Weekending: On the go.

This weekend flew by, typical! It was a little too packed for my liking, but I made it through and managed to take a nap on Sunday afternoon.

Friday night we went to my Aunt's house to celebrate my Grandad's birthday. He's 82, I love him so much. This was him being goofy. 

On Saturday, C and I slept in until 10:30! I couldn't believe it. I don't even remember the last time I slept that late. It was glorious. I had a lazy morning cleaning our apartment, shopping, and wrapping Christmas presents. 

Saturday night was our staff christmas party. I have an awesome staff and we had a blast relaxing, chatting, and doing things outside of school. It's so nice to get away and not be surrounded by students and stress. It was a lot of fun. 

Sunday after church we had a work day at the student farm. I had some quality time with my lambs and pigs. :) 

We went to lunch with my college roommates at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM! It's always good catching up with these girls who I spent every day with for two years. I am blessed to have friends as good as them. 

I took a nap Sunday afternoon && just relaxed to get ready for this week. I only have one night meeting so that means it will be a lot easier than last week.  Two weeks until break! 

Linking up with Meghan!

Thanksgiving Week.

It doesn't seem like Thanksgiving week to me. I'm not sure if it is just because I have been so busy, but the time has seriously flown by. I feel like it was just summer time. Anyways, whether I believe it or not, it's already Thanksgiving. I wanted to take a minute to talk about things that I am thankful for, because there are so many.

Jesus. He gave me life, gives me everything I could ever need, and truly loves me.

My husband. My other half. The one who hold me when I cry, tickles me when I need a laugh, supports me in everything, and loves me unconditionally.

My best friend. The one I can count on for anything and everything.

My job. Teaching is so much more than a job, its a passion. My kids fill my heart every day and without a doubt they have changed my life and continue to  each day. My job also provides me with an income that allows me to have enough money for anything that I need and most things that I want. I also have the best coworkers, so blessed.

My family. I have two parents who love me, siblings who I have great relationships with, and extended family who all care about me. We may not all get along, but we come together when we need to and all love each other.

My apartment. As much as I am eager to get into a house, I love our little home together. It's clean, warm, and comfortable.

My friends. I have such a strong group of friends who I know will always have my back and are only a phone call away. We might not see each other often, but there is a depth to our friendships that will always remain.

My church. My husband and I have both been getting more involved in our church and it really is starting to feel like home. I am leading a group of high school girls now and he serves in the worship band. We are meeting more people and I am loving it even more.

I hope all of you are feeling as blessed and thankful as I am this week. Sometimes even when it's hard, it helps to focus on the good, because there is so much good in our lives even through the difficulties. 

Weekending:

I can't believe another weekend is over, they seriously fly by! 

Friday night I just relaxed at home and did some online shopping. I was thinking about going to our first playoff game for the school I teach at but it was raining so I didn't feel like freezing out there. They won so maybe I'll go this week and hope for no rain. 

Saturday morning my best friend and I went shopping. I got a few Christmas gifts which was exciting. Bath and body works had their candles on sale so I had to buy a few as gifts. They are my fav. Hopefully the people I got them for like them just as much. 

Saturday afternoon I joined C for the last marching band competition of the year. I think we went to about 6 this year, that's a lot of marching band! It was cold and rainy but thankfully we were covered, I felt bad for those kids. It is amazing to see what they accomplish though, there were some awesome shows. 

Sunday morning we had a student farm clean up for FFA. Our chapter is fortunate enough to have an area that the students can keep their animals since most of them don't have space at their houses since they live in town or on neighborhoods. A great group showed up and we did a ton of work. It was stinky and dirty, but we are now ready for all of the animals in a few weeks. 

Sunday night we went to my mom's for dinner. Nothing beats my mom's home cooking and it was great to be able to go over there and hang out. I love my mom and even though we live really close sometimes we get busy and don't get to see each other as often. I'm glad we went over there tonight. 

Another week ahead of us! This one is looking pretty easy so fingers crossed! Happy Monday! 

Linking up with Meghan!

