Must-Haves & Tech-Tip

There is less than a week until school starts and just thinking about it makes my head spin. Since today was the first day I could get into my class, I'm feeling a bit frazzled. With most of the decor for my room in place, I decided to tackle the closets, which have been the bane of my existence for the past five years. Looks like I'll be there every day this week.. bye, bye summer!

On to the real reason for the post, it's Teacher Week! As if I needed more of a reason to be attached to my laptop.

I get so many fabulous ideas from you all and I am a list-making fool this week! So many great ideas to try out! So many fab things to buy! In true procrastinator fashion, I have left too many things to be done this week so I am piggy backing Monday & Tuesday's post. Sadly, tomorrow's classroom reveal won't be ready until at least the weekend. I'll just have to drool over your rooms until then!

My must-haves in the classroom are simple...

Let's be serious... this is on everyone's list.

Although according to the source of the image, it's not such a great idea.

They obviously are not teachers.

Duh.

These are my fave for making anchor charts.

 I love the color choices and stock up when they go on sale!

I have upgraded to the Erin Condren Planner this year! Watch out!

Hopefully it will be here soon!!

Finally, my teacher binder is my bible.

{Sorry, no pic!}

 I am re-vamping it and it will be better than ever.

I'll definitely share it when it's finished! :)

Ok, on to my Tech-Tip Tuesday. I wish I had more to share but there's not much technology available in my room, with the exception of a few things..

This machine has drastically changed the way I teach.

I use it for everything from showing the nooks and crannies of a sedimentary rock to showing off student work to enlarging text for read alouds. Yes, we read aloud constantly in fifth grade and this machine helps make it work.

This website is my new favorite math site:

Xtra Math

My students can go on to practice their multiplication facts from school or home and I receive email updates with their progress. It is beyond student friendly and the best part? It is FREE!

I also just begged my principal via email, with links and selling points, for an interactive white board or a Mimio {which is portable!!} and I'm hoping that there is some money in the budget. My life would seriously be complete.





What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love  for one of my favorite link-ups... What I'm Loving Wednesday! Teacher Edition! (I made up the Teacher Edition part. Although, sweet Jamie is a teacher, too!)

Here's what I'm loving today...

I should first say that I'm loving that I am updating my blog today!!! I've missed you all! I definitely have a poor track record of blogging when I'm super busy but I'm loving that you're still blogging when I'm not and that leaves me with an abundance of spring things on everyone's blogs!

I'm loving that today was the final day for state-testing and I have had 100% attendance both days and my kiddos worked SO very hard!

{via}

I am loving this spring  summer weather!! 80 in BOSTON in MARCH! Bring. it. on.

I am loving my professor, and that she has decided that the majority of our work should be completed in class! Such a different vibe than my last two classes. I can breathe again!

I'm loving that we will begin working in small groups next week! It is so hard to teach in leveled groups with only one teacher, but I need to bring it back!

I'm loving my sweet class! They are hard-working, motivated, kind, funny, caring... the list just goes on. I just love them all too much for words and I am already dreading having to say goodbye to them in just a few months.

What are you loving today? Go link up with Jamie to share!

A Day in My Shoes

I am linking up with one of my favorites, Katie from Adventures in Sixth Grade, for her first linky party! You know I can't turn down a good linky! This one is to share what a day in our classrooms look like. I can't wait to see what everybody else is doing when they're not blog-stalking!

Here is how it works...
1. Right click and save the button below to put in your post.
2. Share a typical day in your classroom. You can share as little or as much as you would like.
3. Go back to Katie's blog and link up.
4. Visit the other links to see what a day is like in their class!

A couple things you should know about my day:

1.) I teach at an extended day school and our teaching time is extended by 1.5 hours, which means the actual school day is from 7:45-3:30.

2.) We are on a 4-day rotating schedule but this is kind of a blend of days because our schedule was changed this week for Grades 6-8 midterms. We had 8am exploratory every day this week and were with kids from 9-3:30, with only lunch to break up our day; exhausting!

5:00am - My alarms (I set two on my alarm clock & two on my phone because for some reason, I never hit snooze, I just shut them off) go off. Those are my warnings. I turn them off until the last one.

5:20/5:30-6:15am - Shower, get ready, check the traffic, make lunch, etc.

6:15am - I head out the door and pray for no traffic.

7:00-7:15am - I arrive to school. There's always traffic.

7:15-7:45am - My cafeteria duty begins. I had the crazy idea over the summer to take a position as a morning monitor (part of our extended day funding). The extra money will be nice in July, when I'm not getting paid, but I didn't realize how noisy and smelly it gets in there, especially when it's raining or snowing. I really don't mind it too much because I like interacting with the kids and work with a fab colleague in there, but it is a loud way to start my day.

7:45am - I pick up my students outside in their line and head to our homeroom.

7:50-8:05 - Homeroom - The kids settle in, do their lunch count, I take attendance and make my coffee, greet my kiddos, listen to their stories they want to share, and get them ready to be out the door for our first class.

8:05 - 9:05- First period Math - The students come in, get out their homework, copy the objective from the board, and begin their Headline Story, which is their "Do Now" or warmup activity, in their binders. My homework checker (a student) goes around and checks the homework - this is a lifesaver because SOMETHING always needs my attention when they first arrive. I'm usually checking emails and finishing what didn't get finished during homeroom. We then review homework, review the Headline Story, and get started on the lesson. Our lessons are very scripted and I have to follow the outline in the book. This week, we are graphing coordinates on a grid. Once the lesson is completed, the students work independently in their workbooks and I circulate to help out. At the end of the period, which is always dangerously close to the time that we start independent work, the students write down their homework, pack up, and switch classes.

9:10 - 10:10 - Second period Math - Same as first period. Whichever group ends up not being my homeroom group, is way chattier and lessons always feel more rushed.

10:15-10:30 - Recess - I have duty on Thursday, Friday, and every other Wednesday.

10:35-11:20 - "Reading Workshop" - This is our middle school intervention block. It isn't actually a workshop format but the school calls it this. 10 of my students leave for ELL and 2-3 for reading/math intervention. This leaves me with 12 kids, so there is "no teaching allowed" during this block. The students remaining read independently and track their reading in their library logs. This is the runner-up for least favorite block of the day.

11:20 - 11:50 - Math/ELA Enrichment - After reducing our Math/ELA time to make more time for Social Studies and Science, we ended up with the same amount of weekly SS & Sci, and extra Math & ELA. No idea how that worked out because my schedule proposal wasn't considered. I alternate classes (the block happens twice a week, so I see each group once) and we usually play the math games that go along with the chapter I am teaching at the time. This week we were working on our 2012 resolution maps, which I will have up here sometime this week.

11:55-12:25 - Lunch. By the time I drop the kids off to the caf, check my mail, and get back to my room, it is never enough time.

12:30-1:00 - Writing Workshop - I don't teach writing so my students get a mini-lesson during their ELA block and the independent portion happens back in their homerooms. We rotate during this block so that the ELA teacher can check in with both groups and not just the homeroom all the time. This is my least favorite block of the day and when Diet Coke starts flowing.

1:05-2:05 - Exploratory - For the first twenty minutes (again.. drop off, check mailbox, nonsense) I barely have enough time to check my emails, forget planning or sitting down to grade papers. I have 50 students and the curriculum is too much in fifth grade to get anything accomplished in this amount of time. I usually try, though. I also photocopy, set up for science, return emails, drink diet coke, make phone calls, blah, blah, blah. The second half is a mandatory team meeting with my grade level team. 98% of the time this is a major waste of a prep period. We mostly complain, listen to others complain, go to endless data meetings then never have time to look at the data again, or hear about students that we don't see. The fifth grade is split up so that each teacher has 50 students, so sometimes when names are brought up at meetings, it's not even your own student. I do like being able to check in with my colleagues but this doesn't seem like the most efficient way to do it. We have one day to ourselves, which usually means that I can get a set of tests corrected during the school day. If I'm lucky.

2:10-3:10 - Science - I teach two science blocks and the kids rotate. Two days they have SS & two days they have Sci. We start with the objective and then go right into two-column interactive notes. Sometimes they partner read and make their own, sometimes I give them a starter question or prompt and they finish it, sometimes we do a lab in a two-column format, sometimes it's just whole group teaching with activities to break it up. I should probably do a post on my interactive notebook format. I love science at this age!

3:10-3:30 - Write down HW, pack up, check agenda books (& checklists for some), kids go home at 3:30.

3:30-4:30 - I'm usually here until at LEAST 4:30 doing the usual - prep, plan, copy, email, repeat. Sometimes I get to pee for the first time all day but usually wait until I get home. This time is making up for my missed prep.

