Happy Monday before Fall Break! I'm not usually one to count down to a break, but, then again, I've never worked directly with kids before, and I am most definitely in countdown mode.

This past week was just a crazy as I imagined it would be, which is why I did not have any posts last week other than my start-of-the-week motivation post. I had a workshop on Tuesday, and all of seventh grade went on a field trip on Thursday. We ended up having to do a re-test on our novel due to a technical glitch, and we did not get any of the writing that I had planned on done.

This week won't be much better. I have an all-day training on Tuesday, and Friday is a half day, meaning I have three full teaching days...but at least one of those days will be dedicated to watching the movie version of the novel we just finished, and to be quite honest it will more than likely take two full days to watch the movie and do the activity to meet the standard we're covering. I hope to get at least an hour's worth of writing in for the week, but that's probably me being overly ambitious. In all actuality, we'll probably only get to do some type of writing on Monday, but it can't be our only focus because I've got to set them up for the activities they'll do while I'm out on Tuesday.

Anyway, that's what I spent a good portion of my weekend doing - planning for this chopped up week. I also got all of my grades entered for report cards. The first nine weeks officially ended last week. Our school does a parent pick-up for report cards, so I'll have to stay late on that day.

Also this weekend, we got some cleaning done and added a few fall decorations in among our regular decor. Sadly, the majority of my fall stuff is in a box that hasn't made it into this house yet, so it'll be Fall Break before I really get to go all out. We did watch Hocus Pocus 2, though, and baked some jack-o-lantern cookies. Our new neighborhood has lots of trees so we're really getting to experience the fall of the leaves for the first time in several years. Alexis loves it. And our weather actually feels like fall, which never happens this early in the season. It's not sweater weather by any means, but I can wear jeans and not feel like I'm having heat stroke.

Well, that's pretty much got you caught up. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Welp, it's Monday again, folks. I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend. My weekend was very productive. I put together the final test for our novel unit, organized the comprehensive review we'll be doing for it, and started planning out the pacing for a new reading program I'll be using with one of my classes. I also got caught up on my grading and got everything entered into the gradebook. This week ends our first nine weeks, so I definitely needed the uninterrupted time to get that done.

This week is going to be pretty hectic. Monday we're starting a new grammar unit on sentences and will be doing a comprehensive review of our novel. We'll also be getting back on track with our writing assignment, which we've been postponing due to other things. On Tuesday I'll be out of town for a workshop, so I've got some assignments to help reinforce the skills we've been working on over the last few weeks. The unit test is on Wednesday, then on Thursday we're taking a field trip to see a play about Ruby Bridges, the first black student to attend a desegregated school. Friday will be a writing day.

Next week we'll be doing a lot of writing and watching the movie that goes along with the novel, and then we'll get a week off for Fall Break. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting down the days.

That's it for me this week. Y'all keep me in your thoughts because this week is going to be insane. Have a good one!

The South has had its first taste of fall, and it has been wonderful. Lower temperatures and humidity and a refreshing breeze to top things off have made the last several days pleasant. We all know it's not going to last, of course, and highs for later this week are expected to be back in the 90s, but it's been nice to pretend for a few days. Granted, it's not been cool enough to bring out anything remotely resembling a sweater, and I'm still gazing longingly at my boots, but I have been subtly shifting my color schemes to reflect the season I want to be in.

Here are seven outfits I've worn over the last couple of weeks to work, meaning they are classroom-approved. For reference, I'm 5'2" and weigh around 145 lbs. I typically wear size small or 6 in clothes and size 7 in shoes.

I picked up this dress from a locally-owned store and haven't been able to find it anywhere online. For local folks, it came from The Barn. I swapped out the included tie sash with this wide woven belt and decided to play up the sunshine tones with my yellow wedges.

I used to have a dress with a very similar pattern, but as I lost weight it stopped fitting well, so I donated it. I really loved that dress, so when I came across this one I was excited. It's got several colors in the pattern you can use to coordinate your shoes, but I chose navy. These are those flats that I own in a bunch of colors. They're comfortable all day, so long as you don't run (long story). The dress has cute flutter sleeves and pockets.

This skirt is so perfect, y'all. It's fully lined and has an elastic waist. I wanted to wear this maroon blouse to help pull out the flowers from the print, but you could easily do all black.

If you guessed these were another of the Old Navy OG Chinos, you'd be correct. I like this color a lot and was pleasantly surprised that they matched the pink tones in this blouse so nicely. I'm not totally satisfied with my shoe choice, but I wanted comfort over style this day.

Okay, so this blouse exceeded my expectations. I really like this type of shirt because it's easy to dress up or down. I chose this color because it's perfect for my school colors, so I can wear it on school spirit days when I don't feel like wearing a t-shirt. This day I wore jeans, but I will definitely be wearing this with skirts and slacks, as well.

It hasn't been that long since you last saw my favorite dress ever, but this is the first time I've worn it to school, so I had to document the occasion.

This is probably my favorite transition outfit formula. It works with pretty much any color bottoms, but I especially like olive for fall. My shoes have a bit of snake-print on them to add a bit of pattern mixing to this outfit. It was actually cool enough for a light jacket this day, so my dark denim jacket was the perfect finishing touch.

