September Currently

It's September already...where has the time gone? I hope those of you that have started back to school are enjoying your new classes. It is so weird for me to not be in the classroom this year. I'm thankful to be home with my daughter, and don't regret my decision at all, but it is weird to not be teaching each day. Here's a few new pictures...sorry, but I'm a proud mom.

2 weeks old

8 weeks old (yesterday)

I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for September's Currently.

Since my schedule is crazy now with a newborn I have started watching shows via Netflix. I'm currently rewatching Bones.

I'm loving being a mom and my daughter is such a good baby. I really can't complain, but I am tired, and so is my poor husband. I at least can take a quick nap during the day, my poor man has to get up and head to work. He is exhausted right now, so I think we are going to let him sleep in this weekend. I know once Abigail sleeps for longer chunks at night I'll have more energy to get back to blogging and my TPT projects.

I love to travel, we have a Disney Cruise booked for December (it was booked before we found out we were pregnant) so we will be taking a four almost five month old on a cruise. Any tips for flying/traveling with a baby would be helpful! Ireland and Italy are two places that I want to go...they are on the bucket list.

What are you Currently up to?

Currently July

I can't believe it is July! My word, does time fly! I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently!

They are all self explanatory...but I will say that I miss being able to fall asleep in a reasonable fashion. I'm entering my 9th month of pregnancy when everyone says get extra sleep before the baby comes, and I can't seem to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I will live...it's just annoying.

 Just a reminder to enter the giveaway...just a few more days left!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

March Currently

I cannot believe that it is already March! My poor blog...February slipped by so quickly I missed posting as often as I wanted to!

I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently!

Listening: My husband is on a Top Gear UK kick right now. I do find it highly amusing, so it is a nice show to have on in the background while I grade.

Loving: I'll be 19 weeks pregnant on Tuesday. This past week was the first week that I really felt the baby move. It is an amazing feeling...can't wait to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!

Thinking: My poor blog has been so neglected. My school has had a lot of activities that I am involved in that have kept me busy after school.

Wanting: Even though we have had a million snow days this year I could really use one tomorrow...

Needing: I really need to get all our tax stuff together so I can send it off to our accountant. I also need to work on my final project for my grad class. If I have tomorrow off I'll have plenty of time to get it done!

?????: Can you guess the question to my answer? The first person to guess will receive a product of their choice from my store.

Happy March!

February Currently

I can't believe it is already February! Time is flying by. I'm linking up with Farley for Currently!

Listening: My husband has never watched friends before. We have been watching the entire series and are currently on season 8. I've enjoyed watching him get surprised at the twists and turns of the story line.

Loving: Glen and I call the baby "Little Bit" until we know whether it is a boy or a girl. I'm 14 weeks and cannot wait to feel this little one move.

Thinking: We started registering for baby stuff...there are so many things to consider and look at, it is a bit overwhelming.

Wanting: Naps are my favorite right now.

Needing: I just started a new grad class. Thankfully it is over in March, but I have a lot of work to do for it.

2 Truths and a Fib:
1. Truth-I have broken three bones in my life.
2. Truth-I did student teach in the classroom that I currently teach in. It was an awesome transition.
3. Fib-When I first started taking classes I thought I wanted to teach little ones, that is until I volunteered in a Kindergarten classroom. I prefer the older kids, and I think all Kindergarten teachers are Saints!

What are you up to this month?

It's Currently 2014

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful, safe night ringing in the new year. I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently this morning.

There are lots of fun and exciting things going on at the Hunter house lately...which is part of the reason I haven't been posting here as often as I would like to. In a few weeks I'll be able to fill you all in...and I can't wait to share!

My favorite memory of this Christmas is being woken up by my five-year-old niece. We were staying over my brother's house and his daughter loves when "Auntie Beth" is there. She and I play together for hours. One morning I was sound asleep and woke up to a face-right-in-my-face and a whisper of "Auntie Beth." I jumped which made poor Uncle Glen jump...when I realized it was Anna we both started laughing, she thought it was the funniest thing that she surprised me. She ended up crawling in bed with us and snuggling for another 30 min before the rest of the house woke up. It was a sweet moment, once my heart stopped pounding!

What are you Currently up to today?

Currently, One Candle-Hanukkah/World War II Mentor Text, and a Sale!

Happy December 1st! I can't believe how fast the year is going! I hope those of you that had a few days off for Thanksgiving enjoyed it as much as I did. Since it is December 1st, I am linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently.

