick summarizing strategies to use in the classroom such as think, pair, share, etc. I've seen most of these in action but decided to begin to shape some of them a bit for my second graders and make them work for me. I'm just getting started but I want to share what I have so far with all of you!

1. First is a "Let's Talk" Poster that includes four questions to use as summary sentence starters:

2. There are also individual cards with each of these sentences starters to use in a large/small group setting. 

3. Lastly, there are individual cards each with thumbs up/thumbs down symbols for the kiddos to circle at the end of a lesson/activity/any other creative way you can think to use them! There are four different options for this card:

{Click on each Picture to Download}

Let me know if you are able to use anything!  Hope you've been able to get all of your shopping done! :)

A Cheesy Idea {Recipe}

I'm taking a quick break from all things teaching because I want to share with you all the easiest Macaroni and Cheese Dish ever! It's really that fabulous, I promise. If you are still struggling with your holiday menu or you can't stand your usual Baked Mac and Cheese recipe (maybe because it never gets done in the center - grr!) then this recipe is for you!

I stumbled upon this recipe about 2 to 3 years ago and it has been such a great find! I've taken it to many potluck events and hardly ever come home with any leftovers. I always have people  compliment me on the dish and ask for the recipe, it really never disappoints! I'm by no means a Rachael Ray so for me to have a recipe that is so easy and so great, I just have to share it with others!

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

8oz of cooked macaroni
1 (12oz) can of evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tsp salt (If you like salt, it's safe to double this!)
1/2 tsp pepper
4oz sour cream
1 cup milk 

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese 

Mix all ingredients except for 1/2 cup of cheese. Pour mixture into a greased crock pot. Put remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Serves 7-10.  (You can double the recipe to serve over 20 people, but you will have to increase the cooking time to 8-10 hours. ) 

Let me know if you try this! I promise you will not be disappointed, it is SO easy! :)