What's Next Wednesday

Wednesday again? They come around so quickly! I should be used to this by now.

Anyway, last week I blogged my first "What's Next Wednesday" and let me tell you, not one thing on it happened. I guess I didn't mean what is next immediately! The writing summer camp didn't go very far, but I do plan on still working on it. I did go to the library to get the next Alex Cross book, but it was out. I put it on hold and came home with six other books. Confessions of a book addict. I also haven't been as active as I would like or should be. Since coming home from camping, my body hasn't been pleased, so a trip to the chiropractor today should help with that.

I am going to keep working on last weeks list, but here's what's next for now:

Tomorrow I get to go get my hair done! Thanks to some passed on DNA, I need to get my hair colored about every month to six weeks. I am not sure how long it has been, but it is time!

I always have to giggle, because older women will come in and complain about their gray hair. I tell them that I have more than they do, they don't believe me and my hair dresser has to tell them that in fact, I do.

This weekend my sister is coming to help me in my classroom and make me spaghetti! Who knows how much we will get accomplished, but it will be fun to be with her.

I will also finish my book at some point this week and start another one. I do have six from the library!

Not anything too exciting coming up, but I am looking forward to each event.

What's next for you?

Motivation Monday Vol. 1

Morning! I have been up for awhile and enjoying the quiet calm of the morning. I made a cup of chai and curled up on the couch. I switched between country music videos and the news while waiting for the day to start. Oh and I was super productive and already got a load of laundry in the wash! Look at me go!

The other day while looking for blog ideas, I came across "Motivation Monday" and decided to partake this week.

This Monday Motivation is brought to you by this girl:

She motivates me to try new things, work harder and to move more.

While camping, she worked on some of her art projects and used nature as her inspiration. Here she is sitting and drawing a flower for a homemade greeting card.

She made sure that I got this:

New Zealand badge on Fitbit

And she never lets me be too hard on myself.

Who motivates you?

What's Next Wednesday

It has been awhile. Two months actually. I stepped away from blogging for a bit, which included writing and reading them. I let some insecurities get in the way. Although I still have to battle some of them, I am going to push through.

So what's next?

I am going to continue to push myself as a writer and as a writing teacher. 

Last week, my friend Cassie, told me about Teacher's Write 2015, an online writing camp for teachers and librarians (or anyone else who wants to play along.) It started on Monday, but I was in the hills without any electricity. I am behind, but will catch up when I am finished here. I am nervous, those insecurities are trying to sneak in, but also excited!

Also, while I was sitting in the truck during a two hour down pour while camping, I finally cracked open a new writing curriculum that I am going to try this year. I. LOVE. IT! I am so excited to try it out. I pretended to be a student and went through a unit. I think it is going to be my best year yet as a writing teacher!

Alex Cross Spree

According to my Facebook/Timehop, it has been a year since I have read an Alex Cross book. I think it might be time to try to make a dent in this series. There are 21 books and I am on the 13th. Every time I see that James Patterson has written another book, which is about every week, I hope that it isn't an Alex Cross. He needs to slow down so I can catch up! By spree, I mean probably two. 

Continue on my journey to health

I just need to be healthier. I have been working on this, but it is time to work harder. 

What's next for you? 

Do you have a favorite book series you are working on?

Virtual Coffee Date

I really like these virtual coffee dates, so I am going to write more!

Coffee consumed at Doghouse Espresso in Delta, Colorado
with Sandy in 2011

If we were having coffee together, I'd share with you that we have finally finished state testing for the year! It has been a long and stressful process, full of tears, frustration, and hard work. The students did great and handled everything very well. I am bummed that it will take so long to get the results back, because I am interested in how they did. Either way, I am proud of them and their hard work. I am glad that it is over.

If we were having coffee together, I would share with you that I got a book in the mail this week!

A few years ago, a dear friend told me about Soup on Ice and how great it was. I finally read it out loud to my class last year and everyone LOVED it! So it is my mission to collect all the Soup books. I am having to do it through library sales and PBS since they aren't being published anymore. I had to wait awhile to get this one and can't wait to read it!

If we were having coffee together, I would share with you that we have ten days of school left!

This school year went by very quickly! It has been a whirlwind, but it has been a good one! This class has made me laugh and inspired me often. It's hard to believe that they will be moving on and I will be getting a new batch in August. Then before I know it, they will be graduating! I am also amazed that I have made it through nine years of teaching. NINE! Wow!