Another weekend has come and gone, and sadly it was nowhere near long enough. I spent at least half of it sick with a stomach virus that's been going through my students. Thankfully, though, I seem to have avoided the worst of it.

Last week was a pretty frustrating week, and it was really easy to get fixated on those frustrations, but when I forced myself to decompress, I was able to focus on the bright spots from the week. We started our first essay topic, and my kids actually like the topic I picked. In fact, a few other ELA teachers have asked me to share it with them, as well. For the classes that made it past the initial task of choosing a setting, I got to really see their creativity for the first time this school year. It was truly the best part of my week.

We're going to finish up our novel this week, which I'm excited for. It's been a mixed bag with all of my classes, with one class really getting into it and giving me the discussions I was aiming for and one not being invested at all. But I'm not that worried about if they didn't enjoy it, because it would be literally impossible for me to choose one book that fit every students' interests. We're also wrapping up our folktales unit, which I've enjoyed immensely) and moving on to a unit that will focus pretty heavily on conflict and motivation. I'm not super excited about the particular short story that's included with this one (I feel like it's overrated), but at this point I don't have another that I'd rather do instead.

In other news, Chris and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. It was very low-key, just dinner out at our favorite steakhouse. I'm planning on doing a few 10 year anniversary posts this month, so stay tuned for those!

That's going to wrap it up for me. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

 These are some of the things that have been making life just a little bit easier for me these days.

*This post contains affiliate links.

The Teacher Planner - If you've known me any length of time, then you'll know that I live by my planner. Always have, so when I decided to pursue teaching, I knew I needed to find the right planner to meet all my planning needs. And this is definitely it. I love how it's broken down into monthly, weekly, and even semester(ly?) planning. There's a place to keep up with contact information, passwords (because let's be real - we all have way too many to memorize), and it's even got a built-in grade book for an all-in-one experience.

Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm - Burt's Bees is my favorite lip balm of all time, but now that I'm working outside of my house again, I need more than a chapstick. I am in love with these tinted lip balms, especially the Hibiscus color. It's the perfect natural shade for my complexion and so much more hydrating than regular lipstick.

Rainproof Tote Bag - I've had this for a few years now, but it's really been getting put to good use the last couple of months. This bag has a pocket especially for a laptop, as well as a zippered pouch in the middle, pockets for pens/pencils and your phone, and plenty of room for my planner, workbooks, and papers that  need grading. I really love that I can fully zip the entire bag closed so that when it rains I don't have to worry about everything inside of it getting ruined.

Zak Insulated Tumbler - I use this tumbler literally every work day for my coffee. I've got a 40-minute drive every morning, and my coffee is still hot/warm (depending on if I drink any while I drive) when I get to work.

Old Navy OG Chinos - These are my preferred work pants at the moment. I own them in navy blue, black, gray, and pink. The elastic waistband makes them ridiculously comfortable without being frumpy (I was surprised by that!), and they're easy to wear rolled at the ankles or straight depending on your preference. They work with both casual and dressier tops, as well as a variety of shoes.

Publix Apron Meals - I'm not going to lie, as much as I like to cook dinner and eat together at our dining room table, I don't love the prep work that goes into some of my favorite meals. That's one of the best things about shopping at Publix, though. The meat counter always has put-together options that I just have to throw in the crockpot or stick in the oven. And I've yet to be disappointed with something we've tried.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Face Scrub - Aveeno has become my go-to skincare brand since I turned 30, and this face scrub has quickly become an integral part of my daily routine.

Suave Wave Mousse - I have been struggling to find a styling product that's light enough for my hair texture but that actually does the job I'm looking for. When I saw this on the shelf, I decided I had nothing to lose, especially since it costs less than $5, and I've been so pleased with the results. First of all, it has yet to dry crunchy, even on the days when I probably use too much. It also air dries pretty and is the easiest product to restyle that I have ever used.

Happy Monday, friends. It was a rainy, wet, and dreary weekend in my neighborhood, but I'm not really complaining. We may have had a short work-week, but it felt longer than a five-day work week! Mostly because we had testing all week for math, reading, and language, so the kids were beyond restless by the time we got to Friday. Let's just say it made for a long week, and I was not turning down the opportunity for a lazy weekend.

In other news, we're almost finished reading our novel, and by some miracle of fate we've stayed on track with it in every class. So we'll have a final assessment in a couple of weeks, then we'll get to watch the movie adaptation and do a comparison activity with that, and finally they'll do a creative project on one of the characters.

We'll be starting narrative writing this week, which I'm kind of excited about. I've got what I think is a fun prompt for the kids, but I really never know what they're going to respond to, so we'll see.

Fall Break is in a few weeks, then we'll swap gears for the second nine weeks. I'm not teaching a novel unit for this one, but we will be dipping our toes into drama with The Monsters are Due on Maple Street and A Christmas Carol. We'll also read The Smallest Dragonboy. There are some other smaller things we'll do in conjunction with each of those selections, as well. We'll also move into expository (explanatory) writing, and I have what I hope will be a fun project for them.

The only other thing of note from last week is that we filmed the first episode of the student morning show. It felt a little weird to write scripts after four years, especially since our stories aren't exactly 'news,' but that's actually a nice change of pace. Less stress, if you know what I mean.

Well, that's pretty much it for me. I hope you all have a wonderful week!