Currently | January 2016

I am linking up with Farley again for this month’s Currently post! Happy New Year, friends!

listening // I love Kelly Clarkson and this is one my favourite songs of her Piece by Piece album.

loving // Lazy mornings. It’s nice to be able to lay around in bed, curled up with the puppy and not have to run out of bed at 6am like a crazy person.

thinking // There are things on my Summer break to-do list that need to be done before the new school year starts. I’m trying to spread them out though so it doesn’t feel like work.

wanting // I’ll struggle with being more active for the rest of my life. I don’t enjoy it and have to be in the right mood. I’ll keep working at it.

needing // I have 28 books sitting in two piles that I need to read. Plus the other books on my bookshelf that have also been added to the list. (Hey, I got through 5 books in two weeks in the first part of the holidays… I can make a dent in this new list, right?!)

one little word // This year, my word is courage. I’ve blogged a bit about it here if you’re curious about my reasons for the word. I’ve got a bit year up ahead, so I need to remember this one!

Currently | October 2015

I’m linking up with Farley for this month’s currently link-up!

Happy October, friends!

Currently May!

Linking up with Farley for this month’s Currently linky!

 

LISTENING: Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon. And you MUST check out this version (thanks to Shanyn for sharing this on Facebook!):

LOVING: Doing very little today… which is a problem as you’ll see below!

THINKING: I have SO MUCH to do. Like clean. And put away clothes. And plan.

WANTING: To just keep creating pretty things. I’ve been doing ALL the hand lettering of quotes today!

NEEDING: To start writing mid-year reports. Sigh. That’s tomorrow’s big job!

SUMMER: Is a full half-year away for me here in the Southern Hemisphere. I’m really bad at planning that far ahead. Instead I’ll commit to continuing to be creative, hoping for a good next few weeks and dreaming of that far-off Summer! ❤

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the links for the month, and thanks for stopping by!

September Currently 2014

 

 

Listening to  The Blacklist on DVD. I loved this show when it was on TV but sadly fell behind so I’m revisiting and catching up!

Loving that there are 3 weeks until holidays! And I really need a rest. This term has been cuh-RAZY!

Thinking that mentoring a pre-service teacher is a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about myself as a teacher. Seriously, just watching and then having to give feedback has helped me better understand exactly what I do every day. (And yes, it freaks me out!)

Wanting to get rid of my cold. Seriously. Enough is enough!

Needing to manage my budget… because I don’t. And it’s depressing.

3 trips I want to take are to Canada (to see the wonderful, wonderful Alex!), Philadelphia (to see the wonderful, wonderful Var!) and the Great Barrier Reef before we do something horrible to it and lose it forever.

 

Don’t forget to head over to Oh’ Boy 4th Grade and join the linky fun!

CURRENTLY June, 2014

LISTENING TO JennieBellie art tutorial videos on youtube. Youtube’s kind of become my nighttime, wind-down, background noise. I’ve been enjoying JennieBellie’s art videos because she’s so creative. I wish I could be half as creative as her.

LOVING that I’ve finished writing my first draft of reports and they’re in the process of being proof-read. Very soon, they’ll be complete and I can breathe a little easier.

THINKING that life is very stressful at the moment and it’s a whole lot of things. A lot of family/personal stuff, plus reports and taking on a CAFE training seminar and my work with the graduates at the school. I’m floundering a bit and when I get like this I feel very reluctant to do blog stuff and other things in general. Just feeling pretty flat. Working on improving things, though.

WANTING some ‘me’ time. 4 weeks until holidays!

NEEDING some inspiration. I’ve been desperately racking my brain to come up with some fun and creative learning activities and packs for TpT but I think with all the stress it’s just not happening for me at the moment.

WINTER BUCKET LIST (because it’s Winter here, not Summer):
1) I want to write. All the time. It’s kind of absurd, but I’m enjoying every second of it.
2) I want to create things. My biggest problem is I don’t know WHAT to create. Lol!
3) My goal is to focus on the good things. Life’s too short to be anything other than positive, right?

Alright, my friends. I hope to be back on a regular posting schedule soon!

Five for Fri… Saturday and Currently!

Yeah, so this is getting to be a habit, posting on a Saturday. Apologies!

 

#1

So, I’ve been getting the urge to be all kinds of crafty recently. From gift tag giveaways, washi-decorated candles and decorating my planner pages each week, I’m washi crazy! 😀

#2

Did you hear what I said about washi crazy? The newest additions to my collection. Plus, some stickers for my planner.

#3

Sunrises. Two this week while I was waiting for the bus to work. (And yes, I’m up that early.)

#4

I’m attempting 2 Photo a Day challenges this month – one is Filofax Photo-a-Day May (#filofaxphotoadaymay on instagram) and the Teacher Photo-a-Day Challenge (#padteacherchallenge). The photos above are from the first 3 days of the Filofax Photo-a-Day (and yes, I’m cheating, because my planner is not technically a Filofax… shush!)

#5

Tell me you’re picking up the trend here…!

I’ve just finished stamping my own masking tape – which was a trial tonight to see how it turned out. I need to invest in some new inks and stamps for it to work better (and I might try tissue paper and double-sided tape, too, at some point), but this was quick and easy. It’s still drying in the kitchen!

(Can’t buy anything until June though… I’m doing a No-Spend May. Which means no spending on things I don’t really need. Like stickers. And washi tape. And stamps. And ink… You get the idea!)

And finally, I’m linking up with Farley for this month’s Currently!

Listening to The Mummy… well, it’s just finished, but it was on when I was typing this up! I love this movie. I can quote it and I still laugh at all the jokes. It’s just one of those movies for me!

