Five for Friday: July 10

Summer seems just about the only time I have had to blog this year, so I will enjoy Kacey's linky fun while it lasts.

{Image courtesy of yelp.com, 

because I couldn't be bothered to waste time taking pictures of this deliciousness}

 Some friends and I met up for lunch at one of the best lunch spots in town.  It is only open Monday through Friday and only for lunch.  The wait line goes out the door everyday.  Oh, but it is so worth it!  I had a great French Dip sandwich and took home a piece of this mouth watering Wedding Cake.  So. Good.

 We also submitted our application to present at a local conference!  We gave the workshop twice last summer, but this conference is much bigger than a classroom.  We should hear if it was accepted by the end of the month.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!

One part of the application was video of us presenting.  We didn't have that.  And my partner is in New York all summer for The Reading & Writing Project Summer Institute.  So, we had to figure out some way to do this.  I searched for tutorials of how to video tape a computer desktop and found this easy-to-follow video from Techno FYI.  Here is a clip of the video I made for the application:

The fashionable and fabulous Lindsey of It's Elementary My Dear clued me in to sheinside.com.  I loved the navy dress she shared and found two more I had to add to my wardrobe.  The prices are fantastic.  I haven't received the order yet, and can't comment on the actual dresses, but I am very excited to get them soon!  Plus, I got 6% cash back from Ebates.com (referral link).

Finally, if anyone is interested in ordering custom, handmade, chair pockets/seat sacks from my Etsy shop, the next cut off for shipping is coming up on Wednesday, July 15.

Five for Friday: July 3

Lots of outdoor fun this week!  I'm linking up with Kacey for another Five for Friday.

 My friend and I met up with a local running group to do a 5K on Sunday.  It wasn't too organized, which is good for 7 am on a Sunday morning during the summer.  We just kind of ran around the nature trails.

Hopefully we'll be able to meet up more often this summer for some running fun.  See that blue water drop at the top.  It's a water park.  Wouldn't it be awesome to run a 5K that ends with sliding down the water slide and plunging into the cool, clear pool?  Yes, awesome!

Tuesday we worked at our property in the woods.  We finally blazed a trail all the way around the lake to link the two sides.  It was hard work, but so worth it!

We headed back to the property today.  Three adorable armadillos walked up on us at one point.

This guy was not concerned with us at all.  It was lunchtime and he was hungry!  He even nudged my boot!

  {Click to play video}

I'll have to share some game cam pictures of the deer and turkeys soon.  Turkey chicks are also adorable!

Jumping back a bit, I am loving the MapMyHike app.  I downloaded it a few months ago for our first forays into the woods.  I like keeping track of how far we hike, and it is nice to find our way out.  Now that I started running, I use it a lot more.  It can be set to track miles and kilometers and it tracks routes.  Most of the time I run a little further than a mile, find a natural turnaround and come home.  But it is fantastic in the woods and when we run in new and different places.  Plus it is free.  Gotta love free.

Spurred by the #TpTsellersChallenge, I revamped a few more products.  All my Working with Short Vowel units have fresh, new covers and fonts.

Love. That. Fox.

I'm currently "Making my Masterpiece".  It is a big old set of activities for reading and spelling initial consonant blends.  Wahoo!

{In my photos, fonts are Jen Jones's Hello Fonts and the arrows are from Krista Wallden.}

Five for Friday: June 26

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for this week's Five for Friday linky fun.

Summer time means family time in these parts.  We'll be getting more and more family time because my cousin-in-law and her family are moving 2 miles away from us!  Currently they are 800 miles away from us.  They came to visit for a few days, went house hunting and found the second cutest house in our zip code.  (Ours is the cutest, of course.)  In a few weeks we'll be #hanginatthehostetlers!  I can't wait!

Super fun family time almost got ruined by Mother Nature turning up the heat.  Triple digits in temperature and humidity.  Not loving it.  In an attempt to beat the heat, we loaded up everyone and headed to my mom's for some poolside shenanigans.  Sen wouldn't get in, but the rest of us loved it.

I love my mom.  To bits.  But she is not the most tech savvy girl.  We asked her to take a picture of us in the pool with my cell phone.  Apparently she has never done this in her life.  It took 15 minutes and I got 3 pictures of her jeans, an accidental selfie and a video of me being bratty.  Must erase the incriminating video... ;)  We did end up with a very good photo, however.