If we were having coffee together, I'd share with you that my friend, Cassie, ran a marathon in Nebraska today and I am really proud of her! She inspires me every time I talk to her. When I grow up, I want to be just like her.

If we were having coffee together, I would share with you that I can't believe that it is already May! Every year I want to participate in May Day and the fun baskets, but the stinkin day sneaks up on me every year and I don't do anything! Maybe next year, when I am older.

If we were having coffee together, what would you share with me?

Virtual Coffee Date

During my senior block of college, we watched a video from Harry Wong. One of the biggest things I took from the video was this:

"Steal, steal, steal."

He was trying to teach us not to recreate the wheel and steal ideas from other teachers. I can do that! In fact, I am going to do so now. I am stealing the idea of a virtual coffee date blog post from fellow teacher and friend, Cassie.

Liquid heaven from The Mean Bean
with Scotti and Erin Molly

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that we only have 18 days of school left! Where in the world did the year go?! I have had a good year with a group of kids who make me laugh most days.

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you about this one student who is inspiring me like no other.

This picture was taken the day she told me that everything was made in China and then asked me if she was made in China! She caught herself before I could answer and laughed and laughed. Another student happened to find a "Made in China" sticker and put it on her.
 If I have only done one thing right all school year, it will be helping Grace discover her love for writing. She participated in the Slice of Life Challenge in March and wrote every day. She did better than I did. Whenever she has a free moment in class, she is writing. The stories she comes up with are amazing and I am convinced that she is going to grow up to be a children's book author.
Another reason she inspires me every day is the fact that she is ALWAYS positive, happy and confident. I am hardly ever those things! Her confidence is better than anyone I have ever seen. She is how she is, she likes what she likes, and she doesn't care what others think. Today she wore lipstick and rocked it! It looked so good on her and to tell the truth, I was a little jealous!

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that TED and I are thinking about getting a divorce. He once again needs maintenance done and my bank account is getting pretty upset about it.

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you how I was in the depths of despair that Johnathan Crombie passed away. He made Gilbert Blythe come alive in the hearts of every girl who has ever watched the Anne of Green Gables movies. The way he smiled at Anne and said he was sorry, made my *heart flutter* every time!

If we were having coffee together, I'd ask you what was going on in your world?

Middle of the Night Movitvation

Anyone else up at 1:40 in the morning super motivated? Yeah...didn't thinks so. But I am! Motivation seems to hit me at the worst times. I should also learn NOT to get on Pintrest when I am trying to go to sleep.

It all started when I worked really hard to reach my latest workout goal of getting my next Fitbit badge. I got up early to get on the treadmill and then also got on the treadmill when I got home from school. I was successful!

I think that all this activity made me a little sleepy, so I decided that I would go to bed at 8. Not normally a problem, I have gone to bed that early before and slept the whole night through.
Not this time! I woke up about 11:30 thinking it was time to get up and start the day again.

Well, like a toddler that won't sit still for long in fear of falling asleep, I read a bit and then picked up my phone, BAD IDEA!

Pintrest got me to thinking and before I knew it, I was sitting up in bed with my computer and notebook!

Read alouds and novel studies are the main thoughts keeping me awake.

Lately I have been thinking about how to make each of these events in my classroom better. I have always been content with just reading the book and talking about it and there are times that I think this is ok, but it seems like there is something missing.

I have a plan and I am excited. I also figure what better time to try it out on kids when there is only a month left of school. I can see how it goes with these kids (also without a lot of plan and prep time) and then if it goes well, I can do some more planning and preparing over the summer for the next batch of kiddos.

April 2015 TBR

Didn't March just start? This month flew by and has been VERY busy. We did our first round of state testing, and there was lots of prep time before that. With having meetings after meetings, and other things that needed to get done, I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked. I finished three books and all three of them were middle grade children's books. I enjoyed all three of them, especially Rain Reign and sharing it with my students. You can read about that here.

• Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere
• Rain Reign
• Tangle of Knots

For April, I have changed up my reading plan to make sure that I am a good example with AR in my classroom. I have not been able to meet my AR goal at all this year, because I usually read books that didn't have tests. (One issue that I have with AR.) 

I am finishing up this one that I am reading with my sisters.

I have been listening to this one in the car while driving.

It has been awhile since I have read a Sharon Creech, and this one happens to be worth some AR points!

Current read aloud and everyone seems to be enjoying it. It is also inspiring some of the students to read other books by E.B White.

I am not trying to dream too big in the book department this month, since we have state testing....again, and the end of the year tends to be busy. 

What books are on your list for April?