Monday Made It..."Eating, Drinking, and Linking...Oh My"

Monday, Monday, Monday!

I'm so very happy because this is the first time 

I've gotten to link up this summer with 

Tara from 4th Grade Frolics

for Monday Made It.

I seriously do NOT like to miss linkin' up with sweet Tara.

I get so excited each month when it's time for MMI...so imagine

how giddy I am for it to be back weekly!

In fact...I stalk check back frequently to see if

she has updated on Sunday nights because I don't

always trust Bloglovin' to let me know in an adequate amount of
time whether or not she has a new post up!

Control issues much?

I'm not even goin' to lie when I say I like to be in the Top 11
(11 is my favorite number) of linker uppers.
It's a game that I'm really good at and 

feel super accomplished if I get in one of those spots.

Again...I may have some issues I need to work through.

My first "made it" is actually something that was made FOR me.  

Does that still count as a "made it"?  I hope so!

My friend Kristen from Chalk & Apples (as well as Teaching Trio) 

made a new custom TpT Store Button & Banner 

to help spruce up my TpT store.

Kristen had me fill out a questionairre of my preferences

and then tailored my button and banner to exactly what I wanted.

Should I be worried that Kristen read my mind?

I'm kiddin'!

Check out my bright button and banner.

I think they scream, "Ali...Ali...Ali!"

You heard it too...right?

You should check out what Kristen is offerin' and let her customize

a new button and banner for you!

I'm pretty sure I'm goin' to shock all of my 

regular readers when I say...

"I made...

....

.....

...

food.

I MADE FOOD!"

I know...suprised the heck out of me too.

I HAD to because I also wanted to link 

up with my sweet buddy Christy from 

Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road

for 

"Eating, Drinking and Linking! Oh my!"

I took pictures because I knew you guys

wouldn't believe me otherwise.

If you're new here...I don't cook...or bake...

or do anything that involves the kitchen...

besides eatin'...of course.

I'm super good at eatin'...a lot.

If any of you spill the beans to Jerm that I was

actually in the kitchen, I will be SO mad.

I can't ruin my damsel in distress...in the kitchen...cover.

*Jerm, I don't know if you read my blog or not...

if you do...this message will self-destruct and you 

won't be able to prove it other than the fact

that this will be on the interwebs forever.

Either way...your argument is invalid.

*Tuna salad with Endive leaves.

*Peppers with Ranch dressin'.

*Tomatoes out of my mama's garden.

This didn't require any electric or gas appliances.

There was no threat of me burnin' anything...especially myself.

Aren't you proud?

I made a plate.

Actually...I bought a glass plate and a

"fat quarter" (yes, that's what it is called) 

piece of fabric.

I slapped some Mod Podge on the bottom of the plate,

set the fabric on it, and painted some more Mod Podge on the bottom of the fabric.

Let it dry and voila...a bright new display plate/charger thing-y.

This seriously was so easy that I can't wait to make more.

Yesterday we went to lunch at a friend's and I made this 

round one for her.

This round glass plate was found at Walmart for $1.

The square one above was from Beverly's Fabric for $3.50, but it

was originally from Pier 1.

Fabric was $2.99 a fat quarter...also at Beverly's Fabric.

I looked for glass plates at Dollar Tree around here, but 

did not find any.

I feel like I need to say it again...this was EASY!

If I can do it...you can too!

I made my very own Giveaway button thingamajig.

Again...suprisin' myself left and right.

This has been floatin' around the bloggy world

the past few days, so you may have already seen it.

I think it's cute though and I'm proud of myself

for goin' out of my comfort zone and 

tryin' to make something new.

If you haven't entered...you should probably splish-splash your

way into the Rafflecopter before it closes.

Who knows...it could be YOU winnin' the 

$50 Amazon Gift Card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Monday, friends!

Technology Thursday & Positive Thinking Thursday...

Hello, Thursday!

Made it to Cali safe and sound.
I might hang out in my pajamas all day and not even
feel guilty about that!

Today I'm linkin' up with Teaching Trio for Technology Thursday.

I'm goin' to do a throwback to somethin' that I used this year with my fifthies.

A WONDERful technology project...

What a WONDERful Wednesday!

Can you guess what you are about to read about?

I have no doubt you guessed it right away.

I have been waitin' for the perfect time to share this and today is THE day!

I have posted before about how we used the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio 

in our class...here.

I had a plan to end our read aloud with a project to persuade 

our Superintendent to read the book.

Writin' was not enough. 

We needed some technology to really get our point across.

I began by havin' my students pick out which technology pieces they would 

like to incorporate into their project.

They brainstormed and chose which group they would like to be in.

1) Powerpoint

2) QR Codes

3) Stop Motion Animation

4) Writing of Play and Acting
5)Videotaping of Play

The students worked hard in their groups(with little to no direction from me)
 and had lots of discussions
on what needed to be changed.
I'm serious...this was all from their genius brains...not mine.
Once everyone had completed their task
(this took a few weeks because we continued with our normal routines
and fit this in when we had some extra moments)
I took all of their work and dropped it into a Prezi.
I had never used Prezi before, so it took some gettin' used to, but
I'M SO GLAD I USED IT!
Prezi is visually appealin' and once you get the hang of it,
you really can do so much.
We integrated things such as YouTube, iMovie, MyCreate, and QR Codes.

