Hello Spring Break!

I've come to realize I'm a lot like my mom. I know I've said it before, but as time goes on, I'm realizing it more and more. 

When I was little, my mom used to always clean the whole house top to bottom before we left on a vacation. I always wondered why.  And she used to always say that it's because if something happened to us or if someone broke into our house, it'd be nice and clean. And well, who doesn't like coming home from a vacation to a nice clean home.

Well, I've carried that with me to college.  Every time I leave for vacation, before I can even pack, I have to clean as much of my apartment as possible.  By the time I've packed and I'm heading out the door, my bed has to be perfectly neat and so does my desk and closet.  It's a weird habit, but I really do enjoy coming home to a nice clean area.

And when I get back home after vacation, all my laundry has to go into the hamper and everything has to be put away by the time I go to bed. Call me crazy, but that's just me.

As I've been packing up for Spring Break (officially started the second I bolted out of my seat at the end of my last class, which ended at 5:40 PM) I've noticed that I'm slowly getting better at packing.  I've always been that person who overpacks. I'm always holding my breath as they weigh my suitcase at the airport. And even a couple of times, I've had to unpack it and put things on my carry on.  However, this year, I've been much better about it, and I'm even only taking one suitcase and one carry on!

All to say, I'm SO ready for Spring Break and 10 nights at home.

Dress Up

I know that I posted photos on Instagram and I tweeted about it, but Saturday night was seriously so much fun. Despite knowing that my alarm was going to be going off at 5:15 AM the following morning for choir.  

It was my friend Kate's 23rd birthday party, and it was seriously a blast hanging out with some of my closest Bel Canto friends. My whole D-Group was even there! LOVE THEM! <3 

So I thought I'd just share a few photos with you, just for fun!  Enjoy!

The Birthday girl herself!

C.H.A.M.P.

As a part of my Diversity in the Classroom class, we are required to work with 4th graders once a week for 8 or 9 weeks.  Through this program called C.H.A.M.P. (College Headed and Mighty Proud), I was able to have a small group of three 4th graders.  I enjoyed learning more about them and teaching them about college, picking a major and a future career, and helping them to write an essay.

It was a great learning experience working with three separate students, who were all at their own "academic level".  It definitely taught me a lot about how to manage a setting where you have one student who is completely independent and another student on the other end of the spectrum where you have to point and feed them word-for-word when they are writing.

Anyway, I had a great time hanging out with them. Look how cute they are! Anyone would enjoy hanging out with these three.

A future lawyer, artist, and doctor!

I seriously can't wait to officially be a teacher and have my own classroom and set of students!!

School Bags

Spring break begins in just a few days, and there is still lots to do before I can think about it.  I still have a major paper that's due on Thursday for my history class and once classes are done, I have to pack and clean up the whole apartment!

I think one of my favorite things to do is to pack for a trip home! I've always been an over packer. Every time I go to the airport, I find myself holding my breath hoping that my suitcase doesn't exceed 50 pounds. It's only done that twice. Luckily I've been able to take things out and put them in my carry on.  However, this time when I go home, I'm going to try to get everything in one suitcase that is less than 50 pounds. I'm also going to aim for only having one carry on.

I always think that it's fun to look at other blogs to see what they write about, and I always find myself enjoying the ones about being organized or what's inside someones tote bag.  I switch for school from tote bag to backpack, but usually I end up sticking with a tote bag, unless I have a long day of classes and a lot of things to carry around.

Long Champ:  Okay, I don't have a real Long Champ bag, but I have one that is very similar and I love it! I like that it's water proof and it holds so many things.  It's also very comfortable to carry on my shoulder, even though it is always full of many things.  I also like that it fits my laptop in it perfectly!

North Face Backpack:  I have a North Face Isabella backpack and I really like that it's not to big and it's not to small. It holds everything I need for school, although sometimes it is a stretch when I try to put multiple books, a binder and notebook, and my laptop in there.  But I like that it has all these different pockets I can take advantage of.  

Vera Bradley: Okay, I seriously love Vera Bradley. I have a book tote, a laptop case, and a large duffle bag. I love the bright prints and I love how it just stands out.  I like using this bag if I just have one class to go to or something like that.

