meet the teacher monday: Holiday Film Faves

I know what you're thinking...

"WEEKLY LINKY! Ain't nobody got time for that!" With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, let's keep this week's Meet the Teacher MONDAY, short and sweet. From Halloween to New Year's Eve some of my favorite movie and TV titles air. As if anyone really cares...LOL (*side-eye*)...I drafted a short list of my HOLIDAY FAVES.

Your turn. What holiday faves are a must watch for you?

If you are new to Meet the Teacher Monday, here's the skinny:

MEET THE TEACHER MONDAY is a weekly linky celebration, dedicated to making and culminating friendships among our tribe of fellow teachers. Just follow these simple guidelines:-)

• Snag the MTTM graphic. On your blog, please respond to this week's questions or prompt provided.
• Return to my blog and link your post.
• Visit one or two bloggers ahead of you in the linky, and leave a comment in response to their Meet the Teacher Monday post.
• Visit one or two bloggers after you in the linky line-up and leave a comment as well.
• And because it's so hard to find time to blog, feel free to post any day of the week, not just Monday.

DON'T FORGET TO RETURN TO MY BLOG TO LINK UP.

meet the teacher monday: Sense and Sensibility

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The winter holiday season is by far my favorite time of year. My senses come alive as the smells, sights, and sounds unique to the holidays make their long awaited debut.

My ears are filled sounds of the musical styling of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and silky smooth crooners like Nat King Cole and the Rat Pack. 

My eyes feast on twinkling lights sparkling along city streets. Dazzling displays of bright red, sliver and gold litter the landscape as far as the eye can see.

And the smells...THE SMELLS. The aroma of fresh baked cookies and gingerbread lattes penetrate the air. I said this before and I will say it again, by the end of the holiday season I will have either a fat (fatter) ass or (*in my Wilfred Brimley voice*)diabeetus. 

The sounds, sights, and smells are what make the holiday merry and bright!

Here are a few of my holiday faves that stimulate my senses...

What are your favorite holiday sounds? Sights? Smells?

For those new to Meet The Teacher Monday, here's the scoop:


MEET THE TEACHER MONDAY is a weekly linky celebration, dedicated to making and culminating friendships among our tribe of fellow teachers. Just follow these simple guidelines:-)

• Snag the MTTM graphic. On your blog, please respond to this week's questions or prompt provided.
• Return to my blog and link your post.
• Visit one or two bloggers ahead of you in the linky, and leave a comment in response to their Meet the Teacher Monday post.
• Visit one or two bloggers after you in the linky line-up and leave a comment as well.
• And because it's so hard to find time to blog, feel free to post any day of the week, not just Monday.

Meet the Teacher Monday: PUMP UP THE JAM!

 At the beginning of the summer I made big plans in regards to creating products for my TPT store and redesigning my classroom. Just call me a slacker. So far this summer, the only plans completed involved coordinating my binge TV watching schedule with my personal and professional obligations outside the comfy confines of my bedroom (...where the binge TV watching occurs.).

Despite being a lazy, slacker, I managed to focus on one goal in particular...BRINGING SEXY BACK! A few weeks ago I started buying healthy meals from a friend. Thanks to her healthy meals, my 5'2 (vertically challenged) frame is 12 lbs lighter! 

With the return of my healthy eating habits, next goal....INCORPORATING MORE ACTIVITY! I loath all physical activity. So, this goal proved to be an obstacle. To get back in the game, so to speak, I decided to try the Ease into 5K app along with various home workouts.  

So what does this have to do with Meet the Teacher Monday? I need new jams for my workout play list! So, for this weeks MTTM share some of your favorite work out jams with me! 

Meet the Teacher Monday: 
PUMP UP THE JAM!

MTTM instructions:

• Take the time to respond to the questions/prompts on your blog.
• Return to my blog and link up below.
• Check out the blogs of at least two other MTTM participants (...that's if anyone participates. Haha.)
• Last but not least, HAVE FUN!

Please list your favorite "MOTIVATING" workout tunes! 

• Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John
• Bad Girl by Danity Kane
• The America's Next Top Model Finale Song
• Control by Vitamin String Quartet
• Mr. Brightside by The Killers
• Let's Go  by Calvin Harris
• The Girls by Calvin Harris
• Thinking About You Calvin Harris
• Feels So Close Calvin Harris
• Banquet by Bloc Party
• Bulls On Parade by Rage Against the Machine
• BOB by Outcast
• Hey Ya by Outcast
• Bailia Esta Cumbia Selena
• PDA by Interpol
• Boy's Don't Cry by The Cure
• Breathe by the Prodigy
• Homecoming by The Teenagers
• 24 Hours by Terry Poison
• Single Ladies by Beyonce
• Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups
• Womanizer by Britney Spears
• Just A Girl by No Doubt
• I Got Nerve by Hannah Montana (Don't Judge)
• Junior KIckstart by The Go! Team (hilarious music video)

As you can see, my musical taste varies! YOUR TURN! My play list needs some updating. 

As always, make the ordinary...extraordinary! And a HUGE THANKS to last week's MTTM participants! I am currently experiencing some technical difficulties and I was not able to comment on some of your blogs. 

I'M BACK! Meet the Teacher Monday: Summer Edition

I needed to take a brief hiatus due to life getting in the way. Hey, it happens to the best of us. Let's get started, shall we? 

First off, is it Monday? I know I am not the only teacher who loses track of time over the summer break. I vowed to myself that I would maintain some semblance of a "normal" (what's normal, right?) schedule so my nights and days would not get mixed up. Last year, my summer "schedule" resembled that of a newborn baby. I typically went to bed around 3 AM or 4 AM, and usually faced the new day around 12 noon. Not this summer! I am making every effort to be productive. If you call productive, slacking and watching Netflix or Amazon Prime all day. Ha ha...

Without further adieu, lets get this party started! Since its been a minute, let me remind everyone of the MTTM instructions:

• Take the time to respond to the questions/prompts on your blog.
• Return to my blog and link up below.
• Check out the blogs of at least two other MTTM participants (...that's if anyone participates. Haha.)
• O, last but not least, HAVE FUN!

Meet the Teacher Monday: Summer Edition

1. What's your summer teacher persona? 

• Slacker Teacher:catching up on every episode of everything you wanted to watch during the school year 
• Mommy-On-The-Go: consumed with your children's extracurricular activities
• Summer Fun Teacher:hanging with friends and traveling the world
• Overachiever Teacher:Making TPT products, proparing your classroom, you never really took a break

My summer persona is, you guessed it...Teacher Slacker. This summer I decided to work the first session of ESYS (Special Education Summer School). Let's just say I earned my money. And for the first time in my teaching career, a student bit me. After those challenging three weeks,  I deserve some much needed Netflix vegging sessions. 

2. It's a sunny day in July. Your schedule is wide open, so you decide to?

Since I am not that keen on being outdoors, I like to spend my time reading. #teachernerd Tomorrow, or one day this week, I plan to make a solo trip to the museum district. I have a hankering to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, or the Holocaust Museum. 

3.What is your favorite summer thirst quencher?

At the beginning of the summer I developed an addiction to Sonic's Slushes. At least 3 days a week between the hours of 2 PM-4 PM, my car could be found parked at a local Sonic for happy hour. And with it being happy hour, of course I ordered a Route 44! I recognized my addiction, and stopped frequenting Sonic. I realized at that rate of consumption, by the end of the summer I would have developed diabeetus and tripled in size.

4. Where will you be soaking up the summer sun? Have you planned any vacations? 

Between my boy's busy dance schedule and recently moving, planning a vacation this summer proved challenging. However, I plan to take a couple of trips this fall. Perhaps Colorado, Seattle, and/or Connecticut. All dance related trips...of course.

5. Any summer reads, professional and personal?

I recently started reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (a gift from my Mother). After reading The Four Agreements, I plan to read the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu and then (maybe) Conversations With God by Neale Walsch.

6. What does your summer TV habits consist of?

I usually spend the summer catching up on EVERYTHING thing I missed during the school year.

Currently, I am catching up on Pretty Little Liars. My interest is starting to wan with show. Other shows I am getting brought up to speed on: The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, and Teen Wolf (Garbage. I know, but the cast is nice to look at). And of course you cannot forget Netflix's summer treats, Orange Is the New Black and Hemlock Grove. 