Most of my Currently is self-explanatory but a few things  could use a little explanation.
Thinking: My birthday is tomorrow...hard to believe another year has passed. I can't help myself but my birthday tends to be the time of year that I evaluate myself...I find it is a good time of year to make new goals for myself.

My favorite tradition is something my husband introduced me to during our first Christmas together. His family makes giant homemade cinnamon buns on Christmas Eve to be enjoyed for breakfast on Christmas morning. Before we eat we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and pray for our upcoming year. It's a nice tradition that I am looking forward to passing on. This year will be the first year that Glen's mom won't be making the Cinnamon buns...Glen and I will be taking over the tradition, it is sure to be a bittersweet time for us.

I also want to link up with Collaboration Cuties for their Mentor Text linky.

A book I like to use this time of year is One Candle. This book focuses on a family celebrating Hanukkah together.

Even though I teach at a Christian school, with 0 Jewish children I still like to read this book. My students and I read Number the Stars together so this is a great book to have them make text-to-text connections. I also like to use this book to teach questioning. Because there are some heavy topics this book helps us generate a lot of great questions.

 

I also love this book because it helps my students learn about the awful parts of World War II in a kid appropriate way. I think it is so important to slowly introduce our students to some of the events of WWII and this book is a great way to do that. I also like that it teaches my students about another holiday that others celebrate.

What are your favorite mentor text to use to teach WWII? What books do you use to teach Text-to-Text Connections?

I also wanted to share the TPT sale starting tomorrow! (Banner from Krista Wallden)

I don't know about you, but I have a bunch of items in my wishlist. My entire store will be 20% off so when you enter the Promo code from TPT you will receive 28% off. Happy Shopping!

Currently November with a yummy pin!

Happy November everyone! I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for November Currently!

Most of my currently is self explanatory, but I've become hooked on Revenge. I just finished watching season one on Netflix and started season two this morning. Anyone else watch this show?

My yummy pin is something I've made a few times...and it is easy, healthy, and yummy: Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu! 

Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

October Currently-Trick or Treat?

Happy October 2nd! I am excited to link up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's Currently!

Most of them are self explanatory, but a few I feel the need to tell you more.

Thinking-about Ava-my husbands cousin has a sweet little girl named Ava, she is almost 5 and at a routine check-up the discovered that she has a tumor on her kidney. She will be having surgery on Friday and then will need to have Chemo...my heart breaks for them. For my praying bloggers out there, I know they would covet your prayers.

Wanting-a baby-Now that my husband has graduated school and is working full time we are talking about having kids. My clock is ticking away (has been for years.) I'm a bit older (32) so I do worry about not being able to have a child of our own. We shall see!

Treat-Here is a link to a favorite pumpkin muffin recipe. It is a healthier muffin option for the fall, only 4 Weight Watcher's points.

Happy October everyone!

A Peek at My Week-September 2-6 and Currently

 Happy Monday! I hope those of you that have the day off are enjoying it as much as I am. I'm excited to link up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade again this month for Currently!

The last section is three things that you want to do that would make yourself happy. Exercising 3 days a week and tracking my food on Weight Watchers goes hand in hand with keeping me healthy. I've slacked a bit since I started setting up my classroom and working at school. I need to get back in the habit! Reading for pleasure is something that relaxes me and helps me manage stress. With blogging I've found I am reading less...I need to still carve out time to read for pleasure each day.

I am a little late, but I am excited to link up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings: A Peek at My Week.

Monday-Labor Day, a glorious day off at the start of the school year. I'm planing on doing some baking. Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread cookies are on the agenda.

Tuesday-Even though we have been in school for almost a week we are just starting math on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to introducing my kids to a Math Workshop approach to Math. It will be my first year doing it, but I am really looking forward to it. I'm also going to have my kids use these task cards from I {heart} Recess to evaluate what they remember from 3rd grade.

Wednesday-My student teacher starts on Wednesday. She will be with me until the middle of October. I will also be setting up our Interactive Language Notebooks with my kiddos.

Thursday-Back to School Night...the day that scares me the most of the entire school year. The night starts off with a whole school session in our gym...then we classroom teachers hold two 20 min. sessions with the parents where we try to communicate the important information to them and answer any major questions. Give me a classroom full of kids to teach, no problem...20 adults and I am shaking in my boots!

Friday-I'm going to begin to teach my kids the five domains on Writing (Focus, Content, Organization, Style, and Conventions.) We will look at Focus. To do this I love to use the book Zoom by Istvan Banyai. I actually "read" the book backwards to my kids (It's only pictures.) When you look at it backwards it zooms in and has you focus on one thing-which is what I want my kiddos to do.

