January Currently

Hey Y'all! 

So I realize January is almost over and I'm super late to the game, but better late than never right??

I'm linking up (super late) with Farely for the January Currently.

Here we go  :)

Listening

To Parks and Recreation which is in its final season. 

I can't think of a show that has made me laugh so much and I'm super bummed it's ending this year

 :(

Leslie Knope will forever be one of my favorite characters of all time! And Andy, and Ron Swanson and Ben! They are all awesome characters whom I will miss very much!

Excuse me a moment while I drift/laugh out loud down memory lane.

Aaannnnd Moving on…..
Loving Yoga! I can't believe I'm actually saying this because for years I've been a huge proponent of the cardio workout (you know the painful, make you sweat, panting for breath kinda work out?). I always thought you had to sweat and jump around for the work out to actually be effective and make you feel sore- NOPE, wrong! I tried yoga for the first time recently and I was so pleasantly surprised.  It was incredibly relaxing and I actually felt a little sore the next day, which is awesome since that means it was challenging but also lowers blood pressure. I gotta say as a teacher, I can use all the stress relievers I can get and this was a wonderful discovery.
Thinking All about science! I gotta tell ya, this year has been so fun and I'm absolutely loving all the fun and engaging science projects I've tried with my kiddos. Last week we studied phases of the moon and wrapped up our space unit. Take a look at how these projects turned out:

 

 These two videos were extremely helpful and peaked my students interest before we jumped into our project: The Lunar Cycle and Flocabulary- Moon Phases which is an awesome song to help kids learn the moon's phases. My kids loved it!
I used this space unit:

Solar System: An Interactive Notebook Unit on Astronauts and Space by Creative Classroom Core

I couldn't recommend it more highly! It was an amazing unit and my kids learned so much!!
Wanting I am wanting to purchase a whole slew of TPT units, but I'm having to restrain myself. It's….Not….Easy!!!
Needing To start compiling all of our tax documents.  Wow do I feel like a super old person right now! But alas, tis the life of an adult. Am I right?
And finally this year: I'm saying YES to contentment. I take so much for granted and with social media (Facebook, twitter etc.) it's really easy to fall into the habit of comparing your life to others and wishing things were just a bit different. This year I'm saying NO to comparison and YES to contentment. I've decided to be happy with where I am and who I am called to be. And that's good enough.
I'm thinking about MAYBE journaling on a regular basis. I'm not resolving to write every day cause I know that's not realistic, but I think it's reasonable to try and jot down mental notes at least once a week.  And finally, my wish would be to actually write a children's book. I've had a bare bones idea in the back of my mind for awhile and I think it would be pretty cool if I actually did something about it!
We shall see :)
Happy New Year people! What are you saying 'Yes' to?  What is something you 'Maybe' consider doing this year? What do you 'Wish' for this year?

Finally Back and Hitting the Ground Running!

Well after a much long (and very good) break I'm back and excited to share with you what's been going on in my world as of late. 

The holidays were very busy and full of great food, family time and of course lots of traveling.

Here's a tiny recap of our winter escapades (please excuse the personal side note, I'll get to the school stuff in a quick minute).

I had a blast enjoying family time with my sisters!

And another highlight was going to a Packer game at Lambaeu (it was so amazing! and definitely a bucket list item)
I'm so sad they lost yesterday, but these pics bring back happy memories so I'm gonna focus on that instead of the very painful game we just suffered through!

 

We actually got a picture with this guy! Pretty silly, but he is kind of a celebrity since he is at every Packer game.

The other highlight was learning how to make jam. It's actually not very hard, just time consuming and it tastes so delish, that it's so worth the time! I feel very accomplished now.  

Okay- now on to school stuff

 We kicked off our new year with setting goals and resolutions. 

I found this awesome FREEBIE on TPT and it turned out to be a great guideline for helping the students set goals in different areas.

It's hard to read but here's what is says under each of the numbers:

2: I have two new goals for the year
0: Something I want to stop doing
                                           1: 1 thing I would like to get better at
                                           5: 5 books I would like to read

                              

 We talked about goals we could set to help our bodies, brains and hearts grow this year.
I think they came up with some pretty great goals!

Some of the goals I read that were my favorite were: drink more water, be nicer to their siblings, learning their math facts and getting better at spelling. These were just a few and it inspired me to make some of my own resolutions.

My Resolutions:

I've decided this year I am resolving to be present in each moment and strive to be gracious to all people I encounter. I'm also resolving to be content and grateful.

I know that's quite a bit and I may be biting off more than I can chew, but I'm just gonna take it one day at a time. 


So what are your resolutions this year?

I'd love to hear them (or in this case read them) :)