New Years... HOLLA!

Well readers.  Remember that stupid boot I was in last time I posted.  I'm still in it.  It's our 74th day anniversary.  UGH.  Found out that I have a broken bone in there so I see a specialist on Wednesday.  Not really sure what happens with that (hard cast... PLEASE no! surgery... PLEASE no!)  So I'm being patient (not really), watching tv, reading, and pinteresting.  Ok so maybe a little R&R is what I need after a crazy, insane start of this year in 4th grade.  Holy cow.

 

I got all of the seasons of the Big Bang Theory for Christmas (Thanks to my sister!) so I have watched numerous episodes this week.  I spent a week at my mom's house and it was wonderful!

 

I decided to link up for my resolutions.  It's actually what the sermon was about this morning in church so my brain has been very resolution-y (not a real word) today.  Here we go...

 

 

Technology:

I have this AMAZING opportunity to help create a Common Core workbook for Have Fun Teaching... it's through www.CoreCommonStandards.com.  It's a ton of work but oh man am I loving it!  With that said, I would love to really hunker down and get a lot of that finished.

 

I would also love to create a lot of great things for my TPT and TN store.  I have so many ideas in my head.  It's just finding time to do those.

 

And I bought a SMARTslate for my SMARTboard at school.  I would REALLY like to learn how to operate the dang thing. :)

 

Organization:

I am super organized at school.... like ridiculously so!  But not in my personal life.  I feel like everywhere I go in my apartment I just leave a trail.  I desperately need to do a better job of organizing my stuff in my room.

 

But if you are struggling with a lot of papers and need a great way to organize, get this:

It's about $45 but it's the BEST thing I've bought for my classroom.  I have so many hanging file folders in the middle for various things that I have right at my finger tips.  STAPLES... go get one!

 

I need to make (and stick to) a budget.  I'm hoping my boyfriend will propose sometime soon.  (Reading this, Luke?? :)) Which means, I will have a wedding to plan and pay for.  YIKES.  I need to get it together.

 

Professional Growth:

Now that I have officially finished my Masters... WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!.... I would love to start on National Board in the upcoming year (next school year).

 

 

Downtime:

When my foot is in "working order" I tend to have zero downtime.  When I'm not at school, I'm always doing something for school it seems.  I just need to learn to leave school at school.  Is that possible???

 

Fitness:

Here's the biggy... literally! :)

I'm not sure what teaching has done to the # on the scale but it has made my weight skyrocket in the past 3 years.  WOW. 

I made a plan today and I'm sticking to it.  Gotta be ready for those engagement pics when he asks, right??

 

Why don't you go over to HOPE or AMY's blogs and link up.

 

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney



December Currently

Not too sure where November went.  Seriously.  No clue.  This weekend was full of Christmas shopping and hanging out with my family.  My elf, Lewis is making his appearance tomorrow so I went and set everything up this afternoon.  

 

I've got some pretty good mischielf planned thanks to Gina S.  You can grab her "There's an Elf in Our Classroom" pack in her TPT store HERE! 

 

After you go there, head over to Oh Boy 4th Grade and link up to Farley's monthly Currently!

Here's mine. :)

 

 

I am SO excited about one of my newest products in my TPT store.  My AP told us that if she walked into our classroom, our students would need to be able to tell her the difference between revision and editing and where he/she was in the writing process.  I thought.  and thought.  and thought.  and thought.  about a way that I could help my students with remember what they needed to know about revision and editing. 

 

Meet Randy Revision:

 And Edna Editing:

 

 

 

These have been 2 great visuals for my students.  Make sure and grab your own copy in my TPT store!

 

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney

Well I'm back!

Last blog entry: September 2.  Yep.  That's pretty much right.  Haven't really even taken a breath since then.  Overwhelmed doesn't even begin to describe the feeling that I have had for the past few months.  Does anyone else feel this way this year?  I thought year #3 was supposed to be a little less stressful. 

Here's the run down of the past few months.
1. Surviving in 4th grade.  I'm loving it but WOW!  I'm having to study every night.  No joke.  I didn't realize how big of a jump it would be from 2nd to 4th grade.

2. Grad school.  ONE MORE WEEK!  I just submitted my final paper.  I will have to get online feedback on my abstract from my classmates and then I am DONE!  I will have my Masters of Education in Early Childhood Literacy.  Can I get an amen!? :)

3. My ankle.  This should pretty much be #3-5. 
           Oct 18th:  Stepped off of a curb on the way back to my car. (Sprained ankle)
           Oct 25th:  Slammed on brakes to avoid random car in road. (Worsened the  sprained ankle) got put in a lovely, heavy black boot.
           Nov 12th: Slipped in the cafeteria.  Not really sure what is wrong with my foot now.  Waiting to get an appointment for an MRI.


It's just been crazy.  crazy.  crazy.

I haven't even created a single thing for my store since then.  I have had SO many ideas and I keep writing them on sticky notes beside my computer and sticking them everywhere.  I did get to the figurative language pack that I have been waiting for weeks to put together.  Get it HERE or HERE!

I'm also having a sale in both stores (TPT and Teacher's Notebook) for the next few days.  Go check them out.

30 minutes until the USC/Clemson game!  GOOOOO TIGERS!
Smiles and Snapshots,
Courtney

September is already here?

