Goodbye 2011!

2011 was a CRAZY year!! 

In no particular order...

I became Mrs. Howard in July.

I was hired as a 4th grade teacher at Rineyville Elementary in May.

We went on a cruise to The Bahamas in October.

We added a new member to the family, Ellie, in August.

Bri and Colby gave us a niece, Annelise "Annie" Laralyn, in November.

We bought our house together in July.

I graduated from WKU in May.

We gave Ellie a sister in December.

Brian's Dad passed away in June.

We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us.  Happy New Year!

Classroom Changes

10 hours and a headache later, the changes to my room are complete! To keep the kids (and myself) from getting bored, I changed up the scenery :)

new fabric skirt

AR incentive board

behavior management

I love this sign!

another fabric skirt

close-up detail of the fabric

great work board

close-up

WINTER BREAK!!!!

It is officially winter break (since Tuesday at 2:15). I forced myself to relax yesterday, and tried to do the same today, but instead I came home and worked out my lesson plans for the week of January 3rd. I just cannot relax when I know I have things I could be working on.

The kiddos are half way through 4th grade, so I'll be making some changes in January to help with the transition of going to 5th grade. First, I will be enforcing the "Read 20 minutes" homework by making the reading logs mandatory. Before, we were basing it on a parent signature and trust system. Next, spelling is being transformed to allow more opportunities for differentiation and choice. Last, I PROMISE to stay on top of missing work---they have tried some pretty sneaky things to get away with not turning in work. Although it will be exhausting and tiresome, I will stay on top of the missing assignments from now on. I guess all this will count as my professional New Year's Resolutions.

On another note, besides rambling on about my 4th graders which is so easy to do, tomorrow I will be spending some quality time with Annie as Bri goes to the doctor :) Then, some friends may come over to play Kinect. What a perfect Friday! I have to plan things ahead of time to do, that way I won't end up working my whole break away! I know sometimes I work TOO much, so I'm trying to focus on relaxation the next week or so.
:)

A Little Bit of Everything

I am officially an aunt!!

Welcome Annelise Laralyn Gibson <3

Since Thanksgiving, my radio has not left the station that plays non-stop Christmas music! Maybe it's Melanie Treadway getting so Christmasy on me, but I used to think Christmas songs were annoying, haha...now I'm addicted. I sing Feliz Navidad nearly every day in my car. Yes, I'm THAT person that you look over and see them singing at red lights! Anyway, my house is decorated and my presents are wrapped, just awaiting Christmas morning. Today, we had Dad's family over for a full day of family day. It was the best gathering I can remember. I feel like the older I get, the more I realize how special family time is! Tomorrow, we have Christmas dinner with Mom's side.

We finally finished Brian's Dad's flag display box with his picture and medals. It hangs on in our living room. We miss him so much especially during the holidays, but we have so many good memories to look back on.

This school year is almost half way over. Woah, it has flown by! Only two more school days, and we are on Winter Break. I am extremely excited to get my brain out of school mode for a couple of weeks. I feel like I never stop thinking about my students...it's just impossible. Teaching is just as rewarding as I imagined it would be. :)

Three Day Weekend!

I'm up past 9:00! On a normal school night, I would be kicking myself and feeling guilty if I weren't in bed by now. Not only were we out of school today, tomorrow is a Professional Learning Day. Since I won't have any students, I don't feel as pressured to get lots of sleep. (hahaha...if I don't get at least 8 hours, it is a very challenging day---management wise. It's not so easy to keep the positive climate in the classroom when the teacher is grouchy!)

I'm scoping out new ideas from blog friends. Of course, I always find a million things I want to do and use in my classroom. It's so exciting, and it makes me feel like a nerd. My favorite thing I found tonight was this...



I absolutely LOOOVVVEEE fonts, but I was a dummy at how to download and use them until I stumbled across their site. Now, I have every single font from their website on my computer. YAY...can't wait to create something with them.

News since my last post:
1. We finally found a chocolate lab. She was 1 day old, so she will coming home on December 15th. Her name is Holley :)

2. Bri, my sister-in-law, is being induced on Thursday or Friday...so I will be an aunt by the end of the week! I cannot wait to meet her and see how pretty she is.

3. I decorated my house for Christmas this weekend. I was thinking if I didn't do it now, who knows how long it would be before I had an opportunity again? I was inspired by the Christmas-themed girls night we had on Saturday. It was impossible NOT to get in the Holiday spirit with our Christmas movie watching, hot cocoa sipping, cooking baking, and holiday tunes playing! I love the holidays, Thanksgiving included. But since I was a little girl, we have never had a Thanksgiving without a Christmas tree. Some say I'm decorating too soon, I say it's part of the tradition!

I think that's all I have to share for now. Have a great week---& go vote tomorrow!

Still Here!

Hi all!  As always, things are pretty busy around here.  Last week, I started academic team practices, planned a baby shower, and prepared for my first KTIP observation.  Luckily, I survived....and all three were a success!  I love staying so busy, but it makes time go by so fast.  It's unreal to me that it's almost November.  Everything almost feels like a blur.  I want to enjoy every moment that passes, so I'm trying to really soak it all in.

Coming up: Halloween, Whiz Kids tournament begins,a long weekend, and Fall Festival!
Totally unrelated, but something I'd like to share:  (excuse some of his language)

Blog Reading

I enjoy reading blogs more than I like writing on my own.  Share Time! Here are some of my favorites:

Happy Reading!