Quick update

Well, I thought I'd hop on and do a quick post, since I realized I have only posted about twice this summer, and it has been a link-up both times.

The main reason I haven't posted is because I have done nothing for school so far. Zero. Zip. Nada. My summer has been busy, but it has been with other non-school things.

Teachers go back the 14th here, so I really only have two weeks left of summer and need to get my butt in gear. I did get some stuff done at the very end of this last school year--my syllabi are pretty much ready to go. I have all three classes mapped out and know what I want to do. It's just getting the nitty gritty details of the first week planned, copies made, etc. This has been the shortest summer I've had since I started teaching, and I wanted to truly take some time off from school, which I think we all need.

So what HAVE I been doing? Well, we finished our front yard landscaping!











We also went on our vacation to the Smoky Mountains. Oh my gosh-so gorgeous! Then 10+ hour car ride was all worth it. We had a private and secluded cabin that had this amazing view from all our windows.

We did so many fun things in the national park. Went on a few hikes, hiked up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park, drove part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and also spent time enjoying our cabin and escaping from life for a bit.

Today we are getting some landscaping installed in our back yard. We have one more house project to complete before school time--paint our patio. We have an ugly concrete slab for a patio, and we plan to use Rustoleum Restore paint to liven it up a bit. Hopefully we get that done this weekend.

Next week, I have a couple meetings for work. I probably need to go into my classroom and get things straightened up for the new year and start buckling down and getting back into school mode. But for now, I'm going to go relax with some coffee and my dog :)

July Currently

Linking up with Farley.

 

Listening....It'll be the last hot day this week! Tomorrow the high is only 70. Wahoo!

Loving...The Husband and I have been redoing all our front landscaping ourselves. Take a peek at a couple before/afters.

We still have the whole area in front of our house to do this week.



Thinking....We leave for TN in six days, so I need to make a packing list and get moving.

Wanting...My dog is at my parents' house because we had a ton of work done at the house yesterday. I can't wait to see her sweet little face today!

Needing...To clean. I always need to clean.

4th plans....Working on the front landscaping and then having a low-key night at home, since my pup is scared of fireworks!

Have a great holiday weekend and a happy July!

June Currently

Well this is the first year I've still been in school in June. Stupid snow days. But only FOUR MORE DAYS.

1. I love Pandora and this is my new favorite station. Perfect summer music.

2. Like I said, I wish I was already on summer break, but four more days ain't too shabby.

3. Yesterday we went to a wine and beer fest all day. FUN. But hot. Even though I parked myself under a shade tree, I obviously still got some UV rays because my upper arms are super burned today :( Yikes.

4. I have a ton of cute maxi dresses that I can wear to work or on weekends, but now I'm on the hunt for some shorter, more casual sundresses I can just throw on to beat the heat in 100 degree weather that still make me look put together.

5. We had grand plans to deep clean the house today. But then the dog needed a walk, we HAD to go out for brunch, I wanted to run to Target....yeah. House still hasn't been cleaned.

6. Last one is pretty self-explanatory and I wrote a more detailed summer bucket list last week. VERY excited for it to almost be summer.

Top 10 Things I Want To Do This Summer

Memorial Day weekend is always the unofficial start of summer. Unfortunately my summer break doesn't start for another 10 days this year because of all our snow days. Usually, I'm also off work by the time Memorial Day rolls around.

But nevertheless, it has been an absolutely gorgeous weekend here with lovely weather and we are visiting family this weekend. It has been a good time. And no work tomorrow!

So I am linking up with Mrs. Jump's class for her linky about the top ten things I want to do this summer.

 

1. Trip to Tennessee:  We are headed to the Smoky Mtns. in July, and I cannot wait! We're staying in a nice cabin in the mountains and have plenty of exploring already planned.

2. Projects around the house: We have some small (and bigger) projects in store, like landscaping, paining our fence, redecorating and possibly looking at new living room furniture.

3. Save money: Unfortunately summer is the time we seem to spend the most because I'm not working and have all the time in the world to shop, go out to eat, and do other activities that cost a lot of money. So we hope to put a lot in the bank this time instead.

4. See friends more: We want to make a conscious effort to hang out with our friends as much as we can and really enjoy time together.

5. Outdoor concerts: Our city has outside concerts by the river every weekend during the summer, and it's a favorite activity of ours. We hope to make it to many concerts this year.

6. Be more active: My husband and I are trying to do brisk walks around our neighborhood at least 4-5 times a week to get in a little better shape.

7. Read more: Summer is the season of reading for pleasure on my patio. I've already downloaded a few books on my Kindle I have yet to read.

7. Upload more to my TpT store: I've sold a lot of one of my products but only have about 6 products total. I really want to build it up this summer when I have more time.

