Currently August

Hi everyone! I have been on vacation the past week, and it was wonderful! For those of you who have recently contacted me or commented with questions, I promise I will get back with you over the next couple of days - I'm excited to see a lot more people have been reading recently! Summer break certainly helps with time to scout out new blogs, doesn't it?

August is here, which of course means it is officially Back-to-School season but also means a new Currently from Farley! Time to link up!

Listening - Why is it that pets always believe that they are starving? My cute little guy eats like a little piggie, that's for sure!

Loving - My classroom WILL be 100% ready to launch this year before the kids arrive! Woo hoo! Always important, especially after last year's fiasco. I've already had the opportunity to go in and purge a few cabinets, so real progress is already being made. 

Thinking - Over the summer I conquered the "Couch to 5K" program! I've always been active, but running has never been something I've been successful at (really bad side stitches, really bad!). C25K has changed all that, and I am now running 5K straight through without stopping! I signed up for my first race, which will be at a local town's annual festival a week from today. Can't wait to be able to wear my first official 5K race tshirt! I highly, highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to start running but has never been able to and/or doesn't know where to start, I cannot say enough good things about it. It's amazing what it trains you to do in only 8 weeks!

Wanting - At minimum, I want to have at the VERY LEAST three full weeks of planning fully completed before school begins. I only have four preps this semester (six classes total, two repeat during the day - yippee!), and all but one I have taught before, so this is completely realistic. Hopefully I'll get much more done, but it's hard to go too far in advance without knowing your kids and their particular talents and quirks.

Needing - As I mentioned earlier, we just returned from vacation. I find it helps a LOT to go through the photos right away and add notes so that I remember everything. I usually wait several months to a year after a vacation to create a photo book on Shutterfly, that way I don't try to cram every little thing into it - the distance offers some perspective on what was really important or special. Of course, it can also lead to forgetfulness...

B2S Must Haves - I'm assuming the necessary planning and preparation are givens, right? First for me is an organized room, so that I know where everything is and it makes sense to me before the room is "active." Saves sooooo much time and frustration! Next is the "master binder" - syllabi, unit & lesson plans, sub folder, rosters, etc, etc - you know the drill. And finally for this year I'm adding "commute helpers." My drive this year is going to about twice as long last year, so I want to make sure that not only do I keep myself from going crazy but that I actually put the time to good use. Checking out some podcasts, good music, and the like to use the time.