Land's End Tote: When I graduated high school, I received a Land's End tote bag with my monogram on it. I seriously love it! It's the perfect beach bag or summer bag.  I like that it holds a lot of things and it no one else has it. Well, unless they have the same initials as me... However I've never met anyone that does.  

So what are your favorite totes to use? I'm thinking I'll be using totes the rest of my life, especially since I'm going to one day be a teacher.  I'm thinking a red one when I'm a teacher? 

Kangaroo's

It's Friday! And of course, that means time to teach a science lesson to little hyper second graders. But really, I do love that class. The children are adorable and the answers they give are hilarious, even though I have to keep a straight face.  I love when they run up to give us little hugs when they first see us and then when we leave again.

So today's lesson, as I bet you can tell by the title, is about the life cycle of a Kangaroo!  I joined education.com for free! It's seriously one of the best sites for teachers. FREE worksheets and activities on almost anything!

After teaching a basic lesson on Kangaroo's through a PowerPoint, after we show a video from Animal Planet.  I love how this worksheet allows the student to cut out the little circles of each part of the cycle and they can glue it in order.  And of course, there should be a little writing in this activity, so basic little facts and notes about each part of the life cycle will be written next to each circle.

Here's two screen shots of the worksheet that is being used!

 

Oh Ellen...

It's Friday. Need a little laugh to get you through the rest of the day to the weekend? Watch this video.

The Frog's Life Cycle Activity

This semester, I am in a class called "Science and Children".  For this class, we are required to go into a classroom and teach a science lesson, one day a week.  For this class, we are also in groups that we teach with.  It helps to make managing the class and answering questions just a little bit easier.

Our host teacher is having us teach about a different animal's life cycle every week.  For our first lesson, we decided to teach about the life cycle of the frog.  Let me just say that I love Pinterest. I know I've said it before, but it has great lesson ideas!  So we found this lesson about the frog's life cycle and an activity to go with it.

We were able to show a PowerPoint about the different stages of the life cycle and complete this activity with them.  They loved being able to color their frog with bright colors, just like the photos we had shown them earlier.

This lesson was simple and they really enjoyed it.  We also had them write a few facts about each stage on each pannel of the frog as well, just so they would have more detail in their own book about the frog life cycle.

"How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World"

My whole life I have always been that girl who loves watching I Love Lucy, Audrey Hepburn movies, the classic American novels as movies, and even reading those books, such as Anne of Green Gables.  I can honestly say I know every song of My Fair Lady as well as every line in The Sound of Music.

A few months ago, I had bought the book How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World: The Art of Living with Style, Class, and Grace" by Jordan Christy.  When I had first bought it, I had only read the introduction and then had put it down since I didn't have time to read.  Today, I picked it back up again, and I'm really enjoying it.  There are some great quotes from the book.

"Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that." ~Stacey Charter

"One of the greatest benefits of living with confidence and self-worth is that we don't need to constantly rely on others for fulfillment."

~Jordan Christy

"One of the fastest ways to gain (or lose) respect is with your image."

~Jordan Christy

"Self-respect is one of the greatest assets a girl can possess, and yet it's one of the biggest thing we're lacking these days."

~Jordan Christy

My Obsession: Shoes

So, as many people know, I'm a HUGE shoe person.
Confession: I have a storage bin of shoes.

My top favorite place to buy shoes from/look at shoes is: DSW, Target, Ross, and Payless.

Although I have many pairs of shoes, I do have my favorites.

Sperry Top-Sider Angelfish: I love these! They're super comfortable and they are also very girly. They also match with every outfit!  

Rainbow Sandals: Okay, seriously. If you don't have a pair of these, get them. They are the most comfortable sandals ever. They're 100% leather and they mold to your feet. And they last for years. 

TOMS: Like mentioned in a previous post, I love that these shoes help by giving another pair of shoes to someone who needs a pair when you buy one for yourself. 

Nike Free Runs: I love that these running shoes come in cute bright colors and are also very comfortable and light.  I just wish I ran more so I could use them more. 

Silver Flats: I found these flats at DSW and I fell in love with them! I love that they're comfortable and they make any outfit just a little more dressy.

Black Pumps: These are classic! They go with every outfit and will never go out of style.