5:30 - I get home & finally get to pee. Then I make dinner & Mr. P cleans up :), hang with Mr. P, snuggle with my cat, blog-stalk, wedding plan, correct papers, read for grad classes, repeat. Depending on the night, I either have Weight Watchers (that reminds me I need to check in for my 2012 resolutions!) or our small group bible study.

I try to get to bed at a decent hour, but I am such a night owl.




I hope I'm not too "complainy". I DESPISE my schedule this year because it just doesn't work. There is too much time where kids are working independently on something that doesn't correleate to what I teach and not enough time spent on what I do teach. I am only actively teaching for 3 hours a day (anyone notice that?) and no one seemed to be too concerned with that when I brought it up to admin. We've already changed our schedule once this year and I think it's worse than what we started with. 

I am SO excited to see what everyone's day looks like!! Maybe I can use it to help me convince the powers to change our schedule!

Currently January

I'm linking up with Farley for Currently January & you should too!



Here we go!

Okay, it's Week #1 of Jodi at Clutter-Free Classroom's attempt to de-clutter the classrooms of America's finest. Brave woman that Jodi! I'm surprised she can even handle looking at all of the clutter! :)

I am so excited to participate in this project because my room is really hurtin' this year. This summer, I moved my desk, round table, and big rolling bookshelf, rearranged my computers, and added a library with seating and a rug. I didn't realize how much I relied on the space I had before because it's a little tight now and I find that it's just easier to drop a pile on my desk than to squeeze between something to put something away. My plan is always to put it where it goes when the kids leave but for the first time ever, I started just piling it on my desk. I'm not at my desk often so it seemed like a good piling place. Nope. Not good. My brain hurts when I look at it, which is usually at 3:30 when I'm ready to collapse.




I am getting queasy just thinking of uploading this pictures because it is so embarassing. It's happening though because I've made some really big attempts to stay organized and it is just not working this year. I'm hoping that making these cringe-worthy pictures public, checking out other teachers' classrooms (and hopefully breathing a sigh of relief that we are all in this clutter together), and hearing from you, will give me ideas and inspiration to make some much needed changes. Here we go!

I'm starting with the half of my closet that IS completely organized.

Mostly so that you won't think I'm a hot mess. :)

These bins are organized by item and labeled.

Sidenote: All shelves are in closed closets.

This is the top part of the same closet. A slightly different look to it. 

The majority are books that were left behind by the previous teacher.

This is also where I store extra binders, notebooks, and folders for the kids.

The whole top shelf is multiple class sets of novels.

My first two years at this school, I used them all.

Now I don't use any of them.

Brace yourself. Or close your eyes. Things are taking a turn for the worst.

In the tall closet...

The left side is where I'm supposed to store my jacket & personal items.

But once I saw a mouse jump up inside of it and that was the end of that.

The bottom has plastic grocery bags and empty baskets.

And a bunch of backpacks my mom scored for 97 cents each.

The bag hanging on the hanger is plastic cutlery and paper goods.

If it's hanging on the hanger, the mouse can't get touch it. Right?

The rest of the shelves are labeled and mostly everything matches the label.

Mostly.

The bottom two shelves are for math supplies.

The very bottom shelf is geoboards - too many geoboards,

unifix cubes, calculators, and mega flashcards.

With the exception of the geoboards, I use everything else.

I've never touched the geoboards. Except when I got rid of 50.

This shelf isn't as bad as it looks.

The yellow crate is released MCAS questions organized by standard.

Behind that is 2 of the sets of teaching manuals I got for our math program.

I still have 1 set at home, 1 on my teaching table,

and gave 1 to the SpEd teacher.

There are science kits next to books. Not math stuff.

This was just the only place that they all fit standing up.

I use the flashcards and game cards in the basket,

but I could totally use a better system.

The next two shelves are dedicated to science materials.

The labeled bins are about the only organization in here.

I use the colored buckets and random papers on top for labs,

so those come in and out all the time.

Behind everything is about 30 beakers. For what, I don't know.

I use 6 of them. For 1 unit. We have about 500 in our supply closet.

I don't even have a sink.

This shelf is mostly what I use for lab demonstrations.

And more beakers, obviously.

I also keep my supply of pond scum in here.

I haven't used the pond scum in a few years but I just couldn't part with it.

My friend has been collecting baby food jars for me.