8. Attend some professional development: There is already a workshop I plan to attend at the end of June, and I hope to get more knowledge on 1:1 programs, since we are going 1:1 next year.

9. Plan for next year: I always end up waiting until August (or late July) to think about next year's classes. I hope to work on them more throughout the summer instead of procrastinating it.

10. More quality time with my husband: I really should put this at #1. So often, at night or on weekends, we both sit in the same room not even talking: I'm reading, he's on the computer, etc. I want to make it a point to really BE together when we are together and do more fun things outside the house together, like going for hikes, trying new restaurants, etc.

May Currently

Wow, can't believe it is already May. Sure doesn't feel like it, what with our 45º weather and rain.

Linking up with Farley.

 

Listening....My husband is wonderful and ran to get me Starbucks this morning before work. It's so quiet in the house right now, except for the birds right outside my window.

Loving...Oh my gosh, such a long week! Even though my weekend is filled with grading, I'm glad it's the weekend.

Thinking....I have 40 essays to grade by next Thursday...because next Thurs, 40 more come in that have to be graded by that Monday. So yeah....my next 10 days will really suck.

Wanting...We got a glimpse of spring a couple weeks ago, but now it's crappy and cold again.

Needing....We're having a big garage sale May 17, and I have done exactly zero to prepare for it.

Surprise....I love Mrs. Orman's blog for secondary English ideas. She has a lot of neat lesson plans and good ideas. Check her out!

Conducting mock interviews with students

It's been awhile since I did a content-heavy post. It was a long first week back at work after Spring Break and then a whole week off for my father-in-law's death/funeral. I had a lot of catch-up to do last week, but I survived.

One of the things I did this past week was mock interviews with my English IV/Technical Writing students. There are a few ways to give students an interview experience in class, and I have done all three of these. It really depends on the resources you have available and how much time you want to spend/put into doing them.

1. Mock interviews with professionals from the area. This is my favorite, and in my opinion, is the most beneficial. I have gotten into contact with area professionals from all fields--preferably people who do interviewing and hiring as part of their job. I have gotten a manager from the bank, a worker from one of the area labor unions, a fire chief, librarian, the superintendent of our district, and many others to come in and actually conduct practice interviews with my students. I provide a list of questions they can ask, but they can, of course, ask their own.

The students each have about 7-8 minutes for their practice interview (I have about 6 professionals per class period). Students are asked to dress nicely that day, come with a copy of their resume, and take the mock interview seriously. Afterward, each interviewer fills out a quick survey on each student's interviewing skills.

I love doing it this way because it's as close to a real interview as you can get without actually interviewing for a job. I've even had a couple of the interviewers offer my students jobs they had open because they did so well! The downside to this method is that you obviously need to spend a lot of time calling people and finding those who would be willing and have time to do this. The nice thing is, once you've done it once, you can keep those same contacts for next year.

2. Another method is to interview students yourself at the front of the room and have their peers write down suggestions as they watch the mock interview. I set up two chairs at the front of the room and introduce myself, shake hands, etc as if it was a real interview. I keep it to 3-4 questions per student. This usually takes two class periods.

Students at their desk have a slip of paper with each student's name on it. They write down positives and suggestions during the mock interview, then pass them forward. I always read through them before giving them to the students to make sure nothing is inappropriate or mean. This way, a student gets 20+ pieces of constructive criticism from peers.

The plus to this method is that there isn't as much time and effort to planning it. The downside is that it isn't as authentic as having other people interview them. They are more comfortable with you as their teacher.

3. Finally, if you are short on time and just want to give them a quick glimpse at possible questions, I have used myinterviewsimulator.com before. It is free to use and requires no signing up.

Students should have ear buds or head phones while going through this website. They can click on different categories of questions and hear the computer ask them the questions, as well as show what some good responses to that question would look like. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a free service that allows students to type or speak responses and then give feedback. I think some college career centers have something like this, but you must be a student to use it.

This is obviously the least realistic option, but it is good for a one-day activity or for a class where you just want to give them a brief introduction to interviewing skills. If your class is doing a whole interviewing unit, I'd recommend options 1 or 2.

Have you conducted mock interviews with your classes? How did you do them?

Currently April

Linking up with Farley for this month's Currently.

A few days later on this Currently....it's been a long, rough week. My father-in-law passed away last Wed.

So I was off work all last week ( and we had Spring Break the week before that), so I've been off for TWO weeks. And I have approximately 58239 papers to grade and things to plan and do and make-up, etc., as you can see from my Currently above. Very stressed out.

And as you can tell from my first answer, I am doing none of that right now :)

Here's hoping the rest of this month improves. We can only go up from here, right?