Energy Everywhere!

I thought I would share what we have been working on this week. My kiddos are learning about the various forms of energy and I found a great idea here that we have been doing! They had to draw their bedrooms and things in their rooms and label items with the correct form of energy. They had to represent each form of energy we have been studying at least once. Here are several of their drawings. There are more girl drawings than boys....my girls took more time and did a better job! They turned out really well...:)

The students really enjoyed this activity and so did I. Hope you are all having a great week! I am but I am looking forward to the 3-day weekend coming up too! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Be Blessed....

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New Desk Arrangement!

I don't know about you, but I like to switch my desk arrangement up every few weeks! I have an oddly shaped room....kind of wedge shaped, so I am very limited on what I can do. I think I found an arrangement I will like for a while. It gives me some groups of 2, 3, 4, and 5. I am anxious to see what the kiddos think of it tomorrow! What do you think?

If I am standing in the front of the room, there is a row of 5 desks to the far right, a row of 4 to the far left, three  rows of 3 in the center, and two sets of 2 in the back at an angle.

I think I will like it and I hope the students do too! Hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend.....it has been around 80 degrees here in good old sunny Florida! I actually got sun-burned at my son's soccer game yesterday...UGH! I sunburn so easily! 

Be Blessed, 

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Lazy Rainy Days.....and a Giveaway Teaser!

Hi all! I hope everyone is having a fabulous 2013 so far...:) Today is my last day of break and I am a little sad about that. I am sitting here listening to the rain fall on my tin roof and wishing I had more days off. My hubby took off the whole two weeks with me and we have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with each other, our kiddos, and our families. We have been working on our the outside of our home putting new siding on and got a lot done. I have tried new recipes and piddled around in the house on various projects. I have done my share of thrift shopping and reading and I truly am not ready to go back to work.

 Anywho...I know some of you had to head back into the classroom already, but I don't see my kiddos until Tuesday! I do work Monday, but it's not a student contact day....thankfully. I have a lot of planning & grading to catch up on! I have not worked on school stuff at all over the break and it has been wonderful! I am starting to think about it now though and get my mind wrapped around what I am going to be doing in January. 

We have been doing physical science for a few weeks now and I am really getting burnt out on it, but we still have a few things to cover. So, I am sucking it up and trying to find some cool ideas for magnetism and electricity!  I found a couple good videos on Discovery and a really sweet unit on magnets and electricity....now I just need to get everything planned out. I am ready to end physical science and move on to Life Science and the human body. I've been pinning lots of good ideas and am ready to use them!

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These are all really good resources and I am anxious to use them! I think the kiddos are ready to be finished with physical science as much as me...:) I also wanted to let you know I have come up with a theme for my 200 follower gift basket giveaway....if I ever make it to 200! It is going to be a Spring Survival goodie basket....because the spring seems to drag by while we are anxiously awaiting summer break! So....be sure to stay tuned so you don't miss out!  I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday....I am off to heat up a bowl of tomato/basil soup and chillax in front of the tv for a while. This rainy weather just calls for it...:)
As always....be blessed!

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Close to 200....Followers That Is!

I am so excited....I'm quickly approaching the 200 follower mark! I have been trying to decide what my giveaway will be...I definitely think 200 followers is deserving of a sweet giveaway! I'm thinking of putting together a gift basket of sorts! Something different...:) I'm not on TPT and even if I was, not everyone can use 5th grade Florida science resources...lol! I love to buy gifts for people though, so I think I will be on the lookout for some sweet goodies to include in my basket! And....I may even include something handmade by me! 

Be sure to keep checking back....hopefully I'll reach the big 200 soon!

Be Blessed,

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New Year....New Blog!

I am so looking forward to what this year holds! I know it is going to be the best one yet...:) My dear son, Dakota graduates high school this year and we will be going on a cruise to the Bahamas for his senior trip in June....right after my 44th b-day and his 18th and just before my dear hubby's 46th! I can't wait!!! 

The Carnival Fascination!

Wow....time flies! Dear hubby and I celebrate our 25th anniversary in October this year too! I'm hoping we can get away for a short trip somewhere.....anywhere, but I'm thinking maybe Savannah! I think 25 years deserves a special get-away! Anywho, another fun thing this year holds is working on opening my ETSY shop and keeping up with two blogs! Yep....I started another one to focus on my home life. I love this blog and keeping up with what is going on in the blogging world for teachers, but home is where my heart is...:) I hope you will come visit me there too! 

You can visit me at Life On Willie Mae Lane if you want to! 

