Teaching Tip of the Day - Inspirational Quotes Slideshow

I came across this concept on accident:  I was teaching a lesson with my SMART board and I didn't touch the board for a few minutes so my picture slideshow started without me knowing.  (My back was to the board).  I noticed that students seemed really engaged in what I was saying and what I had on the board.  Awesome. Every teacher's dream come true. Except they weren't engaged in exactly what I thought they were.

Students were eyeing my personal and professional photo slideshow.  I have personal photos to establish a relationship with students if they happen to see them and I have professional photos such as pictures of inspiring quotes/funny teaching quotes.  Since students seemed so interested in what was in my picture folder, I added more inspirational quotes.

I add more when I come across ones I like.  Follow my most current inspirational quotes on my Pinterest Board: Education Posters.  But I recently came across this and laughed a little out loud because even at the high school level, it still happens. Take a look:

Teaching Tip of the Day- Text your Students

My teaching life has been changed for the better now that I can contact students through text message. Most people are glued to their phone all day long. How many of you shower with your phone in the bathroom? It's just a habit to have our phones available.

I needed a method to infiltrate students' most precious devices. I found a way with Remind 101. Remind101.com is a free service that allows teachers to get an account and create up to ten class groups. Each group gets its own code to text. Once they text the code to the appropriate number, they have to reply to the welcome text with only their name.

Any texts you send out through the website or the app can go directly to them the moment you type the message or can be scheduled for a better time. For example, I don't text students when they aren't in my class. I schedule the texts to send right after school or later (after dinner...7).

This isn't just for students with phones; parents can sign up for texts and students without phones can sign up for "texts" through email. Directions are on the site. The site also has printable direction handouts to distribute to students. Students can't text you back either (just in case you were wondering).

Since using this site, students' homework completion rates have gone up (even in the last marking period) and students request me to send them texts.

Let me know how it works for you!

Deal of the Day- Free VS underwear

How would you like to get 5 VS underwear for free? I did yesterday, and couldn't be happier! I had to return/exchange one underwear from a previous 5/$26 deal. That's the only one I technically bought.

2 underwears (Yes that's what I call them) were sitting around for some time still in the bag from "free panty" cards that VS distributes. They didn't fit right/ at all so I asked if I could exchange them for an even priced item. They said yes.

1 was from another free panty card and 1 was from the semi annual sale bin priced at $7.99. I didn't spend $7.99 though and used the "get $10 off any purchase" coupon. I lost out on a few dollars by not using the full $10 but I actually saved by not exceeding the $10 limit and not having to pay the difference out of pocket. Feel free to do the same! The coupon I'm referencing expires June 9th.

Relevancy to teaching: Our lifestyle as teachers has to be budgeted and monitored. If there's an opportunity to get free quality underwear, we all should be doing it. In addition, I find VS underwear is the best to wear daily/at school because the brand fits well. When underwear fits well, your entire outfit fits well.

Project of the Day - New Flower

Steve obtained this gorge flower bundle for me to replace the dead lavender.

I've been loving fresh flowers in the house :)

OOTD- Navy Ruffle Dress

Dress- Gap
Nude sandals- ??
Watch- Francesca's
Belt- From pants from Charlotte Russe

I love this easy to wear ruffle navy dress. I can pair it with so many shoes/ accessories and it's light weight- perfect for my 100* classroom.

OOTD- Blue/Pink Contrast

Top- Marshalls
Pants- Francesca's
Watch- Francesca's

I love this blue sleeveless top. Since I like to pair something sleeveless with pants, I chose these pretty pink pants to be precise. I had to use alliteration there. Sorry. I paired this look with nude snake skin strappy sandals.

Anyway, I love the contrast of these colors and although they're both rich, they work well with this warm spring weather.

Project of the Day- Chair Re-Do

When I first bought this chair from Goodwill, I had big plans to reupholster it with zebra fabric and add decorative nail head studs around it to mimic new arm chairs I saw at TJ Maxx and Marshall's. I probably would have been successful too if the seat cushion were removable. Unfortunately, it's not so I never got around to reupholstering it or getting to plan b which was to make a fitted slip cover for it. Instead, I draped the zebra fabric over it and called it a day.

With my current transformation of the living room, I decided the heavy and messy look of this chair had to go. I wish the chair had a better pattern underneath, but it could be worse. It's a blue and gold striped chair... Not too bad. I cleaned it a little more since my body would actually be touching it now. I used a magic eraser for this job which worked well. I added a small blue ikea pillow that I bought a while ago and voila. Instantly my room was transformed in less than 5 mins. It was a shame I was hiding the wooden legs of the chair this while time.

I added to it with the intent to make it look better, but sometimes what you need to do to make a space look better is to take away.

Project of the Day- Living Re-do

My living room theme has been eggplant purple and zebra print for about a year and a half B.P. = Before Pinterest. Not beer pong.