These are some of the collection. (more on that project later)

Oh, and you're right if you think you see the top of an overhead projector.

When I got my document viewer,

that thing is just lucky it didn't see the trash first.

This shelf is where I keep cleaning supplies and extra tissues, sanitizer, etc.

Clearly, my stock is low.

I also keep a sweet collection of VHS tapes here, too.

The previous teacher left those and I was told not to get rid of them.

I don't have a VCR.

Disclaimer 1: My desk really never used to look like this.

When I moved my room around, I removed some storage from my desk.

I also moved all of my supplies in my desk drawer.

That left a completely clear desk top. Obviously that didn't work.

Disclaimer 2: This picture was taken the first day back after break.

I was in the middle of a serious assembly line to correct 100 tests.

Remind me again why I put essay questions on the unit tests??

This is truly the worst it's ever been.

I may have thrown up in my mouth a little bit while taking this picture.

This is my computer table, which isn't too bad.

Except my phone rings ALL. DAY. LONG.

I am constantly writing down notes and then they are left there in a pile.

This is the other side of my computer table.

I usually have my copies for the day here.

I also keep my teaching book and notebook open here.

We had just finished a project, hence the additional craft supplies.

How do you store your daily supplies?

This is my library area, which is pretty functional.

Except that I got a delivery of science supplies at an inappropriate time.

Where else was I supposed to put them on short notice?!

My back counter could definitely be more functional.

It served as a hot cocoa station the Friday before break.

It usually just has baskets on it with whiteboards, clipboards, erasers, etc.

You can also see the bottom of the unused overhead projector.

It makes for a nice way to display the pumpkin person, no? (Thanks Jodi!)

This place is behind my desk and is okay.

The plant just needed to be temporarily moved during break.

The drawers are labeled by day and I tried to store daily supplies here.

I really didn't like that for some reason. Any other ideas???

More beakers! Hah! I use these to water the plants. No sink, remember?

This is where my science bins go. Above an 8 foot tall closet.

This is about as practical as keeping them in the middle of my rug.

I'm 5'1. When I try to get them down, it's a sight.

The boxes are unused math manipulatives.

They're unused because they're foam.

FOAM manipulatives for kids to share? No, thanks.

I want to make a curtain to cover this. I'm still brainstorming how.

This little gem just happened.

I used to have a TV on a rolling cart in my room.

It did not have a VCR, DVD player, or even a remote that worked.

It was to make up for the fact that my classroom is the only room in the school that doesn't have one installed on the ceiling.

After 5 years and 3 uses, my complaints were finally heard.

I was in the middle of teaching when I got a phone call (duh).

to please send it down to the library.

Uh, right now? Yes, right now, please.

So now you're looking at a pile of student projects and anchor charts.

I use these when I'm introducing a new project or unit.

Oh, and a couple of random bulletin board supplies.

They're all homeless.

I forgot to take a panoramic room shot.

But you're probably not reading anymore and didn't notice.

Apparently in an attempt to cover up my clutter I became very long-winded.

I can't wait to get started. Go link up to join in on the fun!

And if you have ideas for me, tell me!

Just be nice. :)

Middle & High School Blog Party

When Kristen from Secondary Solutions told me about the middle & high school blog party, I was all in. When I first started blogging, I was feeling a bit left out. There are SO many adorable blogs for K-3 teachers but what about the middle school teachers?? It's bad enough that we have to deal with the hormonal changes but now we can't get any love in blogland? I couldn't deal. I was having a Veruca Salt moment. I did neglect my blog for a long time and I blame that entirely on grad school, but I can also say that part of it was due to the fact that I was having a serious identity crisis. I wanted to teach first grade, too! {Ok, it wasn't that serious, but still!} I LOVE fifth grade and all the perks... less boogers, more independence, but show me the blogs!! While there are wayyy more upper elementary/middle school blogs around now than there were even 6 months ago, I love finding more. I'm linking up with Secondary Solutions and you should too. And if you stop by from the party, please leave a comment or become a follower so that I can check out your blog. We need to stick together.

I also can't get enough of the linky parties this week and since this is my third in four days, I decided to partipate in Jodi from Clutter-Free Classroom's "How I spent my winter vacation" party on my personal blog, since I didn't spend it doing school stuff. If the parties keep coming, I'm going to need some more time off.

