Five for Fluday

Did you see what I did there with the title? Unfortunately, no, this is not a typo (although I wish it was)! I seem to have come down with some sort of flu like symptoms. Being a newbie in the schools apparently has finally caught up with me. I never was sick during student teaching. However, this semester it has all caught up with me. As my brain is clearly foggy, it is no surprise that I am a day late for the Five for Friday party. On the plus side, I am still ahead of that one time I linked up on a Monday. Thanks for hosting a party where I won't have to worry about sharing any germs! 

The Flu! This is how I am feeling about it...

#theresasomeecardforeverything 

#thefluwontkeepmefromblogging

This snow day was my saving grace this week cancelling college classes and the elementary school! 

#snowdaysaremysavinggrace

#buttoomanymakemestircrazy

I started reading Divergent on my day off. Have you read it? I am hooked so far! 

#fillingmyhungergamesvoid

#icouldneverbedauntless

I am kind of addicted to Grey's Anatomy. Thanks Netflix! 

 #fourseasonsin4days

#icouldneverbeasurgeon

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Want two fun freebies to help you celebrate?

#tbtfreebiestyle

#freebiesmakemyhearthappy

Minimal text, lots of photos, and plenty of hashtags make for the perfect combo for a sick blogger! See you next week! Hope you are all staying healthy!

Five for Friday on an actual Friday!

Feel free to alert The New York Times, The President, and The Today Show. I actually managed to post a Five for Friday on an actual Friday, on a work day, keeping my once a week posting dream alive. Is this real life?

Here is my Five for Friday in a fun little graphic that I whipped up! 

1) So... I may have contacted some of my favorite 4th grade bloggers this week seeking tips for teaching the "big kids". I might have been a little bit scared. (They are taller than me you know!) Well I am pleased to say that 4th graders are actually pretty awesome. Kinders are my favorite because they are so cute and loving but 4th graders are just hilarious and have such great personalities. I mean how can you not love teaching kids that say "Dude! You just stole my thunder!" When sharing answers whole group. It's impossible I tell you! They also seemed to really like me because they were begging for me to come back and trying to trade out their other sub next week for me.

2) It is crazy to believe I ordered my textbooks for the last time as an undergrad. Where has the time gone! College truly goes by in the blink of an eye! I have just over 100 days left til graduation. It just got real! Yikes!

3) If I had a tip for any substitute it would be drop everything and run to your nearest laptop or bookstore and get a copy of What Does the Fox Say? Trust me, this book is gold! Any grade level, any group of kids, any type of school. They will do anything you say to be rewarded with this read aloud! Throw in the corresponding Just Dance Brain Break and you are THE coolest sub ever!

4) School vacation should revolve around the lunar calendar. Clearly teaching during a full moon is a lost cause. Our kids were C.R.A.Z.Y. this week. Were yours? Add in my substitute teaching factor and it was a double whammy. I felt so victorious when I made it out alive!

5) Three whole glorious days off! Never has a three day weekend made me so happy! It's the little things people! I have no plans this weekend but to sleep in, watch Netflix, hit up the Target Dollar Spot, stalk Instagram, and each non-school lunches. It is truly a dream! Catch you on the flip side!

Five for Friday {Sub Edition}

Clearly New Year's resolutions are not going very well for me. I vowed to post once a week - no exceptions - and looked here I skipped last week entirely. I went with what would be a quick and easy post since I have to get up bright and early to sub tomorrow. The Five for Friday linky is always a good one for me and clearly I am past fashionably late and just tardy for the party. Thanks for hosting and keeping the linky live for all us late bloggers Kacey! 

I subbed every single day last week and learned quite a few things along the way. Here are 5 things I have learned about subbing in a week's time.

If you have any subbing tips or tricks I would love to hear them! Hopefully I will catch on to this blogging thing with a consistent schedule and be back later this week with a post to make up for lost time! Have a wonderful work week! Friday is just a handful of days away! 

Currently January and a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Happy 2014! Did you stay awake til Midnight? I can't seem to get tired until 1am anymore so I was surely awake. It is a slight problem seeing as I have to be up in the wee hours of the morning for school tomorrow. If you have another week of vacation don't remind me how lucky you are! 

Today I am linking up with the ever fabulous Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for the monthly Currently linky party. If you have never linked up, you better head on over. It's the best party in town!

