My Top 9 Books of 2015

Happy New Year's Eve friends! I hope you are getting ready for lots of fun festivities later today. I'm ready for our annual bonfire to ring in the New Year, but first I wanted to take a look back at 2015. It has been a whirlwind of a year with many ups and downs, but the constant I have always had throughout my year is my reading habit. I wanted to cap off the year by sharing the ones I thought were the best...

My Young Adult Favorites:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
The Heir by Kiera Cass
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I've got to say I became so wrapped up in these four stories above that I finished them all in a day or two! Also, might I dare say that I loved Just One Day more than If I Stay, but that's just my thoughts!

Children's Literature Favorites:
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Well by Chris Colfer

As a teacher I've always felt that reading what my kiddos read is important and sometimes I find myself lost in these stories just as much! I've always heard amazing things about Echo and Fish in a Tree, but The Land of Stories as a complete surprise. Of course, being a Disney fan it was a meant for me book and I'm excited to dig into the rest of the series!

Randoms that I Loved:
Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess
November 9 by Colleen Hoover

I always read a professional development book or two throughout the summer months to refresh my teacher batteries and Teach Like a Pirate does not disappoint! I'm always a sucker for a good Colleen Hoover book, she's my go to favorite adult author and she never lets me down!

I hope you can pick up a book or two throughout the upcoming year and escape from reality for just a little while! Happy New Year's Eve friends!

~Holiday Favorites~

Kicking off my last week before the Holiday break with a fun Holiday favorites linky party from Southern Fried Teaching!

Check out my list below of my Holiday favorites and then join in the fun too!

1. Favorite Holiday Song: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, it's a classic!

2. Favorite Holiday Guilty Pleasure Food: Recently it has been a drink, the Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte- I can't get enough.

3. Favorite Holiday Tradition: Decorating the Christmas tree, even if I did have a tree fall on me one year when I was nine. What did my mom do? Yell- "Timbbbbber"- It's a great Christmas memory, now!

4. Favorite Holiday Book: When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke

5. Favorite Act of Kindness: Buying toys for students in need at my school.

6. Favorite Holiday Memory: This past year my Granny passed away, it has been our family tradition to enjoy a Christmas breakfast together. One of those years, I stayed the night before with my grandparents and thinking of my Granny in the kitchen is a memory I will always treasure, but this Christmas morning together was more special than most. What made that morning even better? My Papa joined us in the Christmas breakfast making. I even have a picture of him sporting an apron!

7. Favorite Holiday Christmas Gift: Tiffany Heart Bracelet- it has stood the test of time. However, this year's gift could always top it!

8. Favorite Holiday Craft: I've only done this one once. I am hoping to get to do this again with my kiddos this year and that is creating snow globes with the writing prompt, "If I were stuck in a snow globe..."

9. Favorite Holiday Movie: The Santa Clause with Tim Allen

10. Favorite Place to Shop for Holiday Gifts: Etsy, I love finding unique gifts for people!

11. What I Want Santa to Bring Me: A healthy baby boy in May!

12. Favorite Product: My Homework Reading Response Sheets, I use them every week with my kiddos. The sheets allow me to check up on their reading and I get to see how they are doing with their understanding of their book!

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday break!

December Currently

Hey y'all! Can y'all believe we are already in December? Whew, time flies when you are having fun! Such a true saying. I'm joining Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for her Currently December linky pary! Here is what is going on in my neck of the woods.

The morning news is my daily jam, on school mornings at least. I'm loving all the Christmas Decorations I'm seeing around Instagram and Pinterest, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year! I know I'm probably not the only teacher experiencing this, but I left everything at school over the Thanksgiving break and am now feeling overwhelmed with all the grading I need to catch up on! Leaving it behind was absolutely worth it, but I'm needing more time to get everything accomplished! I'm wanting cold weather to arrive here in sunny Florida, I'm ready for sweaters and boots! Wishing everyone a December to Remember!

5 for Friday: Thankful

Hello Friends! I hope all is well with y'all. Life for me has been crazy, but I'm sure you have experienced some of the same. It's crazy how busy we can get, but I am looking forward to a Thanksgiving mini-break and wanted to celebrate with joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Friday linky! I've truly missed joining up for 5 for Friday, so we do have some catching up to do!

In the weeks that I disappeared, my fifth graders read, discussed, and dissected Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting. I've taught this book for several years now and never before have I experienced a discussion as I did this year. Why? The Making Meaning program. It's taught me to be a facilitator for my kiddos and wow the power it is in doing this. When talking about Winnie's decision, one of my kiddos asked, "What if she's not really dead and she just put a gravestone in the cemetery, but really she drank the water and disappeared?" WHAT?! I would have never thought about it in this light. If you are not utilizing, the power of turn and talk to your partner...START!

The reading community we created this year in our classroom is awe-inspiring to not only me, but others as well! We received this note from an amazing administrator who stepped in so I could go learn from my fellow teachers. This note is proudly hanging on my white board and I'm not sure it will get moved any this year!

The theme in our room this November has been gratitude. The kiddos right in their gratitude booklets each about a different topic. We also use them to start our daily discussion before jumping into reading.

Side note from the teaching world, if you are looking for a good contemporary read this Thanksgiving break I highly recommend Colleen Hoover's new book November 9. I read the book in two days DURING the school week and it had all the feels and chills!

As we are entering the week of Thanksgiving, I'm most thankful that this Florida weather is starting to get a little cooler. I actually got to wear a scarf today! Oh and a Starbucks holiday drink!

Wishing you all the best during this Thanksgiving week! Cherish the time you have with family and friends! And enjoy a little turkey, too!

Five For Friday: Oh My!

