tap tap tap Is this thing on?  Is anyone still here? It's been... well, it's been over a year.  And even then, it had been awhile.   But in the past few years I've been busy working on some other professional goals.  One of them was more of a fast decision.   Last September, I was rummaging around online and founds an ELL Endorsement program that was 24 credits in one school year (about a class every 5-6 weeks).  The deadline for applying was in about a week, so I took a couple days to reflect and consider it, and then thought what the heck and sent in an appli ..read more

Hello all!  It's been a minute... This is my (fingered crossed) final push to completing my National Boards and it has officially taken over my world for the past year and a half.  If I don't pass, I will cry actual crocodile tears.  I have a serious concern that I won't pass, so I'm preparing myself for the worst. So that's what I've been up to...luckily I only have one component this year (C4), but holy cow it's a lot of pieces to tie together.  My weekends are just hours and hours in coffee shops.  On the upside, I'm testing out every local coffeeshop around and r ..read more

Today was our first day back to school... LOVE my new group and ready to tackle a whole new year.  I hope your year is off to a dramatic (or maybe not so dramatic) start!  Go get 'em!               Follow RTL On  ..read more

It's the FINAL Currently link up, so I feel like I should jump in and join the farewell party.  I'm also about to go enjoy this sunshine HARD CORE, so this is quick.  The Royals are in town this weekend, and I'm dreaming of summer vacations.  To top it off, this week I'm spending some intense time prepping and uploading a few National Board components so that I can move on to preparing for my big test.  My truth...I love school a lot, but this year I've had a lot on my plate and I'm ready for school/June to be OVER.  That will mean I'm done with the school year, finish ..read more

Helllloooooooo out there!  This year, guys.  This year.  It's somethin'.  Mostly I'm just keeping my head above water and being social.  It's really good.  I feel like maybe I hit that 10 year teaching mark and just needed a little breather where I focused more on me and less on school.  You know?  Do you?  Please tell me that's a thing.  Have I blogged this same feeling already this year?  Well, it's true. National Boards has been a force to be reckoned with... I've been writing, rewriting, and video taping, and re-taping, and watching-o ..read more

It's that time of year!  If you're planning to make a strategic teaching career move, or just start a new adventure, you're probably thinking about what you need to do to land a great new job. It was about this time two years ago when I was knee deep in a job hunt and beginning my moving plans.  It was only January/February, but new job postings were just beginning to appear and my new state certification needed to be finalized, and we had already turned in our letter of intent for the next school year. One thing I learned from the whole experience: I should be keeping my teaching ..read more

Happy Valentine's Day!  I know it's Sunday funday, and Valentine's day, and really the last thing we are thinking about is school.  Right?  RIGHT?   I thought I'd share something my students and I are LOVING lately with you this day of love + kindness.  If you want to start your week on an easy breezy note tomorrow, Class Dojo has released a new series of 5 videos about the Growth Mindset and my class is l-o-v-i-n-g them!  So if you don't use Class Dojo on the daily, I thought I'd give you a little heads up.  These are great mini-lessons in the classroom and ..read more

I've been living in this black hole that is National Boards (I'm telling you, if I don't pass this, I will cry TEARS for YEARS).   Also, I've been teaching.  And managing.  A lot of classroom management makes for one tired teacher. One of my saving graces with my charming active and interactive group this year is my Flocabulary subscription.  I'll be honest... when my subscription was up, I really thought about whether it was going to be worthwhile for another year.  I'm usually a big fan of free online resources, but my students last year LOVED using Flocab for voca ..read more

The Iowa Caucus results are on, so I'm glued to the television (and computer), so here I sit ready to chat with you.   Usually February is my least favorite teaching month, but my district has mid-winter break now, so February is pretty darn dreamy.  A day celebrating love and kindness, and a break?  I'll take both!  {I won't mention the pre-test crunch time, shhhh} I got some new books that arrived on my doorstep today that I've been super excited about, plus a few special visitors planning trips to ME in the next few weeks and months that I get to plan and play tourist ..read more

Well, this guy is my new favorite YouTube Channel... Did I email this to my principal and assistant principal?  Yes, yes I did.              Follow RTL On  ..read more