sometimes pinning can turn into a project

and tomorrow, not only will I be trying out some inspiration from a pin

I get to do it with my former kiddos

yup, I'm heading back to my classroom from last year

and I can't wait to share what we make together

I always love doing something new

and getting to teach an art lesson to former students

 is surely something new

and awesome.

sunday's "so they said"

right before break we took a day to celebrate our hard work that has been going on lately

in our room

between compiling a nine piece poetry anthology

and having LOTS of district big-whigs coming into our room

looking very intimidating with their business suits and iPads

and asking OH so many questions of my kids

we needed a day to kick back and just celebrate

and that's what we did

my favorite memories of the day include:

finger snapping with my kids instead of clapping

eating a donut with first period but feeling like I had eaten 7 by the end of the day

there is such a thing as smelling too many donuts

having one student go up not just once to read her poetry

but a total of 6 separate times

each reading slightly different, including accents, sitting poses, etc.

my favorite things they said that day include:

me prompting a student to read a second piece of poetry because he chose to read

his haiku poem, only three lines, and he looked up at me and said oh so seriously

"can I read the same poem again?"

now, let me tell you that typing this quote does it no justice

I was laughing so hard that I was literally crying

later in the day, one of my students as she sat down on the stool said

"oh wow, as soon as I sit here I just feel so dark and mysterious, ok, 

now I am ready to read my poem"

and lastly, I was so excited to hear this last quote from our woodshop teacher as he saw the donuts on the back counter of my classroom

"Oh that's right, you have your poetry coffeehouse read today."

seeing as how we don't really talk, and our classrooms are on opposite sides of the campus

I was curious how he knew so much about my day

the kids of course

and they were so excited they even asked their shop teacher to come listen to their poems!

they loved it.  I loved it.  done & done

local lovin' [travel edition]

it has been quite a while since I've done a local lovin' post

but our recent vacation find in san diego cannot go unmentioned

we booked our room at the Lafayette Hotel the morning of our stay

for a whopping $59, and the reviews were good

but our experience was excellent

it is no surprise that the husband and I are lovers of all things from the past

and The Lafayette Hotel in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego

is really a great example of why

the hotel has recently been undergoing some major renovations

and I loved when staying there how they displayed the hotel's history for guests to see

in fact back in the day it was frequented by the likes of Bob Hope

not bad for us nerds for all things old and glamourous

the neighborhood was pretty simple

near major San Diego attractions like the Zoo & Balboa Park

but the "main drag" just had a great feel the husband & I couldn't get enough of

if only they made signs like these nowadays

and I would be an even happier camper

So if you are ever in the area, I would highly suggest this place.  

for couples I would ask for a room by the pool

(we just got insanely lucky!)

and families, they have larger rooms & bungalows that would be a great fit for more than two

other local lovin's here

travel local lovin's here

the details:

Lafayette Hotel & Suites San Diego
2223 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Visit their website here!

from south to north

time to head back up north

and I must admit, I'm pretty ready for it

not quite ready to go back to school

or the fact that I have class next weekend

but all in all, normal life doesn't sound too bad

and then there were three [day two]

yesterday the husband and I put our ridiculous disneyland skills to use

when bringing along one of the mr.'s lifelong friends

who happens to live less than thirty minutes from disneyland

and had not been for over fifteen years!  

turns out - we are pretty fun people to visit mickey with

and just a few more instagram photos to add to the vacation collection

that I will be turning oh so fast into a blurb book

if you haven't used blurb before, I suggest it

not only have I created wedding albums through this program

I've also done one of their instagram books that just couldn't be any easier

one more night of fun to come

today I'm taking it easy, catching up around the blog world

 trying to get rid of the cold my ever so giving husband let me have

and not grading ANY of the papers that I brought with me this week

165 poetry anthologies can always wait, right?!?

disneyland, instagram-ed [day one]

are you obsessed with this little app too?

well, if so, I would love to follow along

you can find me @lyndsaylew

today vintage...tomorrow Disneyland

and I'm so happy about all of that 

I could almost fly away on one of these bikes

today we visited the Long Beach Antique mall, again

no treasures we couldn't live without

but it made for a pretty nice afternoon

after that we've been resting up

and will soon be carb-ing up with close friends

because tomorrow, we get our magic on

be prepared for too many instagram photos for sure

southern california, pretty in to you right now

so you know how sometimes you just have trips, and they don't go exactly as planned

and they might not live up to your expectations

well, that hasn't been this trip at all

luckin' into awesomness has been the theme so far

and I'm not going to let that stop anytime soon.

