10 Things I Want To Do This Summer

Hello friends! Oh how I have missed this space on the internet.  Like most of you, the end of the school year was extremely busy for me.  Filled with EOY assessments, field trips, field days, awards days, and a party to send our fourth graders on to fifth grade in style. 

We have been out of school for about a week now and I am finally ready to plan out my summer to do list.  I always take the first week of summer vacation off from anything teaching related. My summer classes haven't started yet, and I've enjoyed just relaxing this week.  We had a big cookout for my 30th birthday, I've taken the dogs on big walks every day, and we've tackled some home improvement projects. It's been great for recharging my batteries!

Since I've had time to clear of my head of all things teaching related, I thought I'd link up with Deanna Jump for my Summer Top Ten List. :) I've really enjoyed reading everyone's lists!

One: READ
One of my favorite things about summer is the chance to read.  I have a mix of professional and fun books that I am excited to read this summer. :)  Below is a list of books I plan on reading:
The One and Only
Word Nerds
The MatchMaker
Daily Five: Second Edition

Two: COOK
I certainly do my fair share of cooking during the school year, it's a great stress relief for me.  However, this summer I hope to cook more than I have in previous summers.  My husband works in restaurant management and can have crazy hours.  So sometimes, I just feel it's easier to pick up something rather than cook dinner for myself.  My goal is two is try to only eat out twice each month.  Cooking at home is typically better for me, and it's cheaper too! 

Three: DWELL 
My one little word spiritually this summer is DWELL.  I yearn to just spend sweet time with the Lord.  Whether it be doing a bible study, praying, or journaling.  I just want to dwell in his presence this summer. 

Four: SERVE
My husband and I recently started attending a new church together. We both hope to get more involved by serving our church community this summer.

Five: FOLLOW A SCHEDULE
While I certainly love the flexibility of summer, I have a hard time with it as well.  If I don't follow some type of schedule; I end up doing things like wasting the day on Instagram, watching the entire series of The Little Couple on Netflix, or napping the day away.  Which are all good things, in moderation. I try to get all my school/blog/TpT work done by five, so I can enjoy the rest of the evening with my husband and pups.  This also helps me to be more balanced, as I'm not doing school stuff all day, every day. 

Six: BE ACTIVE
A few summers ago, I fell prey to the blogger but. I sat on my but and blogged and created for TpT.  It was fun BUT it created a lot of bad habits.  This summer, I just want to to be active every day. Whether that be a walk with the dogs, a run, or a workout I have saved on Pinterest, I just want to get moving. 

Seven: CREATE
This summer, I have a new product line up my sleeve that I'm excited about. :) Something I really struggle with is getting in all the language usage CCSS standards in during my writing block.  So let's just say it addresses that need and hopefully it will help you out too! :)

Eight: PLAN 
This summer, I really want to look at our curriculum map and unit assessments and be purposeful with my preplanning of the school year and really make sure to dig deep in our standards.  I have lots of resources that I have created or purchased and I want to make sure to fill them purposefully in my curriculum map.  I also want to strengthen my writing calendar/map this year as well. :)

Nine: DECORATE
This is our second summer in our house and things are finally really coming together.  Which makes my wallet really happy! We really just need to finish up our gallery wall in our loft, add some personal touches to our master bedroom, and fill an awkward space in our kitchen at the moment.  :) Then it's on to finishing our basement....the list never stops with my handy hubs!

Our gallery wall will go behind the couch! :)

Ten: LOVE
This summer marks five years that I've been with my hubby and four years since we've been married.  We've been through a lot during that time and I'm so blessed to have him by my side.  We are hopeful that our family will grow soon and so I hope to cherish our time together, just the two of us, this summer. 

What are you up to this summer? :)  

Bright Ideas Link Up: Keeping Student Desks Together

It's one of my favorite times of the month again, time for myself and a few hundred of my blogging buddies are sharing tried and true ideas from our classrooms. 

My bright idea is one I wish I had thought of years ago.  I have always had desks in my classroom that I have always grouped into tables for easy partner work and collaboration. However, those silly desks ALWAYS moved around.  Always. Halfway through the day, we were always rearranging our tables, and there was always one kid who managed to push his desk into another child's.  Always.  Before blogs and Pinterest, I searched message boards, AtoZTeacher stuff anyone?, to try and find a solution. I tried taping the desks together, using bungee cords, ropes, etc. to keep them together.  Nothing worked. 

Then one day a colleague of mine suggested old coffee cans, which I thought was brilliant, but I didn't have six coffee cans just sitting around the house. So I went to Home Depot and bought some one quart mixing containers.  You can find them online {here}. 

I put the container in middle of where I wanted each table to be and put one leg from each chair inside. Problem instantly solved!

Their desks still move a little bit, but not nearly as much as they did before.  Only one or two tables need readjusted throughout the day instead of all of the. Additionally, since all of the desks are connected, it's so much easier to slide them into to place when needed.

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider 
joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or my Teachers Pay Teachers store for more great ideas. 

To keep searching for even more bright ideas from 150 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that 
interests you. Thanks for visiting! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday: Book Club Organization

One of my favorite things about blogging is communicating with other teachers around the world.  I certainly love when other teachers comment on my blog, IG photos, FB page, etc.  I also love leaving them some love too, so I can't wait to hit publish on this post and link up with my dear friend, Christina at Sugar and Spice, for Wordless Wednesday.  

We just started book clubs this past week and I've finally found an organizational system that works for me! 

The yellow baskets are for my morning class and the green ones for my afternoon class.

So my question to you is this, how do you organize your students' materials for book clubs/book studies?  Tell me in a comment below! 

Visit all the blogs participating in this fun link up by going to Christina's blog via {this} link.  :)