7. Favorite Summer song of 2014?

Summer by Calvin Harris!!!!

That concludes another thrilling installment of MTTM! Your turn!!

Meet the Teacher Monday: WHAT IF??

I'm getting a leg up on this week's Meet the Teacher Monday. Hopefully posting on Sunday, rather than Monday will give folks an opportunity to participate. Remember, my #1 rule, you can post ANY DAY of the week, not just Monday. I refer to my linky celebration as Meet the Teacher Monday for alliteration purposes. Posting on Monday is not a hard-fast rule; so, post when it's most convenient for you! 

Let's get this show on the road! For those of you who have previously participated, you know what to do. If you're new to the game follow these simple requests:

1. Answer this weeks questions on your blog
2. Return to my blog to link up
3. Check out  two or three of the blogs that have linked up. It may be only two or three blogs that link up...LOL!! :-D

Meet The Teacher Monday: WHAT IF?

1. If you could stop a bad habit that you have, what habit would you stop?

Tardiness. I suffer from Chronic Lateness Syndrome (google it). The struggle is real. 

2. If you woke up suddenly because your house was on fire (God forbid), what three things would you grab?

• My kids
• My purse 
• My iPhone

3. We live is a dystopian society, and the music police is in charge of all things music. If you were forced listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be? You can only pick one. 

UGH...this is a hard questions to answer. I need to think about this one. I guess, it would be something by Explosions in the Sky, probably Remember Me As A Time Of Day.

4. If you saw someone with their dress tucked into their SPANX, would you tell them? 

YES! This actually happened to me. I may have been a little tipsy at a Christmas party. I went to the restroom, and in my haste to get back to the party, somehow my dress got tucked into my SPANX.  So yes...I  was literately assed out. HAA HAA! Thank GAWD someone told me before I walked back into the party.

5. If you were given a time machine and could go back in time to give your younger self a message, what would that message be?

Geesh, where do I start? I would tell my young self the following:

"Life is about choices, both good and bad. Sometimes, things don't work out, but how you respond to struggles and obstacles will determine your destiny.  See struggles as weeds. From time to time you will find weeds among the wheat. The weeds are put there to distract you right before the harvest. You didn't sew the weeds, and you don't have to reap them; so, do not be discouraged. Don't waste your time trying to pull up the weeds, just keep moving forward.  Replace thoughts of worry with thoughts of positivity. Never let anyone steal your joy." 

6. If your were able to have one supernatural power, what power would it be?

I think I would want the ability to stop time, then I would never ever be late again!! HAA HAA!

7. If you could have 25 hours a day (while everyone else still has 24), what would you do with the extra hour?

To be honest, an extra hour would not make a difference. It would be just one more hour for me to complain about not having enough hours in the day. I need less workdays and more weekend.

8. If you could live in one time period, what time period would you choose?

As a woman of color. I choose to live in my current time period. People of color have been persecuted since the dawn of time (i.e. slavery, Rosewood Massacre, Civil Rights Movement...need I go on?). Although racism still exist today, I think I prefer to deal with today's racial climate, rather than the racial strife of the past. IF racism DIDN'T EXIST, I would probably choose to live in the 1960s, simply for the fashion.

9.  If you could live anywhere in the world (cost is not a factor), where would you live? California, yes...Cali! My shallow reason for choosing the west coast revolves around my hair. With no humidity, my hair in Cali is amazing. It's like those runway models who walk down the runway and their hair is flowing in the breeze and there's no fan blowing. 

10. If you could have a grand party, and invite any 3 people in the world (dead or live, real or fictional), who would you invite?

1. Holly Golightly (From Breakfast at Tiffany's)
2. The ladies from Sex and the City (Yes, that's more than one.)
3. Oprah. She's going to bankroll this shindig and all of her contacts will be my guests! BOOYAH!

Your turn!

Meet the Teacher

To watch the videos, click the link that reads Watch on You Tube

Khalil dancing back-up...

My boys...back row.

Viewer Discretion advised...twerking & minor profanity alert. 1st Place win with a perfect score at World of Dance, August 2013. HOMETOWN HEROES!!