New Years Resolutions and Downtime

So I decided to take a little vacation from doing anything productive.  It has been nice.  I wrote lots of blog posts in my head, and then never published them.  I have had lots of fun reading everyone else's posts though.  There have been some great linky parties, so I am going to do a little catch up.

Okay, I want to link up with two linky parties about resolutions. I always have lots of personal goals.

Personal Resolution and Downtime

My primary personal resolution for this year is to keep working toward balance.  That was my goal for 2012.  I did much better the first half than the second half.  I actually started blogging in Feb. 2012 as part of that effort. 

Source: google.com via April on Pinterest

Balance for me is about making choices that are healthy for me.  I am a very serious individual and tend to be overwhelmed and get tension headaches.  I love yoga.  I find it healthy and a good release of tension. I would like to consistently do yoga 3-4 hours a week.  Eventually, I would like to even do training as a yoga instructor to make a more lasting commitment to make yoga part of my life.

Source: Uploaded by user via April on Pinterest

I really want to start a personal blog to track more of my personal journey toward balance. (It even has a cute name.  I just haven't done anything with it yet. It will be called "Balancing the Backpack.")  I would like to use this blog to track my progress toward making more consistently healthy choices and even track more of my gratitude.  I started my gratitude list in 2012 after reading 1000 Gifts.  I stopped doing it in the second half of 2012 and would like to pick it back up.

I also want to plan a trip to Hawaii for our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Jan. 2, 2013 is our 9 year anniversary.

Blogging Resolution

I think I just want to be more consistent and take better pictures.  I have a nice camera.  I just don't really know how to use it.  I would like to take some photography classes to get a little more familiar with lighting and composition, besides just learning the camera itself better.

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Melissa on Pinterest

Maybe this would help me?

Source: amazon.com via Heather on Pinterest

I would love to more consistently post and comment.  I do consistently read other blogs.

Good Reads

I am linking up with Mrs. Stanford for her Good Reads linky party.  I think I am just as addicted to linky parties as teaching blogs.  They are so much fun! 



Hmmm...what do I plan on reading this summer?  Well, my grandmom always says there should be two books on your nightstand: one for fun and one to learn.

To Learn:
I want to reread some education books I read awhile ago.  Someone told me about Everyday Editing at a workshop, so I bought it.  I only glanced through it.  I never really digested it.  This summer I want to work on creating some good upper elementary grammar practice materials.


Practice with Purpose always gives me ideas when I read through it.

I want to study different periods of American History by how it affected children.  I am starting with the Civil War.  I skimmed both of these 2 summers ago, but this summer I want to really read them.

I have always heard how good the Book Whisperer is, so I would like to read it.

Heather at Heather's Heart has been blogging about Conscious Discipline so I might look into that.
For Fun:

I picked up these two at the library.  They looked interesting.  I always have to keep up with juvenile and young adult novels.

One of these days I would like to get around to reading Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.

My husband will give me a hard time if I don't read these two and keep with the series. 

After skimming everyone's reading choices for the summer via the linky party, I now also have added Mosaic of Thought (which was given to me and I never read).  I am considering Fifty Shades of Grey (I am curious to see what all the controversy is.  Although, some have indicated it is not very well-written, so I may not get very far.)

Let's see if I can read all this in one summer!  I tend to hardly read at all for months and then consume books for awhile. I also am continuously working on 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp and my own gratitude list.  I also am trying to read and study the Bible more.

On a side note, if you are looking for some Reading Resources for your classroom,  I made some common core aligned Reading Graphic Organizers for 3rd grade and 5th grade. I am currently working on 4th grade.

Here is a summer reading log freebie for you.  I made this in case you wanted something simple to send home for accountability, but with minimal copying.

Happy reading!

Laughter as Inspiration and Read Alouds

Weekly Writing Inspiration: Laughter

For the weekly writing inspiration this week, I wanted to focus on laughter and happy thoughts.  I have been keeping my own gratitude list and it has been amazing.  I wrote a post about how my mom gifted me with the joy of laughter at my personal blog for Mother's Day.

To continue the theme, Laura Candler had a happy thoughts journal post recently.  Check it out.  I think using gratitude journals in the classroom would be awesome!  Why not make an end of the year list of all the things to be thankful for?

Poem:  "The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows" by Ken Nesbitt

This is a cute poem that is sure to get your students laughing.  It has about how all of the staff ran out of the school on the last day of school.  This might spark some interesting class discussion.  It might even be fun to write your own funny class poem about how the teachers at your school will act on the last day.

Quote:  "A good laugh is sunshine in the house."

Click on the quote for a printable copy of the quote.

Picture: Laughter at the Beach

Well, I finally am branching out and trying to use Pinterest.  I found this picture on Pinterest and thought it was wildly appropriate for the topic of laughter and summer both.  Have your students consider why is the baby dressed as a shark.  What is making him laugh?  What might the baby be seeing?  How does this picture make the students feel?

Source of the picture

All Time Favorite Read Alouds

I am linking up with Miss Nelson to mention my all time favorite read alouds. I never realized how much older students still love being read to until my 3rd year of teaching. 

It makes sense, though; I firmly believe my love of reading was fostered by my dad reading to me and my grandmother mailing me books.  My mom wouldn't touch a book, but she could drop me off at B Dalton at the mall for hours and I was good to go!

My Favorite Read Alouds:

1) Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

I love this story.  I can't get through it without tearing up, though.

2) No Talking by Andrew Clements

Such a great story.  It is great for when the boys and girls aren't getting along.

3)  Loser by Jerry Spinelli

Zinkoff is one of the best characters I have ever met!

4) Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Check out my post on fun activities to go with this book.

Pictures of the books from Pinterest.

Laughs and blessings,

Summer Bucket List linky party

Hadar from Miss Kindergarten, Teri from A Cupcake for the Teacher, and April from A Modern Teacher are having a Linky Party called My Summer Bucket List.

I love lists so here are some of my goals for the summer:

1) Finish my garage. 

We already cleaned it out and somewhat organized.  My husband is re-sheetrocking some of it and adding an attic ladder.  We are going to prime and paint the walls, and then paint the floors.  Then, we will get a real workbench and storage shelves.  I also want to store all my extra teaching stuff and books in one corner (that currently are split between my office and guest room).

2)  Build up endurance at running. 

I started running like a whole week ago so my dog and I sort of alternate running/walking right now.

3)  Keep going to yoga consistently.

  (Maybe some day I will be able to do Crow.)

4)  Keep reading 1000 Gifts and keep up with my own list of things to be thankful for.

5)  Start actually using Pinterest.

Saw lots of great ideas through the linky party where people found great ideas on Pinterest.

6) Experiment/Research digital scrapbooking.  And put pictures in the empty picture frames.

7)  Research and create products for thematic unit teaching. 

Seems like it would be great with older grades and I haven't seen too many resources out there.  I actually saw a great blog post on Friday about someone using thematic teaching in their classroom, and they had great pictures.  I need to refind it.  (Trying to update my blog list.  It won't add more than 25 and adding them all manually seems annoying.)

8)  Also trying to motivate myself to eat better: more salad, less sugar, no artificial sweetener, less bread and gluten, and less dairy.  Struggling to figure out dinners and how to keep it easy (other than my hsuband's suggestion of only eating frozen dinners because no dishes are involved).

9)  Read great books

10)  Enjoy the sunshine.

Have a bucket full of summer blessings!