My First TPT Product!

Helllllllloooo!
As I said earlier this week, I am making an effort to be more consistent with my blogging, so I'm back! ALSO as promised...this post is ALL about my very first paid TPT Product!!
I am SO excited to be able to share this with y'all. As you know I am a special education teacher, so organization is something that I am always working to improve. This year I will be starting a new position at my school, so I'll have two new content areas to worry about teaching, so I wanted to do something to keep my special ed things organized. Thus, I created my IEP Caseload Management Binder! 

This binder is packed full of user-friendly forms to keep any special education teacher organized. Something I know I needed to work on based on this past school year was becoming more organized concerning IEP meetings ( filing paperwork is my least favorite thing, but it must be done!) my FAVORITE pages in the binder are the IEP Meeting Preparation Checklist and the Eligibility Meeting Checklist. These pages are perfect for making sure you have everything you need before the meeting, and to keep you accountable for completing all follow up tasks. 

This binder also includes an IEP Snapshot form, which I LOVE. This form has made providing crucial IEP information to general education teacher so much easier. It presents the important information in a streamlined, user friendly manner. My collaborative teachers love getting snapshots rather than a 20 page IEP. 

Lastly, my binder includes a meeting notes page that I love to use during any kind of meeting. These are great for writing down important things during IEP or Eligibility meetings, but I also love using them at PLC or staff meetings. There is plenty of room for note taking, plus designated areas for to-do items, and important items to remember. This is definitely one of my favorite pages from the whole product! 

SO there you have it! A glance into my very first paid TPT product. Please head on over to my store   (here) and snag one for yourself! 

Thanks for stopping by! :)

A Whole Year....REALLY?!

Holy Cats! 
I cannot believe it has been a year since my last post...talk about things getting crazy!
 This school year was a whirlwind. Full of lots of fun learning and exciting news for me career wise! I officially have left the Autism program at my school and will be teaching 6th grade small group Math and Science for students with Learning Disabilities! I am so excited for this new opportunity, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous.  
 I'm so happy to finally be back to my blog...hopefully more consistently this time. Stay tuned for a post within the next week focused on my VERY FIRST Teachers Pay Teachers product! I cannot wait to share this with y'all. I hope everyone is LOVING their summer break so far, I know I am!
Thanks again for stopping by, I'll be back soon!

The Best Trip of My Life

Hello Friends! I am SO excited for this week's post! Monica over at I Heart Grade 3 could not have picked a better topic. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share about the best trip of my life! It just so happens that I just returned from this trip 10 days ago! I feel like I should apologize in advance for the length of this post, and the number of pictures. I documented every moment on my first international trip to the breathtaking country of: Ireland! 

How did I get there? I was given the opportunity to go on the trip of my life through my graduate program at Slippery Rock University. Ireland has always been number one on my list of places to go, so naturally when I received the e-mail asking if I was interested, I did everything in my power- even delaying finishing my graduate program to make this trip possible! All I had to do was make sure I was enrolled in one class during the summer term at Slippery Rock ( which I am currently taking), and then I was eligible to go! Once I registered for my Summer class I was SO excited- I was finally going to Ireland! When I first signed up for the trip there was no set itinerary, and I was not sure what to expect being that it was a trip through my graduate program. When the itinerary was released I was so excited to see what was in store for me when I embarked on my voyage across the Atlantic! I spent 8 days in the land of green fields, sheep, and Guinness! While I was there I was able to see the western side of the country, as well as the more metropolitan area of Dublin ( which was completely AMAZING)!  During the trip we had the chance to see castles, and some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen including the Cliffs of Moher, and the Aran Islands. June 25th we flew from Pittsburgh to Shannon, Ireland which is on the western, more rural side of the country. There were so many exciting things that happened, I apologize for the lengthy post again!  We arrived at Shannon Airport at 7:30 in the morning where we met our fabulou tour guides- John and Lydia Nolan then we were off to start adventuring. We explored our first castle- Bunratty which also had a folk park which was modeled after medieval society in rural Ireland. After a quick tour at Bunratty we drove tot he town of Lehinch which is known for surfing, it was the most beautiful view of the Atlantic I have ever seen! Following lunch we were off to the Cliffs of Moher- where Harry Potter and Game of Thrones were filmed! My inner Potter nerd was going nuts when we got there, it was AMAZING.

          We spent the next day touring the countryside of Ireland known as Connemara. It was some of the most beautiful landscapes ever. We also toured Kyelmore Abbey. This was the ONLY day it rained on the trip- according to the locals we had the best weather of the year when we were there!

