Five for Friday...Saturday Edition!

Hello Blogging Buddies!

I hope you all are having a fantastic Saturday!  I cannot believe I go back to school in less than two weeks.  This summer has flown buy and I am not sure if I am ready to go back to school.  I have to admit I have not done anything in my classroom yet...I know I am a bad teacher!  It actually worked out ok.  My classroom as of Friday was still not ready for me to move in.  They had not finished the floors yet.  I am praying it will be done Monday because I am coming whether it is done or not!  I have one week to put everything together. I have assembled my my team of helpers to come with me.  I am just praying I have motivation and do not get side tracked while working.  I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for their Five for Friday.

Last week was Vacation Bible School at my church.  It was an exciting week with many fun activities each day.  Our theme was Kingdom Rock.  We talked about Standing Strong for the Lord in everything we do.  We transformed our church to be the inside of a castle, which was lots of fun!  Here are some pictures.

Draw bridge the kids had to walk over in order to get inside,

The chandeliers we made to hang throughout the church.

A chandelier waiting to be hung!

Banners hung around.

Registration was set up to be outside in the courtyard of the castle.

We even had a horse!

The kids brought in coins for missions and raised $1000.88!  Because they raised so much a few people got some pies in their face!

The kids had a blast and I enjoyed serving at church a lot.  I was a little sad to see the week come to an end because it ment school was coming soon and summer was over! 

Well, I must go help my mom in the kitchen...we are making about 15 quarts of tomato sauce and some other yummy foods!  Be on the look out for a back-school giveaway in the near future!

Rosie

Happy Monday...don't forget

Happy Monday!  I hope you are having a fantastic day!  I spent today with Vacation Bible School at my church.  We Rocked the Kingdom for sure!  I will have pictures at the end of the week, but here is one!

These are the chandeliers that we made...30 to be exact!  We decorated the church to look like the inside of a castle!  It looks so cool!

Don't forget there are just a few hours left for the BIG Teachers Pay Teachers sale!  My entire store is on sale for 20% off and if you use BTS13 you receive an additional 10%.

Now I am off to go clear out my wishlist!

Rosie

Sparking Student Motivation...A Test on the First Day

Hello Friends!  I hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer or the first few days of the new school year.  I am deep in Vacation Bible School planning right now.  My church's VBS is next week and I am trying to get all of the last details finished for that, while trying to get things ready for school.  I am not sure when I will start decorating and getting my room set up for school.  I am thinking not until  the last week of August, which will give me one week.  You are probably thinking this teacher is crazy...how is she going to do that????  Well, I am not sure!!  I am trusting God that he will give me super natural energy to set everything up and I will be very focus when doing it. 

Today I am linking up with Joanne from Head over Heals for Teaching for her Sparking Student Motivation.  If you have never check out this linky, I suggest you do because there are wonderful ideas that are usually very simple. 

On the first day of school I give my students a test.  Yes, you read it right...a TEST!  I am the meanest teacher in the world for doing this.  I tell them this will be the least prepared for a test you will be all year.  I don't want them to worry about it, but I do love seeing them sweat when I tell them they are taking a test!  I go over the procedures on how we take a test.  I then hand out the test.  This test is about their teacher, me, it is ten multiple choice questions about me.  We take our test in silence and when we are done we go over it!  Here is the test I gave my students last year.  Can you answer any of these questions?

After we go over the test, I tell my students that they will never be unprepared for a test.  We will go over the subject matter for each test they will take and they should feel prepared to take each and every test throughout the year.  

My students actually enjoyed this activity last year and found it to be a fun way to learn about their teacher.  I do think the highest grade was a 40% last year!

What fun ways do you introduce yourself to your class?

Don't forget tomorrow starts the super huge sale at Teachers Pay Teachers.  My entire store will be on sale for 20% off.  I hope to hear many cha-chings on my phone over the next two days!  You can also get an additional 10% off by using BTS13 in the coupon code.  I hope you are able to score some great deals!

Rosie

Teacher Week '13- Let's Talk about Me!

Hello blogging friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Monday.  I am just a few short weeks from going back to school.  I am trying to enjoy the last little bit, while trying to get stuff done that I did not do all summer.  I am also preping for Vacation Bible School at my church next week.  It comes at a not great time, but I am going to push thru!

Today, I am linking up with Blog Hoppin for their Teacher Week '13 linky party. Each day is a different theme and today we are talking about ME!!!

1. I have run three half marathons in my life.  My dream is to run the Disney Marathon one day.  I would love to start training again, but being in the car commuting a distance does not make a running schedule very easy!

My best friend Kate and I running our first half marathon!  

2. I love Disney World.  It is one of my favorite places to go.  When I lived in Florida I had a season pass and would often go with my sister for dinner.

3. I love to watch sports.  I follow the Olympics had core.  I also enjoy college sports over professional sports.  I like to watch, read, listen to almost any sport!

4. I spent a month in The Netherlands last summer visiting my sister and her family.  They are missionaries in Nord Holland (North Holland).  It was an amazing adventure.

My nephew Charlie!

5. I love to quilt.  I have made close to 50 quilts.  I prefer to give them away, then keep them.

Two quilts I made...the one below some one paid me to make with their dogs bandanas.

6. I work on a lot of theatre in college.  I was the resident House Manager because it was the easiest job to have while being an education major.

7. I love to bake.  When I was stressed in college, I would bake.  I would sometimes spend eight hours on a Saturday baking.  

8. I have been in twelve weddings and not one of them was my own!  I have amazing friends that I am more then willing to be a bridesmaid for!

9. I worked for two years as a private tutor for a family that has 14 children.  They homeschooled all of their children and I worked with one of them.  It was an interesting experience, but wonderful for where I was in life at that moment.

Mary Theresa was my buddy!

10. I collect DVDs of TV shows...Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, Parenthood and Grey's Anatomy.  I watch them over and over.  They are perfect background noise when I am working on school things.

I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about me!  Don't forget to link up!

Rosie

August Currently...Finally!

I was wondering if I was ever going to get to the August Currently before the end of the month.  The last few days have been a bit all over the place for me.  I am excited to hopefully be back blogging a bit more regularly... it may not come this week, but I can be hopeful!

I am linking up with the famous Farley for her ever famous Currently!

Listening- I am listening to Chopped on the Food Network.  It is one of my favorite shows because of not knowing what is going to be in the basket.  I have to confess, my friend Susan and I often play cooking show and we try to be like the chefs on Chopped.  We take what ever ingredients are in her house and try and make a meal.  Yes...we are dorks!

Loving- I have found my new favorite ice cream...Ben and Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt.  It is so good. I love the Blueberry Graham and the Passion Fruit!  I was debating going to the store and getting some tonight!

Thinking- I have not done a whole lots of school this summer.  The summer has flown by and I am not nearly prepared.  I hope I can kick it into gear the last couple of weeks!

Wanting- I have some questions of life that I want to be answered.  I am hoping in the next few days I will have some answers.  

Needing- I need to get some school work done.  I cannot even wrap my head around it yet.  I am thankful to not start for a few more weeks.  I hope I can get it all done, plus Vacation Bible School, plus some rest time for me!

B2S must haves- Labels- I am a label queen.  I use them for everything.  I always make a bunch of sets at the beginning of the year with my students' names and numbers and I will use them throughout the year.  Sharpies- these are the perfect marker for labeling things! (yes, I love to label!)  Books- I love books and have over a thousand in my classroom library.  I love giving my students many different options for books!

Well that is all for tonight!  I need to make my lunch for tomorrow and get ready for a trip to the Liberty Science Center with camp!

Rosie