Teaching Tuesday: Grading

Grading is probably one of the hardest things about being a teacher. As a secondary teacher, I have 150 students. If they have an assignment every day, that's a lot of papers! Elementary teachers may have less students, but then they are grading all subjects and possibly way more papers. In order to save myself time (and sanity) here are some tips I use for grading more efficiently:

1. Use one paper for multiple assignments. This allows me to look at multiple days of work at one time. It may be more things to look at but sifting through less papers saves me time. My students have daily entry tasks and they put two weeks worth on one paper before I grade it.

2. Grade for completion, not accuracy. Often times on practice work, I don't grade every question for accuracy. If it is something that they can work on with partners, I mostly look for completion because chances are they could have just asked for the answers or copied it. While I think it is important for them to do practice work, the ones who are truly doing the work are getting the benefit and those who aren't will see that reflected on their assessments.

3. Spread out assessments. When I give tests, I try to make sure all of my classes don't take them on the same day. This is something that is harder when you have less different classes, but it's a lot easier to grade tests for half of my students than all of them. I also like being able to give them their tests back pretty quickly so that they can see how they did while it is fresh in their minds.

4. Have students grade their own (or each others) work. I usually only do this on short vocab quizzes but it helps a ton. I put a key on the white board and have them score it based on that. I make sure when I write these that they are multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank so that they are easy and don't have much room for interpretation.

5. Have a fun pen. Grading with a special pen always makes it more fun. :)

I do a pretty good job of not bringing grading home and I plan to try and keep it that way. I spend a long time planning and prepping at home, I don't need one more thing to add to that list. Any other teachers out there have some tips for how they stay on top of, or ahead of, their grading?

Hello, November.

I can't believe October is already over, I knew that it would be quick since I was so busy, but it still flew by. 

Now that it's November all that I can think about is CHRISTMAS! It is my favorite holiday by a mile and now I feel like I can start Christmas shopping and putting a little more thought into it since it's not that far away. I have a couple presents already and I don't even feel bad about it. I like spreading out the shopping so I don't feel like I'm spending a ton of money at one time. 

I spent the last week in Kentucky at the National FFA Convention and it was a blast. The best part of these trips is watching these students experience new things and having once in a lifetime experiences. We ate a lot of delicious food, saw some great sights like Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Factory, and got to go to a Maddie and Tae + Jake Owen concert. It was fabulous. 

My goals for this month:

1. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping. (I ran my 5k in October, but it wasn't great and I am running another one in December)

2. Bake pumpkin muffins 

3. Spend more time reading my Bible, make it a daily habit 

Back to reality tomorrow. I'm excited to see all of my students again and get back into the swing of things. Along with counting down to Christmas, I may or may not be counting down to winter break... :) 

Weekending: Lack of Sleep

This weekend was crazy and I have very little pictures to prove it.

Friday night we had an auction for FFA to raise money for our students going to Nationals. We are taking 13 students this year and this year's auction was a hueg success. We raised enough money to cover the rest of the trip (flights, hotel, registration, rental car) for all of them! We made over double what we did last year. As I was counting the money I could not stop smiling. The parents and booster group have worked so hard to put this auction together and all of that work was totally worth it.

After the auction ended, we got in the car and drove 3 hours to Eastern Washington to where my husband is from. We arrived around 2am. Thankfully one of his friends came with us and they stayed up and chatted while I crashed in the backseat. I didn't sleep much, but I didn't have to feel guilty after not walking to talk the whole way. I was drained.

We spend Saturday at a marching band competition. There were a ton of great groups, saw a lot of C's friends, it was a fun time. We were in the stadium or walking around with groups warming up from 10am - 10:30pm. It was a marathon day.

We drove home pretty early on Sunday which was great so then I could clean up the apartment, do laundry, and relax on the couch. I needed a restful afternoon after the busy weekend.

I don't have too many meetings this week so I am really excited, we also don't have school on friday. Woo!

Linking up with Meghan! && Bianca!

Teaching Tuesday: Google Drive

I am starting my third year of teaching and I feel like I am finally getting a good feel for what I am doing. I am more comfortable in the classroom and in front of the kids. In no way am I an expert, but I am a lot more confident in myself and my instruction. 

