Five for Friday

Ah! My internet died last night while I was in the middle of writing this post and so I didn't get to publish it in time! :(

I guess it has now become a Five for Saturday!
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For those teachers out there who just finished their first full week back from the break...we made it! For those who are still on break due to snow or freezing temperatures....lucky you! But I guess those lost days have to be made up eventually, right? @@

Time to link up for Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday!

On the first day back, a parent came in to share some Rosca de Reyes for Dia de Reyes (Kings' Day), a  Hispanic tradition. There's a whole story behind it, but Rosca de Reyes is a bread that is in a round shape that has some plastic baby figurines hidden inside. Basically, people take turns cutting a slice of the bread. If your slice has a baby figurine, you have to throw a tamale party. The kids got to choose where they wanted their piece sliced and some kids got lucky. Not sure if we are really going to get a tamale party though....haha.

I'm trying out a new thing in the schedule. On Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, we will spend our morning block doing Reader's and Writer's Workshop. On Wednesdays, we will do centers to help cover other ELA standards (phonics, grammar, etc). So on Wednesday we did some centers.

I absolutely LOVE teaching second grade math! The material is just complicated enough to show the kids many different strategies to getting to the correct answer. We were doing 2-digit addition and subtraction before the break. Now we're on to 3-digit addition! Woohoo!

Went on a field trip to the local space and science center. The kids took a class where they were paleontologists and had to identify fossils. They also made their own plastic fossils. We also got to watch two films and visit the exhibits. 

We made Kandinsky concentric circles with oil pastels for art! They turned out pretty cool. :)

Before I end this post, I just wanted to share a book that our school librarian read to my kids this week. And the book is....

Click on the image to see it on Amazon.

Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka. When you first look at the book, you would think some child scribbled all over it and ruined a perfectly good book. But, then when you look at it closely, you'll notice that it's the actual author who did it! Your boys will absolutely love this book! Just make sure to keep the markers away from your classroom books after you read it! :D

Alright, I am off to attend the California Teacher's Association (CTA) Good Teaching Conference. I feel like I have been seriously lacking in motivation these last couple of months with my teaching, so hopefully this conference will help me gain it back!

Five for Friday - Winter Break Style

Another Five for Friday is here! Have mixed feelings about this one since it also means my lovely break is coming to an end. But I guess it is time to get myself back to work mode again!

Since this is winter break style, I'll be covering the last two weeks instead! :)

The break started with a family road trip to Central California. I can't exactly tell you what our goal was, but we pretty much just drove along on the coast (Highway 1) and stopped whenever we wanted to check out the view. Here are some things we saw...

Met up with a colleague and went on a walk with her dog and a dog she is also taking care of. Such cuties!

Most of my friends are all working and/or living outside of California for school. So break time is one of the only times where everyone is back at home, which definitely calls for a reunion! I got to meet up with some high school friends who I haven't seen for 6 months to a year.

We had lunch at one place and then went to another for dessert and drinks. I think we spent around 4 hours together, just catching up. I'm so glad we were all able to still re-connect after being apart for so long. That's what I call a strong friendship!

Took a walk with the boyfriend and went back to visit my high school. For the past few years, my high school has been going through some construction, building a new gymnasium and classroom buildings. The construction is finally done so I had to go check it out. I was very impressed. 

A personal story to share...

When I was learning to drive my dad would bring me to the parking lot of my high school to practice parking. Looks like my dad wasn't the only one who had that idea. 

This dad was even more hardcore than mine! He found some cones and boards and used them to mark the edges of a parking space. I was very impressed. Haha.

Lastly, break isn't a break if you aren't enjoying some delicious food! 

Cream puffs from Beard Papa's!

Yum, homemade chocolates from a student!

Sliders and fries from Slider Bar

Ramen

Hot pot at home!

Hope everyone else's break has been going well. So sad that it is ending soon, but I guess it's time to go back. I haven't really done too much work that's school-related so I guess that's what this weekend is for! :)

Also linking up with Simply Kinder's Teaching Blog linky party! Click on the image below to find some more blogging friends!

2014 Goals

Today, I am linking up with Second Grade Nest to share my...

Here they are...

...and more!

My school's financial situation hasn't been doing too well this school year. I was almost consolidated this year. So I definitely need to update my portfolio and resume so that I can be ready if necessary. Plus, it's always good to just do an update every year so that I don't have to scramble if I ever need it. :)

Continue working on getting to understand the Common Core Standards better so that I can better serve and teach my students. 

I really want to do some more stuff for me. Like read for fun, exercise, cook, travel, and more...

I've been before, but I would love to go to Hawaii again. Of course, I've only been to the island of Oahu so I would love to get a chance to see the other islands too!

I want to learn more about how to handle and invest my finances. My dad has been really helpful in this aspect by telling me to open all these different investment account. Of course, I should also learn what I need to do so I don't just depend on him. 

I want to spend more time with family and friends. It's part of the "balance" I'm trying to find. Trying to find balance between work life and personal life. Also trying to find balance between alone time and social time. Plus, the boyfriend and I are long-distance (around a 1 hour drive) so have to also integrate that into my balance too. 

I hope this isn't too horrible to say. I actually really love my school and have met some wonderful people, one who has become a really close friend. However, I would also really love to work closer to the family and boyfriend. Two years of long-distance is starting to take its toll. So I want to find a job that's closer to home. If only I could just take my school and all the people in it and move it to a different city.  

Thanks for reading! Be sure to link up too! :)

January Currently

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

A new year...a new month...which also means, a CURRENTLY! :D

Can you tell that I'm really enjoying my winter break? I'm so thankful I still have the rest of the week off. I've read some blogs where teachers have to go back to work tomorrow. I can't even imagine!!!

I've also decided to do a post on a recap of my entire winter break rather than each week. Winter break isn't over yet, so I guess that post will have to wait! ;)