We sent the Prezi to the Superintendent and guess what?!
He loved it!
He came out to our school to let us know we did indeed persuade
him to read Wonder.
He let us know it might take him a little bit, but we assured him
it was worth however long it takes him.
How very sweet and kind of him to take time out of his busy
schedule to thank my kids!
Awesomeness for sure!

Check out our Prezi:


We hope you enjoyed our WONDERful project.

I'm also linkin' up with my sweet friend, Jennifer, from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

for Positive Thinking Thursday.

Source

So blessed to be able to have a career that allows me to spend

such a long period of time with my family this summer.

I love my family to the moon and back.

Have you entered to win my 500 Follower Giveaway

for a $50 Amazon Gift Card?

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter to win.

This ends on June 17th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Thursday, friends!

Wordless Wednesday...

Today I'm linkin' up with Christina from Super and Spice

for Wordless Wednesday.

What would you buy with a $50 Amazon Gift Card?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Wednesday, friends!

$50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway...Par-tay!

O-M-G, y'all!

I know it's a big NO-NO to post twice

in one day, but I have to because...

I reached FIVE HUNDRED followers on Bloglovin'...5-0-0 and...

to top that off...I now have 700 Pinterest followers!

Can you hear me woohooin' from your house?

I'm in SHOCK...my followers ROCK!

(I didn't plan on a rhyme)

To celebrate, I'm havin' a lil' giveaway with a

FIFTY DOLLAR Amazon Gift Card!!!

Did you read that?  

Read it again!

$50

I want YOU...one of my lucky readers to have this!

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter to win.

This ends on June 17th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now I think I'm actually motivated to go pack my suitcase!

Happy Tuesday...again, friends!

Elements Wanted and STEM Sleuths...Tried it Tuesday

It's Tuesday.

I'm officially done with the 2013-2014 school year.

I wanted to link up with one last school related

Tried it Tuesday with my sweet BBB, Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper.

Tried it Awesomeness #1:  Elements Wanted Posters

My sweet friend, Chelsea, from 5th Grade Wit and Whimsy

shared a really neat Science project that she did with her

class this year and was kind enough to share with me

what she was doin'.

Read her post here and one I wrote here.
I took my kiddos to the Technology Lab where we could
work on our posters...it went much quicker this way.
I will definitely be doin' this again next year.
I learned a lot of new and interestin' facts about the elements
and so did my Rockstars.

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I had one of my students
take pictures after I had already loaded them in their mailboxes
to go home.  I had forgotten to take pics while they were hangin' up.

Tried it Awesomeness #2: STEM Sleuths

Meet Ted Borduas

 Ted and I used to teach

together...many moons ago in Naples, Florida.
Ted is a phenomenal 5th grade teacher who gets
his students excited about all things,
but especially in the area of STEM.
Ted has created mini videos for teachers and students
to enjoy in his STEM Sleuths series.
He has videos on Sound, Properties of Water, Clouds,
the Sun and Stars and many other topics.
Check them out here.
*If you're a Florida teacher, these will be extra helpful for you.

I've included a sample for you.



Tried it Awesomeness #3: Two for Tuesday with The Teaching Tribune

I have placed two "Science-y" items from my TpT store on sale
for 50% off.

#1: S.T.E.M. Edition-Behavior Beads

#2: Science Vocabulary Word Wall Words & Definition Cards

Don't forget to check out my friend Jessica's giveaway
every day this week over at Literacy Spark.
If you missed yesterday's post about the giveaway.
Click here.

In other news....I reached 500 followers on Bloglovin'!

I'm thinkin' about what I want to do to celebrate.

Any ideas?

YAY!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Monday Meet Me and a giveaway...

Today is my last day of work.
My checklist is almost complete.
It's goin' to be awfully quite in there today without
my Rockstars in the room.

I'm linkin' up with The Teaching Tribune for

My Monday Meet Me

I teach:  5th grade Talented and Gifted.  

Next year I will be startin' my 17th year of teachin'.

It doesn't even seem possible sometimes.  

I am just comin' off a two year loop from 4th to 5th.

I'm happy to announce that I will get to stay in the same grade level 

after 8 years of loopin' and switchin' grade levels every year.  

I'm excited because I feel like I will finally get to be an 

expert at a grade level instead of scramblin' around 

for new and innovative things all year.

I tried some really neat things this year that 

I'd like to use again with the next group.

I'll still be on the hunt this summer for awesome stuff 

you guys have already created!

I have: two more days until I'm in California with my parents.  

It's been a long two weeks after the loss of my Nitty.  

It will be good for my parents and I to decompress and spend some 

quality time with one another.  