I'll still be blogging here too, but I am going to stick more to school and science here...:) So.....I hope you all had a wonderful first day of 2013...and for those of you who have to return tomorrow.....I'm sorry! Just kidding....I am sure you are getting ready for routine again and looking forward to seeing all your "kiddos"! 

Thanks for being my bloggy friends and as always.....

Be Blessed!

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January Currently....and Happy New Year!

Well....it's that time again! I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for January's Currently and you should too! Here it is!

I've been listening to way too many Lifetime and Hallmark movies over the last several days! I can't help it....I love them!

I am definitely loving that I have 6 more days of break! I have a long list of things to accomplish before next Monday though! I need to get busy!

I have been thinking and reflecting a lot lately about 2012 and what a blessed year it has been! I pray that 2013 is even better! Life is amazing right now and hopefully it will be even better is I can stick to my New Year's resolutions!

I am really, really wanting to open an ETSY store in 2013! I plan to sell both handmade and vintage items and can't wait to get it started!

I am needing a new fridge but want to pay off my new stove first! It's almost paid off.....so hopefully just a couple more months!

And last....but not least, my OLW is GRATITUDE! I have been trying very hard over the past year to have and show gratitude for EVERYTHING in my life.....be it good or bad. This is hard to do sometimes, but life is so much sweeter when you are grateful. We live in a world where gratitude is not shown as much as it should be. A few years ago, my sister gave me a book called Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. The book focuses on gratitude and is an excellent book! I plan to reread it this year. I just discovered that she has a website too.....you can check it out here.

I am leaving you with a quote from the book that I absolutely love. I have had this on my home bulletin board for years...it is so true!

'Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.'
-Melody Beady

May your 2013 be blessed and beautiful!

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New Year....Fresh Starts!

Hello Everyone! I'm linking up with Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness for her Resolution Solution Linky Party! I love the fresh start that a new year brings and as a teacher. I feel like I have two fresh starts each year! Back to school time in the fall always feels like a new year and I always set goals at that time as well as the beginning of the new year. Anywho....like all of you, I have some resolutions....lots of them! Let's start with school.....:)

School Resolutions: I don't have a lot of school resolutions. I have been trying to stay on top of things since I started working at a new school in a new subject and a new grade level this year! Here are a couple of things I do want to work on though!
1. Grades: I really want to try hard to stay on top of grading this year! I also want to post at least two grades per week. I have really been struggling with grading papers and entering grades lately!
2. Behavior Management: I have been using Class Dojo for behavior management in my classroom but haven't been as structured with it as I would like to be. I plan to revamp the way I use it and use it more effectively in 2013!

3. BLOG: My last one is taking more pix of what's going on in my classroom and posting more on this blog!

Personal Resolutions:
I have lots of personal goals for this year! Maybe by sharing them I will be more likely to try sticking to them.....MAYBE! :) Here they are.....in no particular order!
1. Get Healthy: I struggle when it comes to eating and exercising....just being honest! I am a sugar addict! I absolutely love sweets...:) About three years ago, I decided I was going to drop a few pounds and exercise, and I did just that. I did it with walking and water! I drank mostly water and walked most every day and I love about 30 pounds! I did really well that year until I started back to school in the fall and life got crazy! I have managed to keep most of that weight off but am ready to try again! I am planning to do the water/walking thing again! A big goal for this year is to be able to run a 5k....toward the end of the year! It has been a dream of mine for a while now!
2. Pinterest Projects: I have been pretty good about trying some of the things I have pinned, but my goal this year is to try at least one new recipe per week as well as one of the housekeeping tips and/or crafts I have pinned! I have over 5,000 pins so I will never get to all of them, but I can try more that I have been! You can see my boards here!

3. Home Improvement: My dear hubby and I have been working on remodeling our mobile home for a while now. We have completed a couple of rooms....my son Dakota's room, and my craft room. We are currently redoing the siding on the outside of our home. My goals for this year are to build a new screened porch to extend our living space, as well as totally gut our master bath and redo it! I also hope we can put in new walls and floors in our dining and living rooms. And....I would really love to complete my little library space that I have created. I want to build in floor to ceiling bookshelves along one wall to house my HUGE collection of books!
4. ETSY Shop: This last goal is to open an ETSY shop and sell handmade items as well as vintage items. I absolutely love to treasure hunt for vintage items and I also love crafting. I decided to try and make some extra money by opening an ETSY shop. Do any of you shop ETSY? If so, what do you shop for? I hope to have it up and going before summer, but realistically, it probably won't be! I can't wait to begin this endeavor!!! Wish me luck! As soon as it's up and running, I will share on here so you can check it out!

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for sticking with me through the whole post! I appreciate it oh so much!  Have a happy and blessed new year! 

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