#MondayMadeIt

I feel like all days of the week are "made-its" during the summer for me. Mostly Sunday nights as my honey watches baseball, I post up at the dining room table and make a muck! Trying this whole linky business for the first time too :)

Here is what happened after I slept off my red-eye flight home from Seattle yesterday...

#1 - I love painting, and inspirational quotes are my fave. I couldn't pass this quote up. You can see some of my previous work under, that Miss Perfectionist over here couldn't bear to look at - so RE-DO! 

 #2 - We are not allowed to have curtains in our room (curse you fire code) - but does a ribbon curtain count? We will find out soon enough when this cutie gets hung in my small window by the door. It was SO easy too! A $.59 dowel rod and some ribbon - thank YOU Michaels.

-Paint dowel black
-Cut 5 strips of each color (7 colors)
-Fold and snip
-Wrap around dowel and pull ribbon through!

  

#3 - I have seen all of these super cute welcome gifts for students - and could simply not resist. So if I can find a deal on rock candy, rock candy it is - and if I can't then HELLO pop rocks!

Stay chip free and standards based y'all!

Digitally Organize! & INSTALOVE!

Still obsessing over my new dotting tool - even if it doesn't create the most SOPHISTICATED manicures.

I have also just joined the teacher world on Instagram and oh my LANTA. I am quite a social media lover. I do it all (twitter, fb, youtube, instagram, you name it) and with multiple accounts for teaching and personal. It's actually a little out of hand. Since I am so visual and such a creative soul Instagram was always my favorite. I have had a personal forever, but my heart now, is with my teacher Instagram (lacquer_teach_repeat) AHH IT'S SO FAB! I have discovered a beyond fabulous 6th grade teacher over at LESSONS WITH COFFEE 

... I can not get enough of this MN lady! I have decided to sign up for my first #SLANT box too. It makes me nervous, but I love giving gifts, love everything teacher, and LOVE creating and sharing - so why not?! EEK!

So this digital organization piece. In my 3 years of teaching I have struggled with am I a binder person? Am I a file folder person? Am I a computer person? Fact: I am all. I have multiples of documents in all places YIKES. So I decided this year, you know what Google Drive, we are officially in a relationship (sorry you had no say). I have a Mac at home and a dinosaur PC at school. I am hoping this will help with transfer of docs between school and home too.  

We will see how it goes! 

My desktop also got a makeover. Ever since I've been on a creation binge, my desktop was getting out of control. An intervention was needed! One of my nearest and dearest teacher friends organizes her desktop like this (I have also seen tons of other teachers do this too!) It just makes too much sense!

Behold - ORGANIZATION!

Gosh colorful graphics and a dotting tool, how easy happy is that? :)

Stay chip free and standards based!

Sweet Summertime.

I have been attmepting to relax this summer, but as one of my coworkers put it - "Jess, you will NEVER be able to be a stay at home mom." Hmph. It's a nice thought right? The truth is a week after school got out I was doodling lists for next year and my *must do's.* Here are a couple of my summer highlights before I dive into 6th grade teacher, puppy mama, green team coach, student council lady, and grad school student in the fall.

Nails have been SO SUMMERY. Is summery a word? Yup. I like to call these my mermaid nails - swoon. 

Essie and Deborah Lippman (Yes, that glitter was a BEAST to remove)

This is the new furbaby Dakota. And she is the absolute best. My boyfriend and I adopted her from a program assistant at my school who fosters animals... lets just say we joined the very large club of friends at school who have adopted pups from her, and we couldn't be happier :)

I just can not stay away from that creative bug that bit me a long, long time ago when my Gramma Dee let me push the pedal on her sewing machine for the first time. With that being said, classroom crafts are just a summer staple in the life of Jessica Spethmann. Here are a couple of my digital faves for the fall.

The infamous "Teacher Toolkit" that floats on every teacher's Pinterest board. I also love these labels because I can use them for just about everything. They are in my TPT store with some blank ones to use for whatever the heart desires! 

Now for a blinking neon sign to hang above this bad boy saying "NO 6TH GRADE HANDS ALLOWED." Can I buy that on Teachers Pay Teachers?! Shucks. 

New subject labels!! I have developed a serious obsession with Mellonheadz. They are semi-primary, but if I like it - I make my 6th graders like it (muahaha). I laminated these with my smaller laminator that clearly was sent from Heaven above. The lamination is much thicker than the school laminator - heavy duty for these babes. 

Tonight I finished my nametags - simple yet sweet. I will end up typing the students names in with my beloved KG fonts (another obsession). We all know that new students pops up a week before school, so I am trying to hold off on the typing of the names - we'll see how that goes!

