Long time no blogging!

My laptop had some issues and had to go to the fix-it shop for a while. I'm glad it's back now (hard telling how many giveaways I have missed!).

I have one more week of freedom before school starts and I go back to my aide position. I keep telling myself everything will be fine and if this is where the Good Lord wants me, then I'm happy to be here. However, sometimes I do get a little depressed and wonder if I didn't just waste 2 years toward retirement by going back to school. I think I'd feel a little more positive if I had some clue what I will be doing this year, but alas, I won't know that until our first inservice day on August 22!

I think I need to change my blog title to Ready to Blog About Giveaways!

Since I apparently will not be teaching this year and will instead be back in my aide's position, I need to find as many thrifty activities as I can (my salary is not comparable to a teacher's!), but I love to find useful things to help in the classroom. Hence, I keep entering these giveaways! This one would be GREAT because I have done a lot of research on my own about the CCSS and have developed my own grade book for 1st grade based on the CCSS. If you are interested in the giveaway, you can read all about it here.

Wow! 2 posts in one day from me!

I know I should probably save all my giveaway blog entries and combine them, but I'm afraid I'll forget and miss some AWESOME giveaway like this! Farley, at Oh' Boy 4th 3rd Grade really went all out on this one! I would love to win this contest, but good luck to everyone else, also!

Back-To-School-Bonanza Giveaway

Erica Bohrer has teamed up with a few friends to offer 12 back to school activities in a great giveaway! You can read all the details here!

OM MY GOSH! You won't believe this giveaway!

Sunny Days in Second Grade is hosting a FANTASTIC giveaway!  Trust me on this! You can read all the details here! Good luck to everybody, but I would truly LOVE to win this one!!!!

Shoes, Shoes, Beautiful Shoes!

Mrs. Tabb is, are you ready for this, GIVING AWAY her new shoe unit!!!!! Go here to read the details. You have until Sunday, so don't piddle!

Another new blog (to me!) and another GREAT giveaway!

I am so thankful for lazy days to spend on my computer stalking reading so many wonderful blogs and getting so many great ideas to use IF I ever get a teaching job! Until then, I'll return to my aide position...  Anyway, I came across another blog FULL of great ideas (wish I were half as talented as you ladies!). Mrs. Miner blogged about "smellies" and is hosting a "smelly giveaway" (Ooh...that didn't sound quite right!) Head over here to read all about it ...BUT HURRY! It ends in about one hour!

Scentsy Giveaway Opportunity!

I'm sure if I keep trying to win one of these giveaways, I'll eventually succeed! If not, I'm having a ball trying! This one is being hosted by Teaching In Flip Flops. You can read all about it here. I'm a new fan of Scentsy, also, so I would love to win!

You'll never guess...another giveaway!!!!

Mrs. Duggins has reached 50 followers and is hosting a sweet giveaway. Head on over here to read all the details. Good luck (but I'd really like to win it myself!)

Another great giveaway opportunity!

Mrs. Kinkaid's First Grade is offering a Teacher Tipster CD to one lucky winner. I'd LOVE to win this CD!!!!!!! (I spent one afternoon watching his videos and thought to myself how lucky his students are!) Click here to get the details!

ANOTHER GREAT GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!

The Lesson Plan Diva is giving away an Amazon gift card! You can get the details here. She has a lot of great freebies also ~ I'll be busy most of the day grabbing them!

Birthday Freebie Offer!

While catching up on my emails, I came across this wonderful offer for a  Birthday Freebie from Peace, Love and Learning. Click here for the details. I'm hoping I'm not too late ~ I was at my husband's family reunion/golf tournament and couldn't check emails or read blogs last week!

Yard Sale Jackpot!

My mom and I had another fun day of one of our favorite activities ~ hitting yard sales! I found a LOT of books for 25 cents each and a couple for 10 cents each! I love to buy books for my future (?) classroom. Right now, I have about 10  of the big Rubbermaid Totes full of books in our camper (we have no plans to go camping anytime soon!) and I have no classroom to put said books in ~ yet I continue to buy more.... I'm CRAZY!!!