We already have some plans to go to some Red Sox games in Oakland 

and a weekend trip to Pismo Beach for some relaxation and waves.  

I watch: a TON of Netflix and DVRed T.V. shows.  

It keeps my mind busy and gives me

something to do in my down time.  

Right now I'm on Season 2 of Orange is the New Black.  

I had to go back and watch some of the first season to refresh my memory.  

I listen: to many different genres of music.  

If I'm in my car, I listen to Drum and Bass...at a high volume.

If I'm in Jerm's truck, I listen to Country.   

If I'm on the treadmill...which isn't often, I listen to Heavy Metal.  

My music changes accordin' to my mood.  

I heart music!

I read: anything and everything that I can get my hands on.  

I'm definitely a book hoarder on my Kindle.  

I thought I would miss holdin' a real book and readin', but I really don't.

It's just so much easier to cart around.  

I currently have about 650 books that need to be read.

I'm hopin' my time in California will help knock this number down.

I do: love cilantro.  A LOT!  

I seriously would eat it with every meal if I could. 

Yummy!

Congratulations to my friend Jessica from Literacy Spark

for reachin' 1,000 followers.

She is havin' a 5 day celebration with giveaways from 

June 9th to June 13th.

Jessica has teamed up with a lot of other 

amazin' bloggers to help with her celebration.

You definitely need to head over to her blog to 

enter to win.

Make sure you head over to Literacy Spark for the giveaway and

The Teaching Tribune for Monday Meet Me.

Happy Monday, friends!

A grandmother's love...remembering my Nitty...

If you've been around this blog with me since last summer,

then you probably have heard mention of Nitty, my sweet grandmother.

I was sitting in her living room when I wrote my first blog post in July.

She was so proud and wanted to read everything I wrote

and look at all the pictures I took.

Nitty's the cute one in the red sweater.

It is with great sadness in my heart that I write this blog post, but 

I felt it necessary because this blog is not only about my teaching life,

but about my life in general.

My Nitty passed away last Monday, a week before her 93rd birthday.

Up until six weeks ago, my Nitty was the sharpest and healthiest

92 year old I have ever been in contact with.

Unfortunately, a major brain tumor took hold of her quickly

and she lost her battle with that horrible, nasty thing.

Nitty had been in CA with my parents, so they were able to 

get the very best care for her and to keep her comfortable.

I'm glad she was not alone.

Jerm and I traveled to Georgia on Thursday to meet my parents and

we had Nitty's visitation and funeral on Friday and Saturday.

It was definitely a celebration of her wonderful life

with family and friends.

It made me happy to hear so many stories of times she shared

with so many amazing people.

They loved her and she loved them just as much!

My sweet students/families and best friend surprised my

family with flowers...you know I broke down in tears!

Nitty would've loved them!

Nitty's service was beautiful and the pastor did such

a fabulous job with his message.

She is on a big hill with a gorgeous view...right

next to my Papa...after 15 long years of being apart.

Sunday and Monday were also emotional as we 

went through old pictures, files and personal belongings.

Every item was a treasure and a piece of her life.

I am proudly wearing Nitty and Papa's wedding rings together.

Yesterday we invited some of her lady friends, "The Golden Girls"

and some close family friends to eat 

hamburgers on what would have been her 93rd birthday.

We had cake and ate ice cream too, her favorites.

I know she was looking down on us from Heaven...smiling!

Of course I am heartbroken with all that has happened

because I was so very close with my Nitty.

Nitty was the most caring, selfless person I know.

Her laugh, her humor, her love...squeezed my heart.
A grandmother's love is like no other love.

Right now I can't even imagine life without her,

but I know this is just a temporary separation.

I also know I am blessed to have had so many years with her and

am thankful that I have so many beautiful memories of and with her.

I had planned a trip to CA next week to help my parents with her care.

Now my visit will be a time for us to spend together and 

to begin the healing process. 

Although I've just spent the last week with my parents,

I need more...lots more!

I could go on forever telling you all the ways I loved my Nitty.

Instead, I wanted to share some pictures of her with you...

Isn't she just stunning and classy?

My Nitty in 1950 when she was pregnant with my dad.

This was taken when Nitty and I flew to CA to surprise my dad

for his 60th birthday.

The very best hugger in the whole world.

Nitty winning money when we took her to Bingo.

She gave the money to my parents...the sweetest ever!

Last summer...when I took her to her favorite place, The Varsity in Atlanta.

It might've taken her two days, but she ate every last bite

of those chili dogs and onion rings!

Nitty letting me dress her up like a cow to get a photo op for this post.

The last picture we took when I met her in the airport in Atlanta

to go visit my parents for Thanksgiving.

This will be my favorite selfie of all time.

I urge you all to...

1.  go hug someone you love

2. call someone and tell them you love them

3. take a picture with someone you love

4. help a loved one in need...or just because 

You get the idea...just don't let a minute pass you by.

We are never guaranteed a tomorrow and everyone

should make the most of each minute we are given.

Do it for my Nitty!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

I've missed you!