Can't Wait

Big Boy Tomatoes with a hint of yellow....come on September!

Cherry tomatoes picked daily. Little juicy nuggets of sweet deliciousness!

8 bucks for school

It is so easy to start spending money for a classroom and not stop! I at least try to do my spending at garage sales to keep it cheap. I've purchased a few Lincoln Logs before. They are such an EXPENSIVE toy but are high quality and very appealing...to...all ages.






Lincoln logs, roof and accessories, and train tracks in plastic storage tub. Five dollars. (I know, kind of expensive for me...)











Finally, I got these games for classroom (except maybe Cranium) after I talked them down to 5 for 3 dollars.

Woot!


Saturday I know of at least 1 church garage sale...here I come!

Crisp Mornings & Notes from Mom

It's the first day of school.

I remember as a kid somehow always being surprised that the early mornings were suddenly so cool. Obviously I never could get up at the crack of dawn during the summer. It's still tough!



I loved to see what my new teacher's classroom was like and of course what classmates I had.






And nothing could quite compare to new school supplies all neatly packed into my backpack.

Lunch was always loving packed for me. Often with a little 'love ya' note from mom. Thanks mom!









This school year I'm going to try having a school / classroom blog. Check it out and follow me at

More Than the ABC's.

Garden Update + bounty

I'm so glad I was ambitious this year and decided to just go for the larger garden without knowing how I would weed it. It's been tough to keep on top of, especially after elbow accident extraordinaire. With a lot of family help the plants are taller than the weeds. In fact, the majority of the weeds are !gasp! pulled.

Thanks!

Green Bell Peppers

Lots of jalapenos - whew! They're spicy!

oops. a very big zucchini. SO upset when I realized that I missed 'sneak zucchini onto your neighbor's porch' day August 8th.

One of many little pumpkins

Still Anxious

So...sleepy.

I've been teaching for three years and feel like I know what I am doing. *to a certain degree*

I thought that might help but I guess I will still get to play "guess what time you'll wake up" game before the first day of school.

Lesson plans are in progress, the classroom is just a few hours from being ready, the laundry is done, groceries purchased, lists made, emails checked.

I guess I'll just wait for my day to start.

Out with the old...

Starting a new school year means reevaluating how to most effectively use my time without spinning in circles. Often I feel just like this hamster but without any of the exciting-hamster-health benefits of running on a wheel.

Here's some generalities...




Out with collecting assignments only to wait a month, reluctantly give a mediocre grade to, and decide it isn't even worth sending home.

In with giving and collecting purposeful assignments and taking a standards
based grade for!

Out with messy student areas where I don't want to clean it but don't hold the student's responsible.

In with making sure each week a certain amount of time is spent cleaning up,
clearing out, and putting everything away.

Out with file folders or copies laying around months after I need them.

In with refiling, recycling, or storing materials correctly one afternoon a
week.

Out with messy student desks.

(Said with enormous hesitation while holding my breath) In with completely empty
student desks as they rotate to different rooms and store materials elsewhere.

Impossible to throw out the hours spent thinking about work, reviewing work, and working late....sigh.

Rocking the MST

Some youtube awesomeness!!! Someone felt like the Mountain Standard Time zone needed a bit o' music. California....psht!

Days like today make me incredibly glad to live in C-O-L-O-R-A-D-O!