July Small Goals

Join me, and others, as we link up with Jennifer @ The Yellow Brick Road this month to reveal our small goals.   

Taking a look back at June, I wrote about 4 goals I had for the month.  The outcome wasn't surprising....check it out.

1.  Blogging, blogging, blogging.  Breaking News!  This just in....I blogged a grand total of 5 times in June.  Most were small and related to a giveaway, but I did it.  Yay!

2.  Lose Weight, Feel Better.  Ummm.  Well...this may need to roll over to July.  Not much to say about that.

3. Get creative.  I have done quite a bit of creating for TpT this summer.  I added several products to my store, and have even cleaned up a few old ones. 

4.  De-clutter and organize.  Kids' rooms cleaned?  CHECK!  Closets organized?  CHECK!  Elimination of unwanted stuff?  CHECK!  All in all, it's been a good month for this one.

 

Now for JULY goals!

 

1.  Lose Weight, Feel Better.  I might as well drop this one down and carry it over.  Though I didn't lose any weight last month, I did begin a walk/run routine with my middle child.  We got up early, before the day was too hot, and did our thing.  It was good for both of us to get our bodies moving and our mouths talking.

 

 2. Vaca with the Hubs.  In June the hubs and I celebrated our 20th year anniversary.  We had planned to take a trip to Mexico, but it just didn't pan out.  Now, we've got a date planned in Orange Beach, Alabama.  No.  It's not Mexico, but it is time away from our daily schedules.  The best part.....wait for it..... NO CHILDREN!!  Technically, this isn't really a goal, but to me, if we make it there and back with no roadblocks (i.e. emergencies or last minute schedule changes) then it's a huge accomplishment.

 

3.  Begin working on my classroom.  I don't want to begin this too early in July, but definitely toward the end.  The past few years, I've waited until our teacher workdays.  It was too stressful on me trying to get everything done in the short amount of time.  If I spend a few hours at school, here and there, before actually reporting in, I think I won't be so rushed.

 

4.  More family time = less technology time.  This is such a challenge, for not only me, but many of us out there.   I love my technology.  My kids are addicted to technology.  I'll miss something important and fall out of the loop if I'm not plugged into technology.  Ugh.  I made a change in the house recently.  Hang with me for a minute while I give some back story.  Three years ago, my family of 5 moved into a small duplex with great plans to purchase a house within a year.  Without going into details, we are still here, and getting more cramped by the minute.  Our little children have grown big.  Our living room seating can accommodate 4, and our kitchen table can as well (no space for the leaf insert to make table larger.)  So, as a result, the three kids ate at the table every night, while hubs and I ate on the couch with t.v. blaring.  HATED IT!  Fast forward to July 1st...with the kids on their phones constantly, I felt we were missing out on a huge part of their lives, and momma wasn't happy.   So....we added the leaf in the table (yes, our space is more crowded), turned off the tv and phones, brought the food to the table, served around the table asking "please pass the..." and "thank you", and we've actually had some quality, lengthy dinner-time conversations.  Hallelujah!  With hectic school/activity schedules on the horizon, my hope is to unplug more and cherish our family times around the table as much as possible.

 

Stay tuned for an update on meeting my goals.  

I would invite you over for dinner, but with my happy family now in place, you'll just have to wait :)

 

 

June: Small Goals

 Join me, and others, as we link up with Jennifer @ The Yellow Brick Road this month to reveal our small goals.

1.  Blogging, blogging, blogging.  

     Let's admit it....I'm not great at blogging.  I don't do it often.  I'm not a great writer.  To be honest, I don't really have that much to say sometimes.  With all of that, I truly enjoy reading and browsing through other blogs, whether it's music education related or not.  So....one of my June small goals is to add a few more posts here and there.

2.  Lose Weight, Feel Better.

     It's funny (not ha, ha funny.)  One would think that being up on your feet all day teaching, while dancing and playing games with the children, would eliminate the possibility of gaining weight from Aug through May/June.  Not.true.  I don't know if I eat more during the school year or what, but it's not cool.  This month, I'm going to start small and try to lose a few pounds to get me going in the right direction again.

3. Get creative.

    During the school year my life is super busy with not only school stuff, but also my family.  Running three kids around to various activities and keeping up with the house gets crazy (can I get an AMEN from any of you?)  As a result, my creative juices are flowing in areas other than TpT.  I put out very few products during the year, most of which, is out of desperation because I need them for my students and can't find anything else to fit our needs.  This goal has been met already because I've began a Star Wars themed classroom set to use in the fall.  Knowing that people in general won't be as passionate about Star Wars as I, it's a goal to continue creating things that will be useful for others too.

