July Birchbox

I got my July Birchbox about a week ago, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to post about it!  In fact, I just now got around to really looking at and trying the stuff in my box!

This month's box was a team-up with Glamour (my favorite magazine), so I was pretty excited to see what would be in there.  The theme was the 5 senses.  I was overall pretty pleased with my box, so once again, no need to cancel quite yet!

Doesn't everything look so fun?!?  I love the bright colors!

Here's what was in my box:

Harvey Prince Eau Flirt - This is another really nice smelling perfume.  I have soooo many fragrances right now that I'm not going to purchase this one, but I do enjoy the sample!

Gloss Moderne High Gloss Masque - I haven't tried this out yet, but I will tell you this stuff smells absolutely AMAZING!  I'm excited to try it out.  I'm not one to really spend much money at all on my hair or hair products, so it's gonna have to work amazing for me to consider buying the full size at $39.  

Color Club nail polish in Blue-Ming - This is from Color Club's Summer Pastels collection.  I've had a few people ask me where you can find Color Club nail polishes (other than on the Birchbox site).  I've seen them at Rue 21 and then I also saw a multi-pack at TJ Maxx.  This color is very close to one of my current faves, Essie's Turquoise and Caicos, so I've taken a pic to compare.  Blue-Ming is a teensy bit lighter.  I plan to use it this weekend when I update my mani and pedi!  (I'm thinking about color blocking my nails and doing a pink accent nail on each hand.  I think the blue and pink would be a fun combo!)

Larabar Uber bar - I haven't tried this one yet either, but I'm pretty sure I'll throw it in my bag soon to try out.  The price is a bit steep compared to my Special K bars, so I doubt I'll grow an addiction to these.

Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion - This is another nice shimmery highlight lotion that's great for summer.  It's got a nice bronze-y tone to it, which I really like this time of year.  (I love doing kind of a glowy bronze yet neutral look.)  I have a lot of different highlighters right now, but this one isn't as pink toned as the other ones I've been using.

Suki Balancing Regimen - These are some skincare samples that are described to be for acne-prone or combo skin.  I'm thinking I'm going to try these out this weekend.  

Earbuds - These were one of the bonus items for the month.  Aren't they adorable!?!  I'm picky about my headphones for when I workout (I don't like most earbuds because they fall out), but I'm definitely holding onto these for traveling and for on the go.  

I've had a few people ask about signing up for Birchbox, so I'm adding my referral link.  Yes, I get points in the Birchbox store, but I used a referral link to sign up so I think it's totally cool to post my link!  For $10 a month, I still think Birchbox is a pretty good deal and a fun way to try some new products I wouldn't normally try.  

https://www.birchbox.com?raf=h5dt9

Speaking of the Birchbox store, I've racked up enough points to have $20 off a purchase.  There's really nothing I need right now, so I may hold onto my points since they don't expire for quite some time still.  I've been thinking about getting an eyeshadow palette.  They have a couple nice ones from Stila and one from theBalm.  (theBalm is actually on hautelook.com right now!)

I'd love to hear from you if you also subscribe to Birchbox.  I think it's super fun to hear what other people get!

Have a great weekend!

I'm Done With Math!

Well, my math course, that is...

I'll just start by saying that it was a super long two weeks.  (I even took off Monday to spend with friends that were in town.)  They jam-packed a lot into the 10 days of class!

Our focus for this summer (the first of three) was on numbers and operations.  A lot of the content was more targeted toward upper levels, which did get a bit frustrating at times to try to figure out how to connect it to my current position in third grade.

The mornings of our class were primarily instruction and reviewing content.  The afternoons were a lot more relaxed and we worked on different hands-on activities that we can take back to the classroom and do with our students.  I have an entire tub of resources and materials!  I need to take some time to go through things again before school starts and get all of my stuff organized.  Maybe once I go through things I can share some pics and links to the things we made.

The plan is to do this again for two weeks for the next two summers.  I'm getting paid and get three credit hours (each summer), so that's also a big plus.  Hopefully next summer this won't fall during such a busy time!

I plan to spend this weekend chillin' before I try to get some school stuff done next week.  The beginning of school is really creeping up on me.  Agggghhhh!

Stay tuned for plenty of new posts in the coming week!

A Much Needed Break (& Upcoming Back to School Posts!)

I've spent the last week or so MIA from the blog world.  My good friend and former roommate got married this past Saturday, so I stayed super busy with wedding events and spending time with all of the friends that came into town.  The last of my friends left today, which was very emotional for me since I don't know when I'll see them all again.  It seemed to hit me really hard today, but I think this past week made me realize how much I miss everyone and miss having a group of close friends here in town.  

As I posted of Facebook earlier, "I think goodbyes are hardest when you don't know when the next hello is going to be...  I need to start planning some vacations."

The Fab 5!

