Summer Bucket List Linky!



Hey! It's me, Natalie. You might not remember me because it's been quite a while since I've blogged around here. Something about juggling 3 little kids (ages 4.5, 3, and 8 months) plus school made me a little "preoccupied" for a little while.  I've taken a few weeks off to just focus on family and now I'm back and feeling more refreshed. Phew!

It's summer time for me now (I know some of you are still in school, and I am really, truly, very sorry!) and I've been having such a great time already! My family took our vacation early this year and headed down to the beautiful red rocks of Southern Utah. It was beautiful, hot, and tons of fun!

 
(Left: Me and my family hiking in Zions. Right: Babywearing little Sawyer in the red rocks of St. George)


A few years ago we hosted a Summer Bucket List Linky and today we thought we'd bring that baby back! So grab a blank copy of this Summer Bucket List and fill it in for yourself. We'd love to read all the fun plans and summer goals ya'll have.



I'll start:




School:

I left school two weeks ago thinking that I would keep my classroom the same, but a few days ago I got a really good idea (I think, ha!) for a new look for my classroom (aka computer lab - I'm the school technology specialist).  I'm feeling really excited about my new vision and am excited to start shopping and redecorating! 

My computer scope and sequence for the year needs some tweaks. This will be my 3rd year of teaching computers and I'm feeling like I need to revamp some things, make some new lesson plans, and create new & fun projects for my students. 

Another goal I recently decided on is applying for a technology grant to get a class set of web cameras. We have Mac computers but our school uses PC monitors so I don't have a built-in camera or microphone for my students to use. I would LOVE to do some fun GarageBand and iMovie projects with my older students this coming year and I've got my eye on these beautiful cameras from HUE HD. I'm hoping to find a grant that will help me purchase these for my lab.


Personal:

My whole mission this summer is getting into a new home! I've mentioned this before, but we bought our condo during the summer of 2007 --- right before the market crashed! This sent our home values down and, after 8 years (and 3 kids later), we are finally/hopefully in a place where we can sell and make a little profit. The plan is to get our condo on the market this month and then hopefully sell and buy a new house in July. I would love if ya'll could send some positive thoughts my way that all will work out for us!  :)

I recently purchased the Whole 30 book called It Starts With Food. After being really inspired by Rachelle and her fitness blog called For Blogness' Sake, I'm ready to make some changes and be more healthy. I am not sure how I feel about committing to doing a Whole 30 (I live off of Mexican food - tortillas, rice, beans, cheese - all things you can't eat on Whole 30), but I do want to be more healthy and eat food that's good for me, so I *might* be willing to give it try. I'm only on page 25 of the book so I guess I need to keep reading. 

To go along with eating healthier, I'm also trying to be more active. I've been running on the treadmill at the gym and working on building muscle by lifting weights. I still have a looooong way to go, but I'm trying! (I've got some extra baby weight I'm still working to get rid of.) I've decided that to help with being more active that I'd start training for a 5K. I don't know when or where, but my goal is to run one sometime this summer. (I've done the Color Run before and loved it, so I'm thinking of signing up for that one again.)


Fun:

My main focus this summer is on my kids and family! We've got our own summer bucket list that we made together that consists of lots of swimming, hiking, museums, parks, outside picnics, etc. I'm so excited for this extra time I get to be a mom and spend my days with my little kids!

I'm, of course, heading to Vegas again this year!! I go down with all my best blogging pals, stay at the beautiful Palazzo, and attend the TeachersPayTeachers Conference. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

Other than all that, I'm hoping to do a lot of relaxing this summer. Netflix, reading books, sleeping as much as possible (which is hard with 3 kids… ha!) are all my list of things I want to do this summer!


What about YOU?
What are your plans for summer?

Please join us in a fun Summer Bucket List Linky Party.

Grab your free copy of the template, then edit it (I use PowerPoint), and post it so we can see your fun summer plans. {Please link back to us here at What the Teacher Wants.}

Don't have a blog? Post it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever) using the hashtag #wttwsummerbucketlist and tag us @whattheteacherwants.



Grab your free template here: 



Thank you and HAPPY SUMMER!

LINK UP HERE:


Parent Volunteer Gift Ideas

How is everyone?!? Are you surviving the last few weeks of school (or you could be me.... I still have about 6 weeks left! YAY for year-round school!). Are you pulling out your hair or drinking a bottle of wine each night? I get really stressed this time of year.  I have this inner battle between starting to get ready for next year and actually finishing out this year.  I would love to start putting together reading folders and cleaning up my classroom to get ready for next year, but we have a spelling test tomorrow and benchmarks are due and I have to start the slideshow and I have to get parent volunteer gifts ready FOR THIS YEAR! Oh! My! Word! I have quite the to-do list. Speaking of parent volunteers...


I made these tags for my teammates for teacher appreciation week and I shared them {here}. BUT, I wanted to just use the same idea for my parent volunteers this year that really went above and beyond. So, I changed the tag for them.

Teammate Gift Download {here}
Parent Volunteer Download {here}



We also have a collection of free download for all of these ideas as well!  Find them all {here}!

New Guided Reading Mini-Lessons Pack (and a SALE)

Finish the year out with the necessities and SAVE SOME MONEY WITH A SALE!  Our stores will be on sale PLUS there's an extra promo code (THANK YOU)... in total you'll save up to 28%!




And... maybe... start thinking about next year when you are making your purchases during this SALE (don't forget to use promo code THANKYOU)! I know this 2nd grade Guided Reading Mini-Lesson pack has been needing to get in my store for over a year, but I finally finished it! It's perfect to spice up your last bit in school this year, but you REALLY need it to start out the year.  (P.S. I also have a Kinder/1st version HERE)


There are seriously almost 300 pages in this pack. Please read about what's included {here}. It was made with lots of love (and a few tears).  Check it out {here}!




Here are some of my favorites to end out the year!


















    











Being a teacher is HARD work! It's so nice to have one week where we all get to feel celebrated and appreciated! 

Happy teacher appreciation week to all you hard-working, amazing teachers!

YOU ROCK!

Water Unit {With Bubble Day}

This is one of my FAVORITE thematic units to teach at the end of the year.  Just as you are about to get burned out... the Water Unit comes and saves the day (plus you end the week with a Bubble Day)!
This unit is PERFECT at the end of the year.  It's warm outside, the classroom is muggy and you're just about ready to be finished... it's the perfect time for a unit all about water. Not only is this unit fun, but it is the perfect integration of science, language arts, and even a little math.






This Includes:
Water Cycle Headband Craft
Water Cycle Map
Water Cycle Fill In
Precipitation Posters
Solid, Liquid, Gas Demonstration (with recording sheet)
Bodies of Water Passage (rivers, lakes, oceans, ponds-with vocab cards)
Ice Experiment (with recording sheet)
Water Smelling Experiment (with recording sheet)
Boat-Sink or Float (with recording sheet)
Favorite Water Activity (graph, data analysis, and opinion writing)
How to Have a Water Fight (writing)
Bubble Day Note
Bubble Day Homemade Bubble Recipe
Homemade Bubble Science Experiment (with recording sheet)
Bubble Factory (narrative writing)
Bubbles Cinquain Poem (planning sheet and writing page)
Bubble Art Directions
Bubble Poetry Walk (with original poem)
Double Bubble (math game with doubles facts)





Click {here} to check it out!


Here's one of my favorite activities from the pack:


And add the new GoNoodle video from Blazer Fresh on the Water Cycle! SO FUN!








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