4.  De-clutter and organize.

      My intentions have been good.  My plan was to begin organizing this week while 2 of my 3 are off to camp.  So far, it's Tuesday afternoon and I haven't even began.  Could it be because I'm working to reach goal #1?  Probably so.  Anyway, much like my creativity falls by the wayside, Aug-June becomes a dumping ground for papers, backpacks, junk, clothes, (insert other things here) in the house and closets.  I especially have one closet that is our "store all", "who knows what's in there" closet.  Honestly, I've opened the door a couple of times, then just decided to close it again.  My mantra....I think I can...I think I can....I don't think I can.  Ugh.  Maybe writing this goal in my blog for others to read will get me motivated to some extent.  

Stay tuned for an update on meeting my goals.  

Now....who wants to come over and help me clean out that closet??!!

Hellllloooo Summer!

I love summer.  My late-sleeping, no make-up wearing, hair-in-a-bun sporting, with-the-kids hanging, no-rush dinner preparing, house-cleaning (or not), lazy days of summer are my fave! Don't get me wrong.  I love my teaching job too, but there's just something about summer that makes me happy :)

Week 2 has begun and I've already completed a few new projects for my music room theme.  Anticipating the Star Wars movie being a big hit, I thought I'd venture into a galaxy far, far away with my room deco.  I'm so excited.  In fact, I'll most likely take a trip up to school next week to get them up (less stress than waiting until Aug:)

 These are just a few examples of what's been consuming my time this summer.  All these can be found in a bundle or separately on TpT.  I'll post some pics when I get my school room situated.

Products for Prep

August 25th is the BIG DAY!

All of the littles will return to school with fresh haircuts, sweet smiles, and an eagerness to learn.  Though I've enjoyed my summer of laziness, the "back to school" commercials and the school supply aisles are getting me excited to greet my kiddos again.

Today, I'm linking up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room  as I prep for the new school year.  Included will be, not only some of my resources, but also those of others.

The first product is by Cori Bloom from Rhythm & Bloom.

These Spanish/English music quotes are perfect for my school because of the high number of Spanish speaking families that we serve.  They are going to look perfect in the hallway leading up to the music room :)

While I like to teach patriotic songs to all students during the first weeks of school, my 6th graders dig in deeper with the Star-Spangled Banner.  I found this wonderful resource not long ago from Music with Sara Bibee.  I will definitely be using her unit pack during the month of September.

We've all heard it plenty of times..."See ya' later alligator...."  This is a standard salutation for my 1st - 3rd graders as they leave my class each time.  I start the year teaching the first three animals with motions as the students line up to go.  Each six weeks following, I add 1 or 2 more to the mix.  The students love acting out the animals and it's a great way to apply "ta and titi" rhythms throughout the year.  You can find this poster of 10 animal sayings here at The Music-Go-Round.

 

Finally, a new creation as of this summer, is Football Frenzy.  Here in Texas, football season is a way of life!  I plan to use these fun cards to review S-M with 2nd and 3rd grades during the first few weeks.  Then, after much preparation with the fabulous firsties, I'll use the icon cards to practice S-M on a 3-line staff.  If you're a football fanatic like me, check out Football Frenzy.

Thank you for stopping by.  I'll be checking out some other products at Teachers Pay Teachers for my wishlist.  Blast off with TpT's Back to School sale on Aug 4-5.  My entire store will be 20% off, while another 8% discount can be added using the TpT code BTS14.  Thanks Jena Hudson for making the super-cute pic.  

Happy shopping!

The Music-Go-Round

Planning "Whoas"

It's time.  I am down to the wire - two weeks left of summer.  Year-long planning should be finished.  Weekly lesson plans should be in the works.  My room should be progressing along.  And yet....here I sit.  Ugh!  Procrastination at it's best.

Truth be told, I don't enjoy planning for school.  It overwhelms me to think that I hold the key to "Music Education" for 36+ weeks and 6 grade levels containing 80 or more students each.  It seems as though the planning will never end.  And then it becomes clear that I am not alone in this process......

I tell myself to take a step...just a baby step.  I.Can.Do.This!
I gather some useful information from Lindsay Jervis's Perfect Poolside Planning blog hop, and I'm off to the races to accomplish great and mighty things.  Of course, my intention was to begin working in this direction in June. But hey, June and the very end of July is not much different.  Right?  Hmmm.
With resources on my kitchen table, I am armed and ready.

My concepts are clear.  My song lists are compiled.  My spreadsheets are coming together.   Things are definitely looking up for my planning escapades.

But wait...on a recent trip to the dollar store I found these cute little cut-outs.  So now my mind is racing to give each of these a purpose before school starts.

I guess planning will have to wait a little longer.  Hmmph.