Our next adventure led us to the Aran Islands. We took a ferry from the main land to the island          ( which was the roughest boat ride I have EVER been on). On the islands we had a horse drawn carriage tour, it was beautiful! We got to see how island life was different from life on the mainland. While we were there we also got to watch a rowing race!

After the Aran Islands we spent a day driving- we were off to Dublin and made some wonderful stops along the way! We stopped at some beautiful ruins- Clonmacnoise, which were where Pope John Paul II  visited and 20,000 people attended. We also visited another castle for lunch- Tyrell's Pass which is where our wonderful tour guide grew up!

We finally made it to Dublin-the part of the trip I was the most excited for! While we were in Dublin we saw many exciting things- the Guinness factory, The Spire ( better known as the Stiletto in the Ghetto because of its placement on the north side of Dublin), Trinity College, and so many other things. While we were there we also took part in a pub crawl- it was SO much fun! 

 

Travelling to Dublin with a group of Special Education Teachers it was only natural that during our walking tour our tour guide took us to what was probably my favorite monument of the entire trip- the monument in Dublin that was dedicated to the 2003 Special Olympics World Games! The Special Olympics is an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. It is one of the first experiences that I had working with individuals with disabilities, and I have loved the organization ever since my first experience, so naturally I was very happy to have the opportunity to see this monument and hear about the support that Ireland has for this organization. 

A few other exciting things that we did include going to Belfast in Northern Ireland which is actually still part of the United Kingdom to see hear the story of a city divided by religion, as well as to see the Titanic Museum. According to the locals the Titanic was " Built by an Irish man, driven by an English man, and sunk by a Canadian iceberg." It was a very interesting experience. While we were in Dublin we also had a chance to see the 20th anniversary show of Riverdance in it's home theater. As a dancer this was another AMAZING experience! 

Finally- a photo of John and Lydia our amazing tour guides. The professor who organized our trip has traveled with them in Ireland several times, and I can see why she entrusted our trip to them. They made our experience amazing, and took such great care of us making sure that each experience was carefully planned and would be memorable for us as students, teachers, and travelers, I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel with and get to know them, I can't wait to go back to Ireland and visit them again!

So there it is, in many many more words than I had originally intended- The Best Trip of My Life....so far. I was so fortunate to experience Ireland with my fellow graduate students. I had an amazing time, and made amazing friends on this trip. This was the start that I needed to begin my world travels. Thank you SO much for stopping by! I can't wait to read about everyone's exciting trips!

Just one more photo before you go!

Where I was 5 Years Ago

Hi Everyone! I feel like I have been gone forever, but I guess going out of the country will do that to you! I can't wait to share all about the best trip of my life in next week's post. For now, I'd like to share a little bit about where I was 5 years ago as a very late addition to this week's post for the Summer Weekly Link Up hosted by Miss Monica at I Heart Grade 3!
So, five years ago would have been 2010, I was 19 years old, and had just finished my freshman year of college! Throw back to when I started college as a NURSING major! within my first semester I changed my major three times, and made the huge decision to transfer schools. Needless to say my indecisiveness got the best of me, but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Had I not decided to change my major from nursing to Sociology, from Sociology to Elementary Ed, and finally from Elementary Ed to Special Education I wouldn't be where I am today! 
During the Summer of 2010 I remember always hoping that I would have the opportunity to move away from my home state of Pennsylvania. I have always been very curious, and loved to travel, so naturally the thought of moving to a new place was very exciting for me. Fast forward to 2013 and I was fortunate enough to receive several job offers in Northern Virginia, which is where I currently reside and am about to embark on my third year as a special education teacher! 
While I don't have a lot to look back on yet because I am just beginning my story, it's always fun to look back and see how the choices I made got me to where I am today! 
Thanks for stopping by! :)

