New Year's Resolutions 2015

Howdy Friends!

I am thrilled to be linking up with Jessica of Second Grade Nest in this awesome 2015 New Year's Resolution and Goals Linky! 

One professional goal that I have is to seek to better understand my role as an administrator. It is a crazy balancing act being both a 1/2 day teacher and a 1/2 day administrator this year, and I fear that I am failing at both jobs. I plan to spend a few minutes each school day in my office reading professional books, guides, and websites on how to better support my teachers and students in this new crazy world of "test'em to death" movements.

My second professional goal is to make myself be patient with my own abilities as a teacher. I tend to want to "make" kids and parents be perfect in everything that I do. I know that this is not realistic! I am working on encouraging every student to be her/her best and be content that they are doing their best!

My most important personal goal of 2015 is to get MORE SLEEP! This constant 1am-2am bed time and then up at 6am is not working for me. I am completely exhausted. With six kids, and wanting to not be a hermit around them, I find that after they are in bed in "my" time. Trying to create resources and run a school building are extremely time consuming, and I haven't quite found the balance. I hope I won't send out a 1am faculty email again in the new year!

My wife is amazing and I am hoping that I can show her that in the new year. I am hoping to take her on at least bi-monthly date nights- just us, not the 6 kids! This is one goal I am SUPER excited about!

 I do have another personal goal, and that is to journal about my life. My sister passed this past November, and one thing that I have truly enjoyed is reading through her many journals. She was an amazing person with lots of struggles that none of us knew about. It makes me love and miss her even more. I want my kiddos (and grandkiddos) to be able to read back over my life as well and get to know me better!

I hope that someday before I die I might be able to visit Ireland. It looks to be a beautiful and charming location. Guess I better start saving my pennies! 

 I don't know that I have anything that I would like to try. I am not really a picky eater, so I have tried quite the collection of food, even rattlesnake (and yes, it really DOES taste like chicken!). So, off the top of my head, I can't think of one!

I would love to learn how to play the cello. My mother plays the violin and I did try that once. My fingers are so big that I couldn't make it work for me. But, the cello would be awesome!

I really, really want to give up my negative attitude. I worry so much about what other's think of me or what I do, that I start to be negative about everything and use my "I don't care" mantra! NOT GOOD! So, I hope to start looking for three positive things about each day and then work up to more! Maybe I can even write about these in my journal (see personal goal above!)

Laugh! I want to enjoy my children and laugh more. 

I also want to call my parents more often. I don't call enough.

I want to finish my Daily Dose series by Spring Break! That will take some serious hard work and discipline! But, I think I can do it!

Don't forget to share YOUR New Year's Resolutions.

 Click on over over to Jessica's Second Grade Nest to get started! 

AND, don't forget to read all the other participants posts as well! :)

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Cheers-

FALL-Tastic Ideas and Resources To Boost Your Week!

Thanks to Whimsy Workshop for the AWESOME clipart!

Greetings Friends-

It has been a while. I feel that I spend most of my time running from one event to another and accomplish Zilch. Zip. Nada.

But, I AM excited to put together a linky of great, FALL-TASTIC activities! Some are FREE, some might require payment, but ALL of them are SURE to get your kiddos motivated to LEARN and ENJOY this beautiful FALL season!

Also,m Don't forget to check out the Created by MrHughes Facebook Page where you might enjoy a great FLASH FREEBIE, find a useful tip or two, and almost always find a laugh for your day. Click HERE to check it out!

And now! On with the FALL-Tastic Line-Up!


Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend, and don't forget to drop by again soon. :)

Share the Wealth: SPRING FLING!

HAPPY SPRING!
     I am so excited that the weather is warming, flowers are starting to grow, and school is nearing its end. To help bring in this fantastic season (even for those of you who forgot what warm is...), I am pleased to bring you a SPRING FLING EVENT where you will find some amazing FREE and PAID resources!

But WAIT!

It get's even better! I have both my Teacher's Pay Teachers AND my Teacher's Notebook shops at 10% off on EVERYTHING! AND, I am having ANOTHER GIVEAWAY on Teacher's Notebook! Check that on out HERE! (Starting 3/22/14)

AND... YUP...STILL MORE!

An amazing GIVEAWAY with some AMAZING PRIZES to make your APRIL even better!

So, don't just sit there- get clicking! WAHOO! (And remember to SCROLL down as there is LOTS to see and GRAB!)

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY BEFORE YOUR FORGET! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


     10% OFF AT THESE STORES (From 3/22 upto 3/24)



     SPRING FLING FREEBIE RESOURCES!



