WTH Canceled for Breaking Sad News :(

*****Disclaimer: Sad Post*****

I am trying very hard to start my WTH Wednesday.

I can't do it though.

My "happy" is broken :(

As I do often, but haven't since last week,
I clicked to check on "Our Eagles".

The "feed" stopped this past Saturday
as the fledglings have left for the season.

So I "googled" to see if there was any news of
where they were.

And this is where my "happy" broke-

One of them was found yesterday,
at the bottom of a utility pole and had been
electrocuted.

I don't know where they are.

The Littles and I  have watched them since they hatched at the
end of March.

We were all saddened.

 I feel a sense of loss.

I scrolled through the last day of Daily Pics on the site and found this one.

She looks so sad-
I wonder if she knows.

The eagle's body is being sent to the National Eagle Repository in Denver and his feathers are being distributed to the Native American community to be used in religious ceremonies.

So sorry for your loss, Mama.

The FOG

Hola!
I would like to say that this post is going to be chocked full of
informational,
ready to use in the classroom,
 can't live without it,
gotta have stuff for school-
but I would be lying :)

Seriously.

I got nothing.

My LTT has been overwhelming lately!

I DID package a few centers this morning-
is a "few" three or two?

Rephrase-

I DID package a couple of centers this morning.

(I know that "couple" means two).

I have just been in a fog-
You know that "fog".

I have just been having "moments" or "episodes" where I lose ALL focus.

You know, like when you are brushing your teeth
early in the morning
and there's that split second where you
aren't completely confident that you
grabbed YOUR toothbrush-

So you pause to check?

That's what I am talking about.

I second guess just about everything....
(I REALLY might have to have my
BFF Neighbor Teacher to
"put me up" for support team.)

I AM
(and I mean it)
AM
going to start my binders...
Thursday-

What?!?! I can't lie and say I will start tomorrow-
it's a holiday, duh!

I am converting all of my files into monthly binders-
plus a Phonics, Fluency, and Math.

Any advice in that would be appreciated-
I know I have a few binder covers bookmarked on
Pinterest...
I just have to FOCUS and retrieve them.


------------------------------ ME!-------------------------

Went to see Magic Mike with a friend last night.

I am forever changed
and now in love with Channing Tatum.

However,
I am
Old School...
and cannot forget to mention...




Can you hear it? His famous "Alright, Alright, Alright!"


Weather is calling for rain-
It hasn't rained in over a month and it is supposed to
rain tomorrow (the 4th)

If you are able to  "stalk"
during what can be a
cuckoo- family- holiday...

(Lord knows, I'll be sneaking in here
tomorrow)

 ...then be sure to head over to Jen's at Hello Mrs. Sykes! She is celebrating her one year Bloggiversary!!! She is have an enormous giveaway- and I am helping her celebrate by offering something from my Etsy!!!







Lisa from Learning is Something to Treasure is also currently celebrating!!!
She has reached 400 followers-
(If you are one of her followers- you know why-
if you are not- you will definitely want to be!!!)

Her giveaway in ginormous too!
I am also helping Lisa celebrate by offering something from my Etsy!





That Etsy thing is pretty cool-
As a matter of fact, I made a trip
to the post office today to mail a few out!!


I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with
family and friends tomorrow-

Depending on what's in the cooler-
there may or may not be a WTH Wednesday:)

Blog Hop and SWAP *UPDATED* Read it Again! :)

Below are Two Posts for the Blog Hop and Swap!
The first one is mine that was supposed to be on Leanne's blog-
but the HTML was wonky and you couldn't see the pics

So this is mine, be sure to keep reading to see Tammy's



I have so many ideas of new procedures and systems  that I want to try in the classroom-
and I have gotten them from these lovely ladies I follow:)

I have made many changes to the way I set my classroom library up- so many in fact,
that I think I have changed it more times than the total amount of years  I have been teaching!

There have been so many wonderful ways to organize and label and distribute and store the books that the children use in the classroom. Today I would like to talk to you about how I organize, store, and FIND the books that I use for instruction.

My second year of teaching, our academic coach gave us a little snippet about
Library Thing. com.
Have you ever heard of it?
OH.MY.GOODNESS!

Library Thing is a way for you to "inventory" what you have, tag it, share it, review it, and most importantly- FIND it!

When I log in, this is what I see:

I can choose to see my books by author, title, genre or other tags that I can create. I can also see them as book covers or just listed titles.
This page happens to be by author and cover.

If you will notice, up there in the corner it shows that I have over 800 books listed in there.

How did I get them in there?

Easy.

I can either click on ADD BOOKS and type in the title or the ISBN number.