What's kinda funny is that in the past week of having people in town, I completely neglected my normal routines online.  I barely even checked my e-mail each day!  My Google Reader was at about 500 unread posts!  I'd totally neglected this blog, Pinterest, Polyvore, and You Tube!  I guess actual human interaction is better than just online interaction, but I must admit I have a lot to get caught up on in the online world!

I'm also still taking my math course, which has taken up my days for the past week and a half.  It's been really bad timing, but it's all good!

I'm really starting to kick things in the back to school mode now.  I'm starting to hit up the sales and will probably go into my classroom next week to at least begin getting some work done there!  School starts for us in less than a month now and I know that the time is really going to fly by between now and then!  

I thought I'd leave you all with a little preview of some posts that will be coming in the next week or two!

Target Haul

My Hot Weather Wardrobe for School

Math Course Overview

Other Random Shopping Hauls

Teacher's Desk Essentials

Tips for Open House

My goal is to get out a post a day next week and then gradually keep you all updated on the progress of my classroom as I put it all back together!  

Target Teaser

I hit one of the Targets today and did some pretty decent damage in their dollar section!  I'll share more detail and pics at some point when I have time to do a full post.    But, in the meantime here are some of the items I bought and saw there:

Small dry erase boards

Plastic book / magazine bins

Plastic organizers

Non-fiction books

Small rugs

Small pocket charts

Star student seat cover

LOTS of sticky notes and notepads

Decorative pen holders

Miscellaneous flashcards

Dr. Suess randomness

Other random organizational stuff

Mini trashcans

Stickers

AND a lot more that I can't think of right now...

(All of the items were either $1 or $2.50.)

Since we team up our assessment kickoff with Dr. Seuss Week, I stocked up on lots of Dr. Seuss items since I like to give them to my kids during assessments.  My other splurge were some purple plastic tubs and book bins.  Like I said, I'll be sure to show pics and do a full post, but that's going to have to wait til after the next few days of craziness!  I may also try to pop into my regular Target and see if they have anything different.

Have you found any other awesome goodies at Target yet?  Please share your findings!

Common Core Math & Some Teacher Sales!

Wow! I've survived the first two days of my ten day Common Core math workshop.  I can't say I've gotten a ton out of it so far, but I know that we're just starting the journey.  Yesterday consisted of taking some pre-assessments and looking at the new standards.  Thankfully, for third grade there really isn't a lot of difference in the standards from what we are already teaching our students.  The only major thing that will be part of the assessments that currently isn't is fractions, so we'll just have to teach that earlier than we currently do.  (They actually had pilot CC fraction questions on this year's state assessments, but they didn't count...  But, dang, they were hard for those kids!)  

Next week we'll be sharing some lesson ideas of math activities that align to the new standards.  We're encouraged to use things that we already do and just make any necessary adjustments.  I think I'm going to do a base-10 activity and hope to be able to share more about it on here next week!

Now onto the sales!

It's getting to be that time of year when the Back to School sales start popping up!  I started making lists of things to buy, to make, and to do.  This year's "to buy" list isn't too bad!  (We're getting quite a few new reading items to go along with Literacy First, so I'm not buying a lot of those types of items this year.)  My list consists mostly of items like more library pockets, nametags, and labels.  I did a school survey thing and  got a $35 Wal-Mart gift card so I'm also thinking I may use that to possibly get some new reading corner pillows and some other things to spruce up my room.  

Here are a few current and upcoming sales you might be interested in:

Lakeshore - Free shipping on $79 or more and 20% off select items. 

Mardel - Education Sale is next Thursday, July 19th with 20% off most items.  It doesn't say anything about online, but last year it was the same deal with $5 flat rate shipping.

US Toy - 20% off with their Teacher Reward Card through the 22nd.  This one is in-store only.  (Boo, since I don't live near a location.)

Creative Teaching Press - No sales yet, but usually those come mid-July for a week or so.  They just released their new catalog, though, so it's great for checking out new items!

Target - I've heard rumor that their dollar section is starting to get school stuff in.  My store didn't have anything as of Saturday, but I plan to swing by another one tomorrow afternoon and check it out.  Check out their weekly ads for promos.

I'll try to keep up on any new sales or bargains I run across and do a haul as promised!  

Busiest Week Ever (& Skippyjon Jones!)

Okay, maybe not ever, but this will most likely be the busiest week of my summer...

Tomorrow morning I begin a 2 week course / workshop on Common Core math at one of the local universities.  It was offered to up to 30 3rd through 5th grade teachers in two local school districts, plus the Catholic diocese.  I'll have 4 of of coworkers there, so I think it'll be nice to have some familiar faces there and people that know how things go in my building.  This thing lasts all day, Monday through Friday, for the next two weeks!  I've been such a slug on many of these summer days, so getting back into a routine of getting up early and functioning all day is going to be rough!  I'm sure some naps may be in order when I get home!

