Five for Fr…aturday and Student Motivation!

SUUUUUUMMMMMMMEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!
I finished up yesterday so today’s my first official day of SUMMER! I slept in (until 10am!) for the first time in.. I don’t know! I’ve been sitting around lazily drinking coffee all morning and just enjoying life! Here’s my link-up:

1. Student Motivation Saturdays – Classroom Decor! (double-dip!)

Because my summer has officially arrived, like many, I’m making plans for next year. Now, I know that almost every elementary teacher would agree that having a “theme” or scheme or whatever for your classroom decor is a MUST. Whether you do owl or jungle or polka dots or WHATEVER, all you cutesy elementary people rock it! BUT in middle school, that all changes. Most teachers just throw a few posters (or whatever) up and call it done. The cutesy stuff is for the little people, and all the middle school (and high school) classrooms appear to be ALL-BUSINESS. However, I *totally* disagree! I think having an appealing classroom theme/decor helps set the mood for your class even though they’re visiting 7 others daily.
Here’s the classroom theme I’ve used for the past two years: There’s a Book for That

Of course, you can see I made book covers into “apps” and put them all around my boards.

And some of them were student-created:

After the first year of this theme, I just put up all new apps to make it fresh for the second year. But for next year, I really need to change things up.

This summer I’ll work on some kind of sweets theme. Cupcakes, most likely, but maybe candy too. I’ll put something up like “books are sweet” or work on a saying like that. I’m thinking instead of apps I’ll have cupcakes around my board that feature book covers on them – or something like that. My plan is to have sweet things all over.. and it’s fitting for me because I LOVE CAKE and my students know this about me!

2. Okay. Now, this one I’m *really* excited about! My principal selected me to undergo Common Core Black Belt Training through the Common Core Institute, starting this summer and lasting for about a year. I had to assure her before she invested the money in me that I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and I’d be willing to help train and implement my co-workers in grades 4-8. I have done A LOT of teacher training in the past and I don’t mind it. I’m just so happy she picked me! Of course, I’ve been jumping up and down waving my hand shouting “pick me! pick me!” and that probably didn’t hurt. I can’t wait!
I’m also attending an unrelated 3-day workshop on Common Core ELA in a week, starting June 3rd. I like to start early in the summer so I’ve got time to plan and implement ideas rather than do professional development in August right before school starts!

3. Alright. A personal one! Now that summer’s underway, I can’t wait to get back into camping! I’ve got 3 sons (ages 5-12) and we usually camp about once per month and weekly in the summer. Sadly, we haven’t camped since Halloween because of my husband’s new job schedule and other things, but now that it’s summer, I’m ready to get back into it! We aren’t primitive campers, and I don’t do tents. We’ve got an RV and camp at a RESORT! Cajun Palms is about an hour and a half drive away and we sure do ENJOY IT!

Hoping to go next weekend!

4. Sno cones!!

Somebody STOP ME from buying a sno cone every day of the summer to beat this south Louisiana heat!!

5. Leading right into #5, which is weight loss. I tend to lose 10-20 pounds at least every summer, because I’ve got time to exercise and eat right. Well, I’m counting on it this year! I hate how I always put pounds on during the school year, and this has been no exception. I guess it’s time to make a plan and get started. Man, it’s hot in here! Better get a sno cone first.