Holy Moly So Many Great Posts & Blogs

Last week I stumbled on so many great new blogs and fantastic posts.  I'm so overwhelmed & excited about so many of my new finds!

I wanted to join in on the Clutter-Free Classroom Project, but when I got to school this morning I forgot to take pictures of my room so that I could start in on Week 1.  So I set a reminder in my phone to do it tomorrow morning... :-)  I think it should be a good time.

I also recently stumbled upon Classroom Freebies.  LOVE IT!  Someone always seems to be posting something fun there!  The possibilities are truly endless!

This brings me to a question...how do you all create such awesome freebies & worksheets?  I long to make fun packets for my students.  Also, how can I upload something that I created to my blog?  I only know how to upload photos...I would like to be able to upload documents.  Anyone have a great, easy tutorial that I could watch or read?

Hope you had a great Monday!

Happy Reformation Day! (& Halloween too)

I teach in a Lutheran school...Reformation is big for us. :)

But Halloween is more exciting for the students because it's fun to dress up in costumes.  I used to dislike Halloween a lot and as a teacher I bugged me that it interrupted my day.   Then I figured out that I just needed to embrace it for what it is...a day in which the children are giddy all day. 

Our middle school goes bowling on Halloween.  It's fun.  This year a family has arranged for a limo to pick us up and take us bowling.  Of course it's a 5 minute trip to the bowling alley by car, so we're "cruising" for about 30 minutes before hand and then being dropped off.  We'll bowl and then the limo will bring us back to school.  Talk about a big wasted day.  Oh well.

Here's my costume for this year...WALDO!  My husband got out of bed at 5:30 AM to take this picture for me.  I know he'd rather be sleeping at that hour.  I sure would have preferred that too!

Long weekend...

Why are Mondays after a long break always from the devil? I think my biggest problem is I always thing that I have so much time to get things done and then it's Monday morning and I still have A LOT to do...

I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

I need to be better about prepping for the next week on Thursday & Friday so that Mondays are delight...can Monday's be a delight?

Okay, no more procrastinating, I must go make some copies before my students get back from Pastor's class...

Memory Monday {Linky Party]

Memory Monday:  What are your memories from middle school?

I have a few memories from being in fifth and sixth grade to share. 

Fifth Grade:  This is the first year I remember being allowed to use a pen to write our homework.  We were awarded "Pen"manship Awards which allowed us to complete assignments in blue or black pen.  Once we were given the award our teacher posted it on a bulletin board.  We could lose our privilege to write in pen at any time.  I also remember learning about the federal deficit in fifth grade.  I think the lesson had something to do with place value.  I also remember predicting what the debt would be when we graduated (in 2000).  Though I have no idea what it was when we graduated, or what our prediction as a class was...

Sixth Grade:  This is the year I first read The Egypt Game.  It's also the year my most embarrassing moment in school...I'm afraid to share, so I won't.  In Science in sixth grade we studied rainforests.  I remember building our own rainforest at the end of the hallway.  We constructed trees out of cardboard and paper.  We drew large animals to put in our rainforest.  I wish I had a picture.  It was in sixth grade that we took a field trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. 

Monday Morning Musings--Well it was morning when I started this post...

Last week I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and we only had FOUR days of school! That didn't leave me much hope for this week, but so far so good!

This week we are launching into our study on the Civil War. This unit is one of my favorites to teach.  I love American history! 

Well after a bit of delay on getting the books I needed to teach literature (I always borrow classroom sets from the library.) we've finally begun our first novel.  I have my fifth graders reading Tuck Everlasting and my sixth graders reading Bridge to Terabithia  I haven't read Bridge to Terabithia for a while so it's been fun to re-read it again.

I'm finding myself struggling with creating engaging SmartBoard lessons.  I know that I'm not using it to it's fullest potential.  Must keep working on this!

Well, hopefully this week won't be as hectic as last week.  Though the full moon this morning proved to provide a little bit of crazy in the classroom.  Four more days until the weekend.  :)

Hoppy Monday!

Wow, week 3 already! I'm excited to have a short week this week (I'm leaving early for a wedding in Nebraska!)

I am super excited about the turn-out on my Middle School blog linky party! I know I'm behind in following your blogs, but I've checked them out and will soon be a follower of yours! Thank you for linking up and sharing this blog & those linked up with others!

This week I'm going to start reading Tuck Everlasting with my 5th & 6th graders. I think I'm going to read The Egypt Game with my 7th & 8th graders.

I remember reading it when I was in 6th grade, but my 7th & 8th graders are lower level readers so and I really want to get them excited about reading and not be stressed out about it, so I figured starting smaller was better. I'm excited to get them excited for reading!

I've decided that I AM going to do The Hunger Games with my 7th & 8th graders, but I'm going to wait until after Christmas. This gives me time to continue to find ideas and it will allow us to go see the movie then in the theater.

Hope you're all having a great Monday. Don't forget to hop on over to the other middle school blogs and continue to link up!