I will use this new book I got from CBMC-
C.R.Mudgeon to take you through the process-
First I type in the name of the book I am trying to add.

Next I click on Quick Edit.

Then I want to type in some tags so that I can find this book later. I will most likely use this for some type of feelings, friendship type lesson.

Now, let's pretend (I love to pretend)
that we are in the school year and I am planning and I need to find my books about friendship, emotions, feelings- etc.
So  I go to Library Thing, type in feelings- and VIOLA!!!

There it is, along with 14 other books that I might want to use this week.

Now, where do I physically find the book?


I have my books (the ones that are for instruction) organized in bankers boxes, alphabetically.

Don't worry- I am not "cray-cray" !
They are not in the boxes alphabetically- just by title.
So when I look for those books about emotions/feelings, I see the title on the screen
and I know which box to look in and which title I am looking for in there!
I have to tell you.
I LOVE IT!
Not to mention- every book that I own (for school) is in there.
So if I am planning from home, I have all of my resources right there!

I know what the next question is-
How much?
Well.....Free- if you have 200 books or less listed.
They have different rates- but I paid $20 for a LIFETIME membership!!!
LIFETIME! and UNLIMITED amount of books!
I also invested in the little CatScanner that they sell to scan bar codes-
I don't think that really makes it too much faster because you still have to go in and
type in your tags.

There are resources on Library Thing that I don't use that often, but you can explore!!!

As soon as I purchase a new book, I add it to my library and put it in the correct box- Easy Peezy!!

Keep Reading!
This is Tammy's Post :

Hi.  My name's Tammy from Forever in First.  I'd like to thank Staci for handing over her blog today (to practically a complete stranger, no less).  I promise to take really good care of things while she's away.  

My library, like most classroom libraries, exposes my readers to several different genres, even magazines.  My young readers really enjoy them, but unfortunately there's a problem.  Where are the magazines that are actually readable for your average developing reader?  A few years ago, I tracked one down.

  

My kids love Chirp. They love it, because they can read it.   Finally a magazine that's accessible to my readers.

This shows an example of the text at its easiest level. 

It's got a comic book kind of feel to it.  The stories are fun and kid-friendly. 

Here's an example of a non-fiction section.  (Common Core would be happy.)  There's a little something for everyone.  

I've saved the best for last, at least that's what my kids would say.  There are four jokes on the back of each edition, and my readers will read them over and over and over to anyone who'll listen.

If you've been looking for a great classroom magazine, look no further.  Chirp comes highly recommended.  My kids would give it two thumbs up!  

(Click on the picture to visit the site and its three available magazines.)

Thanks again Staci.  It's been a pleasure to be part of your little world today.

Thanks Tammy!

Despair, De Pooch, and the Dark Side

Happy Friday Night, Y'all!

I KNOW you aren't reading this on a Friday night, right?
It is actually like Saturday afternoon and you are recuperating
from a fun and exciting
evening-
possibly after consuming refreshing beverages
and dancing the night away with your sweetie-

What?!
You're reading this on a Friday?!?!
No Way!!

(Whew!
I'm glad I'm not the only one at home on Google Reader on a Friday night!)

Even if I wanted to- I couldn't go do anything
go anywhere
see anyone...

Before I tell you why,
let me see if you remember these guys?






Can you hear the song?

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

I thought of this song today as I
finished giving my oldest son
(AKA Middle Little)
his inhaler.
Because we went to the Dr yesterday
because of a cough

allergies?
summer cold?
"bug"?

Nope.

Pneumonia.

Yep.
It was 109 degrees yesterday as we rode to the DR
and one of the Squirrels has pneumonia!

So we are home.
IN the house
for the WEEKEND.

NO Waterpark.
(sad face)

So this is why I thought of these sad old men on their porch...

"if it weren't for bad luck.... "

Take a look at this picture of Truman-
He looks terrified-
and I think it's funny!
He was laying on his back next to me on the couch-
guess I caught him off guard:)





 I better get a nice one on here too-
just in case he peeks over my shoulder-
I LOVE this one




He looks like he is just
contemplating the meaning of life-
maybe he is wondering what life is like
on the other side of the porch.

He could be missing his "girl"
(Chickadee is staying over with someone)

or he could just be trying to take a nap....who knows?!?!

I am going delirious!!

I need adult company!!

(Not that kind of "adult" company)

This is how I spent my afternoon:



That is a nice little truck if I do say so myself,
and I do.

We also made a plane-fighter-hover craft-thingy:




That was ok.
I could handle that.
This is where I had the problem:




Why is this a problem?


ALL of these little guys have weapons.
He knows WHO belongs to WHAT- Heaven forbid you put the wrong arms on
somebody- Cause he knows the difference!

