Meet the Teacher Monday: Tis The Season

It's a good thing I don't treat my own children like I treat my blogs. I abandon my blogs (Yes, I write  other blogs, besides this one.) when the thrill of blogging fades away into the blog abandonment abyss. Many reasons exist for my disappearance(s):

• Life 
• Work
• Et cetera 
• Et cetera 
• Et cetera 

Like every other blogger I began with lofty blogging aspirations...to build a tribe of teacher followers and to dazzle them with my charm and quick wit. So far, I managed to dazzle 20 individuals. Ha! Truth be told, I blog for myself in order to maintain my sanity. Blogging serves as my therapy. 

Enough venting, on to 

Meet the Teacher Monday...Tis The Season!

MTTM Instructions:

1. Respond to the questions/prompts on your blog.
2. Return to my blog and link up below. 
3. Peruse the blogs of at least 2 other MTTM participants (if there are any participants...LOL!!)
4. And most important...HAVE FUN!!

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
With so many to choose from, I struggled with this question. Push come to shove, Miracle on 34th Street remains my all-time favorite, with Home Alone and Home Alone: Lost in New York coming in a close second...and third. 

2. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Ugh! Again...I struggled. I decided to break the rules and pick an entire album (Do people still say "album?"). My favorite holiday album/CD, hands down...A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. I listen to that CD from start to finish...year round. 

3. Real Tree or Fake Tree?
FAKE

4. White Lights or Colored Lights?
WHITE

5. What did you ask Santa for this Christmas?
A husband and winning lottery tickets. Which reminds me, I need to scratch off the tickets in my purse. Be right back...

I won nothing! So much for winning the lottery and not returning back to work after winter break. Better luck next time!

6. Favorite Holiday Drink & Food
Hot Scotch! Hot Cocoa and Butterscotch Schnapps. And my HOLIDAY favorite food...EVERYTHING! More specifically, my mother's homemade pecan pralines and lemon squares...made with fresh lemons from her lemon tree.

Cookie Assortment baked by my Mom

7. Favorite Holiday Tradition
Starbucks & Lights! Every year my boys and I start our tradition by visiting the local Starbucks for our favorite sugary holiday concoctions. After the first pit stop, we return to our favorite neighborhood to gawk at Christmas lights. This year, I plan to visit a new neighborhood, Prestonwood Forest.

8. How will you celebrate the holidays this year?
We usually keep the holidays low key. More than likely my boys and I will chillax in our pajamas ALL DAY, play board games and watch movies. Or, we may take a road trip to Louisiana to spend the holidays with my grandmother and other family members.

YOUR TURN! Remember to return to link up. Thanks for participating.

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!!

March...In Like a Lion!

As I scrolled through my Bloglovin feed I noticed several people have already submitted March's CURRENTLY! I cannot believe it's March ALREADY! Well, once again I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's currently. 

Listening
I am listening to the Oscar's Live Backstage telecast. I am not a fan of award shows. I am however interested in what the stars are wearing. I consider myself a poor man's Carrie Bradshaw. I have champagne style on a beer budget. We teach for the outcome, not the income. That's what I have to keep telling myself. 

Loving
In just 5 short days SPRING BREAK will be here!!! The only thing I ask is that this Texas weather get its act together. Saturday the weather was in the 80s and today we are miserable and shivering in the 30s. If I had to choose one word to describe Texas weather,  one word come to mind, BIPOLAR.

Thinking
Today I learned that something or someone will always make me feel like I don't measure up. Instead of competing and comparing myself with others, I need to stop trying to keep up, and run my own race. I don't need anyone to confirm or validate me. I am here to fulfill my own destiny. In a nutshell, I need to be content with the gifts that God has given me.

Wanting
Saturday, I picked up the cutest pair of cowboy booties. I wanted a pair of "real" boots, but I am not willing to invest $300 in shoes I will only wear a few times a year. My next order of business for my rodeo outfit is to find a cute dress that I will pair with my jean jacket and some jazzy jewelry. Wish me luck;  I may meet my future cowboy husband at the Usher concert. Haa!

Needing
Each year teachers in the state of Texas have to rate their students limited in English proficiency. And each year we have to suffer through the training. And each year I procrastinate until the last minute. I should be completing the modules now instead of blogging. 

????????
Any guesses? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

As always, make the ordinary extraordinary. Don't forget to return for Meet the Teacher Monday which will be posted this afternoon.

Currently NEWBIE!!

Well this must be the most unsuccessful blog start in the history of blog beginnings. After launching my blog a few weeks ago, I gained a total of 1 follower...ME!! Haa Haa! As a blog veteran, I understand it takes time to build and maintain a following. 

So, let's try this again:
Welcome to the Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom. Sit back, strap on your seat belt and join me on my roller coaster ride of ups and downs as a Special Education Teacher. Although I teach special education, my ideas and activities accommodate grades Pre-K through 1st/2nd. As we adventure together, I plan to share printables, stimulating activities, and hopefully fresh ideas with you. 

The other day while perusing Instagram, I ran across @farleyfarleyfarley 's (from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade) CURRENTLY photo. Well, now that yours truly finally started a blog, I am eligible to participate. 

Thinking: Rather than create New Year's Resolutions only to abandon them a week later, I jumped on the ONE LITTLE WORD bandwagon and chose a word to guide me through 2014. And the ONE LITTLE WORD I chose: FOCUS!

Rather than watch another one of my projects, brainchild creations, brainstorms, ideas, etc, fall by the wayside, I WILL stop focusing on my fear off failure and work to ensure SUCCESS. 

Loving: While on break I started reading Veronica Roth's Divergent series. For a page turning, intriguing read I recommend this thrilling trilogy. I wanted to read the series before the movie release. Nothing thrills me more than watching the pages of a book come alive on the big screen.  Hope you enjoyed my CURRENTLY.

Until next time...make the ordinary extraordinary!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin