Some of you are probably very excited about the transition from summer to fall. I will always miss summer. My favorite season is definitely spring – I love how the world ‘wakes back up.’ New smells, sights, colors – I just love spring awakening! But back to reality – it’s fall, and with that comes a lot of fun and exciting activities. I definitely need to start preparing for Halloween – eek! Thank goodness I bought Rocket’s costume last year on clearance.
At the beginning of every month, I set goals for myself. This is something I teach my students to do, so I need to model it. Here are my goals for October:
* Work out 4 times per week
* Stay on budget
* Get to work early every day
* Be in bed by 9 every night
* Collect all Phase 1 data for my dissertation
* Identify all of my students who need reading interventions
* Start planning / budgeting for Christmas
* Complete my Christmas gift for my 2 nieces and 3 nephews (a collection of my hand-drawn pictures of animals turned into a custom coloring book)
Some events I am looking forward to:
* Our first family portrait (Mom, me, my brother, sister, and spouses)
* Jessica and Erik’s wedding
* The Humane Society’s Halloween Party / Fundraiser
* Trick or Treating with my niece and nephew
* Carving pumpkins with my nephew
* Walking Dead!
So what are your goals / plans for October? Anything exciting?
We had an AWESOME time tonight at the Glo Run! It’s a 5K event that takes place at night, obviously so you can appreciate all of the glow-in-the-dark and fun lights and music. I went with my husband, Ryan, and our very good friend, Cait. We got to run for about half of the time – for the most part, people are walking and appreciating the sensory overload of the event, which makes it kind of hard to run. Ryan didn’t think he’d survive, but he did great! I love events like this Glo Run and the Color Run – they are very engaging, motivating, and rewarding for staying active! I would definitely do this one again.
Yesterday was our annual School Block Party. Wow – what a perfect day for it! The sun was shining, perfect weather, and lots of great food, music, games, and friends!
Honestly the best part about back-to-school for me is purchasing a few new fall items to refresh my wardrobe. When I became a teacher, I swore I would never wear an ugly sweater, tacky jewelry, or baggy anything. I want to be the hip teacher, the one who looks like she loves coming to work every day. Well, I try. It may not last all year, but for now, I’m pretty excited to wear my new clothes to school every day. It makes getting up early just a teensy bit more fun 🙂
I plan to wear the blue dress to Open House next Tuesday. Gosh I love shopping – I just wish teachers made more money so I could spend it all on clothes and jewelry! I mean, I have a wish list a mile long!
By the way, did you know you can get a teacher discount at the following stores? Just show them your staff ID, or bring in a recent pay stub. Fantastic!
* The Limited
* J. Crew
* Ann Taylor
* Loft
* Banana Republic
* New York & Company
* Coldwater Creek
* J. Jill
* Talbots
* Christopher & Banks
* Aerosole Shoes
Yay! The Back-To-School Fairy stopped by Room 204!
I’m very excited about a few things I ordered in the spring. Back to School shopping is such an exhilarating activity – it’s something I’ve loved to do ever since elementary school. Ahhhh…. the smell of new supplies! It’s better than roses!
What I ordered:
Desk Calendar
Page Protectors
Manilla Folders – one for each student
Stickers (yes, even 8th graders love stickers)
Black Pens
Blue Pens
Lightbulbs (I have several lamps in my room for when we are using the SMARTBoard and the room lights are off)
Highlighters
Sharpies
Index cards
Invisible Tape + Dispenser
EXPO Markers for my whiteboards
Whiteboard erasers
Twist-n-Write Pen/Pencil – have you ever tried these? They are fantastic!
Pencils
Paper Clips
Binder Clips
Whiteout
An ELECTRIC Stapler! I squeal with excitement!
An ELECTRIC Pencil Sharpener! Be still my heart!
Another crazy super-powered stapler that can do 30 sheets at a time (P.S. WHY do my students always manage to break these? I buy 2 new ones every year!)
A Magnetic File holder (This is where I have students turn in their work)
I have a few things yet that I will be purchasing with my own money:
Candy (incentives). Since I must be mindful of nut and dairy allergies, I usually get Smarties, Dum-dums, Jolly Ranchers, Peppermints, etc. Even those aren’t safe from allergies, however. I had a student who was allergic to food coloring 🙁
Granola bars and snacks for the students who forgot breakfast/lunch.
A silver Sharpie so I can try out this new idea I saw on Pinterest for a Reading Graffiti Wall. Expect a detailed post once I have finished it!
Some fashion duct tape so I can make flags on my pencils. They always walk off!
I’m curious to see how much of these supplies I actually use this year, given that we are going one-to-one with iPads. I know there will still be a significant amount of handwriting, and we aren’t going completely paperless yet. I imagine my supply list will dwindle each year as we get used to relying more on our electronics.
Do you think there is anything I missed? Do you have some Back-To-School items that you always purchase?
Have you ever had a chance to do a Color Run? If not, you are missing out! I had a great time and I got in a good workout 🙂
I benefitted from following some great tips from friends:
1. Wear clothes you won’t mind possibly throwing away. All of my clothes came clean, but my headband and towel still look a mess. I soaked them in Oxyclean, then ran them through the washer with bleach several times, but they are still blue hued. Oh well!)
2. Bring eye protection and a bandana. I wore sunglasses and a bandana around my neck, which I pulled up around my mouth and nose while going through color stations.
3. Leave everything else in the car. Seriously – empty your pockets.
I loved that I ran a 5K and it didn’t really feel like it. There is so much fun to distract you from the … well… tediousness of running. You see the next color station coming up, hear the excitement, and you forget that you are running at all! The party at the end was a good time, too. Think giant outdoor Zumba class with people tossing color into the air while giggling in glee.
Afterward, I went straight home and shook off before walking inside. Then I dumped everything straight in the wash and got myself into a well-deserved warm shower. I was shocked to find color on the strangest places on my body – places I had fully covered with multiple layers of clothing. I was fortunate not to have any in my hair which, as you may have seen, is as blonde as it gets. It would have been days until the color washed out!
I would definitely recommend the Color Run for anyone looking for a challenge and a fun experience. My husband and I have already signed up for the Electric Run in September. What an innovative way to stay motivated and healthy!
