Five for Fraturday! Catching you up!

Sooo it has just been craaazy busy for the last 2 weeks.   Today I am linking up a little late with Doodle Bugs for Five for Fraturday to catch you up a bit on everything.  I know I live such an exciting life you are all just dying to see what I have been up to…lol...not so much.

First off I attended I Teach K in Las Vegas.  I met some wonderful presenters and bloggers.  It was a fantastic experience and if you have the chance to attend any SDE National conference I suggest you go.  Here are just a few pics from my trip. 

This was the gorgeous view from my Hotel room for the week.

A beautiful waterfall in the Canal Shoppes inside the Venetian.

I will be putting up a post with some tidbits of all the fantastic ideas I learned while I was there and many more fantastic photos, so be sure to check back in a day or two.  

Well I arrived home from Vegas exhausted and had to immediately prep to teach Kinder Camp for the next 2 weeks.  Although I am loving my summer, I do have to admit I had missed seeing my kiddos too. I know I am a little crazy.  

Since I teach a TK/K combo several of my students are coming back to me this year so it was fun to catch up with them and meet all our new friends. 

I didn’t get many pics this week it was a lot of just getting to know each other, learning the rules, and some constructive play centers. For the next two weeks, all the centers are just fun while I do pre-assessments. I will be sharing more about how I do that next week. However,  I did start teaching my kiddos to take pics of their center “work” though. 

One of my little guys took this pic of his building creation he was so proud of.  Sorry it is a little blurry, he is only 5.

I also took my oldest son to Orientation for 2 days this week at UC Irvine.  Yes, that means I had a sub already…  they did know I was going to be gone when we scheduled.  However, our new Principal started July 1st, I went to I Teach K July 6th and we start school Aug 5th.  So it was pretty much now or never for the dates this year.

Anywho, Beau had a wonderful time.  So did I, see #4 for the week.  The first day was just for students so I was on my own in Irvine…what’s a girl to do.  The second day we had sessions together.  He is very excited and I know that he is going to have a great time even though I am really going to miss him.

 Here he is with a stuffed Anteater, the school mascot.    

Well, I dropped off Beau to his first session and immediately asked Siri, “Where is the nearest IKEA?”  I have never been and have always wanted to go…but a 4 ½ hour drive just to shop is not my style.  But, since I had free time and it was less than 10 miles away I HAD to go.

Oh My! I was like a kid in a candy store. Before I knew it I had been there for almost 2 ½ hours and it seemed like no time at all.  So many great things I could use in my class, not to mention my house…lol.

I did settle for a few goodies for my room.  Here is a sneak peek, you’ll see them in action when I have my classroom reveal.  I am super excited to have some bright colors to add to my room.

When I got home from Irvine I had my new Erin Condren Life planner waiting for me.  I was sooo excited. It is absolutely beautiful! Even the packaging was pretty.

I love that it has inspirational quotes and plenty of room to write in all my family, school and personal activities.  I had to run out and get some new pens so I could color code all my activities.  I know… I am a little crazy, school stuff is red, family is blue, pink is personal, the boys school stuff is green, you get the picture. I will be spending time this weekend filling it all in.  I have tried digital calendars and I just like having something written that I can carry around.  I am a little old fashioned I guess. 

I do use a customizable digital planner for my lesson plans though and I really love it.  Mine is from Traci at Dragonflies inFirst.  It is fantastic to be able to cut, paste, copy, etc when plans change.  I am a little OCD and don’t like eraser marks in my planner…lol. Plus I was able to make it the colors to match my room theme and put in all my times/subjects/specials,etc.  You might want to check it out if you’re looking for a digital teacher planner.

             

So what have you been up to this week?  I love to read your comments and thoughts.

Make it a great week!!

~Laura