Summer Bummer?

I am torn...I LOVE having Summer to rejuvenate to regroup and come up with wonderful plans, better organization techniques and of course finding NEW decorations that I can't live without...BUT a week in, I find that I am bored a little, I am restless, the fridge calls my name way too often, my goal is to shower by 2 pm (at least)...summer is kind of a bummer at times.

I do a lot of waiting...waiting for lunch time, waiting for the stores to open (so not good), waiting for my son's activities to kick in (camp, various Dr's appts.) waiting for my own real vacation to 'jet' out of Dodge...I am not patient and dare admit a little impulsive (a terrible mix, y'all) it can lead to some really bad choices...ugh Summer can be a bummer!

Here's the boy...he's going to have to learn to deal with the beach here soon!!!!

So as I impatiently sit here, waiting for "Summer"(vacation) to begin, I am also trying to come up with unique ideas for TpT...as a group we tend to repeat each other and I don't know if you have noticed, but there are A LOT of super talented OVER ACHIEVING teachers that make a ton of cute stuff, I get down on myself because I want to contribute but I feel like it's useless, seriously why compete with perfection...oh, another Summer Bummer!

I hope I am not the only one feeling this way...I see my teacher friends on Facebook , going to ballgames, the beach, water parks...  I should be doing those things, but my kid doesn't like the beach, nor does he "do" sports....we go to the library, the pool...so less glamorous than my Facebook teacher friends! (can you imagine my boring posts... "Having fun reading the latest Common Core nail biter-near the library #yawn summer bummer")

Maybe it's just JUNE...June is the Summer Bummer...because I do know when JULY gets here I have a 100 things planned, the boy goes to camp for a week...YEAH mommy alone time GNO, anyone? Oh and my Sweet Man has already booked us on the Strip, while I go visit my Dad...but that is the only pleasure in that trip, my Dad is super sick and is in a medical catch-22...Oh Boy! (All I know is we need to find a serious good doctor in the Las Vegas area who can figure out how to cure an acute pancreatitis (he's on a feeding tube now) and a triple A at the same time!) That is the biggest Summer Bummer!

Dad and I last Winter in Las Vegas (Mt. Charleston really!)

But before I know it, AUGUST will be here, and I will be writing a post about how fast Summer went and how I have so much to do before I am ready to go back to school...'gotta' love teachers...we whine about school ending and whine about going back...well maybe whining is the right word more like...frustrated with the options!?

Oh I just remembered another Summer Bummer, my BFF just moved to Vancouver BC....but at least we have Facebook, Talkatone, and JetBlue to keep us together ! (Can't wait for Winter)

I'm in the middle, two of my BFF's...to my left is the Canadian!

CURRENTLY in June.....

 

CAN you BELIEVE it!!! 3 more days with the kids...then 2 days of post-planning!

Where did the time go?

 

I am hooking up with FARLEY over at "Oh' Boy 4th Grade" for the end of the year CURRENTLY!

 

 

 

 

It's the last "lesson plan" Sunday, you know what I mean...checking your weekly plans to make sure you include ALL the standards and ALL the ELL strategies, and such! But if you are like me, you are already trolling Teachers Pay Teachers for cute stuff for next year! Do you know what grade level you are in yet? Our current Principal is retiring and our Assistant Principal is taking over in July, needless to say I was a little worried if I would stay in the wonderful grade of 2nd...which I am!! (Thanks Sherry!)

 

As I am sitting here, trolling, blogging and checking I am also listening to "Say Yes to the Dress"...in hopes that "Long Island Medium" will come on next..love me some Theresa!

 



I can't wait for SUMMER! I N E E D a L O N G break! I need to get out to the desert and check on my Daddy, he's been very ill this past month, I almost flew out there the first week of May, but God took care of him for me, while I sweated it out in the tropics. I can't wait to see how he's doing in person!
So,  If you have been following my posts, then you know I want out of the renting game...it is so expensive!! I'm seriously trying to find affordable SAFE housing for me and the boy. I am looking here, in the tropics and in the desert! The boy does NOT want to move, but at this point it's up to the money and job powers that be...truthfully moving will suck! But we have to really get out of this apartment!

I am hoping this SUMMER won't turn me into a slug and  stop working out! I am doing 3-4 miles a day in the morning, and need to keep that up, if not extend it to 5-6 miles a morning! I just don't want to get up early anymore...but living in the tropics, beating the heat is half the game! OH I hope my will power succeeds!
Starting tomorrow at school, I will have a parent in everyday to help me clean and pack...well that is the plan...I want to have her help put things in their summer home and label the boxes. That way when Wednesday rolls around the kids will have a cleaned-out classroom to say good bye to! This week they are doing a lot of "Scoot" games, "Quiz, Quiz, Trade" and "Task Cards" to keep them focused as we clean and pack through out the day! I hope my planning actually works!

Happy Vacation to all my Blogging Buddies, don't forget the sunscreen!

Reading Wrap up!

      It's almost time to start wrapping up the school year...I just can't believe it! So with one week left of our "Reading Enrichment Block" we decided to review ALL the 2nd grade Comprehension strategies. So here we are comparing and contrasting two similar story books..."Goldilocks and The Three Bears" vs. "Beware of the Bears".

 

I really enjoyed teaching my RE Block this year...I got stuck with the over achievers and we really worked hard! As you can see from the pictures we kept all our Reading notes in an RRJ (Reading Response Journal) I found those covers from Christina Bainbridge...I found generic Venn Diagrams to compare the books too. We spent most of the year in poetry,book study. genre study, author study... so I wanted  to end the year with using all our skills in a practical way  that was fun. Besides compare and contrast, we spent time on cause and effect, inference, plot, characters, chronological order, main idea, details, author's purpose .... you get the idea!

 

 

In this group they had fun with "The Little Red Hen" vs. "The Little Yellow Chick" (one of my favorite Joy Cowley spin offs)

 

 

Another one of my favorite "Three Bears" twists is "Deep in the Forest" it is a wordless picture book...I LOVE it!

 

For my really reading radicals I gave them "Little Red Ridding Hood" vs. "Lon Po Po"...this  took them a long time to read!

 



Next post I will show you how we celebrated Mother's Day...well maybe celebrated isn't the right word...

 

Only 12 days to go, and I found out I will still be in 2nd grade, that makes my summer easier...unless I have to pick up and move, but that is for another post!