Georgia Bloggers Meet-up

I was thrilled to get the opportunity to meet up with some other Georgia bloggers yesterday thanks to the organizational efforts of Jayne at Smart Kids. You see, even though I've been MIA from the blogging world a lot this year, blogging is always on my mind. Really.

This year has been a whirlwind as I've juggled teaching full-time, parenting, and starting my PhD program. Virtually everything I've written this year has included a bibliography, and that hasn't left a lot of energy for my blog. But when I've been researching and writing for my academic pursuits, I've been learning all about theories of professional learning and how our online encounters fit into that. I must say, there hasn't been a lot written about teacher professional learning through blogging, and that's a gap I intend to fill. More people need to know about the amazing teachers supporting each other through social media. They need to know how that process is 10 times better than any other form of professional development and how it empowers teachers to become better at their craft by pursuing their passions and interests.

So when I say that blogging is always on my mind, I really mean it. It's been at the heart of every paper I've written as I work on my PhD. When I got the chance to go meet some fellow bloggers, I couldn't say no.

The meet up was at Georgia School Supply in Macon, GA--about an hour and a half away from where I live. I was excited to go and meet some fellow bloggy friends because it's always so good to be able to match names and faces and to remember that there are some real live people with amazing ideas that are working in classrooms, too. I'd never met any of the people there, so it was a real treat.

We talked about our secret lives as bloggers and TpT'ers, shared tips and strategies, made business plans, swapped products, and had an all around great time. I love meeting other bloggers and learning how much we have in common. Everyone I met yesterday was wonderful, and I look forward to keeping in touch with these new friends!

I hope to be blogging more this week as my student teacher takes over EVERYTHING from now through spring break (woot! woot!). In the meantime, be sure to check out the blogs from the amazing people I met yesterday!

Jayne, Kelly, Angie, Stacy, Tara, Valerie

Jennifer, Carol, Kathy, Meghan, Kim, Irma, Megan

 
 

Michelin, Jessica, Greg, Erin, Alison

 

Atlanta Blogger Meet Up

Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting some fantastic teacher-bloggers as part of the Atlanta Blogger Meet-Up.

If you ever get a chance to meet up with other teacher-bloggers, I'd highly recommend doing it! It was wonderful to meet so many sweet and enthusiastic teachers who share similar interests, and now I can finally match names and faces with the blogs that I read all the time.

We met at the Swan Coach House in Atlanta for brunch, and it was wonderful. Amanda from Collaboration Cuties made us each a placemat with everyone's name on it.

And Stacia (the other half of Collaboration Cuties) made us name tags.

Jivey from Ideas by Jivey made us a little goodie jar filled with treats of both the sugary and teachery kinds.

And Elizabeth (Fun in Room 4B) and Brandee (Creating Lifelong Learners) made us this adorable to do list that is dry erase. 

There were 9 of us in all, and I'm so glad that I went. I'm typically a really shy person, but it felt like I was getting together with old friends! I'm so grateful to be a part of the teacher blogger community, and I love learning from other teachers. This group in particular has so much to offer, and if you don't already follow each of these bloggers, you're definitely missing out.

From left to right:

Amanda - Teacher at the Wheel

Jivey - Ideas by Jivey

Brandee - Creating Lifelong Learners

Denay - The Gemini Teacher

Liz - Polka Dot Firsties

Stacia & Amanda - Collaboration Cuties

Me!

Elizabeth - Fun in Room 4B

If you missed out on the meet up, no worries -- I have confidence that this will become an annual tradition. And for those of you who are interested in classroom technology, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is holding its annual conference in Atlanta next summer on June 28 - July 1. Wouldn't it be great to have a teacher blogger meet up around that? 

After lunch, most of us ventured to Ikea where I once again spent too much money on my classroom despite not needing anything in particular. I'd show you all of my finds, but I'm going to wait until my complete classroom reveal. Given that I start preplanning THIS THURSDAY and have students on August 1, that really won't be too long to wait!

Have a great week!

July Currently & Goals & a Meet Up!

Oh, July! You seemed so far away a month ago. How could you possibly be almost here already?! Can't we add another month in between June and July? I really, REALLY want to hold on to June as long as possible. I'm really not ready to return to work in a few weeks...

Currently July

I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy! 4th Grade for the July Currently.

Listening: My little girl is almost 2, and she LOVES books. She also loves Pete the Cat. I took her to my favorite children's book store, Little Shop of Stories, to get the new Pete the Cat book the day it came out. Given that she knows and loves the song "Wheels on the Bus," it's a great book for her to "read" on her own.

Loving: Planbook.com. I signed up for the one-month trial to tinker around with it, and it's fantastic. I'll definitely be using it next year.

Thinking: that I'm much more prepared to teach the Common Core this year -- especially with math. I'm excited about implementing all of the things that I worked on this summer to get ready for math, and I'm optimistic about my year ahead.

Wanting: a longer summer break. There are so many things that I still want to do before going back to school, and I don't think I'm going to be able to get them all done.

Needing: a maid. I can't keep up with my husband, toddler, and two dogs. Once I go back to work, it may be time to hire someone to come in each week.

Tips, Tricks & Hints: One thing that helps me with time management is to try to group all of my like-projects together and work on them at once. For example, I have one day a week at school that I do all of my copying (or at least I did before going paperless!). I also spend one day working on plans for each subject (e.g., a day for math planning, a day for science, etc.) and a day for working on blog posts, etc for the week. This helps me use my time more efficiently and stay relatively organized.

July Goals

I'm also linking up with Jess at I {Heart} Recess for the first time for the monthly goals post.

Personal: I want to start exercising at least 3 times a week (baby steps). I return to work in a couple weeks (!), and I know with all that I'll be juggling this year between work and my doctorate that I will need to do better with exercise for balance and stress management.

Family: I want to squeeze in a couple more "date days" before going back to school. My daughter is in school year round, so on "date days," my husband leaves his office before lunch, and then we go out to lunch and catch a movie before picking her up. It saves us babysitting costs, and it's a fun way to spend our afternoon.

Health: A few years ago when I lost a lot of weight, the biggest change I made was that I consistently drank 64 oz of water every day. Now that I've gained back the weight (and then some), I need to start drinking at least that much water every day.

School: I report to our staff retreat on July 17th, and then pre-planning officially starts on July 25th. I need to figure out how I'm going to decorate my room before then and map out some plans for the first few weeks before then.

Blog/TpT: I'm hoping to wrap up my Paperless Challenge series in the next few weeks, and I have several new TpT products in the works. This summer has just gone by too quickly for me to finish it all!

Outside the Box: I want to find some easy and tasty breakfast and lunch recipes that I can use throughout the year. I do a fairly good job cooking healthy dinners, but I am not consistent the rest of the day. I often forget to eat breakfast, and then I don't make the best choices for lunch either. The more I plan ahead, the better prepared I'll be. And this justifies spending more time on Pinterest. Win-win!

Southeastern Bloggers Meet Up!

Have you heard about the Southeastern-area blogger meet up? It's about time that those of us in Georgia and the surrounding areas get together, and I'm super thankful that Stacia, Amanda, and Jivey from Collaboration Cuties and Ideas by Jivey have  organized something for us. If you are close to Atlanta, I hope you'll join us for the meet up on July 20th. It promises to be lots of fun.

Click on any of the images below to connect with Jivey's blog where you can RSVP.

I hope to meet lots of other fabulous teacher bloggers there! Click the button below to RSVP.