I wanted to share something that has become a major timesaver for me as a teacher, and that is google drive. I used to plan my lessons at home and then bring them to school on a jump drive. That sounds great in theory, but then you have to always have the jump drive or stay late at school working on lesson plans. The solution, google drive! You can work on your powerpoint presentation or word documents from anywhere online. This is also awesome because during my planning period I am not able to be on my computer so I can access my documents from any computer in the school.

It also works well for students because they can work on group projects (such as powerpoint presentations) simultaneously. This gives each student more responsibility to be doing their part of the project since they can all work on it together. The students can also 'share' it with me so that I can monitor their work and leave comments as needed. 

Does anyone else use google drive in their classroom or workplace? I think it's such a time saver and as a teacher, I am always looking for those! 

Year Three.

I started my third year of teaching and officially completed my first full week last week! I am teaching four periods of freshman Biology and one period of upperclassmen in Environmental Science.

I am really excited for this year because I want to be more dedicated to my teaching and focus on making my classroom more engaging. Last year I was working on my masters and planning a wedding on top of teaching and all of my duties as an FFA advisor so I was stretched pretty thin. This year I am married, my masters is complete, and I can focus purely on my teaching and FFA program.

I've already made a couple of changes and my biggest one was enforcing my cell phone rules. No phones in my classroom, period. Before the bell, in the last minutes of class, not at all. I was afraid of more push-back but so far the students have been respecting the rules. As long as I don't cave, I think it's going to be a great change. I want my students to interact with each other, as opposed to turning right to their phones when they have a few minutes to spare.

I haven't been on this blog often since the wedding, but I'm going to try and do better as well as start working on my Wedding Wednesdays to recap my special day.

Teacher Tuesday: Two Years Down!

It's hard to believe that tomorrow my second year of teaching is over. It feels so much better than the first, I was more confident and a much better teacher. Last year I remember being totally exhausted and worn out and this year I actually still have sone energy! I think some of it might be excitement about it being over, but hey, it's still energy! 

Things that went well...winning Nationals! I still can't believe that was this year, it was a life dream and I accomplished it already. I can't believe it. Next year I look forward to branching out more in FFA and continuing to pursue other competitions and activities. 

I felt like my classroom management improved this year. I did better at drawing the line, saying no, and sticking to it. I'm also not afraid to contact parents to try and get them on my side and get the behavior figured out. 

Things I want to improve on...organizing late work and missing work. I have a folder for students to get papers from but they don't realize that the papers are there most of the time. Even when I direct them there they are like, "where can I find that paper?" #frustrating

I also want to use my classroom website and technology more effectively. I think there are so many cool tools online that I'm not fully taking advantage of. In the same token, I do want to improve on cracking down on cell phones. I just need to say no, and have activities for students when they are finished with work that do not involved being on their phones. 

Teaching is exhausting and stressful, but also so incredibly rewarding. I wouldn't  trade it for anything. 

One more day! This summer is going to be great, probably the best of my life. I'm so ready. 

June Goals

I love setting goals & I wanted to have something different that just my monthly wedding lists. Here are my goals for this month.

1. Get back on track with reading my bible daily.

I have a One Year Bible and I fell way behind last month and have about 20 days to catch up on. I know it's not realistic to catch up in a matter of days but if I am dedicated I can easily get back on track by the end of this month. 

2. Make my health a priority.

I know that I need to start working out and dieting, but I still struggle. I want to start making the changes before it's too late. I don't have a ton of weight to lose and I know that I can do it, I just need to be dedicated. I don't want it to be July and me be upset with myself for not trying harder and me not feeling good about how I look. 

3. Make intentional time with C

We have so much going on in our lives with work and the wedding but I don't want our time together to fade. I want to make sure we still have at least one 'date night' and that we spend time with just each other, not always surrounded by family and friends. 

4. Finish the school year strong

I want to try and keep a positive attitude with my kids and keep them engaged up until the end of the year. 

5. Achieve my wedding goals: book a day of coordinator, florist, make up artist, and start DIY! 

Did you set goals for this month? Leave a link in your comment! :) 

Weekending: Sunshine & Soccer

I had a fabulous weekend! We didn't have too many plans which always makes it that much better since I actually have time to relax. Here's what we did!

Friday night was our FFA end of the year banquet. The kids did an awesome job recognizing everyone for their accomplishments this year. They also announced the officer team for next year and it is a great group, I am excited to see what this next year brings for our chapter.

