New Year's Resolution Linky Party

Wow it has been awhile, again! Or at least it seems that way for me. I miss the days when I was able to update several times a week but I just can't now that I have switched grades, the curriculum is new, and on and on. I know I posted after the tragedy in Connecticut and I really hope the families were able to come together to find some peace. I also hope that all of you have had a wonderful holiday so far! I go back to work on Wednesday and we have Quarterly Assessments (aka Standardized County Tests) on Thursday and Friday :( 

My Christmas, however, was wonderful and I was very lucky. I got what I have wanted for YEARS… a MacBook Pro.

Then I had to search for a blogging software that is compatible with a Mac. I used to use Windows Live Writer and I loved it. Do any of you have any suggestions? This post is being written with a trial version of MarsEdit. None of the highly rated apps / programs are free and that is a bit upsetting. I also got some Michael Kors jeans, dress pants, butterfly necklaces, heart necklace, black diamond ring, velour suits. That's all I can think of for now. What was your "big gift?"

The day after, I flew down to Tennessee to visit my brother, his wife, and my nieces and nephew!

OMGosh that was exactly what I needed. On the way down, I had to take a tiny plane and it made me nervous because of the bad weather but on the way back there was a delay and they rebooked my connecting flight so I got upgraded to FIRST CLASS. It was AH-MAZING. Not worth what they charge, but awesome for the price I paid ;)

 

 

Now that I'm home I'd like to move on to the linky party that is being thrown by a group of wonderful bloggers:

The linky party has to do with your New Year's Resolutions and I am behind so I'm just going to post the all together (shh!!!). Check this out: (click on the picture…)

 

12/27: Technology-wise, I am pretty good (at least in my classroom). I have a Smart Board, LCD projector, document camera and two student computers in my classroom. I also was issued a teacher laptop since we are a Title One school, but there is a problem with it and now that I have my Mac Book I will be taking it in to get fixed. It worked, but there were some software issues and I knew it would take awhile to fix and I need a computer to type up lesson plans. As a school, we have access to laptops, iPods, iPads, a computer lab, clickers, and multiple programs like Education City, etc.  HOWEVER, there is always room for improvement right? I am great about using the iPADS in my classroom but I haven't had a chance to use the iPODS ever, and I haven't used the clickers or laptops this year. So professionally, I know that I'd like to implement the laptops into my classroom on a regular or weekly basis. Personally, I really want to get used to using this MacBook so that I can blog and make lessons and units for TPT on it. We will see!

 

12/28: Organization: Now this is something that I'm not "pretty good" at! You should see my desk on most days. It is horrible. In fact, so is my reading table. I just sit the stuff on the floor and then put it back. So is my storage cart. Ugh! We are an open space school so we don't have cabinets so you have to put papers and materials on whatever you can find. I have one bookshelf in room and that is for the reading and math curriculum materials… the anthologies, teacher manuals, blackline masters, etc. I have one of those old library carts to keep my guided reading stuff on aka my leveled readers, phonics library, highlighters, phonics interventions, other books, clipboards, flashcards, etc. I inherited a small cubby shelf for some expo boards, markers, and erasers, puzzles, and other indoor recess games. I also inherited a small cabinet type "thing" that I keep my math manipulatives in. That, plus lockers (I use one for storage), and one filing cabinet is what consists of my storage space. AHH! It is my idea of a nightmare… My bedroom isn't much better. I'm working on it. It's just hard. I'm not even going to go there…

 

12/29 Professional Growth: I am trying to learn as much about this Common Core stuff as I can. In addition to attending the mandatory professional developments provided by our school system, I have been attending after school sessions. Unfortunately, the county is learning as we are. We have only had one additional opportunity, which I did attend. It was on the Social Studies Common Core Standards. The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is, the Social Studies and Science curriculum have remained the same (state / county-wide) this year. We are not implementing the Common Core Standards in these areas. I am excited for the second week back though! Have you heard of Kathy Bumgardner? She is coming to our school to provide professional development for two days!!! This will be the first "expert" professional development I have attended in a smaller setting (only about 35 teachers!) She is going to teacher a first and fourth grade class and we get to watch. This is what I have been waiting for since becoming a teacher! 

 

12/30 Downtime? What downtime? Seriously, teaching a new grade this year and sponsoring Destination Imagination has made it almost impossible to leave school before 6:00pm. By the time I get home, I eat some food, watch a little bit of t.v and get ready for bed. That means I have to spend my weekends grading papers and I officially have NO LIFE! Therefore, my resolution is to leave work by 5:00 everyday (except for maybe days when I have DI… I will make an exception on those days). Gosh that will be hard!

 

12/31 Fitness: My only fitness resolution is to spend less time lounging and sleeping and more time out and about. That will be progress for me.

 

PHEW! Thanks for reading. I hope you link up too!