I say oh my because it's crazy that we are already at October. I'm finished with my first semester of the year! What?! So crazy how time flies when you are having fun. I know I'm not the only teacher out there with this feeling...

First, let's talk about the amazingness of my new blog design. I'm so thankful to Lindsey at L.Paull Designs for All for creating the design and working with me throughout the process! My little blogging heart is happy to now see cuteness all over my page. I recommend her for any and everyone!

Let's talk about this week and our focus in the classroom. I have two programs that I work with at my school that are both workshop style. The first is our reading program, Making Meaning. I love that this program not only focuses on a reading skill, but a social skill too. This week our reading skill focus has been working on asking questions as we read the text to deepen our thinking. The social skill focus was on building upon each other's thinking and I introduced discussion prompts, such as "I agree/disagree with _______ because ________." We started out small by discussing with our partner and then built into a large classroom discussion. The discussion we had at the end of the week was BEYOND amazing and I was so thrilled I told my kiddos I was honored to even be in the room! They were so respectful to one another and cleared each others thinking if confused that I just had to sit back, watch, and facilitate when needed (which was rarely). Below you will find questions my kiddos used for their big class discussion.

The second program that I work with is Being a Writer. This week we started our Personal Narrative unit, using Jerry Spinelli's book "Knots in My Yo-Yo String to learn how author's use sensory details in their narrative.

I will say with both of these programs, I am finding myself using rubrics ALOT. They are essentially how I get any and all of my grades. I use rubrics for anything from our Independent Reading and Writing time to journal entries to conferences. As a teacher who use to rely on test assessment grades this has been an adjustment, but I'm finding that I like the change. I feel like I'm getting a chance to praise the process as well as the result.

I love ending the week by reflecting on the positive, good things that happened throughout the week. This is one of my favorites from the week, a sweet kiddo brought me this Belle princess figurine that will have a permanent placement on my desk! She knows the way to my Disney heart. Celebrate your positives with us this week by joining the linky over at Doodle Bugs Teaching!

October Currently!

I very much look forward to connecting with Farley at Oh Boy, Fourth Grade! at the first of the month for her currently linky! The beginning of the month is such a great time to reflect and think about this crazy teacher life we have! Is anyone else feeling as shocked as I am about the 1st nine weeks being almost over?1 Time flies when you are having fun!

I think it's been such a great start to my year with the change to a new school. My partners are amazing and I'm so thankful God placed me where I am! Of course, this month's currently is everything Fall! I'm thinking a trip to Bath & Body Works may happen today so I can get those fall aromas in my house. I'd love to add a few wardrobe pieces to my collection, while I'm out and about too. What girl wouldn't? Especially boots! However it's not quite that cold here in Florida just yet. All things fall are boo-tiful to me and I look forward to this season every year. I'm looking forward to pumpkin patches, boots, sweaters, and coffee! Hope y'all have a great fall! And link up to the party!

5 for Friday! 9/25/2015

Where have all the Fridays gone? I've missed posting every Friday, but am truly trying to find a way to juggle everything and keep my social game strong. Ha! School life has kept me very busy and on my toes, but here goes...

Three Words: Fish in a Tree. Need I say more? Yes for those of you who haven't read it yet...put it at the top of your list. It's THAT good. It will inspire you, move you, and make you want to be a better you! I aspire to be like Hunt's Mr. Daniels one day.

It may have taken me five weeks, but I have finally been able to get my "focus wall" somewhat situated! I've got my purpose posted for each of my programs, Being a Writer and Making Meaning with an anchor chart on the side to work out our thinking.

This was my first year celebrating National Talk Like a Pirate Day and I'm never skipping it again. The kids absolutely enjoyed this day and had a blast! They were very surprised to walk in and see their teacher dressed as a pirate. We even spent time scouring the Internet to learn more about pirates!

My absolute favorite highlight of the week was writing this note in a Harry Potter book I gave to a student. We talked during Open House about what he may like and I suggested on my favorite Harry Potter. Well he stayed absolutely enthused during the reading of the book and is now hooked! My little teacher heart is beyond happy knowing all the adventures he has ahead of him!

On this Friday I leave you with this final thought as you finish one week and look forward to the week ahead. The following is a quote from "Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding Engagement" by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis:
"We know that readers get better at reading when they choose books they can and want to read."
Let your students READ and watch them GROW!

September Currently

Joining Farley's September Currently a little late, but it's better than never, right?!

I'm listening to the raindrops on the roof, which makes for a calming Labor Day holiday! I'm loving Lynda Hunt's "Fish in a Tree". This is a must read for all educators. I hope to be like Mr. Daniels when I grow up one day! I'm thinking I should probably start working on some lesson planning, but this rainy weather makes me want to take a nap. I'm wanting my house to be magically decorated for the fall. I've never been big on decorations (yes, sometimes even Christmas), but I'm feeling festive this year! I'm needing to get my classroom bulletin boards done. I have the fabric and border put up, but that's it and we are going on the fourth week of school, yikes! My goals this month are: (1) Finally get started on some grading, (2)Blog Weekly, and (3) Read 5 books this month.
I hope you'll join in the linky fun over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade!

Classroom Reveal: EEEK!!!

I'm going to be completely honest and say, this will be all about the pictures because I'm #teachertired on this Tuesday night!

Here are the before pics:

Okay, so maybe these pictures have an added sister or two, but you get the general idea of what I started with. Here's my work in progress, but ready for students classroom below...

This is by far my absolute favorite spot in my classroom. Repainting these shelves this summer was not an easy task, but well worth the hard work!

I say my room is still a work in progress because there are little things I am still working on finalizing like job charts, my focus wall, bulletin boards, lunch choice boards, and oh so more. Maybe by Thanksgiving I will have it all figured out and done! Ha. I hope you join in the linky fun because together we are better!