Me on the Map - US State Reports

I have been meaning to post about my Me on the Map - US State Reports pack for 2 months!  Before we moved to HI, my son came home with a Me on the Map assignment.  He was supposed to make a project about the state where he was born.  The only requirement was that he needed to be creative.  

Yikes!  I'm not good at crafty stuff.  Well, I might not be able to scrapbook and make other cutesy stuff, but I can create stuff on the computer!

Here's my son with his report:

I thought this might be useful for other people, too.  So here it is.  There are 2 versions.  You can either have your students do it for the state they were born in or they can do it for a state you assign.  Every state has its own individual page.  There are also 2 versions for the pages.  One page has just lines so the students have to write their own information.  The other page has the sentence partially filled in (like in my son's report).

Click on the link below to check it out in my TpT store.

Five for Friday!

For the first time, I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs for her 

Five for Friday is 5 random things from this week.

1.  I started my new job!  I'm doing resource for K students.  I'm sharing a classroom with the other 1st grade SPED resource teacher.  So we're doing some things separate and some things together with our students.  We're kinda figuring it out as we go.  The only real downfall is that the room is pretty cluttered and disorganized.  I'm trying to feel things out, but the disorganization is making me feel very anxious!

2.  I love being able to walk to the beach after work!  It's so relaxing and makes any stress disappear.  We take our dog with us, and she chases the ball up and down the beach.  Who can't feel happy watching this?

3.  I have fallen in love with Kristen Hannah books.  I just finished Magic Hour this week.  I'm heading back to the library (the base library has a great selection here) tomorrow to stock up on more books!  These are the books I've read by her so far.

4.  The aide I work with gave me a local grapefruit (I think it has a Hawaiian name but not sure).  It's HUGE!  I can't wait to cut it open tomorrow and see what it tastes like!  Please do not look at the hideous furniture in the background!  We are living with temporary furniture since our household goods are STILL not here!

5.  We may not have our household goods yet, but our car arrived this week!!!  Yay!!!!  I was so excited!  We had to rent a car for almost a month straight.  You can imagine how quick that added up!  :/  Life is much better now that we have our car that the whole family can fit in.  

Currently January.....and an update

It's my favorite time of the month!  I love Oh' Boy 4th Grade's monthly Currently!  The move had me without internet for a few days, so I was so disappointed that I couldn't do January's right away.

So here's the update on the big Hawaiian move.  We've been here 3 weeks now.  The place is BEAUTIFUL!  Right now is the rainy season so it has been raining a good bit.  But this is not a bad way to spend winter, at all!

So here's the bulleted update of how we're doing:

1.  We moved out of temporary lodging today into a rental house today.  The wait for base housing is 5-9 months.  We were so fortunate to find a house that will let us rent month-to-month AND let us have our dog.  

2.  Our dog is still in doggie jail (aka the kennel) but hopefully we'll be setting her free in the next day or so.  We sure do miss her.

3.  Our car is sailing over the ocean as we speak.  We shipped it over 3 weeks ago but it's not here.  :(  We did buy a 2nd car for a good price once we got here.  However, one car isn't enough to get us all around, so we're still shelling out the dough for a rental car.  Double :(

4.  Our stuff is sailing over the ocean right now, too.  Including our express shipment which doesn't really seem so EXPRESS right now.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I want all my stuff.  My comfy bed, my comfy couch, my comfy pillows...oh come on ship!  Sail faster!

5.  I GOT A JOB!!!  Yeah!!!!!!  I'll be doing Resource for K-1.  I don't know very many details about the job, but I'll know more tomorrow.  I officially start next Monday, but tomorrow I'll go in to observe and meet some people.  So more details to follow.  I will say that if you're special ed and thinking about moving to Hawaii........there are job openings!!!  WOW!  I got a TON of calls for interviews after I already accepted this position.  If you're looking for a job, make sure you check out my post about Teacher Interview Questions.

This weekend we went up to the North Shore, because there were 20 foot waves.  So freaking cool!  Here's a few pics.  Disclaimer - these are random surfers.  I have no idea who they are!

I love this pic of my kids.  It looks like they're running from the big waves.

As for my one little word....I chose time.  Time is something I need to work on.  I need to make better use of my time at home and at work.  I want to spend more quality time with my family.  I need to make time to take care of myself.  2012 was a super stressful year for me.  I want the time in 2013 to be better spent and more enjoyable.