2012 Resolutions

Another linky party?? Nuh-uh! Today I'm linking up with A Teacher's Treasure for the 2012 Resolutions linky party!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the image below to your post & link it to the party.
2. Make sure you include both personal and professional goals.
3. No more than 3-5 goals for each.

In the past, resolutions have never been my thing. I hardly ever make them and when I do,  I don't keep them. Isn't that how it's supposed to go, though? Anyhow, I'm just not a fan. First off, the time to make a serious goal and stick to it should not be after a week of being a total sloth relaxing during break. It should also not be when there are layers of clothes to cover up in, when it's pitch black when I leave for work and come home making me not want to do anything except be on the couch with my laptop/Nook, or when there are marathons of Teen Mom, Real Housewives, or Jersey Shore on.

However, this year, Mrs. Zrihen will be keeping me accountable and finding a way to check in on me monthly. That makes me a little nervous so I'm going to try to be serious.

Here are my resolutions:

Personal:

• Continue to work with my small group from church to read and better understand the bible so that I can be a better Christian.
• Finalize the last of my wedding planning and take a deep breath. It will all get done and the end result is that I will be promoted to Mrs. P in April :)
• GET HEALTHY! I don't just want to lose weight. I want to eat better and move more. I want to try Zumba and figure out some other ways to work out without wanting to poke my eye out. (While this is a totally popular resolution, I've never made it before)
• Focus on making my blog(s) better. Both have been neglected and considering how much I learn from my blog friends, I need to keep up with this thing!

Professional

• Start math groups. I used to do small groups during math but it is SO hard with only one teacher for four groups. My kids' abilities are so spread out this year that I have to level their work in some way. I need something that isn't going to make me crazy so please send any and all math group ideas this way!!
• Complete 4-5 more graduate courses by the end of 2012. I neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to finish my Master's ASAP!
• Work smarter, not harder! I have to focus on my wedding, my soon-to-be husband, and my personal life by spending less time working on "school stuff". Sometimes, whatever isn't done at the end of the day will just have to wait until tomorrow.
• Be more positive at work. Let's just say that, with the exception of the kids, the environment I work in is not the most desirable. I need to find a way to brush it off and focus on me and what I do with the kiddos.

Happy (almost) 2012!

11 in 11

I'm linking up with A Teeny Tiny Teacher for the 11 in 11 linky party, because I can't get enough of sitting on my couch and blog-stalking. In my defense, I have been getting a lot of wedding planning done this week... and some of it I actually got dressed for. It has been WAY too long since I've given this 'lil blog the attention it deserves and this is WAY too fun!

 11. Favorite movie

It would have to be The Help. It seems to be the thing to turn books into movies and usually the directors really mess them up. I think The Help was done fabulously. It had me laughing and crying and wanting to read the book all over again!

10. Favorite TV Series

This would have to be The Biggest Loser. We had to DVR every episode this past season and probably the upcoming season because that's when our small group meets, but we can't get it started fast enough on Wednesdays to catch up. It's not the same without Jillian but I have the biggest crush on Dolvett, so it's okay. If only I was that motivated to get up off my butt!

Rest assured, I also still LOVE Real Housewives of NJ and Teen Mom 1 & 2. Oh! And Sister Wives and All-American Muslim - seriously.. LOVE those shows! Is this too much TV?? Do I have a problem?? Don't answer that.

 9. Favorite restaurant

It's a tie.. I LOVE Bisuteki, a Japanese hibachi place. SO. GOOD. I also LOVE Mexico Lindo. They have a mariachi band on Wednesday nights and the food is authentic and delicious.

{Our birthday dinner a couple of years back}

8. Favorite new thing you tried

I started going to a new church this year and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was basically given the choice as a child to make my own decisions regarding my religion and I have finally found what feels like home. Through this church, I have taken two courses about Christianity, as well as our pre-marriage course. We have also met some incredible friends here and have really enjoyed exploring our faith with friends who have similar morals. We have also decided to get married here in April and it is my favorite thing about our wedding.

7. Favorite gift you received

I feel so spoiled because all of my favorite things have been gifts but this is one of my newest favorites.  :)

My cousin/MOH (above in the sombrero) got it for me for my birthday to use on my wedding day (which is four months from today! ahhh!) and I just couldn't stop looking at it!

6. Favorite thing you pinned

Now if I went through this, I would be here for another two days. It's bad enough that I am not being productive what-so-ever today or yesterday so I'm just going to include my link and you can decide!   Follow me!

