Assess Me: Yes or No

This morning, I’m joining in on a fun get-to-know-you linky party with The TattooedTeacher.  It is quite simple, just fill out the assessment!

1. I don’t talk to myself, but I frequently talk to my dog, Nellie…but, hey, I live alone! 

2. Not superstitious at all

3. Cracking your knuckles kind of gives me chills…

4. I’m rarely hungry

5. My tv is never on.  I do enjoy Netflix once in a while, but I’m a music over tv kind of girl.

6. Had them out at 16

7. Yay!  Finally a “yes” answer!

8. Not since I was a kid…11 I think.  I’d like to go back!

9. I probably should, but don’t

10. I even live in the same city

Have a great week!  

molly

Currently July 2015

 This month has come way too quickly…June seemed to FLY by! 

But since it is a new month, I’m linking up with Farley at Oh’ Boy 4thGrade for the July Currently.

Listening – My Summer 2015 Playlist

I made a playlist of upbeat and fun songs for summer.  I’ve been really into Meghan Trainer lately, but Taylor Swift, Jack Johnson, Muse, Incubus, and Lady Gaga also make appearances.  It’s basically 153 songs that keep me in an upbeat mood for summer!

Loving – My New Hobby

I decided earlier this summer to stop working on school stuff 24 hours a day and actually have a hobby…so I started sewing!  I have made pj pants, an iPad case, and half of a quilted shopping bag so far.  You can see pictures here (http://bookishadvantage.blogspot.com/2015/06/monday-made-it-june-29-2015.html) if you’re interested.

Thinking – I should really start focusing on school stuff!

Because of my “no work in June” decision, I feel like I’m way behind on school work.  But I am also kind of enjoying the break from it…

Wanting – Someone to mow my grass…

I think this is self-explanatory.  I hate mowing.  L

Needing – Some awesome focus to help with the school work that needs to be done

See “Thinking” above…I need to just get moving, but this relaxing thing has been going so well…

All Star – Morning Person

Even though I’m not working on school work, I’ve been up early every morning this summer, and I actually love it.  It’s been relaxing to just drink coffee, read blogs, browse Pinterest, and watch Good Morning America.

That is my July Currently.  I’m really hoping to get some motivation and focus for the school stuff…tomorrow (since I’m going to the lake today)!

Monday Made It – June 29, 2015

I am excited to participate in Monday Made It today with Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics. 

I decided that this year, I would take a little time off from working on school stuff (gasp!) and work on a hobby instead.  So I dusted off my sewing machine, spent way too much money at JoAnn’s, and got going!  I am excited to share two completely non-school-related Made It projects today:

PJ Pants

I decided the best project to start with was something easy, but useful…like pj pants.  Since I live in these all summer long, I decided to get some lightweight cotton.  I made a pattern out of an old shopping bag, and used my favorite pjs as a guide.  

Next, I cut the fabric for each half of the pants.

Pinned them together, sewed them up, added an elastic waist…

 And finished!

iPad Case

I found a really cute pattern for an iPad case on Pinterest (here is the pin).  The pattern is for a vintage looking case that is super cute, but when I was at the fabric store, I found some awesome zebra felt, so I changed the pattern a little.  I didn’t take photos of the steps for this project because it was so quick and easy!

This is the finished project though:

(I used black embroidery floss to wind the buttons together, so it’s hard to see in the photo.)

Reusable Shopping Bag

Project 3 is actually project 2.5, since it’s not actually finished yet.  I found this awesome fabric at Hancock Fabrics over the weekend, and I wanted to use it, so I decided to make a reusable shopping bag.  I know you can buy them for significantly less than I’m spending on this project, but it’s about the creativity right now...

I decided to use the fabrics to make a quilted exterior for the bag, so I cut five of the fabrics into 5 x 5 inch squares.  (This took forever, and I was super glad to have a rotary cutter!)

Then, I laid out the pieces into a pattern I was happy with.  (I thought they would all fit on the towel.  They did not…)

Next I sewed all of the pieces together to make the quilt.  I took this picture before I finished, but I did actually sew the whole thing together.  

In fact, I sewed the entire bag together and ironed it into shape.

I even stitched up the lining.

But I haven’t added straps or sewn it together yet.  Hopefully by next Monday!

End of the Year ABC Book

A few weeks ago I was browsing blogs and found an awesome idea on ClassroomTested Resources!  The post was written by Beth from Adventures of a Schoolmarm and describes a collaborative ABC Memory book that she does with her students.  Since I have exactly 26 kids this year, I thought I would give it a try, and I’m super glad I did!

I introduced the project to the kids by telling them that we would be brainstorming ideas of things that we’ve done this year or things that deal with our class or school.  I gave the kids a graphic organizer and ten minutes to brainstorm on their own.  You can get the organizer for free here.

After they brainstormed on their own, we shared ideas.  They came up with SO many ideas!  We filled our whiteboard with their brainstorming.  Then we narrowed it down to one idea per letter that best summed up our year, but didn’t repeat ideas.  

After narrowing the ideas, it was time to assign letters.  A few things were student specific, so they got those automatically.  For the rest of the kids, I drew numbers and they got to pick a topic.  Then, it was time to write.  

Each student wrote a paragraph about their topic.  Beth’s product (which is available here) has a page for each letter that gives the kids about half a page of lines for writing.  After they wrote, I collected the pages and copied an entire book for each child.

They started illustrating on Friday and they are adorable so far!  This is definitely a project I want to repeat in the future!

If you want to keep reading, The following is a list of our ABC topics:

A – Amazing Race (our states and capitals “competition”)

B – Book Talks (a monthly requirement)

C – Camp SOLE (read about it here)

D – Miss Davis

E – Eating at the middle school (on our orientation visit)

F – Flags (the fifth graders have a competition to design a school flag)

G – Going to Marengo Cave (read about it here)

H – Homework Club (our incentive for turning in homework)

I – ISTEP (yes, they wanted to write about the state test)

J – JA BizTown (read about it here)

K – Kindergarten Buddies

L – Lock Down Drills (they think barricading the door is fun)

M – Making Rockets (we make rockets out of 2-liter bottles and launch them in the Spring)

N – Nicknames (we have a “Duck” and a “Llama” in our room)

O – Otter Trot (our school’s walk-a-thon)

P – Prosthetics (we build prosthetic legs in Science)

Q – Quizzes (Q was kind of a hard one)

R – Recycling (my class is in charge of the school’s recycling program)

S – Stealing Kids (The three fifth grade teachers sometimes borrow kids from the other 5^th grade classes. It’s harmless, but fun for the kids.)

T – Tornado Drill (We had a real tornado warning this year…while we were on a field trip)

U – The Unicorn Song (long story!  But here’s a link)

V – Video Rewards (We watched funny animal videos and the Evolution of Music as rewards)

W – We the People (read about it at the end of this post)

X – eXoskeletons (we had observations with insects in the fall, and X was hard!)

Y – Yummy Treats (I may spoil my kids…especially during state testing)

Z – Zern Zingers (our principal’s daily jokes)