And when setting up a battle like this-
YOU CANNOT
under any circumstances
put a Jedi against a Jedi
or a Sith against a Sith
(Although you can put Anakin up against the Emperor-
as long as you are saying he did it BEFORE he went to the Dark Side....)


DO YOU SEE WHY I NEED THIS ADULT CONTACT!?!?!?

I hope to see you all tomorrow during the Blog Hop and Swap-
you are going to have to find me.......
(It's a really good teachery post too- I worked hard on it)
So make sure you go looking for me!!!

WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! Wednesday

Yikes! I am cuttin' close-
but with time changes and zones-
it is still going to be Wednesday SOMEWHERE when I finish this:)

(I'm a half-full kinda gal).

Soooooo
I thought that the LTT (Lack of Teachery Thoughts)
would back off a little since we are trapped inside-

What?!?! Trapped inside?
Did something collapse?
Has there been an accident?
HOW DID THE SQUIRRELS GET TRAPPED??!?!?!

Here's how:

WHEN THE HECK did I move to the dessert?!?!?!
I live in TN! It shouldn't be this hot!
I can't even let the Littles out of the house for fear that they
will spontaneously combust
(and I watch Myth Busters- it can happen) :)

We are trapped in this house...
no rain
no wind
no motivation
(and increasingly)
no patience.

Why?
Oh, you KNOW I'll explain:
WHO THE HECK knocked this over and left it???

I don't even know what the original plan was for these anymore?!?!?




(ok, I had a little something to do with why it spilled- but it wasn't this bad)

More ranting-
WHEN THE HECK did these start tasting so good?

You should NOT be able to see through his head already- he hasn't been here long enough-
but I think they are fat free (like I care).

WHO THE HECK was the evil GENIUS who came up with Skylanders???

Have any of you other moms been affected by these?
They are like weird little creatures who play this weird little game that is on the Wii.
See that stage (portal)? When you put the character there- it shows up on the television-

great right? buy a few. play the game.
NOT SO MY FRIEND.
Because the genius who created this game, has made it to where the characters get "tired" and have to
go rest, so in order to finish a level, you have to change them out.....in other words-
YOU NEED MORE CHARACTERS!!!!
No one told Santa this and he brought the "starter" pack- which he thought was all you needed.
TWENTY characters LATER..........


WHO THE HECK is loving the Pinterest idea to use the holes in the sterlite container for ribbon?
ME, THAT's who!!
I am using it to keep my yarn separated- so easy- so smart-
why don't I think of these things? (on my own)

Shameless plug for my Etsy Shop
Click on the pic below:




WHEN THE HECK did the Middle Little get his doctor's degree???

This past Friday, I am awakened by the sniffles and cries of the Littlest Little.
He crawls into bed beside me and cuddles up and says,
Mommy, I woke up and I just don't feel right (sniffle sniffle) and my head just hurts really bad. It's like a really bad one.
(so I was going to do that feel the forehead, take temp thing and see where we were at)
but he says
No, mommy, don't worry- I already took medicine- brother gave it to me.

WHAT!?!?!?
So after running to the front with him and making him show me which bottle and how much, I was relieved to find that it was the right dose and right medicine- whew-
but brother and I had a talk, regardless...

And lastly this evening-

WHO THE HECK loves something- THIS MUCH???

Short background story-
When Chickadee was a baby- her room was done in Winnie the Pooh.
We went to the disney store and bought all of the plush characters
so they could live on her bookshelf.
As she grew a little, she wanted to play with them.
She took a liking to Rabbit.
He was her favorite!
She was only 18 months old and could not say rabbitt,
so she called him "Fat".

Over the years, Fat has had many "surgeries".
There have been attempts to replace- she was not having it!
I even found an identical one on eBay, and when it came in the mail
I told her it was Fat's sister who had come to live with us....
Fat's sister was quickly lost in the bottom of her closet.

We have actually had bday parties for Fat.
I have gone to the bakery and asked for them to write
Happy Birthday Fat on a cake.
Fat had his own car seat for awhile-
imagine strapping in everyone else and having to make sure that
%(#&$ rabbit was safe too!

This first picture is what Fat looked like when he was purchased (this is actually his sister who is in very decent condition because she lives in the top of a closet now)







This is Fat today.
Warning: The following photo is graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.







Told ya!
Have you ever seen Donnie Darko???

She will be 16 in October- and he sleeps with her every night.
We go out of town, he goes.
When she was in the hospital- he was right there with her.

One day, he will probably live in one of those glass display cases that Woody from Toy Story almost ended up in- but I don't think it will be anytime soon and I don't think there will be much of him left to put in there!!!


Have a great Thursday!