Happy Birthday to Me!

Hello all! Well as you could have guessed it is my birthday week. (Yes I get a whole week because I am having a few different celebrations with family and friends...we all have very busy work schedules. :) ) Yesterday was technically my birthday and I must say it was prob. one of the best I have had. I took the day off of work for a doc. appointment...I know I know who schedules a doc. appt. on their birthday?! Let's just say it was one worth having. Anyway I was able to spend the rest of my day shopping with the hubby, relaxing at my house, and then dinner with the family. Oh and I started decorating for fall. What can I say it is my favorite time of year! Even though I stayed home from work I never really get my mind off of it. I think that comes with being a teacher. I know my students had a wonderful day and were in great hands but I still miss them and wish I was there to teach them all the fun things I had planned. Well today when I walked into my room not only was it clean, which is very exciting after being out for a day, but I was greeted with a wall full of beautiful bright and perfectly glittered birthday cards (and an Edible Arrangement delivered from my mom..all I can say is yum!) It made my day to see my students take the time to do such a nice thing for me ( and in their best handwriting!) It never gets old having a student say "you're the best teacher" and "your lessons are so much fun." It's days like this that make me take a step back and remember why I chose this career and why I am so passionate about it.

DIY Marker Board

Happy Tuesday! Years ago I was given a painting in an old frame. I still have the painting but have put it into a new updated frame. This old frame, however, has been sitting in my craft room for years just waiting for me to find a purpose for it. When browsing a craft store with a good friend I decided I would make a marker board. Not quite sure what I will use if for (to do board, message board, classroom, future kids room..etc) but I thought I would give it a go anyway. For this project I needed paint, brushes, and of course a marker board.

 The board started off with a brown frame and a beige canvas lining. I wanted a rustic look so I didn't sand it first. If you wanted more of a smooth painted look than you would want to sand it down before painting. I simply painted the wood white and the canvas teal. I found a plain marker board at the local craft store and nailed it to the back. Here is the finished product:

 

 

Scallop Pasta Alfredo and Strawberry Salad

Hello all! What a busy week it has been. Between family outings, teaching, preparing for teaching, and everything else I completely lost track of time and could not post on Sunday. On this happy Wednesday, however, I thought I would share a recipe I came up with for those yummy scallops I caught last weekend. I love rich pastas and what better pasta dish than one with seafood. Since I was doing such a heavy main dish I decided to pair it with a very light but tasty salad. :) Try it out and let me know what you think!

 

Strawberry Salad

ingredients

 

Spinach salad

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

1/2 cup dried cranberry

1/2 cup chopped walnut

1/3 cup chopped purple onion

sprinkle Gorgonzola cheese

raspberry vinaigrette dressing

 

 

Scallop Pasta Alfredo

ingredients

 

1 box bow tie pasta

2 cups scallops (could use shrimp or any seafood)

1 tbs butter

2 cans artichoke hearts

1 pkg. sun dried tomatoes

chopped bacon cooked

1 can peas drained

 

alfredo sauce ingredients

 1/2 cup butter

2 tbs. cream cheese

1 pint heavy cream

1 tsp. garlic powder

2/3 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

 

directions

Cook bacon in saute pan. Remove. Saute scallops in butter over medium heat in same pan until they are white. About 5 minutes. Add artichokes, bacon, and peas. Saute another few minutes.  Cook pasta according to directions. Drain then add scallops, bacon, artichoke, sun dried tomato, and peas. In same saute pan as bacon and scallops melt the butter. When butter is melted add cream cheese and stir until soft. Add heavy cream, garlic, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese. ENJOY!

 

Fun Day at Sea

 

 Happy Labor Day! This weekend, to celebrate the holiday, the family and I went scalloping in Crystal River. With only a few hours on the water we were able to catch our limit (which meant some good dinners were to come!) This weekend was the first weekend that my dad, step mom, brothers, sisters, my husband, and I were able to all get together at once because my sister was away all summer working on a ranch in Colorado. My brothers love to go scalloping. My little brother Jackson had most of his fun diving off the front of the boat. He is quite an amazing swimmer! My little brother Garrison was able to catch a lot of scallops and discover some other ocean life. He was really good at pointing out all the starfish that were hiding in the tall sea grass! After the current grew strong we decided it was time to do some relaxing and clean the scallops. Just after the marina is a great fresh water spring which feels so great after a hot day in salt water. Of course no day goes off without us forgetting something. :) We forgot to bring the cleaning knives. Luckily we were with some friends that were nice enough to let use borrow theirs. So with two knives and gallons and gallons of scallops we just knew we were going to be there all day and night. Loyel got creative and figured he would use his car key. Once we got an assembly line started it actually worked! My sister opened the scallops (ice usually does this, but we caught them so quick there wasn't really time to have them on ice) and Loyel and I cleaned them. The catfish loved us that day! However, my step mom,Tina, who was standing in the water did not love the catfish. :)


Garrison

Jackson

                                                                       

Sleepy boys



Garrison and Loyel showing off their snorkel mask hair.