I absolutely cannot believe that it is September already.  I've been SO busy lately (and sick) that I haven't really stopped since school started.  The beginning of school was quite different this year now that I'm in 4th grade but I have a classroom full of excited children.  I have to say that I am LOVING 4th grade... especially the SS! It's been a huge change but I'm embracing it! :)

I'm always searching for great ways to have everything organized.  And let me tell you ... it just makes a HUGE impact on how my classroom runs.  My OCD kicks in hard-core when I'm in my classroom so anytime I can sneak in a way to make something better, I'm ALL for it!  Moving classrooms from one end of the school to the other has made me rethink some things.  One of them was how I organize handouts, etc. for each subject of the day.  I have each day in a slide out drawer container but then that certain day wasn't organized the way that I wanted.  I really didn't want anything else on/under/around my desk so I had to figure out a solution.  About the 3rd day of school, I just happened to realize that the bottom drawer of my desk is its own filing cabinet!  OH BOY!  It was ridiculous at how excited I was about this!!! 

I have a file folder labeled for each subject of the day so that I can easily find things, change things, and "load up" for the following day.

And then it was on to conquering my paper problem.  I have a huge cabinet where I keep all of my paper for my printer but I needed a space for my kiddos to choose paper to publish their final drafts on in writing.  I'm all about choice when it comes to writing!  So I decided to turn an old crate into a writing paper station.  I have the folder labeled 1 to how many ever I need. 

The numbers coordinate with the notebook that sits in front of it.  

 If you like paper #6 in the notebook, go to the #6 folder.  It's almost like a catalog.

I can just set the notebook in the front of the crate and students can easily choose.  It's easy to add papers because all of them are in page protectors and I have additional file folders in the crate.  The label is on the outside of the page protector. 

Here's how it looks in my classroom:

How do you organize "student choice" for writing and daily handouts in your classroom?

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney



August Currently

So I've been working ALL day on Common Core stuff for a presentation on Friday.  My brain is common cored out for the day.  I decided I should take a break and blog.... and probably sleep!  I decided to link up with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her August Currently!

It was super hard to only choose 3 back to school must haves.  A new hot glue gun could probably be added to this list. My is really squeaky and in not so great shape.  And new colorful pens... because honestly there is nothing like a package of brand new colorful pens. :)

It's a big week in my family.  My little (and only) sister moves to college tomorrow.  Oh boy.  I don't feel old enough for her to go to college that's for sure.  Hopefully I won't cry.  The college is 20 minutes from my apartment and 45 minutes from mom's house so I will probably see her more now than I did before but it's still really hard.  When did she get so old??

I loaded some new things into both stores today (during breaks from CC madness).  Go check them out.  I'm having a sale in both :)

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney

Classroom Pictures :)

Well the classroom is pretty much complete (minus organizing some cabinets and nametags on desks).  I've had a lot of help between my boyfriend, my mom, and my boyfriend's mom and sister.  I'm a lucky girl, for sure!  My goal was to have it done before Teacher Workdays start on Tuesday... goal accomplished! :)  After a week of Common Core classes and then presenting in 6 days, I've been super busy but I feel like I'm finally getting back into the routine of things.  My sticky note to-do list is still ridiculously long though.

Here are some pictures of what I've been doing...

My classroom library.  This is a GREAT improvement from what it was.

Their cubbies... I put up my zebra numbers that turned out pretty cute.

A little motivational section.  Love the subway art quotes from Hope at 2nd Grade Shenanigans!

I'm really liking the zebra pennant banners I got from Target.  It had pink ribbon but I switched it out with black ribbon.

 My owl door.. .All I need to add it "Look whooo's in our class."  I got the patten HERE.  My boyfriend's mom and sister made the tree branches and leaves.  The leaves have my kiddos' names on them.

My writing wall...  The posters came from Teaching in Flip Flops

 My calendar wall with birthdays (clipart from Digiweb Studios.. .the hats have their names and bdays written on them) and my job chart.  I put the velcro dots on the chart so that I can easily change out the jobs.  The clocks have been chilling in my filing cabinet for 2 years so I decided to bring them out for the 4th graders.

My Student of the Month bulletin board that will go out in my hallway!

     The circles are from Teaching in Flip Flops again.  The paper is from Michael's... it was left over from my hallway.  I jumped up and down when I found it.  The lady at the cash register was laughing at my excitement.  Plus teachers get a discount at Michael's.  Gotta love it.

Speaking of hallway...  There's that paper that I'm madly in love with.  The animals came from clipart from DigiWeb Studios.  Tarzan came from Scrappin' Doodles. :)

My favorite part... :)

 And I'm having a sale in my Teacher's Notebook store.  Make sure to stop by and grab a few things for your classroom this year! :)

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney Long

25% off! WHAAAAT!

School is right around the corner!  Do you have a plan for Writing instruction this year? 

For one week, and one week only you can grab a copy of my 160 Days of Writing for $37.50 instead of $50 in my Teachers Notebook store!  :)

 Go get yours HERE!

This 86 page packet is a 160 day Common Core aligned Writing Curriculum that I will be using in my 4^thgrade classroom but it also covers MANY Common Core standards for other grades as well.  Minilesson and independent work descriptions are included as well as graphic organizers, forms, and graded sheets.  It has everything you will need to have a successful writing time each day of the school year!

Smiles and Snapshots,

Courtney