 

My giveaway also ends on Friday-so be sure to enter while you have a chance!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What does your week look like?

August Currently

Please forgive me for the double post today, but I couldn't miss linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade's Currently!

Listening- I love thunderstorms, I know a lot of people are scared of them, but thunderstorms remind me of my childhood. My dad use to sit with us when we were scared during a storm in the middle of the night and watch the storm with us. He taught me not to fear them, but to appreciate their beauty. Can you tell I'm a Daddy's girl?

Loving-Yesterday was my husband's birthday. He is my best friend and I am so thankful for him.

Thinking-I need to create math tests to go with my new math units. Moving to standards based grading is a bit overwhelming. I also have a few more TPT products I need to put the finishing touches on before school starts. Of course I am stalling by posting this blog post!

Wanting-I had some of my bookshelves painted this summer, so I need to re-shelf all of my books...I have thousands of books so if they did it magically that would be fabulous!

Needing-I was planning on running to the store to pick up a few classroom items, but the rain is keeping me in for now.

B2s must haves-If I have Post-it notes, children's books to use as mentor texts and task cards I can happily teach my kiddos. Some of my favorite places to get task cards are Rachel Lynette's TPT store, Teaching with a Mountain View, Flapjack Educational Resources, and Kristin Kennedy's TPT store

What are you Currently doing?

Currently July

It is almost July...so I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for July's Currently.

It is a lazy Saturday so my husband and I are watching old episodes of MacGyver on Netflix, anyone else remember this show, or am I showing my age?

Enjoy your Saturday everyone, I hope you are all able to enjoy a lazy day as well!

June Goals and Currently

Happy June 1st! I'm so excited for what this month holds. I'm linking up with Jess at I {heart} Recess to share my monthly June goals.

Personal-It has been a long year. This years class has been more challenging than others, so I am really looking forward to relaxing this month.

Family-My husband is graduating from Drexel University later this month. I'm so proud of him. He has worked really hard. We will have a lot of family coming into town for his graduation, and graduation party. I'm looking forward to spending some time with them.

Health-I'm looking forward to having time in the morning to exercise. It will be so nice to actually have time, and not need to squeeze it in when I have a chance.

School-I'm planning on going through my math curriculum to officially align it to the Common Core this summer. I'm planning to start this process at the end of the month.

TPT-I'm currently working on a few writing units to post into TPT. I am excited to have a little extra time to work on them.

Read-I have so many books I want to read this summer. Some professional books on formative assessment and math workshop. Other books are fun books, I have a pile of books, but if anyone has any fun book suggestions I'd love to hear them!

What are your June goals?

I'm also linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's Currently!

What are you Currently up to this month?

Currently and Tricks of the Trade-Bulletin Boards

It is Thursday! My kiddos are off tomorrow (I have a half in-service) which makes me a happy teacher. I'm linking up with Joy in the Journey and Compassionate Teacher for a brand new linky party.

One of the things I love about the blogging world are all the new ideas I get from other teachers. When I read others blogs I become inspired to try new things, so I am excited about this weekly linky to see what other people's "Tricks of the Trade" are!

I'm going to be perfectly honest...bulletin boards are not my favorite. When I was in college, I created quite a few interactive bulletin boards and was excited to use them, until I entered my classroom and discovered that my boards are blocked by my classroom computers.

My Award Winning Work Board

My Published Writing Piece Board

I am thankful that I have five computers for my kids to use at all times, but it does make changing my bulletin board highly annoying! To save myself a lot of trouble I chose a background that I could handle looking at all year (light blue.) I then broke my one giant board into two by putting different dividers around each half.

One side of the board is my Award Winning Work-this is where I put any work that is "award winning." That doesn't mean the students received 100% on their papers, but that they worked hard and did their best. Sometimes it is one part of an assignment that was award winning, and their paper goes up there to be celebrated. It was empty when I took the picture because I had just mailed all the work home the day before this picture.

The other board is my published writing piece board. I use this board to hang their writing pieces when they have finished. The students like seeing their pieces on display after all the work they put into them.

By having two very generic boards I am able to keep the background/boards the same all year and I just change the pieces. This saves me the headache of fighting with the paper, and it means I only need to climb on the computer tables once a year instead of once a month!

Be sure to link up with Becky and Jessica and share your Tricks of the Trade!

I'm also linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for May's Currently.

One last thing; Today is the last day to enter my giveaway! I'll announce the winners tomorrow night! Happy Thursday everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway