June Currently

It's June and I'm linking up with the currently of the month from Oh Boy 4th Grade!

(Yes, I am posting this in the morning, but I wrote this the night before, so pretend like it's still June 1st while you are reading this...wink wink)

Listening: We (my husband and I) are baby sitting my nieces right now, but they are sleeping and this is what's on TV...so yeah

Loving: Today was my first day of summer break and I love sleeping in!! I felt productive today, did laundry, made a rhubarb crisp, and started and finished a new journal pack!

Thinking: I have so many ideas for products to create this summer! I just need to get my thoughts organized :) But I'm really excited to make some new things to use in my classroom next year and to help others out as well!

Wanting: Seriously, I spend way too long looking for the perfect clip art. I wish it would just come to me! The struggle is real, people!!!

Needing: To decide how we want to decorate the nursery! I know I want gray walls and something with elephants, and my father-in-law loves to paint so he could paint elephants right on the walls, but I'm just not sure how I want that to look! Fun stuff to figure out :)

Summer loving: My husband and I are going on vacation to Sanibel Island next week, over our anniversary and his birthday as our "babymoon." So I'm excited about that! I'm also looking forward to going to lots of garage sales this summer and hopefully finding lots of baby stuff, including big stuff like the crib, dresser, and glider for the nursery! And of course, what teacher doesn't love that summer is a perfect time to relax and do whatever we want to do on our own schedule. Love it!

7

April Currently + My Little Secret

Hello April!!! I was a terrible blogger in the month of March, only got out 2 posts (but at least they were good ones!) Anyway, I'm going to be a much better blogger this month I promise, and I'm starting this month with letting you know what's going on currently!

Currently: We are watching my parents dog while they are in Florida, so it's been fun having two dogs, and also interesting to see how our dog acts differently with another dog in the house!

Loving: I'm pregnant! We are very excited to be expecting our first in September. You might have seen our announcement on Facebook or Instagram, but our little puppy was cropped out. You can tell she's not so sure what to think of this news!

Thinking: Our spring break this year was pushed back two weeks from where it normally happens and it felt like it was never going to get here! But it finally did and I'm ready to enjoy my break :)

Wanting: A "baby bump." People keep telling me that I look great and you can't even tell I'm pregnant, but I'm to the point where I feel pregnant so I just want to look it too! I know, it will come soon enough and then I'll probably wish to be small again...but that's just where I'm at right now.

Needing: I know I was a terrible blogger last month and I really want to get back on track. I'm planning to get ahead during spring break so that I'll have some blog posts ready to go and hopefully some new products too. (Speaking of TpT, be on the lookout for someone celebrating a milestone very soon!!)

Eggs-plain your name: It's not too creative, but if you were wondering what the Breezy was for in my blog name, that's for 'Brie" and Special Ed is pretty obvious :)

Happy Easter everyone!

10

Happy New Year 2015 + January's Currently

Happy New Year! Well, technically, it is still New Year's Eve as I'm writing this, but the ball in New York dropped already (and I'm scheduling this to post at 12:00AM so it will count as a January post!)...so it just seems lame. :) Speaking of lame, my husband and I just stayed in tonight with our dog and bottle of champagne, but it's all good because we know how to have a good time and aren't really that into NYE anyway!

Anyway, so I'm linking up with Farley's currently linky tonight! Here's what's going on...

Listening: Not going to lie, TV was much more exciting before the New York ball dropped. Growing up in Michigan (in that time zone) was so much more exciting. I was telling my husband we should have just pretended that was midnight! It's so anti-climatic! 

Loving: Sleeping in. I'm really good at staying up late and sleeping in :) I'm just more productive at night!

Thinking: See commentary above in listening...

Wanting: I got a sewing machine for Christmas! It's been exciting doing a few small things, but it's kinda frustrating when it doesn't work the way I expect it to. I just want to know it all already! :) I'm not a very patient person when it comes to things like that.

Needing: I was planning on being super productive this winter break and make lots of freezer meals so that we will actually have real meals during the week. HA! I did make some stuffed shells today, and I have chicken and ground beef/turkey in the fridge so maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

Goals for 2015:

Yes: Blog 8-10 times each month (I changed this after I wrote in the graphic because I realized I posted more often than I thought I did this past year and I can do even better!). I really want to get some moire great content up here for you guys, so I'm really making this a goal this year. Last year my goal was once a week, and I got that far and even a little better, so let's see where it goes from here!

Maybe: I think I can do this one too, but it seems a little intimidating. I would love to double my products this year, which would bring me to 144 products. 

I wish: I would love to work out and just be healthier this year! It's just I have very little motivation and no one to do it with me. But I hope.,..and wish. We shall see. I have work out clothes at school so maybe I'll use them when we return :)

I'd love to hear what you're up to in 2015! 2014 was a great year, thanks for being here with me :)

2

Hand Santizer 'Tis the Season' + December Currently

As an early Christmas gift to my classroom paraprofessionals, I bought mini hand sanitizers with jelly wrap carriers and then made a cute (okay, cheesy) sign to go with it. It says "Tis the Season for the flu, let's keep those germs away from you!" I figure we have to enjoy these Christmas scents BEFORE Christmas, right?! :)

Feel free to download the graphic here (the preview shows in google drive, but download in Microsoft Word to get the right fonts and edit as you want!) And the hand sanitizers are available from Amazon (affiliate link) but I couldn't find these fun winter scents anymore, but I guess it makes sense to use a year-round appropriate scent too!

Now, onto this month's currently link-up!

Listening: My husband and I are really into Chicago Fire and are eagerly waiting for season 2 to arrive at the library. It's in transit now, so we know it will be soon! But, since it wasn't there tonight, he grabbed Chicago PD instead. Honestly, not as good.

Loving: I finally got my computer back and I think it's working at 100% again!! It's been on again off again since September. Best Buy was no help, but it looks like the Lenovo warranty guys did their job. 

Thinking: It's the last day of the TpT sale. I bought a nice bunch of items on Monday but am thinking I have to take advantage of this sale while it's in the last few hours! So, that will be where I'm heading next!

Wanting: I can't even tell you how excited I am to go visit my little niece! My sister just gave birth last night and we will be waiting until Friday to go up to Michigan to see her. I don't want to miss school, but I can't wait to meet this little one!!!

Needing: More Christmas decorations in my classroom, because how fun is that?! We have a nice little felt tree that my students decorated already, and a few random bows, but it's still all coming together.

Giving: Hope you enjoyed my little freebie and gift idea above!! We can always use more hand sanitizer, right?

7

November Currently

Happy November! I know we're all thinking it, but seriously, how is it already November?! Link up with this month's currently over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade!

Listening: Seriously, I am so sick of political commercials! So much negativity, it can really get you down! Sometimes I catch myself thinking, why even vote, if it's just one evil over another. But I will be out at the polls tomorrow! However, I feel like I need to do a little bit of research. I know who I want to vote for for governor, but there are so many other people...sigh. And then I think it doesn't really matter.

Loving: We got hardly any treat-or-treaters due to the nasty weather so I'm enjoying their candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Oh, and for snacks too :)

Thinking: See above in "listening"

Wanting: I'm at a point in the year when I am exhausted and just feel like I can't do anything. And everything's so difficult and nothing is going the way I want it to go. And my first IEP is coming up in 3 weeks. It was a nice break not having those for a while... Ugh. I'll get over it soon enough but I just want things to get easier again!!

Needing: See above to know why I need some energy and motivation! :)

Reading: I'm doing this book "One in a Million" by Priscilla Shirer with my Bible Study girls. I enjoy it, but would love to be reading a book just for fun!

6

October Currently and FREE file folder activity

It's October already and here's what is going on currently. Link up with Farley to add your currently!

Listening: At the most when I was filling out the graphic I wasn't listening to anything, but now Shark Tank is on and I love Shark Tank! :)

Loving: My paraprofessionals are amazing! It's true, life isn't always perfect, but I had to have a conversation with two aides today about distracting conversations going on during class, and they both responded so well! I'm not good at all with confrontation, but they were both so sweet and actually thanked me for bringing it to their attention and came up with a strategy to prevent it in the future. So thankful for them.

Thinking: It was one of my student's last day today. So sad!!! I sent his new school a ton of stuff and tried to prepare him as best as I could. I'm still not sure if he understands, but I'm sure he'll be fine. He's such a good kid. I will really miss him, but he needs a self contained classroom which my school doesn't offer.

Wanting: Tomorrow I'm running in my first 5K ever. It's a color run, so it's not too hard core and should be fun, but the weather is a high of 46 and raining...which wouldn't be so fun, so I'm really hoping that changes!!

Needing: I love making pumpkin desserts and need more pumpkin to make more pumpkin muffins. Easiest recipe ever, a 15 oz can of pumpkin and any boxed cake mix makes muffins! Find the recipe here, but you can add any type of cake mix. AWESOME!

Treat: I created a product for my classroom/TpT earlier this school year, but haven't put it on TpT yet. Not sure if I like it enough, so I'll leave you with one of the file folders and you can let me know what you think and maybe look for the whole product on TpT later!! Download the freebie here!

4

September Currently

Listening: On the phone with AT&T, trying to figure out our internet pricing after our 1 year promo was up. Not too much fun. But it all worked out in the end. Ask to speak with their customer representative service department (or something like that) and they can give you way more deals than the billing department, We ended up paying $2 more a month and get twice the internet speed. A lot better than the $20 more a month that showed up on my bill!

Loving: Once a month, we have teacher planning time in the morning for an hour and a half. It's amazing what I can get done in this time...and it's also amazing how quickly the time goes by!

Thinking: I've loving feeling more prepared and organized this year. My TpT store has motivated me to do a lot of work this summer and I'm feeling more organized because of it! Plus I've built up materials and resources over the last couple of years so that's going well.

Wanting: These no-bake cookies. Now. They are delicious.

Needing: I have students with some severe needs and issues going on, both at home and at school. I just want to fix it all and come up with the "magic" solution. It's never as easy as I hope, but I'm so motivated!

3 trips: I know these are slightly random but I've really always wanted to go to Italy, India, and Hawaii.

So what's up with you currently? :)

5

July Currently + $5 off at Educents!

I love these monthly currently's with Farley. Go join the fun you haven't already! 

Listening: Nothing too exciting there. Washing machine. Fun stuff people :)

Loving & Thinking: So, I have been doing a book called The 7 Experiment by Jen Hatmaker with my Bible Study and wow is it amazing! I'm doing the Bible study version but there is a book too. Anyway. the idea is that we have way too much excess in our lives (especially in America) and this book helps us go through a week fasting through 7 different areas. I have done food and clothes so far. For food, I fasted from all processed and fast foods. Wow, I didn't realize how much junk I was eating! Now, for clothes, I am wearing the same 7 items of clothing all week long. I also counted all of the clothes (including accessories and shoes) in my closet...and I had over 425! So I've also been going through my clothes and getting rid of some stuff. Anyway, if you're looking for something to read this summer, check out her book!

Wanting: I was so crafty this week! I sewed curtains out of tablecloths with my Grandma. I made a chalkboard out of a wooden frame from Michael's and chalkboard contact paper (now I just have to get some chalk), and I also made a couple front door decorations. I'm so productive when I have a week off from teaching (plus, only 2 more weeks of ESY when we start back up next week)! :)

Needing: I had so many good intentions of preparing for next year this summer...and those haven't happened yet, but I'm not being too hard on myself, I still have...oh, about a month....

Plans for the 4th: I'm heading up to Wisconsin with some of my really good friends from college. I am so excited to be able to spend time with them this weekend. (And this is the smallest bag I've ever packed for a weekend, considering I can only bring my 7 items of clothing (plus swim suit, pajamas, and undergarments!)

Now, here's a fun deal for you! Educents is offering $5 for all Breezy Special Ed Readers (that's you!) Get your free $5 to spend on Educents by signing up with this link. You can even use it on digital downloads in order to get something completely for free (by not having to pay shipping).

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

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June Currently ~ Oh, hello there summer!

Friday was our last day of school for the year!! I was so excited this morning to sleep in an extra couple of hours. Now I am determined to be productive these next few days, because as you read above, Extended School Year starts in just 8 days! But ESY is still a bit of a break because we don't have school on Mondays or Fridays, which will be very nice.

Today I'm just doing laundry and some things around the house, like maybe tackling the job of organizing my desk and closet - yikes! Tomorrow, I plan on starting my kitchen table. We bought it over a year ago with the plan to refinish it as it really isn't in nice condition...but it's going to be a big job. Wish me luck!

Anyone else gardening this year? I have a little potted garden in my background and I'm growing strawberries, broccoli, and basil. I might add a few more things, we'll see but it's been watch watching them grow and I've already eaten a few of my strawberries which were DELICIOUS!

I'm excited for lots of fun things this summer :) My sister is getting married on the 21st of June so that will be a fun adventure! I'm proctoring the ACT in a couple of weeks, haha, okay I guess I wouldn't really classify that as fun. But we have other fun things planned, like going to Mexico with my husband's family, spending a weekend up north Wisconsin with friends, going to a water park, and other enjoyable summer activities!

What are your plans for summer? Has your summer begun yet?

7

May Currently - Time for Sunshine and Ice Cream!

May is finally here!!! One month left of school! We can do this people :)

So, here's what is going on currently, link up with Farley if you haven't already!

 

Listening: Commercials were on as I was writing this. Now it's some music thing. I'm clearly not watching, my husband is in charge of the remote and I'm perfectly happy with my computer!

Loving: My sister got engaged this past weekend and I am SO excited for her and her fiance to get married! They are great for each other. They are thinking to get married this summer, so it would be fast but exciting to get everything together on short notice!

Thinking: I'm getting old...my body seems to be slowly turning against me! The last few weeks I have been having neck pains and headaches and my back hurts too. Where did this come from? Ugh. So annoying. Maybe I need to do yoga again. Or maybe I just need summer! :)

Wanting: I can't even explain how excited I am for summer! And this came all of the sudden too (probably along with my back pain, ha). I was doing so great for so long. I was even excited to come back after spring break. But I'm ready to break for summer and come back fresh. I want to change some of the procedures in my room especially with my staff as I'm learning more about how to manage multiple adults in my room, so I'm just waiting for next school year. And where is this sunshine? It's time for may flowers, no more showers!

Needing: The weekend. Can you tell I just need a break from school?! Really, I need something to get me excited again, which might be my ice cream field trip coming up this month! 

And it has a pink cover and pink Bingo boards, so that makes me happy. As soon as we get started preparing with that (I prepared the materials today), I'm sure I will be more excited.Themed units aren't just for the kids, teachers need them too.

Surprise: Farley asked us to choose a favorite blogger to highlight, and I am so excited to share with all of you this amazing new blog called Teach.Love.Autism. I LOVE the work task posts she has been sharing lately and can't wait to see what else she shares. Go check out her blog now and be sure to follow!!

13

Autism Awareness Day and April's Currently

Wear blue for autism awareness tomorrow April 2nd! My school has been doing awesome spreading awareness by things like posting posters around the school with facts, showing videos in advisory classes, collecting change for autism, and selling autism t-shirts. I'm excited to wear my shirt tomorrow (plus wearing a t-shirt means I can wear jeans too - bonus!) I also have my "autism" purse that I pulled out of my closet for this month. I don't think most people would think autism when they see it, but it's shades of blue and in shapes of puzzle pieces - so it's perfect! I'll try to post a picture tomorrow on my facebook page.

Chris from Autism Classroom News has some AWESOME things going on:

• Linky of FREE products to use for students with autism.
• A TpT Sale that runs April 2-3 - see who all is participating here (and of course I'm participating. I just can't say no to a great reason for a sale!)
• Free banners to download for autism awareness.

Holy moly, it is April already! I wish I had some rain boots :) dang, should have written that in my currently...oh well, too late! Here's what's going on currently:

 

Listening: We were watching How I Met Your Mother - the final episode! But that ended so then we just turned on the news. (FYI - "we" is my husband and I)

Loving: Okay, I seriously might be loving this library unit a little bit too much, but I just feel so prepared and I love having everything ready to go. Plus, I'm excited for my kids to use everything! And then, of course, there's our trip I'm excited for too. I love the library.

Thinking: I usually don't do much for April Fool's day, but put masking tape on the bottom of a co-workers mouse and it took him a while to figure out what was going on. Even plugged the computer into another outlet. And then one of my students thought he was so funny by placing a rubber mouse on my seat. Funny thing was, I didn't even notice and kept sitting down! I guess it was far enough back that I didn't even feel it. And then we took pictures of the mouse around the classroom and plan on making a book.  

Wanting: My little sister has spring break this week, so my family went to Florida. If my spring break had been just a week later, my husband and I would have been going along. But at least I got to see them on their way there and will see them on the way back too since we are dog-sitting for them.

Needing: Warmer weather - who doesn't?! I'm looking forward to going for walks with my dog again. I'm not good at exercising just for exercising, but enjoy walking with a purpose so I can't wait to do that again.

Hours and last day: Contractually our hours are 7:45-3:15. I usually get to school around 7:20-7:30 (Not really a morning person) and stay on average around 4:00. It's extremely rare that I will leave before 4:00

1

March Currently AND Giveaway!!

It's a new month which means it's time for Currently with Farley! Here's what I'm up to right now.

Listening: It's true. Absolutely nothing. But now I am hearing the hum of my heater. Exciting stuff, right?

Loving: My sparkly pink phone case! I spray painted my Otterbox with pink glitter on Saturday. It is awesome.

Thinking: I think we can all be in agreement on this one, yes?
Wanting: Why is meal planning so hard? Why do I hate cooking? Why is my husband such a picky eater? I think a magically meal fairy would solve all of my problems.
Needing: I have Bible Study tonight, which I love! But I am such a procrastinator! I did one of the three lessons this week, now I just need to do the other two because I go :)
?????: Oh. My. Goodness. I bet you could never guess the question....so the answer is at 13.6 grade level. The question is "What level are the reading passages in your state alternative assessment?" I knew they were high, so I typed it into an online readability test, but college level?! To students who have multiple disabilities and who are working on skills like identifying community signs?! Ridiculous.

And I have a giveaway going on over on my Facebook page to win ANY product from my store! Re-pin an item from my TpT Store Pinterest page, then paste the link to your pin on the Facebook link.  Enter as many times as you pin!!

2

February Currently + Super Bowl Sale

It's February!! Go link up with Farley for this month's currently if you haven't already. And here's what I'm up to currently...

Listening: Um, yes, I'm spoiled. I'm sitting here at my computer being lazy (well, not sure if writing blog posts is exactly being lazy...but it feels like it sometimes) and my husband is doing the laundry and cleaning the house. I'll probably help him later though... But, yes, he's the best!

Loving: I took my class to THREE stores yesterday for our monthly community trip and it was a huge success. Stay tuned for a blog post on that soon.

Thinking: Yeah, Super Bowl plans, don't really have any yet so just thinking about what we might end up doing :) I'm not a huge football fan, but I do enjoy watching the game and eating food. Plus, I'm doing squares with some co-workers, so it's exciting to see if I'll win anything! One thing I am loving about this Super Bowl Sunday is the teachers pay teachers sales! There isn't a sitewide sale this year, but plenty of stores (including me) have their stores for 20% off!

Click the picture above to go to my store

Wanting: Holy snow this year! It's beautiful and I do love it. I am just so over shoveling, especially when it's this heavy, thick stuff.

Needing: IEP goals...I put them off. I have an IEP on Tuesday and one the next week and I can't decide what I want to write for goals. Too many options, too much pressure!

2 Truths and a Fib: Okay, this was really hard! I'm not a good liar. Could you tell my fib right away?
1) Doing good on my 2014 goals - TRUE! I have been planning a few meals a week (this just means I know what I'm going to make before I get home, nothing too elaborate usually, but so helpful to have somewhat of a plan in mind). I have posted 6 blog posts in January (goal was at least 5). Added 8 products to my store (goal is 5 a month). Better communication with my aide staff - I have set up individual 5-15 minute meetings that will happen every other week and it's off to a good start! Also, communicating with my aides has led to better data collection.
2) Going to Mexico on spring break - LIE. I tried to convince my hubby...but that's not going on happen. Sad day, right? Well, there is still a small part of me that is hoping and checking Living Social escape deals daily :)
3) Named my dog after a cookie - TRUE! Yup, her name is Oreo and she's a cutie.

4

January Currently and Happy 2014 Resolutions!

I'm so excited for the new year! I may have written some SMART goals with objectives for myself this year. LOL Life of a special education teacher...anyway here's my currently for this year! Link up with Farley here.

 

Listening: As much as I really do love Christmas music, it's nice to get back to my regular country music :)

Loving: It's been snowing practically all day long and I'm absolutely loving it! It's so beautiful and it's nice that I don't have to drive anywhere either. Don't have to go back to school until Monday!

Thinking: I've been having a lot of fun with TpT lately and created a video tutorial for one of my products. You can see my tutorial here if you want to check it out. I'm trying to decide if this is something I should do for all of my products. It wasn't that difficult...but I'm not sure I like my voice.

Wanting: I'm sure as soon as I started I would change my mind, but I just think it would be fun to build a snowman like I did when I was a little kid.

Needing: I really stink at planning dinners...and with a picky eater for a husband, we usually end up eating pasta or pizza most nights. Ugh, so boring. I will gladly take any advice anyone has or any good easy recipes! I need to use my crockpot more often as well.

Memory / Tradition: Check out the picture of our matching family sweatshirts from my grandparents. Seriously, how can you not LOVE that?!

And because there is a fun link up party at First Grade Nest, I decided to make some New Year's Resolutions. That's a good enough reason, right? For real though, these are all things I want to do this year and think that I can achieve....and now you all have to hold me accountable!

I can do it! And, as a side note, I am a rock star at Facebook, so follow me over there to get more frequent updates and cool ideas!

10

November Currently

It's November! And I'm linking up with Farley's Currently this month.

Listening: My husband is obsessed with the TV Castle right now. I think it's pretty good too...but I can't watch it non-stop so I often multitask like I'm doing now.

Loving: So I was really excited on Friday as it was the first of November. I found a beanie baby turkey and her name was Gobbles (we added the Mrs.). My class interviewed her using the News-2-You interactive group page and started making a book with her in it too! I plan on having a lot of fun with Mrs. Gobbles this month! :)

Thinking: I am trying to figure out Thanksgiving decorations for my house. Should I buy them? make them? What to do?

Wanting: A new computer - my current laptop works okay, but sometimes overheats and turns off. Plus it can't do much at the same time, and I would love to use my computer for photo editing and BoardMaker.

Needing: My closet is still full of my summer and in-between clothes. I started to unpack my sweaters...but they are currently just spread out on the floor in our spare bedroom...

A Yummy Pin: Crustless Pumpkin Pie!! I love it!

2

May Currently and My Puppy (and TPT sale)!!!

