Summer Reading

Hey everyone!  It's Katie from Miss Kate's Desk.  Today I want to share with you my personal book lists for the summer.  I have two lists of books to get through by the end of summer break.  I don't know about you, but it seems like during the school year I buy books (or want to) but struggle finding the time to read.  If you're like me and in grad school my reading time is taken up by somewhat bland textbooks.  In this post I will share with you my professional development and for fun book lists.

Professional Development:

1. Purposeful Play by: Kristine Mraz, Alison Porcelli, and Cheryl Tyler.

2. Text-Dependent Questions (Grades K-5) by: Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey

3. The Unstoppable Writing Teacher by: M. Colleen Cruz

4. Reading in the Wild by: Donalyn Miller

I typically like to read professional development books during the summer when I have more time and can gather my new ideas/information and come up with a plan to implement.  I was told in May along with the other K teachers in our district that we can now have a free play time in our classrooms so naturally I wanted to read Purposeful Play.  Play helps social skills, behavior, and also things such as vocabulary and math skills.  Since I really enjoy books about literacy... Reading in the Wild, The Unstoppable Writing Teacher, & TDQ are on my list.  DeeDee Wills is doing a book study on TDQ, go check it out!  I know some people who hate reading these types of books because they feel it will be like reading their college textbooks.  Not at all!  There are some amazing teaching books that are not dry and information overload.   

For Fun:

1. The Nest by: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeny

2. Me Before You by: Jojo Moyes

3. One for the Money by: Janet Evanovich

4. Girls in White Dresses by: Jennifer Close

I tend to read books for fun at night before I fall asleep.  There's a distinct little glow coming from my Kindle on my bed.  I just recently finished Me Before You.  I had to read it before seeing the movie (which I have yet to see).  A few teachers in my building are obsessed with the Stephanie Plum series and they keep a little cabinet in the lounge stocked with paperbacks of the books.  I finally decided it's time to give it a go.  The Nest and Girls in White Dresses are books I saw on GoodReads that I wanted to read this summer. 

No matter what you read this summer, have fun and enjoy!  Utilize this extra free time to enjoy a good book.  Doesn't matter if it is a professional book or a just for fun book. 

Comment below with your own summer book recommendation.

I took Me Before You with me to Pensacola and read in my beach chair under my blue umbrella between swims.

Happy reading!

Teacher's ABC's of Summer

We all work so hard throughout the year, and know that it doesn’t stop when the bell rings on the last day.  So I thought it would be fun to create an ABC list just for teachers to enjoy over the summer.  Here we go…

In case the image is too little, here is my list

A- Alcohol (sorry this was the first thing popped into my head for A),  Amazon

B- Bathroom (using it whenever we want!)

C- Cleaning (our classrooms), creating

D- Dollar Tree

E- Errands (anytime, anywhere)

F- Family, Fun

G- Going to the zoo, store, mall, lunch...

H- Hanitizer anyone?

I- Ice Cream Sundaes (morning, noon and night)

J- "Just Because" visits

K- Kicking back

L- Learning (PD and from others)

M- Michael’s

N- No Alarm Clock

O- Organizing

P- Planning (for next year), pool

Q- Quiet

R- Rest, Relaxing

S- Searching TPT

T- Target (Dollar Spot)

U- Using the stove to make lunch (no microwaves)

V- Vacations

W- www.Pinterest.com

X- eXtra time fro whatever you want

Y- You can’t remember what day it is

Z- Zzzzz’s

I hope you are all enjoying your summer!!!!

What would you add to the Teacher's ABC's of Summer?  Please add your idea in the comments below.

 

EASY DIY Classroom Projects

Happy Summer, y'all!! I'm so excited to be back with you...I hope you're enjoying your time at home, and not working too hard on school stuff!  Of course, if you're anything like me, relaxing IS organizing and getting ready for next year...ha!

I wanted to share some of my Summer DIY To-Do List with you today, partly to make myself accountable for following through on these projects, but also to share some of my ideas with you!!

Here's what I'm planning on working on this summer (in between moving into our hopefully new house, getting Harper's nursery set up, and a family beach vacation):

{Sight Word Magnet Paint Stirrers}

{Popsicle Magnet Numbers}

{Data Tracking Graphs}

{Ouchie Lotion}

{Morning Work Buckets}

What are some of your summer DIY goals?  I may not get all of these accomplished this summer, but they're too great not to at least try!