5. Favorite blog post

My blog is not super new but it has been super neglected. I had so many great things drafted but I'm not sure you want to read about Halloween activities in January. I'm going to go with my most popular post... Grab 'yo bags! I'm also sooo nosy & loved seeing what was in everyone's bags!

4. Favorite accomplishments

Earning 4.0's in my two grad classes this semester. Maintaining two classes while teaching at an extended day school and planning a wedding is enough to kill someone. It was almost me so if I saw anything lower than a 4.0 when I checked my grades, I was going to lose my mind!

3. Favorite picture

Another tie.. my BFF's from college at KW's wedding.. Fab4 is still going strong!

My crazy, sweet, hilarious niece!

I am borderline papparazzi with this girl and we were out to eat when she said, "Hey, Auntie! Take a picture of this!" and then proceeded to make the following face.

Oh, I could go on for days!

2. Favorite memory

Mr. P and I bought our first house last year and I have really loved making memories together in our new home. We have lived here for about a year and a half now and I love everything from the home improvement projects, decorating for holidays, and hosting parties, to having dinner together and talking about our day. I love coming home and I am looking forward to many more years together in our house!

1. Goal for 2012

Stay tuned for my next post when I link up with Mrs. Zrihen at A Teacher's Treasure for her 2012 Resolutions linky party!

Currently December

I'm linking up with Farley for Currently December! This is my first Currently link-up and I swear, right when I think I have run out of ways to procrastinate... I find some more! Love it!

Anyhoo, it's off to bed for this gal! I've got 5 more days of school to get through before break. Yup, that's 1-2-3-4-5. If you don't hear from me in the next week, it means I've jingled myself all the way into a straight jacket! Ahhhhh!! :)

Grab 'yo bags! It's on!

Does anyone else think the Southwest Airlines bag commercials are hysterical?? Mr. P and I love to quote the commercial whenever we can fit it into conversation. A couple of years ago, we swore we saw the guy from the commercial at a local apple orchard. Just recently, when trying to decide where to go apple picking this year, I asked which orchard we were at that year and he said, "the one with the Southwest guy." We've officially lost it. Anyways, onto the real reason you're here...

I'm linking up with Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple for the Inside My Bag Linky Party. Like Abby, and most teachers, I cycle through bags like nobody's business.

My first year, I had a big ole' tote bag from the teacher's union. That thing got the boot because it really took a beating. Who gives a white bag to a teacher???

The next year, I made this gem.

This is Anna and yes, I made it. Not literally, but I designed it through Anna William; a small designer out of Newburyport, Ma, that lets you customize your own bag. I picked out the fabrics at a bag party and then decided where I wanted them to go and here she is.

I loved this bag for many reasons. It's adorable, has lots of pockets inside, and zips closed, to name a few, but it was too big. I carried home way more than I needed to on a regular basis. I retired the bag for school use but I still use it for weekend getaways.

Then I switched it up to this one...

This is a Harcourt School freebie from our math curriculum. I had the genius idea that if I used a clear bag, I would be more self conscious about shoving junk too many unneeded items in there. Hah! Too bad you can't see that behind that unopened calendar (another freebie) I have a water bottle, winter gloves, receipts, paystubs, pens, and a few highlighters, among other things. This bag is still sitting in my closet. I may need to grab the winter gloves, soon!

This year, I couldn't pass up this $15 tote from Walmart.

She matches my classroom decor and is just the right size to bring home work, but not too much at a time. What a shame. Although, she is pretty narrow, so this is what I carried around this week. Hello, bag lady!

Here's what's inside this pretty little thing.

My bible day planner, notepad for list making :), post-its, classroom keys & flashdrive, notebook for grad school, clipboard with gradebook sheets that I need to enter online, manila folder with MCAS scores, and a packet of homework that I still need to finish correcting.

 Oh, and last week, the germies got me. Notice how the DayQuil is ripped open? I literally tore through the box to get some relief. Echinacea is my secret weapon. The tea is lovely and I take my Echinacea with Vitamin C in the morning, afternoon, and before bed, and I swear it cuts my sick time in half. Hand sanitizer is a must since my classroom does not have a sink!! I know, crazy, right?! My immune system is getting better each year but I still get sick in September and once during the winter.

I may or may not have all of my paystubs since school started, shoved in there.

What's in your bag?? Go to Abby's Inside my School Bag Linky Party to play along!