Five for Friday for 4/26

I really look forward to joining up with Five for Friday every week now, it's such a nice way to process all of the wild and crazy things that happened to me during the week!  Thanks Doodle Bug Teaching for giving me this fun opportunity!

1. I SUBMITTED MY NATIONAL BOARD PORTFOLIO!!!!!!!!!  I know that the weekly updates have maybe not been the most fascinating part of my blog posts, but it has been very motivating to me to post for all of you to see where I'm at.  So the portfolio is 100% submitted.  I have my 3-hour test on May 24th so I've just got some studying left for that...

2. The great divvy!  How do you all figure out how to send students up to the next grade?  We just sat as the kindergarten team and hashed out our first draft of the class make ups for next year.  It is such a delicate balance of students' academic abilities, behavior challenges, students with IEPs, students who need high levels of intervention, English Language Learners, boys and girls, making sure everyone has a friend with them.  We all just sat in front of a Google Doc and moved kids names around until we felt like the lists were as balanced as possible.  Since I will be going up to first grade (in 2 of the classes), it was fun to see what my new classes will look like.  I'm always curious though, how you make your lists!  Please comment and share.

3. Sunshine!  You can take the girl out of New England, but you can't take the New England out of the girl!  I am so used to brutally cold winters and unbearably sweaty summers and that makes me most appreciative of the LA sunshine.  My sister and I went swimming last weekend and I definitely plan on doing the same this weekend.  We have this perfect, beautiful sunshine with no clouds that just warms you from the inside and makes you feel so cozy.

4. On that note...I spent a lot of time planting this week.  I have a mixture of flowers, herbs, and filler plants.  You can see a lot of basil, mint, rosemary, parsley, and thyme (my favorite fresh spices to use).  I'm also trying to grow tomatoes again (this is a yearly fight with the sun on my patio that I usually lose).  Then I just have some perky flowers that make me smile when I get home.  Everyday, I come home, cuddle with my little Harper in an oversized armchair staring at this beautiful scene.  I have had a black thumb my whole life so to be fairly productive in my garden now is a big accomplishment.  (Maybe that's because I used to garden in New England and now I'm doing it in LA...maybe?)

5. My coteacher and I posted a new Donors Choose project - it is very similar to one that I posted in conjunction with a different coteacher earlier in the year, but I'm still excited.  It's a listening center for my other kindergarten classroom and now that I wrote it up, I cannot wait to get these new books and all of the technology to back it up.  I'll link it up after it gets approved in case you're interested in donating :)

Have a great last week of April!!!!

Adie

Five for Friday - April 5

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for my first (of many?) Five for Friday Linky Party!  This week I have been on Spring Break so it's certainly not a typical week, but I'll be back to work very soon.

1. Tomorrow we are celebrating my grandparent's 60th anniversary with a huge family party with people from Oregon, Florida, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tel Aviv, and Maryland! I've been in town all week with my extended family and although we are not a large family, it sure feels wild and crazy when we're all crashing at my grandparents house.  We've been gearing up for this party for months so we're all very excited that the day has finally come!

2. I created a Teacher's Notebook store!  I've had a Teachers Pay Teachers store for months and I love sharing my products with teachers around the country so I figured another outlet for sharing would be doubly fun!  I don't have many products up yet, I'll be working on loading some of my favorites in over the next few days.  Please share comments about what you'd love to see me add to either store and I'll jump on it!

3. I FINISHED!!!!  Well, kind of.  I finished writing up my last reflection for my last entry for my National Board Certification! I still have to edit and upload and submit and study for the test, but it feels like a big accomplishment nonetheless.  It has been a very long road so this feels like something worth celebrating.

4. Gearing up! I've spent quite a bit of time on this vacation just relaxing, but I got my head back in the game over the last few days and prepared assignments, worked on an IEP, e-mailed some parents, and just started mentally preparing for being back.  I'm sure Monday morning will still be a shock to the system, but a good one, of course!

5. SKUNKED! My sweet little boy, Harper, decided to make friends with a skunk visiting the backyard and he got sprayed.  This little rescue dog of mine gets startled very easily and this all happened while he was staying with friends of mine who proceeded to wash him repeatedly so I'm expecting to come home from my trip to a very sad little man.  I'm hoping he will be recovered by the time I get back to LA!

That's it for me...what a busy week! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to this week.

Adie