Saturday morning C and I went to help my mom with yard work. Her and her boyfriend have been spending the last few weekends completely transforming the backyard at her (my childhood) house for our rehearsal dinner. It looks AMAZING. We went and helped them move bark which was the final step. I am praying for a sunny day so that they get to show off their hard work. I will be so devastated if it is rainy but I can't even start thinking/stressing about that.

I spent the rest of Saturday finishing and stuffing my invitations. They are going in the mail today! 

Sunday C and I went up to Seattle for Sounders Game. This was my first professional soccer game and it was a lot of fun. My cousin lives in a building near the stadium and we went up there to BBQ and hang out before the game. It was a great day, perfect weather, and they won!

Back to school tomorrow. Only two more full weeks! I'm so ready for summer.

Linking up with Meghan! 

Weekending: Commencement

This weekend was so much fun. It's always fun to be celebrated and honored, but the people in my life truly went above and beyond to make this weekend special for me. I don't think I really processed that it is an accomplishment to earn your Masters (or any degree) and every time someone said 'Congratulations' it caught me a little off guard because I just felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. Either way, it was fun to be celebrated and I had a really awesome weekend. 

 The graduates had to get to the arena early to prepare for the ceremony so while I was bored I took some pictures of my regalia. Another tassel to add to my collection! 

At one point they told us to all take out our phones and take a graduation selfie. This was mine! :)  

I had a graduation party that night at my apartment and a bunch of my friends came over. One of the things I miss most about college is having a ton of people around all of the time, it was a fabulous night. 

On Sunday morning we had a graduation brunch at my mom's house. She made so much delicious food, had the cutest decorations, and we got to enjoy the beautiful weather on the deck. It was a perfect morning and continued celebration. My brother and his girlfriend came, plus my other brother was home from college with his girlfriend, so it was a full house. That rarely happens anymore so it was great to all be together. 

By the end of the weekend I had quite the collection of flowers. I may teach horticulture, but I'm not the best at keeping flowers alive. I spread them out around my apartment so here's to hoping they last at least a few days. 

I'm feeling recharged and ready for this week, let's hope it's another good one. I think there's only 6 weeks left of school...but who's counting. :P 

Linking up with Meghan! 

Masters...check!

It's true, I have completed my Master's Degree! 

I earned a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from WGU. It was all online, a two year program that I completed in 10 months. If anyone out there is looking to go back to school and do it online, I can't recommend WGU enough. It was so convenient and user friendly. 

Originally my goal was to finish in December, when we moved our wedding to August I made my goal July....well it's April. :) I've been working on it so much, spending my weekends writing papers or doing research, it's so crazy that it is totally done. 

I get to participate in commencement on Saturday, I can't wait! This might be my last time ever graduating but who knows, maybe a Ph.D is in my future. ;) 

Happy Thursday! 

Linking up! 

http://www.hodgespodges.com/

Weekending: Prom

This weekend was so wonderful. We hung out with a lot of friends and did a lot of fun stuff. After a few stressful weeks it was great to unwind. 

Friday. 

We went out with our friends for some drinks. They didn't come down until later and they were making fun of me for being 'old' and liking to go to bed early. We stayed out until after 1am and they were all pretty proud of me. It was a really fun night. These two are some of my closest friends, they aren't in my wedding but they ask a ton of questions about it whenever we hang out and I love talking about it with them. It's less than 100 days away! :) 

Saturday

In the morning we ran some errands and then that evening we chaperoned Prom! It was at the Aquarium which was so cool! C was mesmerized by all of the fish, the exhibits were so cool! We also have a lot of fun teachers on staff so we enjoyed ourselves.

 This smiling, happy seal was my favorite. 

Sunday.

One of the girls that I used to nanny (who is also one of my flower girls) had her First Communion and we went to her service and then an amazing party at her mom's house. Her mom decorated so beautifully and the food was delicious. I love watching my sweet girl grow up. 

This is a busy week for me at school. We have our plant sale which is the FFA fundraiser for the entire year. It will be a relief next weekend when it is all over and we (hopefully) have a lot more money in our account. 

Linking up with Meghan!