Currently....March!

It's March already?!!? Where has the time GONE??
 I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's currently.

Listening: I'm having a lazy Saturday and catching up on some laundry and chores while I relax.

Loving: Spring Break...enough said. My kinders have been bonkers these last few weeks, so the break is definitely needed and appreciated.

Thinking: Every year before Spring Break, our Kindergarten grade level goes on their field trip. This year is no exception, but I have SO much left to do.

Wanting: I would like to take a quick road trip over spring break to relax a little. Nothing fancy, just some good ole' fashion fun.

Needing: My new years resolution was to work out and start eating healthier. Well, I started off really well, but I've since slacked. I'm trying to get it right, get it tight for summer vacation!

????????: Can you guess what my secret question is?

Have fun linking up and don't forget the rule of 3!
Happy Blogging!

Currently-January

It's hard to believe that 2013 is over and we're starting a new year! I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's currently.

*ignore the quality of the picture. I have a new MacBook and I haven't installed MS Office yet*

Listening: It's 8:00am here in Texas and the only sound I hear is my ceiling fan. I love it. Nice and quiet.

Loving: Pretty self explanatory. I'm just loving life in general and i'm grateful to see a new year.

Thinking: The women in my family are taking a short road trip this weekend to end our holiday break. Excited!

Wanting: Yeah, I know. I've been off for 2 weeks, but I could still use a few more days. We go right back to kids on January 6th. No PD days for us.

Needing: Yep! I need to get started on lesson plans and activity prep. Another reason why I want a few more days off.

Tradition: Each year, I host Christmas at my home for my family. We play a game that requires each participant to choose a holiday song from a cup and sing it a certain way. For instance, this years winner had to "rap" 'Silent Night'. We choose different styles for each song (opera, rap, humming, beat box) and hilarity ensues!

So that's my currently for now! I'm going to get a few more minutes of rest in before I get up and start moving around.

I hope that every one has a safe and happy new year and I can't wait to see what the new year brings for each and everyone of us!

~Nicole

Love For Sandy Hook

As educators, we remember and honor our fallen colleagues and their students from Sandy Hook School.  We honor them each day in our classrooms in which we continue their dream of teaching our children.  We honor their memory with our service.  Join with teachers everywhere in committing random acts of kindness to show our love for Sandy Hook.

Five for Frid.....er...Saturday!

This is my first time linking up with DoodleBugs Teaching for the Friday linky....and I'm already a day late!

I'll just jump right into it:

Our Elf on the Shelf made his appearance this week! The kinders decided to name him Jaden. I have NO idea how they came up with that name!

Grades, grades, grades! Our progress report grades were due this week, so all of the teachers were knee deep in testing and grades. Then our entire network slowed down, so we were given an extension until Sunday afternoon. I stayed up until 11pm last night to get mine finished.

This week, we did a review of 2D shapes and talked about where we would see shapes in real life. We then created a wreath using circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares.

We also did a review of story elements and used the story Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! by Mo Willems.

I know that Hanukkah has come and gone, but our district timelines had Kwanzaa and Hanukkah scheduled for this week. This book is wonderful! It follows the tune of the "12 Days of Christmas" and it kept my students engaged. We read it about 3 times this week and by the time we finished they were able to remember what came next.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Currently September!

I am one TIRED teacher!
School started for us on Aug. 26...and what a week it was! However, I have a class full of super sweet kindergarteners and I couldn't be happier!
I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's currently.

 

 

Here's my currently:

 

1. I've been wanting to see the movie version of "Les Miserables" for a while. It's on HBO for the next few days, so I'm glad I was able to see it. I had NO idea the actors did all of their singing LIVE while filming. Crazy talented group of actors/actresses!
2. Labor Day! Granted we've only been in  school a week, this day was still much needed. Rest shall occur today.
3. One of my goals for this school year was to plan and prep before I left for the weekend on Friday's, even if it meant staying late a few days during the week. I would rather enjoy my weekend to the fullest, than work on lesson plans and activities.
4. & 5. I am wanting and needing absolutely NOTHING! I am truly in a happy place.