Listening: My favorite part of vacation is watching The Price is Right. I grew up watching this show with my grandma and it brings back so many good memories. I learned I truly have no number sense when it comes to guessing prices however!

Loving: Oh my goodness! Where has Netflix been all my life! Best part: no commercials! This is life changing! If you haven't watched Scandal, go watch it on Netflix. You won't be sorry! Just be sure you have lots of spare time because you won't be able to stop watching!

Thinking: We had Chinese food last night for New Year's Eve and those leftovers are calling my name! Surely a eating healthy resolution can't start today because all that delicious food can't go to waste!

Wanting: There is a huge storm heading to the East Coast. Is it too much to ask for a snow day or two? Who decided it was a good idea to go back on Thursday anyway? Not me that's for sure! I just want to stay in my PJ's and drink hot cocoa watching the snow fall! What are some snow day rituals? Share in the comments below!

Needing: My room is kind of a hot mess. I have this shopping problem and then the bags just keep piling up no matter how fast I put them away. My closet is literally overflowing. I am going on strike on 2014. That just means no shopping because clearly I have no willpower against the Dollar Spot!

Memory: I absolutely loved using the elf on the shelf in the classroom this year. The kids were memorized with the elf! Seeing their eyes open wide every morning was truly a magical experience. If you didn't try the elf on the shelf this year, see if you can find it on clearance and save for next year. Your kids will thank you for it!

If you missed my freebie from earlier this week, click the picture to download it. 

You can hopefully use it when you get back to school to document those resolutions.

Well, I am off to eat some leftovers, watch some Netflix, and pray for a snow day! Have a wonderful day! If you go back tomorrow, I feel your pain!

Linky Party x3

Today is all about the linky party! 3 of them to be exact. Since I am not in the classroom currently, linky parties are the only thing keeping me blogging on the regular basis. 

First, I am linking up with Brandi from A Peach for the Teach for a New Year's Resolution party. Here are the resolutions I have for the new year. 

Personal: 
In 2013 I was definitely guilty of comparing myself to others. I wanted to make sure I was living up to everyone's expectations and as a result, I had a lot of extra unnecessary stress in my life. In 2914 I vow to be the best version of me that I can be and not worry about everyone around me. 

Professional: 
This summer I will hopefully land some teaching interviews. In order to prepare for these I want to make sure I am doing my homework by reading up on the practices in education. Any book suggestions? Let me know in the comments below!

Classroom: 
I plan on subbing a lot this semester so that I can see other teaching styles and get ideas for the future. Kayla from Meet Miss Parker shared the fabulous idea of keeping a subbing journal of ideas you loved and I can't wait to implement this soon!

Blog/TPT: 
This is straight forward. I want to post at least once a week every week all year. No excuses this time around! I will make it happen! 

Just-for-fun: 
I want to travel! I think I say this every year and yet I never go anywhere. 2014, making that change! I will explore new places this year! 

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Next up we have the fabulous Instagram linky party. Instagram is my new favorite social media. It is so easy to use. Use a fun editing app, post a picture, throw in some hashtags and you're good to go! Way easier than blog posting and I may have used Instagram as my crutch this year. 

Elizabeth from Kickin' it in Kindergarten has this fun linky to share your 3 favorite pictures from Instagram on your blog. If you want to find me my username is @thepolishedteacher. 

1. This was one of my favorite moments. I turned the page in my book and there was a pressed 4 leaf clover waiting for me. I definitely think it brought me some good luck this year! I love sharing these little moments in time with my followers. 

2. I had so much fun participating in Monday made it this year. A lot of posts on Instagram were craft related. These were probably my favorite craft of the year. I made some of those drawer labels to match my blog and loved how they turned out! 

3. In September I posted 5 of the things I learned about kindergarten thus far. It was so great tore fleet about. Y experience so far and clearly they were true because so many teachers could relate! I need to do another post student teaching list because I have learned quite a few more things about teaching kindergarten! 

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Finally, I am linking up with Jennifer from Simply Kinder for a Teaching Blog linky party. There are no real requirements except to add this picture to a new or existing post and link it to her blog post. It is simply a way to connect with other bloggers and make some new friends along the way. This blogging community is the best thing that has happened to me and I love making new friends along the way! Won't you link up too? 

See you in 2014!