Since then my decorative palette has expanded and I grab inspiration from Pinterest. I have kept certain elements of purple, but I am graduating on to a theme that mimics the inspirational pillow and scarf picture. I love navy and coral... And I happened to stop by my parents' house today because (I was hungry and I am poor) I just HAD to grab a few branches of lavender. And continuing with the poor theme, I don't have a proper vase so I just used something improper: an empty wine cooler bottle.

But how gorge is my living room becoming?

OOTD- Coral and Teal Blouse

Top - Marshalls

Jeans - Madewell

Shoes - Marshalls

Watch- Francesca's

It was going to be a warm Friday in my second floor classroom (with no AC) with the SMART Board projector light beaming on me while I annotated an Olympian Family Tree while telling the story of how Cronus (Kronus) ate up his own babies.  I was doomed to be sweaty today.

Wearing sleeveless tops to work can be iffy and some people think you can never do it at all.  You should probably avoid it as best as possible... but I don't think anyone can argue with a tasteful sleeveless top given the conditions we teachers sometimes have to teach in.

It's not a perfect science, but I only wear sleeveless tops if:

• The top covers my whole shoulders or
• the straps are under a cardigan or
• the straps are originally under a cardigan until it hits 100* and then the cardigan is coming off
• my bra straps can't peek out or won't be visible

OOTD- Mint Sweater

Pants- Target

Sweater- H&M

Shoes- Sperry Top Siders - Zappos

Watch- Macy's - Fossil

Tortoise Shell and Gold Necklace - Marshalls

The weather was very warm last week and I was excited to wear dresses sans stockings and move on to my spring/summer wardrobe. But this week has been chilly so I'm back into my sweaters. This is one of my favs because its so easy to wear.

I know it looks like I'm wearing a regular pair of leggings, but these are actually pleated, thick (no see through) and were bought in the business apparel section of Target a few years ago.

Teaching Tip of the Day - Prezi Presentations

Within the last month, I was introduced to a free, phenomenal, educational resource called Prezi.com.  Prezi is like a more interactive and engaging PowerPoint program.  In the beginning, a large picture is presented to the audience and each slide is hidden within the larger picture.  To get to each new slide, the presentation keeps zooming in and around the "larger picture."  In order to see what I mean, please look at my first Prezi presentation on MLA format: here.

Positive

• Students are more engaged with this new program and are waiting to see where the picture will take them next.
• Presentation is on the internet and is available for students whenever they need to refer back to the information.

Negative

• Teachers may already have presentations available and saved in PP form.  
• Also, this program isn't as user friendly when it comes to saving on the computer. (It takes a little longer).  You have to save the presentation as a pdf file so you can print the slides.

What do you think of this program? Have you used it before?  Will you take the time to transfer your presentations to this format?

OOTD- Floral Pink Blouse

Top - Forever 21

Pants - Kourtney Jeans by the Kardashian Collection at JC Penney

Shoes - Soda shoes - Marshalls $10

Watch - Francesca's $18

Gold Link Bracelet - Kenneth Cole - Nordstrom Rack

This was a Friday work outfit.  Whenever I wear jeans, I wear a nice top (blouse) with it to still salvage some form of authority in the classroom.  I do believe the way we dress as professionals determines the amount of respect we receive. Not that I agree with that being the way it should be, but that IS the way it is.

My boyfriend decided he wanted to get into my blogging life and requested a pic be posted of him.  I was courteous and not only uploaded him, but uploaded the sandwich he made for me to have for lunch as well.  Shout out to those of you who get your lunches made. Raise the roof.  Ok, I'll stop.

Do you wear denim jeans to work?

Teaching Tip of the Day- Booksapp2

Track your classroom book collection with this nifty app! Booksapp2 claims to store records of your books on your iPad by only scanning the barcode or book cover and voila. Well it doesn't do that... BUT it is pretty great still. Just add books by ISBN and it will conduct a google search. Once it identifies your book, it will add it to the collection you choose such as "school" or "home."

It tags the books with categories such as "thriller" or "romance" which makes it especially easy to track your inventory. When a student borrows a book from me, I document it in the notes section of the description page of the book.

Loving this app. Download it for free! How do you track your classroom book inventory?

Deal of the Day- Sapphire Chevron

I read on Instagram about Christmas Tree Shop having chevron pattern pillows. I sat on the idea of stopping by because well... Do I really neeeed another pillow? I have about 4 that should go in my bed, but I rarely fully make my bed so they kind of just chill in the corner.

Today I reached my peak and knew I wouldn't stop thinking about the affordable crooked stripes until I at least went to go see them for myself. They had them in black, coral, grey and sapphire.

My current living room has a lot of purple decor... When I moved out, Pinterest wasn't invented. I have obviously established a more sophisticated and tasteful palette for decor since that time. In order to add to what I have, I chose the sapphire pillow. This way I can work on jewel tones: plum (amethyst) and sapphire and incorporate gold metal in there too. Oh yeah and I may have found a sapphire blue ceramic pot too...

