Free Book Source

In my local area, I am lucky enough to have a reading/book/tutoring organization that allows students, teachers, parents, (anyone really) to take donated books for free. http://newhavenreads.org/ There are limited guidelines such as a child can only take 5 books per day. A teacher, however, can take whatever he/she needs.

I sent the organization an email and requested a few certain kinds of books that would get used most often in my classes. I requested the following:

• Twilight: Breaking Dawn
• Rick Riordan Books
• Nicholas Sparks Books
• Stephen King Novels
• Any Greek Mythology
• Big Nate books (for my younger brother)
• Graphic Novels for Classic Literature

I sent my request in at around 1:00 and immediately heard back from Theresa. I didn't anticipate being in the area until later on in the week, but within a couple of hours I was headed over in that direction anyway and called to see if by any chance I could swing by. She said absolutely and that she already grabbed what she could and put together my box.

When I arrived, my box was ready with a lot of my specific requests. I was very impressed because 1. The service is free and 2. It was ready in a matter of a couple hours. Theresa also told me to feel free to take whatever else I could use. I snagged a few more popular selections and am sooo pleased. I plan on signing up to tutor there in the summer because a program like this should be nurtured.

Here are my books:

Tweet about Today

I've had this idea for a while to use twitter as a basis for collecting data from students as entry/exit slips. Just recently, I found a pre-made format on teacherspayteachers.com for this very thing!

I implemented it immediately and am very excited with the results. The kids took their time and tried to be clever with their tweet while still providing me with helpful feedback. And once I posted this bulletin board, the students were immediately drawn to read other "tweets" and check to see if theirs made the cut.

Pin and Pic Stitch Cray

I am totally obsessed with pinning and pic stitching like ideas. It's a great way for me to stay on top of my fashion game though. I recently bought a pair of pink skinnies and needed inspiration. And then teal skinnies too. And then one of my students showed me a dress (tore up handkerchief) she was going to wear out and I decided she needed (intervention) to see cute outfits that didn't reveal every crevice. I made her think I spent time on my weekend doing something for her, when in reality I loved every second.

Here are some of my masterpieces that you can hopefully use as inspiration to dress for work (not every look, but most looks are work appropriate for teachers).

Go ahead with your bad self!

Pink Pants How To

I am completely obsessed with Pinterest and saving the pictures in pic stitch format to create a theme. I'm a visual kind of gal and need to get ideas or see how to do something in order to do it.

I was at Francesca's last week and took advantage of their 50% off clearance items and ended up with bright pink pants! I know colored pants are trending, but wasn't quite sure what I'd wear with them other than the overused hot pink and black combination.

With help from Pinterest, here's what I came up with:

Miss Thrifty

As an English teacher, I am an advocate for independent reading for students and adults alike. With the assistance of a reading program, ACCELERATED READER, it makes it easier for me to promote the long, lost concept.

AR is a program that schools can elect to use. AR will do an initial diagnostic test on each student. It is a computer adaptive test, meaning the test starts out difficult and adapts based on students' answers. At the end of the test, AR will give results based on grade equivalency and will also give a reading range. Students will then pick out a book within the reading range, that has an AR quiz, to read independently.

The beauty of this program is that classics and modern day teen novels are all on the list. For example, my students are reading books such as The Giver, Frankenstein, and The Child Called It. The Twilight series books are available and so are Harry Potter books too! Look up any book to see if it has a quiz at www.arbookfind.com. With any reading initiative, of course there is resistance from those who don't like to read, but I have never before seen students reading sooooo much and enjoying it. I love this program! (I can do another detailed post on AR if you'd like.)

Anyway, onto the thrifty part! I want to continue building my classroom library, but it's difficult to buy for the class on a teacher's budget. I have found a way to shop and stay within a strict budget!

There was a festival on my local town green and inside the church they were holding a book fair. I went in with $10 hoping to find a bunch of good picks, but expected to leave with nothing... Well with a little digging (and ducking from church basement pipes) I found about 8 great finds! They include:

-Gawain and the Green Knight
-Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
-Bridge to Terabithia
-Hot Mess:Summer in the City
-Last of the Mohicans
-The Horse and his Boy by CS Lewis
-Radiance by Alyson Noel
-And a Stephen King Novel!!

I got all this for (drum roll please) .... $3.50!!!
Hardcover Children Books were .50
Paperback Children were .25
Hardcover Adult Books were $1.00
Paperback Adult Books were .50
Old Hardcovers (for decorating obviously lol) were $2.00

If you're in the market for books, I highly recommend scoping out a book fair near you! Check your local paper for upcoming listings!! I know what I'll be doing November 3rd and at least I can say I went to church that weekend; I do strive to be the best role model I can be for my students ;) lol

How to Dress for an Interview

Ever wonder how some people dress for an interview? I'm confident that presentation adds to the overall impression or impact one leaves on an interviewing panel.
*Don't be risky. (Don't wear anything you're not comfortable with).
*Don't worry about looking "sexy."
*Add a small interest piece.
*Keep hair away from face.
*Don't neglect small items such as nails.
*Closed toe shoes only!
*Confidence is key! Remember every one once had to interview in their life before! Good luck!!

How to Choose Shoes for Teaching

It's been a while, but welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! I hope you were like me and enjoyed every second of pure, absolute, nothingness this summer. In all honesty, it got a bit boring, but hopefully next summer will be more adventurous.

Anyway, watch my video to get some tips on how to choose shoes for teaching, working, or working it at night girl lol. These shoes may not be the sexiest for going out in, but nothing's more attractive than a girl who walks in heels, rather than a pair of heels that walk the girl.