     SPRING FLING PAID RESOURCES!

Pin-Tastic Middle School Boards

 Hello Bloggy Readers, TWELVE middle school bloggers have gotten together to share with you their favourite Pinterest boards geared towards 6th-8th grade teachers. We hope you enjoy this variety of ideas. Be sure to check out our other Pinterest boards while you are there. Happy Pinning!

  Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Middle School Freebies You can find other great things by Kristy by following this link: 2 Peas and Dog Blog

Pam from Desktop Learning Adventures recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Hot off the Presses Latest Middle School Releases You can find other great things by Pam by following this link: Desktop Learning Adventures Blog

  Ellie from Middle School Math Moments recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Middle School Math You can find other great things by Ellie by following this link: Middle School Math Moments Blog

Jennifer from 4mula Fun recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Success in Secondary You can find other great things by Jennifer by following this link: 4mula Fun Blog

Sidney from Teaching is a Gift recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Gifted Teaching Ideas You can find other great things by Sidney by following this link: Teaching is a Gift Blog

Kate from Kate's 6th Grade Classroom Cafe recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Grade 6 Tricks of the Trade You can find other great things by Kate by following this link: Kate's 6th Grade Classroom Cafe Blog

Stephanie from The Creative Classroom recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Anchor Charts You can find other great things by Stephanie by following this link: The Creative Classroom Blog

Jamie from Miss Math Dork recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Math is Real Life You can find other great things by Jamie by following this link: Miss Math Dork Blog

Kim from Teaching Math by Hart recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Number Sense You can find other great things by Kim by following this link: Teaching Math By Hart Blog

  John from An Educator's Life recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Reading Ideas You can find other great things by John by following this link: An Educator's Life Blog

Erin from Miss Lifesaver recommends this middle school Pinterest board: School Stuff You can find other great things by Erin by following this link: Miss Lifesaver Blog

Tammy from Teaching FSL recommends this middle school Pinterest board: Magnificent Middle School You can find other great things by Tammy by following this link: Teaching FSL Blog

Looking for other Middle School ideas? Check out the Middle School Blog Log

Who's That Blogger Back to School Linky and Giveaway!

Howdy Friends!
This is going to be fun. Can YOU find me in below? Read on, dear friends, read on!

Welcome Everyone!!

         Are you ready to have some fun??
        
                                              ....Play a game?
           
                                                              .....Win  prizes and cash?

I have teamed up with 65 AMAZING blogger buddies to put together the ultimate Back to School Linky/Giveaway!!!

Each one of my blogger buddies submitted a cute childhood photo & generously donated something special from their online TpT shops for this occasion!! We have included a fun game for you to play for a chance to win over $300.00 in prizes and a BONUS  CASH-PRIZE raffle you can enter at the end of this post!! 

CHA-CHING!!

The game is easy to play....

 Your job will be to try and match each blogger with their childhood photo!!! With over 60 childhood photos and bloggers to match up, this might get tricky!! As I mentioned above, each blogger has generously donated one awesome prize from their TpT store. Successfully match a blogger and childhood photo, and you win the prize offered from that blogger!!! The more you matches you make, the more prizes you win!!! 

Check out some of the prizes you could win!!!

but Wait....

That's not all....

ONE lucky follower will win a $125 Amazon Gift Card!! Scroll to the bottom & follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win $$$

The link below will open a form that will allow you to submit your answers for the match up. 

Use the blogger links and numbered images to help you along the way!! Each childhood photo has been assigned a specific number. 

Once you open the form, use the drop-down menu beneath each blog button and select a number that corresponds to a childhood photo. 

The form results will be collected throughout the week. At the end of the week, each submission will be "graded" and you will receive a prize for each blogger and photo you successfully matched up!!

The game closes on Friday, August 23rd at midnight (Arizona Mountain Time). Answers will be announced on Saturday, August 24th. Winners will be notified through email throughout the week. 

Use the blog links below the photos to search for clues!!

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

AWE!!! PuFfy HeArT SWEETNESS!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $125 Amazon gift card!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for participating!!! Good Luck!!!

If you would like to post about this linky/giveaway, grab the special image below to display in your post and link up below!!! Make sure to use the link to the actual post,,,

An InLinkz Link-up

Most Wishlisted Item Linky Party!

Hey friends!
Who doesn't love a good party???
I am linking up with Classroom Confections' Most Wish Listed Items by Top Teachers! I guess I can consider myself a top teacher...he he. If not, well, I am linking up anyways!

So, are you curious to see which of my current 152 items is the most wished for? I was too. I don't really check that statistic very often.