 





My sister LeAnna and I cleaning the scallops.

                                                                                                                                       

 

Ocean Themed Classroom

 Here are some pictures of my classroom. It of course is always a work in progress. I am always wanting to change things around and make things flow better. I did not take any pictures of the desks but I keep them in pods of 4. This allows for my cooperative learning structures that I LOVE! Every once in a while I will have a creative idea come to mind but that does not mean I don't turn to my beloved teachers and of course Pinterest for some additional help. :)




My easy bulletin board was inspired by a picture on bulletinboardideas.org. I just painted on some waves, printed out surfboards, and cut up a lay from the dollar store.

 

This is my reading library. I sorted out my books according to grade level (yes I wrote (with the help of my awesome husband and a friend) in each and every book so students know where they belong.) I know my seat crates are not the cutest ones out there but I got these crates for free (and they didn't come with the ledge) from the school cafeteria and made some fluffy pillows to put on top. The board in the background will eventually display student work.



This is my teacher desk. Behind the desk I hung up a dry erase board and a magnetic board so I can keep important information. (First week of school and it is already filled up. :) ) I also have my math board. This is where I keep track of the student's multiplication tables as well as where I will put study guides for that weeks lesson.

Instead of a traditional word wall with the alphabet I decided to do a word wall based on grammar. Since I use Fetzer strategies I color coded it to flow with the other grades.



On the left is my reading choice board. Every couple of weeks I will put out a book that the students can read. Each student will have a picture of themselves and after they finish reading a book they can either put their picture under "yes, I recommend or no, I don't recommend." On the right is my board configuration which says what we are learning each day. I chose to put up some really cute duck tape to separate each section.

 

 

On the inside of my front door I have my "Who is Where" sign. The students have to sign out every time they leave the room. On the bottom are ribbons that tell how each child is going home every day. If they change their way (which is frequent) than I will just change their clothes pin. This is a great way to let substitutes know how they are going home.

 

 

This behavior chart is quite small. When I taught younger grades this chart was large and in the center of my room. Now that I am in 4th grade I decided to make it a bit smaller. It is on the corner of my white board. I took mini Popsicle sticks and used sticky magnets to attach them. Once their names are on the sticks students will be able to move them up or down based on their behavior through out the day. (We always start out on "ready to learn")

 

 

We do a lot of AR at my school. One way I track it is by putting out a bulletin board in the hallway. Students love to see their picture move from star to star. I take pictures of the students wearing those huge sunglasses from the dollar store (they love it!) My sign says "We're so bright we have to wear shades."

 

Wall Shelves

 
 This past Feb. my husband and I bought our first house! We have slowly but surely been decorating it one room at a time. We had this huge blank wall in our living room that we had been staring at for 6 months and finally we said "enough is enough we have to make it visually appealing." Thanks to Ikea and a few other stores we were able to add shelves and a great entertainment center for very little $ (which is my favorite part!) I like to keep things simple and clean looking. There are just a few odds and ends mixed in with pictures we haven taken from various vacations. Here are the results:

(My puppy likes to be center of attention. Notice her basket of toys, safe to say she is a spoiled little thing. :) )

 

 

 We still have to back the entertainment center so you can't see the ugly cords. (Always something to do :) )

 

Shelves: Ikea - large shelf $19.99

                         small shelf $14.99

              entertainment center $99

 

Picture frames (my splurge item) Pier 1 -$22 +20% off

Shelf items- JoAnns, Bealls Outlet, and Target

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

Happy Sunday! Well I know I said I was going to post some pictures of my classroom today but when I sat down to do it I realized that the camera on my phone did not do it justice...so I will take my good camera in tomorrow and will post them later on in the week. Tonight was another amazing Sunday dinner with family and friends. I made one of our favorites (and easiest) meals...cornbread chicken pot pie! This recipe is very easy and very very yummy! Try it out and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

ingredients

3 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can southwest corn (regular corn will do, I like southwest because it comes with peppers and black beans.)

1/4 cup carrots sliced thin

1 box of cornbread mix

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

directions

In your pie pan mix together chicken, soup, corn, and carrots. In a separate bowl mix together cornbread mix, milk, and eggs. Pour it on top of your chicken mixture. Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes. (or until cornbread is golden.) Top with cheese and bake until melted. That's it!!