Why am I doing this?  Several reasons...  I'll admit that the fact that I am getting paid to go to this thing is a huge factor for me.  (I had planned to do a summer school program, but that was super disorganized and I decided not to be a part of that and still wanted a little extra income to boost my savings.)  I'm also getting 3 credit hours, which is great since I'm trying to get to MS+12 on the payscale in the next couple years.  (I feel like an over achiever sometimes when I consider that I never even planned to get my Master's back in the day.)  In addition to those more selfish reasons, I'm also interested in learning as much about Common Core in the next couple years as we inch toward those standards.  (K-2 is moving to CC standards this year, but the upper grades are still going by state standards since those are the assessments we'll be taking...  We'll go through the CC training that the lower grades have already gone through at the end of this coming school year.)

On top of all of this, one of my good friends and former roommate is getting married next Saturday!  I'm super excited for the wedding and for all of the good friends coming to town!  (Two of my besties will be here!  Yay!)  My evenings from Wednesday on will be consumed with wedding-related events and hanging out with my friends!  It kinda stinks that everything falls at the same week in the summer, but oh well, that's how life goes sometimes!

Okay, I'm rambling...  Bear with me. 

I'm easing my way into school shopping mode, though I haven't made any purchases yet for my own classroom.  I was hoping Target would have some of the goodies I've been seeing on the blogs in their dollar section, but as of last night there wasn't anything new yet.  Their school supply department in the back of the store was setup, but no great sales or anything yet either.

Has anyone found any super sweet deals on school stuff yet?  I know it's still early in the game, but I like getting stuff done early.

I popped into Kohl's because I got one of those $10 cards in the mail and after no luck shopping for a dress I didn't need, I spotted the most recent Kohl's Cares display at the front of the store.  (These are the $5 books and stuffed animals where the money goes to charity.)  I don't go to Kohl's a ton anymore, but most of the time when I've seen the books they've been more classic books like Dr. Seuss or Eric Carle.  Right now they have Skippyjon Jones!  My store had 4 books and a variety of animals.  I have a couple of those books, but they're a little below 3rd grade.  (Plus I know the kids and teachers in the lower grades read them, so I don't want to repeat too much.)  I called up my aunt who teaches 1st and he had me pick up one of the books and a stuffed Skippyjon Jones.  She's great at doing cute voices during read alouds and her 1st graders love when she has puppets and stuffed animals to go along with the books.  

Here are the links to the ones they have online...  Everything is only $5 each and the books are nice hardbacks!

• Skippyjon Jones
• Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones
• Skippyjon Jones Lost in Space
• Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse
• Skippyjon Jones Class Action

Here's an Instagram pic of my little guy I picked up:  http://instagram.com/p/Mz4z0NS2e1/?ref=nf

(For some reason my phone pics aren't loading to Blogger like they're supposed to.)  

I'll try to post some updates this week if I have time.  I'm also hoping to start hitting some back to school sales and I can post some haul pics of the goodies I find.  Let me know in the comments if you've had any successful school shopping yet!  

Happy Sunday!

Teaching Patriotism

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

I always get a little disappointed this time of year when I see all sorts of cute 4th of July crafts and writing prompts that would be great for school.  Sure, there are a lot of people who are in school in July, but it's probably safe to say the majority aren't.

I really haven't taken a ton of time to teach about America and patriotism until this past school year.  With this past September being the 10 year anniversary of the September attacks on the United States, my colleagues and I found it was necessary to talk about this with our third graders.  We realized that not only did most of the kids not know what it was about, but we were now teaching a group of students who weren't even born when that historical even happened!  

(As a side note, my brother is going into 5th grade this coming school year and is one of the oldest in his class.  He was born a month and a half after September 11th!  He started watching a documentary about it on TV and I asked him if he knew what they were talking about...  His response was, "Wasn't that when some buildings in Detroit fell down?"  No clue.)

Nickelodeon aired a special on September 11th last year for the 10th anniversary.  It's really good at explaining things on a level that kids understand.  A fellow 3rd grade teacher passed it along to me after she showed it to her class.  I plan on showing it to my class this September as well.

Here is the link to the video on nick.com.

My school has taken to celebrating Patriot Day (9-11) as a day to learn about our nation's history on that day and celebrating the freedom that we have as Americans.  I'm really hoping to expand this to a whole week's worth of reading and make it a theme.  I think it's important to not just focus on the bad, but also the good!  (The bad stuff can be scary and confusing to kids, so tread carefully when talking about those events.)  

I'm also excited that this is an election year (for multiple reasons) and that I also have the opportunity to teach about elections to my students.  I try to fit this one in each year, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.  I love social studies and the kids think it is sooooo cool to learn about things that are going on in the world.  I usually stretch this out over a few weeks...  First we talk about the branches of government, then how our leaders are elected, and finally we do president research projects.  (That could be a whole post by itself!)

I think it's important to teach our kids about our country, our history, and our government.  It amazes me at times how uninformed and ignorant some adults are.  I truly feel sometimes that my third graders know more than some adults I run across.  That shouldn't be the case!  I want my students to have an age-appropriate understanding of what's going on in their country and the world around them.  

So, how do you teach these things to your students?