 So, can you tell what's on my mind? It's definitely not school! :) I tried to not make this currently all about my new dog, but I just love her so much and think about her a lot! We recused her from a shelter on Friday and she is just the cutest thing ever. We named her Oreo. She is two years old, is so playful and loving, house trained, and such a fun dog! However, on Saturday (one day after we got her) she started coughing real bad and we found out she has a kennel cough. We got antibiotics for her, but she's been coughing so bad she has thrown up and today when I got home she coughed up blood. It gets really bad when she gets excited...so I just hope she gets better soon. Read more about her and see pictures on my post here.

My kiddos are getting so smart and I want to find more functional math materials for them...ideally before school ends so I'm not constantly thinking about it all summer and can go into the year a little bit more prepared. 

For my summer bucket list...I really need to learn how to cook better. Especially easier things that I can make while I'm working. Too often we eat pizza for dinner so I'd like to get some other simple staple dinner ideas to add into our rotation! 

And, I would just like to get in better shape and just be healthier. I plan on talking Oreo for a lot of long walks this summer so that will help. Plus, right now I have been walking to school which has been great!
Then I just want to do more things around the house. Some boring, like put in attic fans, but others more exciting like decorating and maybe making a tuffed headboard for our bed!

So, I know I'm late with this month's currently, but if you haven't done yours yet, there's still time! :) Head over to Farley's to add your link!!

Happy last month of school everyone! And be sure to check out my products for sale on TPT on May 7 and 8 - for a total of 28% off! Don't forget to use the promo code TAD13.

3

April Currently

Happy April Fool's Day everyone! I am so glad we have today off of school...haha, some of my students were quite disappointed when they realized we wouldn't have school but not me!!! No April Fool's pranks going on here!

And Happy {belated} Easter! How awesome that the Savior of the world died for us and then conquered death itself!! Check out my Easter playlist if you want to listen to some awesome worship song) My husband and I went to see my family in Michigan and it was such a nice weekend. (Pictures on Instagram)

Now onto this months currently:

Did you see the most exciting thing on my currently? If not go back up and be sure to read "loving."

So did you see it?!

Loving: We won our iPad grant!!! The teachers in my program worked together to write a grant for iPads for all of our students and we got it! We will get the teacher iPads in May and then go through trainings throughout the summer and then in the fall all of our students will have iPads too! I'm so excited!!!! Feel free to share any advice/favorite apps if you also use iPads in your class.

Advice: I like to do it all...but that's not possible. I simply can't be the best at everything (shocking, I know!) But, especially, as a blogger (both this teaching blog plus my other one), I feel like it's easy to fall into the trap of needing to do it all, to be the best in every area. I hope I'm not the only one :)
I'm learning life becomes easier when you allow yourself to NOT do it all, if that makes sense.

All of the other areas are self explanatory, so that's all I'm writing for now! Be sure to link up with Farley if you haven't already!

P.S. If you haven't signed up for Educents yet, they launch tomorrow and today is the last day to get a free $10 credit when they launch!!

9

Snow Day and March Currently!!

Here's to the first snow day of the teaching career! *Cheers with a Diet Coke can in my hand* It was crazy because when I woke up this morning, it wasn't even snowing, and yet school was canceled. But now it's snowing pretty hard and it's supposed to get worse so I guess that makes sense. And only my driver's side windshield wiper is working, so it's good I don't have to drive - although I wish I could run some errands! :)

Thanks to this snow day, I finally have time to do March's currently! Go and link up with Farley if you haven't already!

Listening: My Pandora station, "Reign in Us" by Starfield. It's a great one :)

Loving/Thinking: This week is already a short week, only Monday - Wednesday with students and then parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and no school on Friday. Now, with the snow day today, I will only have students twice this week! I'm not complaining about the snow day...but it would have been more convienent on a full week when I needed a break. Plus, I wanted to get pictures of students completing their jobs for conferences...but at least I still have tomorrow.

