Blog Post Brought to You By a Late Cup of Coffee

I took my car to Toyota today to get my sun visor re-attached. It stopped staying folded up and the husband took it off because it was driving me bananas trying to peek underneath it to see to drive. Really, I think he knows how amazingly awesome I am at driving and didn't want anything to get in the way of that skill (complete sarcasm by the way).  That was almost 2 months ago {{sorry Dad}}. It was under a recall so I took it in and 4 hours later it was fixed. During that wait time I decided that a coffee would be a fab idea even at 4:00...now at 12:32 when everyone else is sleeping in this house...not so fab of a decision. Side note: I wonder what dogs dream about? Mine has his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his tail is wagging non stop. In other news, our internet/cable provider peaced out on us for a solid 4-5 hour period eliminating my Pinterest marathon I had planned for the rainy afternoon. I mean seriously, what else is someone expected to do during a rain storm when their husband is playing a video game && said girl is so jacked up on caffeine a nap is out of the question (what does Panera put in their coffee??).  I almost considered going to the gym for the second time today just to get some Wifi in my life...quickly decided against that. Sooooo I'm getting a late start on my blog/pinterest fix for the day.

I've personally been in denial that August would be creeping into my life with such a quickness. Now that August (and the back to school commercials) are here, it's impossible to pretend that summer is going to last forever. Every year I try to make goals for the upcoming school year (not a new concept I'm sure every teacher does the same thing). In my late night blog hopping expedition I found a blog link up to get my brain wrapped around the new school year. Tonight {{{uhhhhh this morning}}} I'm liking up with Jessica at I {Heart} Recess f0r Back to School Goals. Here we go...

 

 

Personal:

{{Find a Balance}}

Finding a balance between work, home, and working out has always been a struggle of mine. I'm a perfectionist so I tend to be a work-a-holic. This year my goal is to leave the school building by 3:30 every day (except for those meeting days). Leaving at 3:30 gives me plenty of time to focus on my life at home and to keep working on my fitness. I've done a pretty decent job this summer forcing myself to go to the gym. I'm far from a gym rat, but I've graduated from the couch potato category.

 

Organization:

{{Keep It Simple}}

I'm pretty solid with my skills in organizing. I despise clutter so I've developed a pretty effective file it, return it, or toss it policy. There's always room for improvement, but my goal is to keep it simple. Pinterest has some pretty amazing ideas, but there are a lot of time consuming things that are more for show than for a purpose. It's easy to get sucked into them... I swear I'm like a moth to a bright light when there are cute upgraded options to be done.

 

Planning:

{{Stay Ahead}}

Staying 2 weeks ahead has always been my thing. This year is going to be really hard with changes flying in at every direction. Our district is fully implementing the CCSS this year for ELA. Not a big deal...I'm not scared of them. The big deal comes with the district created units for math and ELA that every teacher has to teach && they're not even posted yet (surprised? not in the least). All of the planning that I hoped to get done over the summer hasn't happened at all so maybe staying 2 weeks ahead is going to be a bit unrealistic this year...about as unrealistic as expecting my dog not to snap at every bumble bee she sees on walks near flowers...ain't gonna happen. Soooo maybe the outline for each month filled in with copies being completed by Thursday of each week. Uggggh I already have a headache.

 

Professional:

{{Keep Calm and Teach On}}

Changes are stressful and lord knows we've got a lot of those going on this year. BUT the stress doesn't have to ruin your day...it's always going to be there, but it doesn't have to consume you. Keeping a positive attitude is definitely going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it. . .I think.

 

Students:

{{Find the Sprinkles and Rainbows}}

This is my seventh year in the classroom so I'm well aware that teaching isn't always sprinkles and rainbows. Everything doesn't always sparkle. Kids are going to have their moods, tantrums are going to occur, arguments are going to fire up with BFFs who have had it with their copycat friend, chicken nuggets are going to touch gravy && the sky will begin to fall because of this. Moments like these can make you want to pull your hair out and scream as loud as humanly possible. Teaching will drive you crazy if you don't find the humor in the crazy moments. Focusing more on the hilarity of the day to day life within my classroom is my ultimate goal && in the process loving my kids for WHO they are (tantrums & quirks included). Unicorns might not exist, but I can hot glue a wooden horn onto a plain old horse's head, sprinkle some glitter on it and pretend it's a unicorn.

 

Motto:

{{Ain't Nobody Got Time for That}}

Ridiculousness...Ain't Nobody Got Time for That....Enough said

 

Until next time. . .live, love, &&& just say no to afternoon lattes.