Emily Carnes
www.carnescorner.com

10 Ideas to a CAREFREE summer!

 Hello Kinder Tribe friends! Heather from Learning with Mrs. Langley here and today is all about YOU and some ideas to make sure you spend this summer recharging and not stressing!

Me on the first day of summer....

I AM GOING TO CHANGE EVERY SINGLE THING I DO IN MY CLASSROOM AND IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!

Me on the second day of summer....

Oh look...Netflix!

How do we find balance?  Here are 10 ways YOU can have a CAREFREE summer and still accomplish those "must do's" before the school year starts again!

1. Take a break.  A week? 3 weeks? A whole month? You know what you need.  Take it!

2. Love to read? Read something that is just for you! I am shamelessly addicted to Janet Evanovich novels and I've been waiting for the latest installment forever. I will float in my pool, turn off my brain, and read that book until it is done.  Amen.

3. Go on an adventure! Even it is just to the park down the street go out and explore. I live in a fairly beautiful place and hiking is amazing. I NEVER take the time to go out and do it so I make sure to get a few good hikes in before the summer is over. Even if you can not plan an all out amazing (expensive) family vacation, take the time to explore nearby and find something new. 

4. Kids at home? Let them plan a day! Take a day to let them do what they want (you might be surprised!) Mine are all grown up but I know that if I let them plan the day we would end up swimming at the river and it would be awesome.

5. Read a professional book that will reignite your love for teaching. After you read your "just for you" novel go out and pick one thing you want to improve on next year. For me I am reading The Morning Meeting Book to improve my morning meeting time. I'm really excited about this and it has sparked enthusiasm in me for the upcoming year. Sometimes we need a spark to get us going into the next year!

6. Hang out with your teacher friends! Last summer I think I went all summer without connecting with any friends from school. It was a pretty isolating feeling. My teacher friends are my LIFE 180 days a year. I need them. They need me! This year I have attended a concert, gone to lunch, and had a hubby dinner date with my teacher friends. Don't miss out on what's happening in your friend's lives during the break.

7. DON'T overdo the Dollar Store. Honestly....I promise.....you are never REALLY going to need a thousand tiny erasers for your math centers. DON'T spend your entire summer searching for that MUST HAVE item from Target. I do it. I get it. I see something on Instagram and I HAVE TO have it! Pick and chose what you will work on for next year and let the rest roll right on by.

8. DO spend a day or two putting  your room back together BEFORE you are required to go back. It will save you a ton of stress when your back to school days suddenly get filled with meetings. Even it if just means putting your furniture back in order and covering a couple of boards with fabric it will save you time later (and get you in the mood for back to school!)

9. Don't let the small moments pass you by! One thing I REALLY enjoy in the summer is being part of the "real world". Today I stood in line at the grocery store and took a moment to soak it all in. I am normally running like crazy to get home and make dinner when I am at the grocery store but today I just waited and didn't stress. It was actually quite nice. People watching is always a fun activity!

10. Don't Stress! You might not make it through your reading list (I haven't even finished charging my Kindle yet!), you might not repaint the bathroom (one wall done!), and you may not even change the world all in 8 short weeks but the important thing is that you RECHARGE. Get yourself recharged so that when back to school hits you are ready!  

So what do you do to recharge?  We would love to hear your ideas! Join the Kinder Tribe on FB to connect with more teachers like YOU. Comment in the section below to share your favorite ways to unwind in the summertime.  

   

Family Summer Fun List

Let's face it, the school year can be stressful.  During school, we end up sacrificing family time to get things done for school.  This is why I really try to make summers special for my family.  It's our time to really reconnect and spend quality time together.

When my son was little, I came up with this idea of a Summer Fun List.  Before summer starts, we sit down as a family and come up with all the things we want to do over the summer.  We each take a turn saying something we want to do.  Sometimes it is something simple like go for a bike ride.  Other times it is something big like go to Wisconsin Dells.  

Here is our summer fun list this year:

We hang the list on the refrigerator and cross items off as we do them.  Many of our items we end up doing more than once.

Do you want to create a list for your own family?  Here is a freebie for you to use to create your list.  Just click on the image below and you can print a copy for yourself and your family!

You can follow along with our summer fun list activities on my Instagram account (mrs_pauley).