I'm also working through chair pocket orders.  I've made some really cute sets this week.  The chevron set in the middle is to coordinate with Dots on Turquoise.  It is going to look great!  I also finished two sets of double pockets.  More info on Etsy.

Just before the fam arrived my copy of The Ready Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo was delivered.  I was able to peek inside a little and I getting antsy to dive in.  It looks phenomenal!

Finally, we are using some of my off time to work at our way-out-in-the-woods property.  Our first path to the lake ended at an alligator nest, so we unanimously decided to move to a new path.  Yesterday we worked to forge through the wilderness (again) for a new path to the lake.  This spot is awesome.  It is on the southern end and is the future home to our dock.  I love this place.

It's been a great week!

Five for Friday

Finally!  I have time to link up with Five for Friday!

 

How about that new logo and banner?!?  LOVE* LOVE * LOVE The amazing Rebecca of Rebecca B Designs created them for me from this inspiration palette.

{from design-seed.com}

I'm still working on the blending the blog design to meet the awesomeness that is my new logo and banner.  It's a work in progress.

Part of my summer is spent happily cutting, stitching and pressing handmade chair pockets for my fellow educators.  The hum of the sewing machine is very Zen for me.  I've already finished a few orders and have several in the works.

Check them out at hermionejschwartz.etsy.com.

School's out for summer!  Can I get a wahoo!  This year was long.  Longer than usual with our extra hour.  Every. day.  Next year I will continue to be our school's literacy interventionist.  I am slated to have 80 students from K-5.  Exciting and overwhelming.  Definitely something that will be on my mind all summer.

This is how I left my new portable.

We just moved all the stuff in, tried to get what we could off the floor (for waxing) and called it even.  Next year the math interventionist and I will share a room.  I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm also throwing a sale this weekend on TpT to celebrate the end of the school year.

 

Happy Friday!

EveryBUNNY Counts Freebie, Five for Friday + other exciting news

Finally!  For the first time this school year I am in time to hook up with Kasey for some Five for Friday Fun!

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New freebie posted: EveryBUNNY Counts solving 3 addend word problems.  It includes 8 different story problems in full color and a black line recording sheet.

It had been a while since we last practiced adding 3 numbers and I thought this would be an engaging way for students to practice both that skill and solving word problems.  Guess what, it worked!

Grab it for free in my TpT store!  Don't let the adorable rabbits fool you, the word problems do not have an Easter theme which makes these great for Spring in general or any time of the year students need a little 3 addend practice.

Speaking of my TpT store, Sunday is my 1 year seller anniversary (I call it my TpT-iversary) and it is time to celebrate!

Festivities will include a fabulous giveaway (with the help of some of my online colleagues) and a 20% off sale in my TpT store!  Check back here this Wednesday for all the details!

And, if you don't follow me on TpT yet, first WHY NOT?! and second, START!  I have a secret surprise for all my followers next week.  Shh...  No, not shh.  Tell everyone! ;)
  
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 The "big kids" started taking their state standardized test this week.  Each year primary classes adopt an intermediate class during the week and send them notes or encouragement or little snacks.  One of our snack treats said "Keep POPPING off the answers!" and we gave them several bags of microwave popcorn.  Corny, yes.  But, boy did we think it was hilarious.

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A few weeks ago we had a project fully funded through PowerUp Jax which is a locally based donor program like DonorsChoose.org.  Through the very generous giving from our local community I was able to purchase 50 on-level, non-fiction books for our classroom.  These two scientists are recording themselves reading all about armadillos.  They had a really great, natural discussion while reading.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to provide these high-interest books to my students!

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 For the past two weeks we've been working on Common Core standard 1.RL.4 (identifying words and phrases in poetry and prose that show emotion and appeal to the senses).  Students are deep into our study of poetry, imagery and personification.  On their own, students have discovered that songs are like poems ("Hey, songs rhyme like poems rhyme!" Amazing.)  I've been sharing my students' work during Daily 5/Literacy Centers on Instagram.  Lots of song lyrics and poems during Work on Writing this week and LOTS of singing/reading during Read to Self and Read to Someone.  It makes this teacher's heart sing, too!  P.S. IG @whathappensin27

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Our yard at home is positively bursting with Springy goodness!  The garden is growing, the trees are blooming and I can barely wait to eat these beautiful blueberries!

Remember, check back Wednesday for details on my TpT-iversary giveaway!