 

There are a couple more colors too :) 

This came. And move over boyfriend - may be the new love of my life. Erin Condren you peach you! I tweeted her this and she (well probably an intern?) tweeted me back - AHH! 

Here's one more of the babe for ya!

THAT FACE!

Stay chip free and standards based!

You Are Worthy (echo: YOU ARE WORTHY!)

Year three of teaching has come with so many insane changes I can't even begin to count. Before we get into the backstory of my post title - mind you - includes a literary illusion to the Greek nature myth of Echo (I just got done teaching Ancient Greece, this year's class just ate the myths up! Cough Chronos). Chronos ate all of his children, incase you needed a brush up on your Greek mythology :) OKAY OKAY OKAY NAILS.

As per the Pantone color of the year: radiant orchid, my tips are currently sporting Too Taboo from the Essie neons collection.

I was intrigued by this pretty little bottle in Walgreens because my nails just can not get enough of the purples. It comes off more pink on camera, definitely. Too Taboo applies semi matte - so for me a top coat was a must. This is the case with most neons. It was more opaque than I imagined it would be. Props Essie, props.

Now I know in all professions you will run into days like this...

But, I find myself looking EXACTLY like this sad, sad little canine a bit too often. As a sixth grade teacher I always struggle with the message I want to just imprint into my students brains (well there's lots of them, but overwhelmingly this one). I was a very self aware adolescent. I feel very deeply, and I was aware of every single pain and struggle I went through. It hurts me now to know this is all just beginning with my students. I want to save them from it and I know I can't ::sigh:: If I feel this way about my students, Lord help me when I have children. This is all I want them to know.

In college psych classes you learn about Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. Until you have met a child who is not getting their basic needs met, and you are trying to teach them how to divide fractions and identify the parts of an atom - you don't really see the true weight in each level of the pyramid. 

Each needs to be met before advancing to the next. As educators we are presented with the task of  meeting the needs of kids ALL over and around this pyramid - and hey, pat on the back to us, somehow it happens. 

In order to throw out my best attempt at letting my students know EVERY SINGLE ONE of them is worthy, I have to set the example myself. 

I am a go-getter (eh, in most aspects of my life) and I really have been resinating on that top tier of the pyramid for a while. How many people actually make it there? In the scheme of the cosmos (yes, we are just little specs of dust and if you haven't watched Cosmos on Nat Geo or Fox, get on it yo!) how many people in our human race who have a substantial influence on the rest of our lives, our leaders perhaps, actually make it to the top tier? My 24 year old mostly optimistic self takes a look in the mirror. 

One of my best friends shared this article with me. We were about 4 mimosas deep and I was spewing about my newfound wordly-ness after spending my weekend with a cup of coffee, the couch, and Cosmos on demand. I have recently been entranced in the whole "why/how are we really here?" mind-set. She shared with me this article - and I proceeded to forward it to anyone I knew who would give a dang. 

7 Things Self-actualized People Don't Do

These seven very important things are now pasted to the front of my teacher binder. I see so many opportunities for improvement, yet also some of my strengths peeking through - and it's pretty cool. I suggest you give it a go. 

All in all, you are going to have those ruff days. As for me, I have to accept my students are going to have ruff days - and for the mere fact that they are 11 years old, they have a heck of a lot of ruff days ahead of them. It's my job to give them the set of skills to take on those ruff days and teach them how to...

Stay chip free and standards based,

HOLY, Holy Grails

And no, I am not talking about Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I think when I was 13 I saw one scene with a rabid rabbit and never looked at the Easter Bunny the same again.

My holy grail items, products, apps, what have you not, are things that I simply can NOT live without. Well, I mean I can, but life would be a lot less fabulous without these things. Today I am going to let you peek into my lair of holy grails and show you a glimpse of two things that will just make your life down right fantastic.

THE PERFECT PINK NUDE NAIL POLISH. 

Just picture the M&M's Christmas commercial with Santa...

 "What?! He does exist?" -M&M "WHAT? THEY DO EXIST?!" -Santa. 

IT EXISTS! I REPEAT THE PERFECT PINK NUDE NAIL POLISH IS A REAL THING!

The voyage for a perfectly opaque pink nude can take a lady ages, and I mean ages to discover. Look no further women of the interwebs - meet "Romper Room," by Essie. 

This dream polish applied completely opaque in 2 coats, unlike the other 10 pinky nude polishes I own. Not too pink, not too nude, I know... you are getting chills aren't you!? This gem is part of Essie's new spring collection - haul out to your local Walgreens, CVS, or Target and GET ALL UP IN this bottle of gold - you'll thank me now AND later.  :)

Could I say pink and nude anymore times? I think not.

