Wednesday, July 16, 2014

July Blogging Challenge - Productive Day

For the past few days, I've been in a funk.  I tried not to let it seep into my posts, but yesterday was really rough.  For me, summer is a tough time.  Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping in and being free to do what I need to do, but I crave structure.  I like knowing my daily schedule and when that structure is off, I am very off-kilter.  To make matters worse, July is the birth month of everyone special to me that I have lost - my dad, my sister, and my nephew.  Yesterday was my sister's birthday and it was all I could do to not bite off the heads of everyone around me.


BUT...
Today is a better day.  I woke up this morning and went for a walk, marveling at the 62 degree weather in mid-July and decided today would be a productive day.  In one short week, TMC14 will be landing on my door step, so I really need to get a lot done before then. 



Organization...
Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to slowly get my classroom organized and ready for a new year.  A huge part of that was getting my binders under control and things filed where they belong!


I was SO excited when I found the black/white magazine holders at Dollar Tree because it totally matches my classroom!  Now I have 8 randomly colored magazine holders... anyone need some? :)



Printing and Laminating...
The first day of school is less than a month away and my print server at home self-destructed this weekend, so I had to come to school to print things.  I really feel like screaming "Laminate.All.The.Things!!!" :) 


AP Formula Sheets, Quiz/Quiz/Trade, JellyBlubbers, Exit Ticket prompts, and the first day activity... all ready to go!  Oh yeah, and my new "Parking Lot" poster is down there too. :)



Pacing...
I even had a chance today to sit down and work on the 1st semester pacing calendar!  I'm ready to go through December.. :)



The Day is Young..
It's only 2pm, but I would like to get my Syllabus done and start working on my teacher binder for the 2014-15 school year... Then home to read a book and #Eduread :)




July Challenge
I am on a personal challenge to blog every day in July, just to see if I can do it. I would love to have you join me! If you are worried that you've missed a few days, please don't stress.. just jump on in! Maybe a month is too much, that's okay, try it for a week, or every other day, or once a week.. whatever works for you!



Don't forget to visit the other July bloggers and show them some love!
The bloggers (so far)
Robin at Flip! Learn! Share
Bridget at Reflections in the Plane
Teresa at GeometryWiz
Sherrie at Middle School Math Rules!
Brooke at Sined, Sealed, Calculated
John at Functions are Fun
Jedidiah at Math Butler
Pam at the radical rational
Roxy at Rockstar Math Teacher
Paul at TeacherPaulP
Tina at Palmer's Ponderings
Cindy at School Stuff
Robyn at Making Math Visible
Shelley at Making Math Visual

Add your blog in the comments if you would like to join in! :)
#July2014Challenge

6 comments:

Sarah Koves said...

Sorry for your loss. I don't do so well in getting things done in the summer either, but I have discovered that using the timer on my phone helps. I set it for 30 or 60 (depending on project) and then I to something else.

I love that you have copies made for school already.
Sarah

Kovescence of the Mind

untilnextstop said...

So sorry to hear that July is a tough month for you. Hang in there!!

Brooke Seals said...

So glad for your progress today and that it was a better day! Do you have a template for those calendars?

Unknown said...

Love the work you did today. Thank you for sharing about your difficulties. I'm sorry you are having them, and it helped me to become more motivated seeing what you accomplished. I've also made an important decision, and am feeling a weight off my shoulders because of that. Can't wait to meet you next week!

Cori said...

I am so sorry for your loss :-(
I've enjoyed your reading your blog this month though. Thanks for the motivation to get some school stuff done.

What do you put on your AP formula sheet? What are JellyBlubbers? And what do you use them for?

Anonymous said...

I also struggle without structure. I feel like I waste my days when I don't have a set schedule. I've only had two days to relax this summer and already I am trying to justify how I spend my time. Reading/writing math blogs have taken up a lot of my time, but I feel they are worth it, though not necessary.