My first Currently Linky!

Although one of my favorite linky parties to read about is the Currently Linky hosted by Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade, I have never participated.  I am so happy to be joining the crew.  All of you veteran Currently bloggers, let me know what you think!  I'm excited to join you.

So I'm listening to Pandora in my new car whenever I can!  I got a CR-V this week and it syncs up with the Pandora on my phone and that is just the coolest feature I think a car could ever come up with. I am loving many other aspects of my new car, but Pandora gets an extra smile from me!

I'm absolutely, without a doubt, 100%, completely loving this summer vacation.  This year was much harder than other years have been and I grew a lot as a professional this year, but it also makes me really appreciate some time for myself.  I have spent time with family, caught up with friends, planned lots of fun activities, cleaned through my condo to make some donations, cooked interesting food, snuggled with my pup, and rested!  I am trying to stay balanced and get a little work done, but I am so much enjoying this time for me.  There is a lot to love right now.

I am thinking about all of the wonderful, relaxing things yet to come this summer (a trip to the Bahamas!!) and also keeping one foot firmly planted in my summer school students and their needs and my eyes looking toward next year and how I can prepare.  I'm trying not to overdo anything this summer so I've been keeping lists (me...lists...no way!) to make sure that when summer ends, I am happy and well rested and well prepared for next year.

Because I have a tendency to focus on doing the necessary things now and relaxing later, I am wanting to make sure I make time for those wonderful activities that make me balanced and happy.  Spending time with friends, eating good food, doing new activities, resting, quilting, baking, all of those things that bring me to my zen place need to find their place in my to-do list for next year!

Are you seeing a theme here?  I need to make sure I stick to my promises to myself about relaxing!!

So my tips for getting that done?  A little bit of work and a little bit of fun every day!  It may be a little less adventurous when I plan out my fun time into a to-do list, but it makes sure that I am giving myself what I need and giving my future students what they need.  3 weeks in and I think it's been working really well so far.

What are you currently up to my fellow bloggers?

Adie

Next Year Linky

What?  Next year?  Already?  Yup!!!  I'm linking up with Kim at Finding JOY in 6th Grade to set some goals for next year (that I hope you'll all hold me to)!  We are done with school on Friday so it seems more than appropriate timing for me.  When are you done?

The wonderful paraprofessionals that I work with take lots of data and collect work samples to supplement the time that I spend with students.  This is invaluable because I have four rooms and I bounce between them and inevitably, something exciting happens when I'm not there.  The data helps drive instruction and track progress toward IEP goals, but when I get in the room the first thing I want to do is spend time with the kids.  I need to get better at checking the data binder first!  I just get so excited about seeing where my little ones are and marveling at the progress they are making!!

At my K-8 school, we have some wonderful opportunities for big kids and little kids to connect and build relationships.  We have had a couple of kindergarten students who need help on the play yard - finding things to keep them busy, figuring out how to interact with their peers, solving little scuffles, etc.  We recruited some "big buddies" to hang out with groups of kindergarten students and help with those challenges, but having a more formal program next year would be fabulous!  The upper grade students (6-8th) have the same lunch time as the little ones (K-1st) so it works out well.  It makes lunch time so wonderful for kids who would struggle otherwise, so I want to make sure we have a great program next year!

Great things happen every day and I want to share them with you but I keep coming to the problem that there are no pictures to show you.  My cell phone is permanently attached to me so I just need to get better at taking those pictures to show you!

And then I'll be able to blog more examples of how I teach students with a variety of disabilities with my many diverse students who don't have disabilities.  I appreciate the supportive comments you've all given me, and it just makes me want to show you more!

What are you going to do next year??

Adie

Budding Blog Linky Party

A Linky Party for Budding Bloggers? That sounds perfect for me! I can't believe I've been blogging nearly 2 months now. I have enjoyed it so much, I can't wait to connect with more amazing bloggers and make myself a better teacher!  So I'm linking up with Jess over at I {heart} Recess for her Budding Blog Linky Party!

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because my friend and colleague, Vanessa from Kindergarten Schmindergarten, kept raving about it and about the amazing people she was connecting with through their blogs.  I started two months ago when I had some time (thank you, spring break!) and I haven't looked back since.  I love it!

2. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?

I have a general education and a special education credential, but I LOVE being a special education teacher.  I have the opportunity to collaborate with some amazing general education teachers to figure out how to help all of our students access the curriculum.  For some students, this means providing them with some accommodations, but for other students this can be a complex puzzle with no easy answer, but after trying different options and learning about my individual students, it feels so wonderful to find the way that best meets their needs.

3. Describe your teaching style.

I believe every student can learn in a room with their peers.  The world we live in is a diverse place and learning to work together and value each other's strengths builds a community full of compassionate, resourceful people.  My little people know that everyone learns in their own way and at their own pace, but that everyone deserves respect for their hard work and everyone should be proud of their own achievements.

4. Give three interesting facts about you.

-I love traveling around the US (especially road tripping!), my best friend and I plan at least one trip every summer going to a new destination.  We haven't figured out our summer trip for this year yet...any ideas?

-I grew up in New England (4 years in Boston, 5 years in Connecticut, 9 years in Rhode Island) and no matter how many years I spend in LA, I will always be a New England girl at heart!

-I didn't learn how to whistle until I was in college.  That is not for a lack of trying, but it took me that long to figure it out!

5. Do you have a TpT store?
YES!  I have a TpT and a TN store.  Check them both out!

Looking forward to meeting other Budding Bloggers!

Adie

Five for Friday on 4/19

I hope everyone had a good week. I look forward to hearing what everyone was up to. This is what was up with me (in no particular order):

1. I'm ready to upload my National Board portfolio! For those of you who've done it in the past, they changed it all around this year and we have to digitally upload it. Anyway, everything is written and edited so now I just have some hours of uploading left!

2. This week I mourned the loss of a dear friend who was killed at Virginia Tech 6 years ago. I always spend a day remembering him peacefully by hiking or cooking or something else he loved to do. This year felt so different because I was also worrying for my many friends in the Boston area. Although I'm a California girl now, I spent 4 years as a kid living inside Boston and 9 years as a teenager/college student living less than an hour away from Boston. I have so many friends still out there and they were in my thoughts too. It was an emotional week for sure.

3. State testing!! Boo!  I understand and appreciate the idea of accountability for teaching all students - I'm all behind that part of No Child Left Behind (which is actually a very strong piece of special education legislation for that reason).  I am glad to see that someone thought about the kids who usually get left out of standards based programming.  BUT...this is a big but...the tests we have available to offer our students with disabilities miss the mark in allowing them to show their knowledge.  I couldn't be prouder of the kids for their hard work this week.  They are all rockstars!

4. Laughter!  I know I described some pretty tough stuff this week, it's been a very trying week, but......if you cannot learn to have a good laugh, you cannot survive the bad days.  Some of my favorites this week: Little Miss J was sharing her experiences with police officers during our community unit when she announced to the class that when the officer pulled her dad over, he told her and her siblings to quick buckle up before the officer saw they were unbuckled - I doubt Dad wanted that shared!! Little Miss S raised her hand and when she got called on, she looked at her hand with confusion wondering how in the world it ended up in the air to begin with.  It seems like we were laughing through the tough moments and then laughing some more.  I wonder what my little ones will say next week!

5. I met with my executive director this week and he told me that I'll be in the same position next year! Yay! Again, I will have two first grade rooms and two kindergarten rooms to coteach. My coteachers were so happy to find out the news and that made me feel even more excited to spend another year together.

P.S. Do you like my use of Symbolstix in this post?  They are such great pictures!  Read all about my love of Symbolstix here.

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