Alright, alright, now that my fangirl moment of a dang bottle of nail lacquer is over I'll scoot on to my actual profession - teaching. With 12 iPads in my classroom full of projects on projects on projects of 25 students - management can be, well, a beast. Unless you have your right hand man... Sir Dropbox. He is a fancy man I tell ya. After a couple years of touch and go with this baby I am going to share with you some of my top tips for using Dropbox in your classroom.

It is a big fat lovely tech CLOUD for all of your student work. After lots of trial and error with this app, I have found letting students have and manage their own folders of work is key. They keep everything they are currently working on in their own folders by first name. When I want them to turn something in I create a folder with that assignment name and bada-bing-bada-boom, I grade them all on my one iPad. Here is a handy dandy bookmark to keep on hand so students can remember the username and password. 

Holy grails make me happy. And we all should...

Even if... and ESPECIALLY if it is painting our nails, laughing, learning, and teaching. 

:)

Stay chip free and standards based!

Doodle4Google

If there was ever a lesson that beats to the rhythm of my heart, this one would be it. It is state testing time and I've been moving my nest so posting will be short and sweet. All I have to say is #doodle4google

The lesson plan I used came straight from www.doodle4google.com and it was absolutely GENIUS. They have lessons for every grade level surrounding their theme of "if you could invent one thing to make the world a better place." The issues my students came up with that are apparent in their lives were so eye opening. Mostly when presented with the word "technology." They wrote all of the words that they so often use in everyday conversation as *issues* with technology. Facebook, Instagram, vine, selfies. They all claimed were issues with technology... Interesting. They picked a cause to doodle their own google logo based upon. It was actually magical :) 

Oh and yes, my nails are springy. Wishful thinking my friends. 

Stay chip free and standards based!

Happy Dances All Around.

Well it's February and I have been slumming it on Pinterest a lot these days with my cabin fever and all. So this happened...

Happy Dance #1. 

I toyed with the idea of graffiti for my next book project. Rewind: okay, book projects. The way this happens in my classroom has evolved over the past couple of years. I never wanted to do the classic book reports that I completed as a child (well that I partially completed and my mom partially completed at 2 am the night before it was due - LOVE YOU MOM!) and I had an insane struggle with Accelerated Reader... my 12 year grudge towards AR still taking up unnecessary space in my emotional bank - ha.

My first year teaching I gave a slew of options for book projects each month to my students. I had learned in college Choice = Good. I soon found myself trying to find new and exciting book projects each month for my students to complete... in fact as many as five a month (wipes sweat off forehead.) Not until April of my second year teaching did I see the value in all of my students completing the same project. My teammate brought Mr. Hughes' DODECAHEDRON book project to the table -

INSTANT SCORE!

They looked especially bomb hanging from the ceiling at open house. 

Happy Dance #2!

I then discovered if I give my students a highly engaging book project, that also, let's be honest - was fun and looked REALLY REALLY AWESOME - they would all totally buy in. So here starts my journey of the ever evolving book project. 

Now this is RIGHT up my alley. I love teaching reading and adore being creative so I'm not admitting this, but one of my secret pleasures is completing a book project model before I assign it to my students. This was another thing I struggled with - if I show them an example will it hinder their creativity? I found quite the opposite actually. My level of students need the scaffolding and need the model. My kids are now begging for their book projects each month, and dare I say it, they all seem to turn them in ON TIME.  Oh education Gods please don't jinx me for that one :)

Backtrack to graffiti. I love this quote by Steve Jobs and have it hanging in my classroom. 

This quote IS me. I am constantly being sparked by my surroundings, which is why when I saw this image on Pinterest about one of my favorite books - it stopped me in my (pinning) tracks - which isn't easy mind you.  

I couldn't NOT develop a book project like this. Then came a Powerpoint chalk-full of images of POSITIVE graffiti. We had a discussion about how graffiti is a powerful thing in society and how it has the capability to send positive messages to countless individuals who see it.

Positive Graffiti Powerpoint

I will let the students' Novel Locker Graffiti speak for itself... 

They did a beyond phenomenal job. Along with their graffiti they needed to pick 5 of the most essential quotes to elaborate on. They wrote a paragraph for each explaining how it connected to the plot or theme of their text. 

Happy Dance #3 :)

Quote Graffiti Book Project

I hope you have many moments to insert a little happy dance this wintery week, because life is pretty - dang - good.

Stay chip free and standards based!