Five for Friday- BIG WEEK!

Happy FRIDAY, Y'all!

It has been a busy week for the Allison household! I have been going pretty much non stop since last week but it's all good and fun things!

First things first. Last week I was invited to an interview that turned into a job offer at a charter school here in Austin. It was completely unexpected and it was such a amazing offer that I could not turn it down. It is only 2 miles from home which is going to make my daily commute about 10 minutes round trip. I am used to driving 1 1/2 hours round trip. I am so looking forward to being home with Hubs and AB more. So Hubs and I moved my stuff out of my old classroom and now I am steadily getting things ready in my new room! Meet the Teacher is in less than a week and we go back for 2 weeks of PD on Tuesday, so I am trying to hurry and keep it exciting and meaningful for my students all at the same time. Hopefully I will be able to take you all on a tour next week. Here is one picture I can show you, I am loving my wall of windows! I don't think I'll ever have to turn on the overhead lights--which is fine by me!

It's crazy hot in there right now since the temps here are in the triple digits, but it is going to be amazing in the fall!

In the midst of all of our crazy moving this week, I got to catch up with one of my dear friends from college. Hubs helped her set up her blog and we were able to chat while he was doing all of his techie stuff that goes over our heads! Ha! Even though she lives hours away, we always pick up right where we left off. You all should go over a check out her blog, (Dragons in First) she did a great job designing it! Love you, JB!

Here we are back in our early years at college!

I have been struggling this summer to decide on a behavior management plan for my classroom this year. All I knew was that I did NOT want a clip chart. If you are a clip chart user and lover--more power to you. It doesn't work for me so I am breaking up with my clip chart and moving on! I've been perusing my favorite blogs all summer to try to help me come up with some inspiration. I have finally decided that I am going to try the Warm Fuzzies system that Mel D over at Seusstastic uses. I have read every blog post, watched every video, and even read her e-book on the topic of Warm Fuzzies. I am tweaking it just a bit, but for the most part I am going to do it just like she does. We will see what happens and hope for the best. I can blog about it later or you can read more about it over on Mel's blog but the short story is that the kids are working on earning "Warm Fuzzies." AKA: pom poms. At the end of the week, they can cash in their fuzzies for a reward.  Hub helped me work on their fuzzy containers--you gotta love power tools and plastic-ware in the living room!

This past spring I was blessed to have a Donor's Choose project funded that allowed me to go to an amazing workshop yesterday and today. I got to spend 2 days with THE Dr. Jean! I have been a fan of her since I student taught in college. My mentor teacher used a lot of her songs and so in turn I started using them when I got into my own classroom. After two jam packed days of singing and make and takes, my brain is on overload mode! It was so much fun and she did a great job getting us excited and energized to go back to school. It was by far the best workshop I've ever been to.

Isn't she precious?!?!

I love being in a room with like minded people. Here we are learning a new song!

I will be spending most of the weekend getting my classroom ready. We go back to work on Tuesday and meet the teacher is on Thursday! Yikes! But I know it will all get done in the end--it always does!

Have a great weekend, friends!