A new chapter..for now..

Hello again! It's been awhile since I've blogged. I think it's been since January since my last blog update? Wow, time sure flies by because we are in the end of April already! A lot has happened since I've blogged. I'm not sure who reads this blog but this blog is really an outlet for me to share my thoughts, things I like to do, and record my memories with friends and family. I guess in the grand scheme of things, this blog is like my little time capsule of my life. So, if you've been with me since the beginning when I started (like just last year), thanks for sticking with me. And if you've just started reading, welcome!

I plan on posting blogs once a week on Mondays to keep my blog fresh and alive. I realized that if I didn't have a set time to blog, it would be put to the wayside and I really enjoy sharing my thoughts in writing. 

So, what's happened since January? Well, the biggest change is....I've resigned from my job as a teacher after teaching for 10 years! Say what?! Those of you who've known me for a long time, my passion is teaching and kids. Yes, teaching has its pros and cons but overall, I truly love it. Well, I wanted to share my reasons/thoughts for resigning at this point in my career and what's next for me and my family.

Why did you decide to resign now?

This past 2016-2017 school year, I was on a leave of absence from teaching to stay at home with my two little girls. This means, that I am still an employee of the school district but on sabbatical leave without pay. Before the 2016-2017 school year ends, I can decide to return or resign. I decided to resign. 

I love being at home with my two little girls and spending time with them. A lot of you told me that it will be the best decision that I will have made as a mom and one that I won't regret. You guys have been totally right. I realize that time is precious and making memories with my two little girls while being a SAHM (stay at home mom) is the best gift to them and myself.

Also, while working full time last year, I really struggled with being the best wife, mom, and teacher all at the same time. Sure, I did it, it was a busy/crazy school year, and I know that I can be a full-time working mom. However, when I had the choice to be a SAHM with my kids, I couldn't pass up the chance. Family first.

Do you miss teaching?

Yes I absolutely miss teaching! As I mentioned above I know that teaching has its pros and cons but overall, I love teaching! I miss being with students and the joy/fun of teaching them. I miss all the different conversations and stories that I would hear everyday in the classroom from my students. Oddly enough, I miss lesson planning (who would have thought!) because it was always fun looking for new and creative ways to teach a concept. Yes, call me nerdy and my teacher friends might just be laughing at me but when I left we had just gotten into this whole project-based learning and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teaching and I was excited to try something new even though it meant more time prepping/planning. 

The BIGGEST thing that I missed this year while being at home was my colleagues/friends! I have to put a shout out and some love to them (Cumberland Elementary..wassup!!) because truly they have known me for awhile (10 years!) and have seen me grow not just as a teacher but also as an individual. They've been like a second family to me this past decade. I have learned so much from everyone and love teaching even more because of my time spent with them. I have so many great memories but most of all, I miss laughing and chatting with everyone. Yes, laughter...there was always something to laugh about because there was always something funny or crazy that happens in the classroom or around school. Here are just a few pics I quickly found in my files (just a snippet of the awesome people at Cumberland). Thanks for the memories and hope to stay in touch with these fabulous people!

          

Do you plan on returning to teaching?

Yes! I'm not sure when I'll be returning but I'm just going to enjoy this next upcoming school year 2017-2018 being a SAHM again to my two little girls. I have to be honest though, I am worried about finding a job when I want to return. I guess that's just natural because I haven't applied for a teaching job in 10 years! I just have to have faith that God will provide.

So that basically sums it up folks! I realize here in the Silicon Valley, it truly is a blessing and a privilege to be able to be a SAHM because guys, living here is super $$$$$.

A huge THANK YOU to my wonderful supportive husband who's making it possible for me to have this time at home with our little girls.

Last of all and for the record..being a working mom (WM) and a SAHM is NO JOKE! No matter what, each situation has its own difficulties and blessings. ;) 

Geeking over Google Drive!

I absolutely love Google Drive! I use it for my work and at home to organize my electronic files and ideas. I definitely use it more in teaching because I have tons things that I use and collect. When I first started teaching, I had loads and loads of paper files. Then after moving classrooms several times, I realized I had so much paper files that I ended up not using those files because it was so hard to find things! So last year, when I had to move to a new grade level and move classrooms, I decided it was time to chuck those files for good. But wait! I didn't just throw everything out, I decided to scan as much as I could and start saving into my Google Drive!

So a year later, I have now my electronic file system on Google Drive. I just love how organized all my teaching ideas are and it's so easy to find because I can use the search engine to find what I'm looking. Super easy and efficient versus flipping through a load of papers. 

Well, how do I organize my electronic files? That's a great question! I decided to start with subject folders: Math, Writing, Reading, Phonics, Grammar, Science, Social Studies. Then as the year progressed, I added other folders such as: Field Trips, Report Cards, Team Meeting Notes, Lesson Plans, etc.

Now, here is where it gets a little "Type A" crazy organization. I made sub folders within each subject folder. Here is a picture of what I did and I absolutely love this way of organizing all my electronic files for each subject. 

Now whenever I get new ideas electronically, I can automatically save it into the right google drive folder, which makes searching for things much easier! My 1st grade team got use to me asking "can I get a copy of that to put into my Google Drive?" or saying "I have that on my Google Drive and I can send that over to you." Oh and the best part of Google Drive is the sharing feature! You can share a file, a folder, even your whole drive folder with anyone you like! Happy filing and organizing with Google Drive! 

End of the Year Student Gifts

I've been teaching for 10 years now and every year, I always ask myself "what would be a good end of the year gift to give to my students?". Here are some things that I've done in the past: books, class t-shirts, class dvd with a slideshow of the year in pictures, and a journal. This year, I wanted to do something different that would be meaningful to my students and parents as well. And where do I go to find my ideas? Pinterest of course! I really love finding ideas on Pinterest for just about everything! So, this year I found this great Pinterest Student Gift Idea.

What do I love about it? I love that it's personal, memorable, and encouraging for each student. Did it take some time to think of words for each student? Why, definitely! But I also found a list of positive personality character traits that helped me find the right words for each student. This took me a good hour to type and print each one out for my 23 wonderful 1st graders.

So, how did I make these cute and awesome gift? Well, here's what I did:
1) Go to www.wordle.net (I have a MacBook Pro and I could only use this website using the Safari web browser)

2) Click on "Create" (if you don't have the latest Java update then you'll probably have to install that onto your computer).

3) In the box where it says "Paste a bunch of text:", I typed the student's name 3 times in a line so that their name would show up bigger than the rest of the words.

4) Then I just typed 8-9 words that described each student's personality (one word per line).

5) Finally, click the "go" button.

6) Wordle will automatically create a layout of your words with a font and color. I chose to have all my words be "mostly horizontal" and to make it easy, I went with the already prescribed color combinations. To adjust any of these, you can click on "Layout", "Color", "Font".

Here's the final product and what it looked in the end for me. I think it came out really cute and I hope my students will love them! I'm planning on spending the last 30 minutes on the last day of school presenting them to each student by reading each one out loud. Happy end of the school year!