Loving my Kikki-K planner. You guys are probably sick of hearing about it, but it’s totally keeping me organised and on task and has for the whole month. This is unheard of for me. Combined with my Erin Condren Teacher Planner, I’m becoming super organised. Sometimes! ❤

Thinking that I don’t want to start thinking about writing reports. My school’s timeline kicks in from next week. Which is depressing.

Wanting to buy new ink and stamps so I can make more washi tape! But I can’t, because I’m on a No Spend May. And I’m going to stick to it. Just to prove that I can have self-control (when I normally have ZERO self control… wish me luck!).

Needing to save money. See above. But I want to try and buy an apartment in the next 18 months and I desperately want to visit my best friend and her family in Canada in December. Save, save, save!

Surprise! Most of you may know Alison from Teaching Maths with Meaning, but if you don’t, she’s totally wonderful. She is my maths guru – seriously, she has some fabulous resources and ideas on her blog and she teachers Prep to boot!

And that’s all from me, tonight! Have a WONDERFUL weekend, folks!

CURRENTLY March, 2014

Hi all!

I’m sneaking in super early this morning (OMG, is that the time… on a SUNDAY!) because I have all the planning to do to today. Along with some resource making, and I need to get a move on. I also really, really want to link up with Paula’s Storybook Sunday later tonight, too. So we’ll see!

But I’m linking up with Farley now for her March Currently, so let’s see how it goes!

 

Listening to Clarity by Zedd. I love this song – fun and upbeat. (Incidentally, I have a playlist for the characters I’ve been writing online and this is on there, hence the listening to!)

Loving that I had THE BEST month on TpT in February. Honestly, Tpt is a hobby for me, so I don’t have super high expectations, but I don’t make a lot of money from it. But I’m so, so, so excited because I’ve cleared $1500 dollars on there, all of which I use to fund the purchase of resources for my classroom (on sight and on books etc), so to me that’s AMAZING!

Thinking that I need to start saving money because I’m not a saver. 😉

Wanting my new Macbook Pro Retina to turn up NOW. Only 24 hours people and I will have a shiny new toy with a 1Tb hard drive!

Needing a lot of sleep. Between school and my writing stuff, my sleep schedule is off a bit because all the people I write with are on the other side of the world and I’ve been staying up a bit later to chat and plot and generally do fun stuff. But I do need to get into a slightly better routine. So, that’s a goal!

? ? ? Can you guess? An additional clue is EARLY MORNING.

Enjoy your day, lovely friends! Hopefully I’ll be posting much later on with a fun picture book and activity for you to use!

CURRENTLY February (and a tiny giveaway challenge!)

I think I missed linking up in January, but I’m back to it this month! Click the picture below to link up with Farley for another month of Currently!

LISTENING I have a good friend who I do a lot of writing with online who’s recently reminded me how much I enjoy listening to Tori Amos and Sleeps with Butterflies is one of my favourites!

LOVING That yesterday I got to met three very awesome ladies whom I’ve gotten to know through blogging! Paula, Alison and Bec are absolutely gorgeous and so knowledgeable. We had a great time chatting over lunch in Kyneton, which was a bit of mid-point for all of us because we all come from different parts of the State! It’s amazing the connections I’ve made through blogging and I can’t wait for another opportunity to catch up with them!

THINKING About all the things I want to do in the classroom next week. Last week… well, things didn’t quite go to plan on the first day for Preps (but that’s life) and having had a chat to the three ladies above, I definitely have some new ideas for the new week! (Also, Paula has reignited my passion for trying to implement Daily 5 so that’s definitely on the list!)

WANTING To complete all my planners for the term. We have planners coming out of our ears – A general overview (which includes sound focuses, writing text types, grammar, maths overview, IS overviews and important dates), an Integrated Studies planner (which is pretty much done – just need to differentiate UP for the Grade 1s), Maths term planner, this week’s planner (which is also pretty much done except for differentiating up for the 1s), organising a CRT planner for Wednesday while I’m doing Prep entrance assessments and THEN I’LL BE DONE!

NEEDING The Heatwaves that keep popping up in Victoria to GO AWAY. The heat and I do not get along very well together! Bring on cooler weather and winter clothing… you can always get warmer, but it’s so HARD to get cooler in Summer.

2 TRUTHS AND A FIB… I was going to reveal this, but if you can guess which point is the fib, you can pick any item from my store for free!

 

Also, don’t forget The WRITE Stuff bundle on Educents is still going available. Click the image below to check out all the great offers available at the moment!

Currently (July)

Oh my goodness… it’s almost July! Where is the year going?

It’s almost my blog’s second birthday (in just a few days) – what do you think I should do to celebrate? I need ideas, my friends!

But, the important part of this post is being hosted by Farley. Woohoo, it’s Currently time!

I won’t elaborate on everything in this currently, but I do want to elaborate on the Tips/Tricks/Hints:

It’s easy, after your start blogging/selling on TPT/etc, to feel like no-one’s reading your blog or no-one’s buying your products, etc. There’s a LOT happening out there in cyberspace! It’s also really disheartening if you get lower feedback/ratings, etc (trust me, this happened to me just this morning!). Don’t give up. Keep at it – you can only get BETTER. Be proud of what you have accomplished and what you’re doing and strive to stretch your limits.

And hey – you’re brave enough to put yourself out their in our crazy online world. Trust me, you’re totally awesome!

And that’s enough from me!

Currently & a Request for Recommendations

It’s that time of the month for linking up with Farley for the awesomeness that is the monthly Currently linky!

My help request:

Next term I’m going to be teaching persuasive writing with my Grade 1s. I’m looking for some great picturebooks to highlight persuasive writing. I’d love to hear your recommendations and at the end of the week I’m going to be ordering some books for the first half of term.

I already have a stack of Mo Willem’s Pigeon books, which I plan on using, but I’d love some alternative suggestions!

Cheers,