A Little Bit of Everything to End the School Year!

I'm just going to share a little bit of everything that shows how my school year ended. 

One of my favorite Co-Teach with Technology sessions was going into kindergarten and first grade classroom to read a story and then having students retell the story using sock puppets. This month I read Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion. 

Relay for Life

Our art teacher made a beautiful banner for us to use for Relay for Life and we had a great time at this wonderful event that raises money for the American Cancer Society

The Pay Day song gave us a hint to our Teacher Appreciation Week destination.

For Teacher Appreciation Week, our principal planned a New York theme and took us to "New York". We were given lunch each day of the week based around this theme: hot dogs, little Italy, pizza, etc. and one morning they gave us the best apple fritter that I have ever had in my entire life! 

The best part of this is that he also took us to a Braves game against the NY Mets and we won in the last inning. It was a walk-off home run. We all went to eat at the Varsity on the way to the game as well. 

This is the most thoughtful note that was given to me during Teacher Appreciation Week and made me laugh out loud. This particular student only gets on my nerves when she asks me for a book recommendation, but then will not read it if the pages look too "old".  Love her!

I was able to get class sets of Lightning Thief,  Matilda and Hatchet through DonorsChoose. After Spring Break, when classes visited me I had them listen to this books being read aloud while they followed along in the book. We've not done this before in the media center and they absolutely loved it. 

In case you did not know, these are the best youtube storytellers in my opinion. They are so funny and often have the authors in their videos as well.  Ryan and Craig Storytime

I started using these "If You Like, Then You May Like" signs to help students find additional books that they are interested in.

I always try to plan something for of school-wide end of the year assembly. This year I worked with the music teacher. She helped teach the students the song, A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman track. I had students draw pictures of things that they wished the world was full of and made the pictures into an iMovie. While I played the iMovie on the screen she had the entire school singing the song. It was magical and a great way to end the school year. 

Co-Teach with Technology Reflection and Goals for Next Year!

I just wanted to quickly post about the Web 2.0 tools that I helped teachers learn about and utilize this year during my monthly co-teach with technology sessions. The topics listed below are resources and websites I offered to help with this school year.

These are some sessions that I already know I'd like to offer for next school year.

Books You Should Read!

Have I told you before how amazing Goodreads is? Goodreads is the best for making a year long reading goal, finding books similar to the books you enjoy or make recommendations for your friends and see which books they are reading. You are also able to rate books once you've read them.

I just started reading her books this year and I now want to read every single one of her books and want her to never stop writing! I've always liked fantasy, but I really appreciate her modern language in the fantasy stories that she writes. I'll also warn you that many of her books include romance. I enjoy it all mixed together, but I know some people are particular about having the two separate. So far, I've read her Curse of Gods series, Walker Saga, NYC Mecca Series. 

I enjoyed this contemporary romance as a change from my usual fantasy books. The story tells about an orphan that is adopted into a rich family. It is a rough transition for her to fit in with the boys of the family that attend the same high school with her. 

This story starts with Juliette being locked in a tower. She is 17 years old and her touch is fatal. This is one of those stories where she has to decide to become a weapon or become a warrior.

The story is based in the desert with a female lead. Amani is a gifted gunslinger in a world of magical djinn. This is a Goodreads 2016 Choice Award book. 

I've read a couple of books by Holly Black and this one did not disappoint. It is more mature than her Magisterium series. In this story Jude lives in the High Court of Faerie even though she is human. She must learn to live here with some wicked fairies and create some tough alliances to save her family.

This was an enjoyable story and leaves you wanting to know what happens next. It is extremely detailed and the author does a great job of describing each character. This is another classic story of a forbidden love with magic and mystery intertwined in the story.

New Stuff Product Review!

Don't you just love how you look after getting some rest? This is my Spring Break and I swear I look 10 years younger than I did at the end of last week before the break!

I am always purchasing new stuff to try and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with all of you!

I recently tried this lotion and I absolutely love it! The smell is nice and it leaves my face feeling refreshed without feeling oily.  You can click the pictures in this post and they will take you to the products. 

I am really liking Ole Henrikson's face line. I needed a good exfoliator and wanted a cheaper face wash. Both of the following fit what I was looking for and I'm really happy with the results. The green one is the Pore Balance Facial Sauna Scrub and then the orange one is the Face the Truth gel cleanser. 

I just started this last week and so far I am happy with how well it is working. I've not used primers in the past because they always seemed heavy, but this one feels light.

So, a coworker told me about this stuff and at first I thought it was expensive for chapstick. Now that I've tried it I am a true believer. This stuff is the truth! Feels so good and is absolutely addicting. Can chapstick be addicting? Evidently, it can!

I had my hair done by someone new and she had me try this texturizing spray. It gives my hair so much volume and keeps it how I style it. I spray some on after drying my hair, before curling and then sprayed some to set it in place after curling it. You can also use it to add volume if you straighten your hair as well. 

I also decided to buy some argon oil from this awesome Unite brand. The U Oil helps protect and nourish your hair. I just use a couple of drops on the ends of my hair before drying it. It has helped to cut down on frizz and makes my hair shiny without being oily or greasy.

While I am talking about hair stuff, let me tell you that the Unite 7 seconds leave in detangler leave in conditioner is the best! I used to use It's a 10 Miracle leave in product, but this stuff is so much better and makes my hair feel amazing. If you could only buy one of the Unite products, I would suggest this one!

I was using OGX Argan shampoo, but it started to make my hair heavy and weighted down. I switch to Living Proof's volume shampoo and I am really happy with the results. It is also a color safe shampoo.

I've had the same socks (hanes) forever, and I've not really thought too much about it. The last time I worked out I ended up getting a blister on my big toe. I looked up what the cause could be and found that it might be that I needed new socks. So, these Bombas socks have been popping up on my facebook feed for a really long time, but I was never brave enough to try them. I decided to try some and I just love them for working out and even just for lounging around the house. 

Use this link for 25% off your purchase!

Lastly, I needed some new workout pants for jogging. I found some 7/8 pants on aerie.com that also come in size SHORT and I'm extremely short, so this helps. These pants do not have a lot of stretch, but I wanted that for jogging and keeping everything in place. :)
Aerie High Wasted Move 7/8 Leggings

I hope you enjoyed my reviews and current favorites!