If you want to see something else I love, check out the 3 month baby pictures I took of my niece this weekend. Such a little cutie!! 

Wanting: To be done with all of the educational stuff I have to do that doesn't involve teaching! I have two students that need to have the IAA done this year. I'm done with one and halfway done with the other. But it's hard because I only see that other student the first two periods of the day, so I have to leave my class with my aides to work on it with him. Which is fine, but I just feel like I haven't "taught" much in Math and Language Arts lately.
I have three IEPs coming up in the next two weeks. And now we are doing a yearly assessment with all of our students called the SANDI, which is great because before we didn't have an annual assessment...but it also takes forever. So when I'm not doing IAA, I'm doing SANDI with those three students since it's ideal to get this done before their IEPs. And then I actually have to start working on those IEPs... What is up with all these special ed acronyms! My life would be so much easier without them :)

Needing: I'm home today so I should be cleaning, right? Boo, I don't want to though! 

Like/Love/Hate: So since my name is Brie, I had the letter "B" to work with here. First things that popped into my mind were that I really like blueberries (like my blueberry buckle recipe)! I'm loving my current Beth Moore Bible Study on the "Law of Love" focused on the book of Deuteronomy. Also, I hate burglars - no reason, my house has never been burglarized but it was the first thing I thought of. Now I'm thinking "bugs" would have been more appropriate.

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February Currently

Ah! It's February 5 already and I'm just doing my currently now :)

Loving: If you have never played Ticket to Ride, it's one of my new favorite games. And they have an app - check it out here! It was free on Sunday so I downloaded it then (just checked it's still free now as of Tuesday night). I play this game way too much.

Thinking: I do have to admit, I'm excited that it's finally acting like winter! I love snow and just a few days ago we finally got enough to cover the grass, and it's been snowing every day since! Before this month we had, like, none! Very different from the Michigan weather I grew up in. There's just something about clean, fresh white snow. (And it probably helps that I don't have a long drive to work so that's not bothering me right now!)

Wanting: I'm trying to figure out a new class schedule for my transfer student and it's hard to make changes already into the semester but I just want to put him where he will succeed so I'm trying hard!

Needing: Ah, I would love a personal health day to just relax...but there's too much to do! At least I have President's Day off this month.

Pet Peeves: Sorry if you have them, but I hate word verification on comments. Sometimes I can't get them and I have to redo it like 3 times and it ends up taking me longer than it did to just write the comment! (Go into your comment settings if you want to change yours...hint HINT!)

Go ahead and link up At Farley's, if you haven't done so already...please tell me there are other slow pokes like me!

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Janurary Currently

 Well, you are lucky today because here's post #2 of the day! I can't pass up a "currently"! :)

As odd as this might sound, I think I'm more surprised that it is January than the fact that it's a new year! How did this happen? We've hardly gotten any snow yet, and I live in Chicago (grew up in Michigan), I'm used to snow! Well, with a new month comes a new currently from Farley's! YAY! :)

These are always so much fun to fill out.

Listening: I am so blessed with a husband who cleans. Yes - he leaves dirty dishes everywhere but at least he vacuums and cleans the tub. I love that :) Oh, and he does laundry too. Yeah, he's a keeper.

Loving: I got some awesome gifts this year, including an electric sander! I'm looking forward to trying out my DIY skills with that one. Let's hope I don't ruin anything...

Thinking: Seriously - how do I only have 3 more days of break left (4 including today, but today is already half over!) I really need to be more productive and work on that list I wrote myself. Ha!

Wanting: Yes, a fireplace TV stand. How awesome is that?! My husband and I were going to buy one for ourselves as a Christmas gift - but they never go on sale.We might end up paying full price, but we're both quite frugal so it might be a little while longer!

Needing: I don't know why, but my feet are always SO cold. I even got lots of furry sock for Christmas and am wearing some right now. It's like they just enjoy being cold. Sad day.

OLW: Pray. I really would love to take more time this year to pray, about everything!

Ephesians 6:18 Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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