Drum roll please...

...
...
...

It is:

I do have to admit this IS one of my most favorite items I have created by my kiddos. My students loved the hands-on aspect of it, plus they always love to see the finished dodecahedrons hanging in our classroom. It is so festive and eye-catching.
You can click on this picture to see more of what's included.

Click HERE to visit my shop and read more about it. Plus there are links there to blog posts from teachers who have purchased and used this item in their classrooms. Fun to read!

Because I am linking up, I am going to offer this item at 10% off for today, June 21. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the Most Wishlisted Items Linky. I think it is fun to just browse and see what the current trend is.

Have a wonderful day-

Cheers!

-Mr. Hughes

"Read-Aloud Round-Up" Book Share

Howdy Friends!

I recently had a friend ask if I could/would recommend some good "student level" reads for her summer reading.  She wanted to read some books she could recommend to her students next year. This request has been in my thoughts for several days now and I finally decided this is how I want to share my list. Plus, with summer comes that time reflect on what we want to do "next year". So this is a perfect time to reflect on those books we shared this year that the kiddos LOVED!

First of all, let me explain myself. I LOVE to read the same books my students read. That could be why I have a 5,000 book library that I personally own. I love knowing what they are reading about because it opens a doorway to student engagement. Students love it when the "teacher" knows about their zombie book. I'll admit, I do have limits. I won't read gory or horror books. I will look up the book on Amazon or another book site and read about it so I have an understanding about the book.

Not only are these grade level books quick, easy reads for us as teachers and parents, I am always on the lookout for a new class read-aloud.

In the past I had a set list of books I would read outloud. Every year I read my "babies". Then I began to realize something. The students were less and less interested in those stories. Not because they weren't good stories, but because many of them had already read them or their brother or sister read it and told them about it. Or, it just simply isn't the current trend in reading (for example, it seems zombies and vampires have taken over the reading world as of late).

Before I ever begin a story, I ask who has read the book. If more than one or two have, I quietly set the book down and pick up my next choice. Some years I will even read a book to the class that I haven't read yet. This is a double-edged sword. I love being able to predict along with the students. we get to have some pretty amazing discussions because "the teacher really doesn't know". However, I have run into a couple sticky situations with inappropriate content or language. Usually this is easy to fix while I am reading along and sometimes, well, we just have to keep reading.

So, what is the point of all this, you ask?

HUGE! ENORMOUS! GIGANTIC!

My goal is to have a database collection of teacher-tested read-aloud books for grades 3-8 that will be here for years to come for teachers to use as a resource. Of course I need YOUR help to make it amazing. Even if you don't "read aloud" to your students, here will be a great collection of recommended books you can use to encourage your students to read (or find a great book for YOU to enjoy!)

Here's How It Works:

1) Blog about your favorite 1-5 book(s) (or more, your call). Be sure to add a picture of each book, which you will need them for the linky below. Tell why you chose the book, why you love it, and/or what makes it a great read-aloud. It is okay to blog about your favorite 5 books in the same post and then link each book here back to that same post. Please include the read-aloud reading round-up picture at the top of this post in YOUR post with a link back here.

2) Choose the grade level Linky that you think each book BEST fits. Add the links one at a time for each book. If you are like me, I choose a book based on lots of things, not just grade/text complexity. We can browse through all the grade levels to look for books. You can add as many books as you want. The more the merrier. Each book title should be linked separately in the linky USING THE TITLE AND AUTHOR as the NAME. The link will be the same posting for each book. Remember that just because you teach 4th doesn't mean that the book is actually a 4th grade level. It might be a 5th or 6th grade level book and should be linked there.


Please avoid:
a) Linking to a general site, blog, or store. These links will have to be deleted as they do not add to the goal of this undertaking.
b) leaving the title and author OFF the posting. It is vital we know the title and author of the book. These links may also have to be deleted.
c) add the same book to multiple levels. Choose the ONE level you feel it best fits.
d) listing the same book repeatedly in the same level. Please look over the grade levels to see if your favorite books are listed before you link a title. Duplicates will most likely not be deleted, it just becomes annoying when the same book is listed over and over. :)

Once You Add, share this page with all your colleagues. I envision a rich and complex resource of read-aloud suggestions that you and I can use for years to come. It only takes a second and can make a huge difference in the amount of books we have to browse.

ALL RIGHT- LET'S GET LINKING THOSE BOOKS!

Questions? Please leave a comment and I will get to it as soon as possible, OR, email at: mrhughestptrequests (at) gmail (dot) com,

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