The pillows were marked at $9.99, but were only $6.99 at the register! What is the most amount of money you've ever spent on a pillow?

OOTD - Black Maxi and Cheetah

Maxi Dress- Target (Maternity Section) Last Year

Cheetah Zip Cardigan - Old Navy

Watch - Fossil

Wedges (Can't see) - Target

This dress is a maternity style dress but that doesn't mean I'm preg.  This was the only maxi style dress that I could find that had thick straps that wouldn't reveal my bra straps while teaching. 

Are you still going to rock maxi dresses this summer?

OOTD - Pink Skinnies and Chambray Tunic

Top - Joyce Leslie - Years Ago

Pants- Francesca's - On Clearance for $12

Watch - Fossil - Macy's $150

Shoes - Kenneth Cole Reaction Wedges - Marshall's $25

Yes, I'm wearing colored skinnies to work again.  I like wearing an over-sized shirt with these pants because I think they're a little too tight in the stomach area... #girlproblems.

How do you conceal your problem areas?

OOTD - Seafoam Stripes and Teal

Top - Francesca's $30?

Pants - Michael Kors - Marshalls $40

Watch - Francesca's $18

Shoes - Sperry Top Siders / Cheetah Print on Sides - Zappos.com

Thankfully, this isn't a blog on hair.  Or else I would have negative 10 subscribers.  I know.

I like wearing colored skinnies to work because it's easy to wear pants at work, it's a pop of color, and my students appreciate my effort on keeping up with the trends.  It's not like I wear things all the time because I know it will impress them; it's just nice to remind them you're a person too and that you can rock some trends too.

In some work places this outfit could never fly because it's too loud/casual.  But for my school, I think colored skinnies are appropriate. I always wear colored skinnies with a blouse (as opposed to a tshirt) and sometimes a blazer and try to dress it up with appropriate accessories (like my watch).

Reflection: I also could have wore nude wedges or my tan Kenneth Cole wedges with the gold studs.

Are colored skinnies acceptable at your place of employment?

Project of the Day- Coffee Table

I've been waiting a year and a half to do something to this trunk I bought at goodwill from before I moved out of my parents' house. This trunk has served the purpose of a coffee table, but it was a little low for my liking. Plus, I felt like it was missing a finishing touch.

The plan was to get decorative legs at Lowes, stain them to match my tv stand, and then attach them to the base of the trunk. On the way down the aisle to the legs, we spotted curtain finials that were already pre-finished and seemed sturdy enough for the project. We spotted a deal on $5 finials (they were on clearance). Although, the finials in the picture are more my cup of tea (for $12 for a box of 2). This was our first home project together and everything in my apartment is already mine so I wanted him to be able to have some say and the price was right. We went with the clearance finials.

We went to my parents and rounded up :

• A saw
• A drill
• Small blacks of wood (3x3x1)
• Screws

The bf used the saw to cut 4 small blocks of wood for each corner of the trunk. He used 2 screws each (going from the bottom, inward) to secure the blocks inside the chest.
Then he used a drill bit smaller than the screw of the finial to make a hole for the finial to screw into. Finally, he screwed in the finials.

Reflection: If I had to re-do this project, I would chose the finials I originally wanted. The ones we ended up with look nice enough, but I think it would have looked nicer with chunkier legs. (After seeing the project complete, I think my bf agrees too). At the same time, I'm really glad we came across these pre-finished finials because it required no drying time!

What do you think about using a trunk as a coffee table? Too vintage? Just right?

Project of the Day- Repurposed Coffee Can

I am not a coffee drinker, but my boyfriend has been saying how we have to get cafe bustelo. Finally, we splurged. He uses the Keurig Machine, but this product didn't come in K cups. He will have to scoop it in the "brew your own" K cup every time he wants it (which is often). We put the coffee in an old walnut container on the counter top within arm's reach, but I didn't enjoy the decor of the walnut can.

Solution: I redesigned the can to be more visually pleasant for the counter top by using scrapbook supplies.

I just used tan paper and measured it to fit the can. I taped a seam along the back. I then added the swirly border down the center and added sticky letters to spell out "coffee." Let's see how long it will be until my boyfriend touches the can with wet hands and ruins the whole thing. He's good like that.

By the way, I think I am on my way to being a coffee addict. I am so ashamed. I had one cup last night, and have been craving it all day at work. I'm in trouble.

How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? How do you store your coffee?

OOTD- Royal & Teal Peplum

Dress- Forever 21- $27?

Watch- Francesca's- $18

Shoes- Target from years ago

I bought this sleeveless peplum style dress back in February. I knew it needed to come home with me despite the snow piles that were still outside. The fit was perfect: not too tight, not too loose. There is no slit in the back which is lovely for teaching in. And, finally, in my humble opinion, the contrast of the colors are just beautiful.

I wore a sweater wrap to add some sleeves to the look even though it would have looked better without the sweater.

Fun fact: The peplum was big enough where I didn't need to wear Spanx! What are your thoughts on this peplum trend?