Currently for the Month of July

It's summer, so my blog will be temporarily resuscitated (well, I hope so anyway). To kick things off, I am participating in the July Currently (hosted by Oh' Boy 4th Grade).

Listening - I am currently listening to the Jimmy Buffett station on Pandora. I am by no means a Parrothead, but Mr. Buffett's music has a very special place in my heart. My wife and I (back before we had 5 kids) had the privilege of traveling to Las Vegas on our honeymoon and to Orlando to celebrate a few of our anniversaries. At each of those places, we ate dinner at Margaritaville. It was a fantastic time and a great place to eat. So listening to Jimmy Buffett, Zac Brown, etc. reminds us of those trips. Needless to say, this station is on quite a bit.

Loving - Summer school started today! I know a lot of teachers really look forward to having summer vacation so they can relax at home, but I love teaching and I love being with students. Our county offers summer school most summers and I have taught in many of the sessions. This year I am in my own building, in my own classroom, so it feels awesome. I am looking forward to a great couple of weeks. Plus, as I mentioned, my wife and I have 5 kids, so the extra money goes a long way to help pay for new school clothes, shoes, and school supplies.

Thinking - I am thinking that I need to get started on my summer projects. I really want to make some new bow ties. I have two Teachers Pay Teachers activities that I need to make (fractions on a number line using mixed numbers and a set of graphing task cards for picture graphs). And, most importantly, I need to start making the videos for my flipped classroom idea. I have about 7 weeks, so I need to get cracking!

Wanting - I really want a MacBook Pro. I mean, I really want a MacBook Pro. There are so many cool features and apps on a MacBook that just aren't available on my current PC. I listened to a podcast on making iBooks. I need to make iBooks. I watched a video on using iMovie. I need to make movies on iMovie. One of my favorite YouTube channels is called Film Riot and they use a program called Final Cut. I need to use Final Cut. However...a MacBook Pro costs about $1,000, give or take. That is definitely not in the budget. My wife needs a new laptop and we need to replace the tile flooring in our kitchen. So, yeah, I guess I need to keep wanting. That is unless someone wants to bestow a wonderful gift upon me. (Either that or visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and check out the awesome math products I have available.)

Needing - I need to get some motivation. We just got back from vacation last week. It was an awesome time, but I haven't really accomplished anything since we got home. It didn't help that it took nearly two hours to get home today because of all of the road construction, but I still need to get my butt in gear if I am going to accomplish all of the things I listed above.

All Star - I love the fact that my fellow teachers come to me to ask tech advice. I really love technology and look for ways to add technology to my lessons and teaching. I'm not the most technical person, but I do enjoy looking for new ideas and coming up with ways to make my lessons more engaging by implementing technology into them. I also love sharing those ideas and techniques with others. Our Technology Resource Teacher decided to pursue another adventure at the end of this school year. There were a lot of teachers who approached me to pursue the job. Sadly, I don't have a degree in technology or I might have considered it.

So that is where I'm at on this, the first day of July. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday and July 4 is my son's birthday. July 31 is our 11th anniversary. Life is good. And, to show you how good life is, I will leave you with some pictures from our vacation.

July Currently

For the first time, I am participating in a "Currently." I've always wanted to do one, so let's get after it.

Listening: While I am not the biggest country music fan, I do have a special place in my heart for the Zac Brown Band. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am such a huge Dave Matthews Band fan and their style of music seems to fit together so well. It may also have something to do with the fact that my wife and I love going to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant (even though we've only eaten there 3 times) and Zac Brown is in heavy rotation there.

Loving: Every once in a while, my older boys go in the basement and the little one will sit quietly and play with his Legos. Normally, he builds "castles" or "towers." However, today, when I asked him what he was building, he told me, "Dinosaurs!" I think he remembers seeing the large cardboard cutout of Grimlock (one of the Dinobots from Transformers) at Target. I tried to take a picture, but he kept running away.

Thinking: This is probably a bit too mushy, but I do love my wife and I am extremely thankful for her. We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this month (July 31). During that time, we have grown our family to 4 boys and our soon-to-arrive daughter. She has survived two masters degrees, the loss of our dog, and a Dave Matthews Band concert (on a college campus...you know what I mean.) I am beyond lucky to have her.

Wanting: We are expecting our daughter to be born any time now. Her due date is July 31, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that she comes sooner. This pregnancy has been very difficult for my wife, more so than with the other ones. I was a bit disappointed not to be teaching summer school this year, but it means I will be home for when it is "go time."

Needing: I really need to start thinking about next school year. There are a lot of changes that are taking place on my team, some good and some that will take some getting used to. In addition, I will be the PBIS coach for our school and I want to make sure that I am doing a good job and helping our school reach the next level in regards to PBIS. I know that it is only July 1, but it is so easy to just veg out on the couch and not get anything accomplished. It'll be August 8 (retreat planning) and August 13 (PBIS meeting) before I know it.

Fourth of July Plans: Six years ago, my wife and I were blessed to welcome our second child into our family. She started having contractions early in the evening on July 3 and we rushed to the hospital that night and he was born in the wee hours of July 4. Our son loves the fact that his birthday is July 4 because he gets fireworks on his birthday every year.

So, that's what's going on in the Pearson family at the present time. As you can see, we are about to have some big changes. I just hope those changes hold off until after we see the Lion King on July 6!

I would also like to thank Farley for allowing me to link up with her and the other great teachers who are participating.