My Teaching Quirk

Holy cats!! Did I get caught up in the end of the school year whirlwind or what?! I completely missed last week's post! Even though I'm STILL not out of school ( thankfully tomorrow is FINALLY the last day), I'm back for this week to share about my teaching quirk! So far I am LOVING this Weekly Summer Link Up that Miss Monica over at I Heart grade 3 is hosting!
when I first saw the list of weekly topics for the link up I have to admit that this week's topic was one that I have been a little nervous about posting. I'm not sure if it's because I'm still so new to teaching that I don't really know what my "quirk" is or, if it's because I feel like I have so many quirks that I can't pick just one? Either way, I think I have narrowed it down to just one to share about. 
My teaching quirk is something that every single college professor tried to break me of, and I have to say I definitely think it's just a north west Pennsylvania thing. When I'm addressing my whole group of students I find myself saying "you guys." I have done EVERYTHING to break myself of this habit from having my teachers assistant's tally each time I do it, to asking my evaluating administrator to listen for it during my observations! ( which of course didn't happen because I was hyper-focused on not saying it!) During my time in college when I was being observed in field placements my supervising professors would tally and dock our grades based on the number of times that we used the phrase "you guys."  Somehow, I caught myself during those times, but I still manage to sneak a few "you guys" in each day. At first my students looked at me like I had three heads when I said it because they had never heard it before. That blew my mind because it was such an everyday thing to me.  I guess it's really not a thing that's typically said here in Northern Virginia, but now it's common language in our classroom, and when I say it they don't bat an eye! 
You guys was a phrase that I grew up hearing. It's something that some of my teachers, all of my coaches, friends, and family said. It's a phrase that as a teenager and young adult I said a lot, and thanks to my Western Pennsylvania roots, I think that "you guys" is my first teaching quirk!
Thanks for stopping by, I can't wait to read about everyone's quirks!

Why I Started Blogging

Hi Everyone!  I am back for my second ever blog post, and the second week of Monica over at I Heart Grade Three's Summer Link Up! 

This week we're taking it back to the reason we started blogging. I am SO new to this world, but loving it so far. I am definitely excited to read everyone's posts and see why they decided to join the online blogging community as well. I personally have a few reasons for why I decided to blog- I'll try to keep it short and sweet though!
Reason 1- The Ideas  I first decided to "join" the blogging community mainly as a blog stalker  browser. I remember seeing someone's cute Facebook page, which coincidentally contained a link to their blog. When I looked further I found so many ideas, tips, and tricks that were SO helpful as a beginning teacher. It wasn't until recently that I discovered all of the wonderful special education blogs that are out there- those have been a life saver this past year! The endless ideas that I have found through the blogging community are wonderful- I hope to be able to share some helpful ideas and tips someday too!
Reason 2- The Sense of Community This is something that I am starting to experience now that I have actively joined the blogging world, and it is seriously awesome! There is an entire community of teacher bloggers who are supportive and encouraging of one another both near and far. When I was simply reading blogs I always thought it was awesome to see. That sparked a desire to become a member of that community- thus Live, Learn, Love, Teach was born. 

Even though I am new both to the world of teaching, and especially to the world of blogging both hold a special place in my heart. This blogging adventure is fun and I can't wait to see how it blossoms! I hope you've enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about why I started this blog, I can't wait to read everyone else's posts! Head on over to Monica's blog to read them for yourself!


Thanks for stopping by!

My Goals for Summer

Hello! Thank you SO much for stopping by! Summer is right around the corner, and I have had this beautiful blog designed for almost a year, but haven't blogged yet! Considering this is my first blog post EVER I have to say I'm a little really anxious posting it! Although I can't think of a better way to OFFICIALLY launch my blog than by joining Monica at I Heart Grade 3 and lots of others for the Weekly Summer Link-Up!

So let's get to it! My Summer hasn't officially started yet, I still have 16 school days left, not that I'm counting or anything! Just because Summer isn't here yet doesn't mean I haven't been racking my brain over a few things that I want to accomplish! 

So here they are- My Summer Goals:

 1. Relax and Enjoy It!

Sometimes I feel like I can never turn my teacher brain off. This summer I really want to focus on me and relaxing. The end of the school year is SO hectic and busy. Between IEP writing and meetings, DRAs, and starting close out procedures on top of finishing up graduate classes- I feel like I've been going non-stop since beginning of May. I'm currently getting everything in order for my FIRST trip out of the country, one week after school is out, I will be on my way to Ireland, I cannot wait!

2. Get Organized for the upcoming year

I've recently accepted a new position for the upcoming school year, I am so excited to say I am heading back to middle school! So, since I have new students, a new building, and new classroom to prepare for I am definitely looking forward to spending some of my summer getting organized and ready for my new school! 

3. Buckle Down on Fitness and Healthy Eating

This is a goal of mine that I have had many times. This summer I want to buckle down and get serious about improving my eating and exercise habits! I'm hoping that this will be a positive start to my health journey! 

So there they are my top three goals for Summer! Thanks again for stopping by, be on the look out for weekly posts this summer!