I also found some of the glass bead-like things I saw yesterday on Teacher Tipster! I love that website and am amazed with all of the good ideas shared there! Now, just to get busy writing on them (backwards, I might add...!)...

Still waiting...

I hate the waiting game! I'm not very good at it either! However, I have managed to get a LOT of cleaning done ~ which is definitely a good thing! I keep finding great blogs to stalk follow, and I am truly amazed by all the talent these teachers possess! I hope I can learn how to do some of the neat creating that these teachers do someday. Guess I could be working on that now, huh?!!

Here's a quote for today:

You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. ~ John Bunyon

By the way, I came across a new blog today Kinder Kraziness. She's giving away a Miss Bindergarten unit (free! No random number generator, etc!). Rush over to her blog (looks like a LOT of great info ~ glad I found it when I did :-))

Made a decision....

Well, I decided to go ahead and renew my parapro license so I could return to my old position instead of counting on subbing this year. I still don't know if that was a good choice, but hopefully it will work out okay. I still can't stop myself from stalking reading all the GREAT teaching blogs and saving all the wonderful ideas for "later". Maybe someday....

Here's today's quote:

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

 ~Mary Anne Radmacher

Difficult decision...

I have a decision to make soon. I am currently on a 2 year leave-of-absence from my elementary aide position. I took the time off so I could return to college to get my teaching license (I already have a BA in Child Development and 10+ years experience as an aide) which I received in May.

So, here's my dilemma.... I have had NO luck in even getting an interview (not just me ~ I've talked to several others in the same boat!). So, do I return to my aide's job where I earn more than I can subbing (which we know is not a sure thing daily anyway) or do I bite the bullet and try to sub as much as possible and hope I make a good impression somewhere there will be an opening soon? And for the record .... the school district I am currently employed at hired 4 teachers in my license area last year (before I had my license) and there will be no more retiring for several years.

I'm leaning toward going back to my aide's job, but I still feel conflicted!

Here's a quote for today:

Opening Doors

When one door of happiness close, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

                                                        Helen Keller

Wow! Great Giveaway Opportunity!

So, I missed blogging yesterday (yard sales, don't you know!). Anywho... today as I was stalking reading blogs, I saw this GREAT giveaway opportunity on the Kindergarten Works blog! Oh my gosh! This is great! Go here and see just how big this is! I would love to win this package ~ but good luck to you also!

The Wait (Weight?!) Goes On!

Again, the title says it all! It seems the more I wait, the more weight I seem to gain! I took my resume to 12 different schools today (unfortunately, 3 of those schools were empty ~ even though they are supposed to be open through next Tuesday). I heard the same story all day ~ no jobs now, but maybe in a year or two when some of our teachers retire...

Oh well, we'll see... On a lighter note, here's the quote for today:

Teachers who inspire realize there will always be rocks in the road ahead of us.  They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how we use them.  ~Author Unknown

I'm so thankful...

I'm starting on my journey to teach later than most, but that gives me an advantage I wouldn't have had otherwise ....blogs! I have learned SO MUCH by reading other great teachers' blogs. We all know all kids are different, so we need to be ready with LOTS of different ways to teach each day. I am much better prepared to do that since I began blog stalking reading!

I'm not employed as a teacher (yet ~ hopefully!), so I thought I would share a quote a day until I have more pertinent classroom things to share. Here is today's:

A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
Larry Bird

Blog title says it all!

I graduated with a BA in Child development "several" years ago. After working in the social services field a few years, I took time off to be a mom! When my son was in the second grade, I got an educational aide position and was content (not really!). The more I worked with the kids, the more I knew I wanted to teach.

Two years ago, I began an elementary teacher ed program at the local university to earn my teaching license. I finished my student teaching in April and now I'm ..... Ready 2 Teach! Unfortunately, jobs are scarce. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's hard...