**Edit: I do want something. I want our reg. ed kindergarten class numbers to go up. Yes, you read right..UP. We are currently sitting at 16-18 students per class (5 classes). However, our first grade team is sitting at 24-26. If our numbers stay low, we'll lose a kinder teacher and have to split their class. I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE A TEAMMATE!!!!! And while I'm on my soapbox, our first grade team has been whining that they're sitting at 24+ kids since the 2nd day of school. Guess what?!? Our kindergarten team sat at those numbers for over 9 weeks last year. We didn't get relief until a week before THANKSGIVING! We just did what we had to do and made it work until help could arrive. I really want to tell our first grade team to suck it up and deal with it...but that would be rude. :-/ That group of students is just extremely large and they will continue to be if they stay at our school until 4th grade.
Stepping off my soapbox now**

Love myself: I want to be able to leave work at work this year. I did an ok job of it last year, but when I decided to take on the role as Co-Lead for my team, the work just seemed to pile on. I expected that much. So, I'm going to make sure I prep and plan for the upcoming week ahead of time so that I can enjoy my weekends and rest.
I did a really good job during the year with eating healthy and exercising. Then, Summer happened. I just want to get back into the groove of exercising regularly and eating right.

Well, that's it for my currently! How about you?
Happy Blogging!

Teacher Week 2013--Meet the Teacher!

It's officially "Teacher Week" in the blogging world! I'm linking up with BlogHoppin to participate.

Here are 10 things about me:

1. I'm an only child. But, I have a TON of cousins and a very close knit family.
2. My favorite color is purple!
3. I am entering my 6th year of teaching! I can't believe it's been 6 years...time has really flown by. I've been at the same school for the last 6 years. I actually did my observations and student teaching at the same school, so technically, I've been there 7 years.
4. I'm a book nerd! If it has words, then I'm reading it.
5. I enjoy taking road trips. Locally. If I can get there in less than 6 hours, then it's for me. This summer I traveled to New Orleans for "EssenceFest", Galveston, New Braunsfels, San Marcos, and a few other places.
6. I can play the piano. I began taking lessons at the young age of 8. I used to play for a church service, but once I started college, it had to take a back seat. I'll still tickle the ivories every now and then.
7. This is my 3rd year teaching Kindergarten. I love this age! The growth that I see from August to May is absolutely amazing!
8. If I hadn't become a teacher, I would have become a pediatric nurse. Anything that has to do with children.
9. My favorite book is "The Coldest Winter Ever". I could read it day in and day out. Some days I have done just that!
10. I love music! I could spend an entire day (and night) listening to music. Some of my fav's are pictured below. However, Whitney Houston is my absolute FAVORITE!
      
    

So, those are a few facts about me!

Here's a description of what topics we'll be posting about during Teacher Week:

 Be sure to link up over at BlogHoppin if you plan to particiapte!

Happy Blogging!

Erin Condren Planner is Here and a New Blog Design

It's here!!!!!!!!

My Erin Condren "Teacher Planner" has arrived!

It's so pretty!

I'd heard a lot about the Erin Condren planners. Many teachers used them in their day to day school life to write lesson plans, keep up with meetings, dates, etc.
I started looking into these planners last year, but I couldn't justify spending such a large amount of money on a planner. Especially since I hardly ever used them.
Then...I was named "Co-lead" of my team.
I knew with the various meetings that we have monthly (1 leadership meeting per month, 2 staff meetings per month), I would need something to help me keep up.
Enter ErinCondren.com.
I went online, found the perfect planner (for me) and ordered.

Pretty Packaging

Even though my district requires us to submit our lesson plans online, my teammates and I must meet once a week to discuss our upcoming TEKS (common core standards) and plan our lessons for the upcoming week. More than likely, I'll end up writing my upcoming plans down before I submit them online. In the previous years, I've procrastinated up until the very last minute. Our lesson plans are due at the beginning of each week by 8:00am. I would literally be submitting my plans at 7:59am.

Sad, I know.

So my #1 goal this year is to have my lesson plans submitted before I leave the campus on Friday afternoons.

Here are some more pics....

She added a few "samples" of her other products to my package.

Great customer service!

Front Cover

(My name is blacked out to protect my identity. From what...I don't know)

I'm excited to use my planner! I'll be sure to update the great features of this planner as I use it throughout the year.

Finally......I have a new blog design! I decided to keep my blog super simple! The colors in my old template were starting to give me a headache, so I decided to tone it down a bit.

That's it for now. My district returns for staff development next Wednesday, so I'm going to try to milk the last of my vacation days for all it's worth!!

Happy Blogging!