currently blogging from my new favorite place

poolside

and yes, I'm pretty into it
photo strips taken with IncrediBooth
I picked it up for free, but it is still only $.99 (not bad)

poetry reading, finger snapin', donut filled friday

and I wouldn't have had it any other way

so after working on nine pieces of poetry on this last chapter

and putting it together into a final anthology

we celebrated today by turning our room into a "coffeehouse"

and if you're keeping track of my elementary v. middle school debate

well, this week, middle school is winning

side note - bags are packed & I'm ready to go

vacation starts tomorrow

thrifted it thursday

well, typically the thrifting gods direct me to nothing but pyrex

however, when I stumbled on this orange beauty, I just had to get it

even though we have NO room in our little kitchen

I just couldn't resist

so this Beautyware Cake Carrier is

adorable, vintage, and pretty handy

week two: instagram & february

valentines day

whether you celebrate, think it's a ridiculous day, are single or divorced

there isn't much you can't love about finding a bowl full of vintage valentines

that were never even used

my valentine's gift to my students today

prepping them for being "on display" for the district rounds that will be coming through our room

multiple times tomorrow

wish me luck

happy hearts & red pretty things day

here's to a day of all things red, pink, heart-shaped and such

last friday the husband and I enjoyed dinner with friends

where we ate pizza, shared stories, got to hang out with one pretty adorable baby

and topped the evening off by making lots of very awesomely valentines-ie cake pops

and I can take NO photo credit for these greats shots of our final product

so thanks Evie for snapping some real photos of our hard work!

trying to take pictures on my iphone after 11:00 pm on a Friday night = not so pretty

sunday's "so they said"

well, this week I had the pleasure, no honor, to chaperone yet another middle school dance

being on "freak patrol" is always such a shining moment in my career

I also got into a very interesting tangent conversation with 4th period on Friday

I had to ask one of my kids to put away his old school calculator that he was 

messing around with during class

I let him know that I already had to worry about people

texting, updating their facebook status, etc.

well, this led to some confessing on their part

apparently the thing to do in class, when you don't care about what's being taught

is to hide your earbud cord from your ipod in your sweatshirt sleeve,

and then just lean your head on your hand to the side

and walah - listening to music in class

not the teacher

you should have seen the look on my face

REALLY?

I asked, thinking I was oh so hip and on top of these things

clearly I'm not

and then I ask the question

 So, have you done this in my class????

a few quickly spoke up

"no, I actually find this class kind of interesting"

my response, well thanks - so your telling me you haven't done that in this room

"Well...we have, but only when you have a sub."

so there you go

compliment, yes

realizing just one more reason why NOTHING gets done when I'm gone

it all makes since now 

for now I'm going to get my geek on with the return of The Walking Dead

and relish in the thought of only teaching five more days until I'm off to

the happiest place on earth!

ten on ten [february]

happy ten on ten!

other tens here

week one: instagram & february

recipe for a bad teacher

this weekend I was asked to write a recipe poem in class

and seeing how this year I have really been grappling with the concept of quality teaching

I instantly knew what I wanted to write a recipe for - a bad teacher

so with the help of my fellow educators, Amy & Kathy

here's what we came up with

and while trying to not do that today

we did this instead

we looked back at our past two benchmark tests

and they told me what questions they struggled on

and more importantly...why

and hey, ask kids to use post-its and it is game on.

tomorrow, we'll use poetry & post-its together

so I'm pretty excited about that

sunday's "so they said"

let's just say this week almost took everything I had

just to get through

the chapter was extremely challenging

and seeing as it is after winter break

the calendar has quickly become my greatest enemy

with STAR testing right around the corner

so, now my days consist of teaching

the best I possibly can

and do it in record time

here are two of my favorite comments from this week

first, when talking about the War of 1812

and how it pretty much was the end of the Federalist party

groans and cheers instantly filled the room

now why do teenagers care that a political party, that mind you,  they hadn't heard of 

before that week

finally had met their demise?

well, because for the "Republicans" of our campaign they viewed it as a final victory

and the poor "Federalists" were feeling very defeated!

and really, my favorite conversation I just happened to hear 

when walking around on Friday before the bell rang

"So, how do you think you did on that test?"

response: "I'm pretty sure I just kicked the crap out of that test.  Oh, sorry Mrs. Lewis.  I didn't see you there."

I responded: "Don't apologize, I'm glad it wasn't the other way around!"

And truth be told

they did kick the crap out of that test

and if the word crap is my biggest problem - well, I'll take that

a weekend with poetry

and getting one step closer to my masters all at the same time

this week I'll actually break down these lessons

but for now, here's what I was up to today

and yes, this did become a poem

and hopefully I will be adapting this lesson this week for my kids

oh, and I look forward to sharing a very new, very exciting blog

for you to check out

let's just say I love sister bloggers

and I now am one half of just that!

because clearly one wasn't enough

so this month I decided that joining in on one of the oh so popular photo challenges

sounded like a good idea

and not only did one sound good - but two did

so thanks to Maryam of Pamplemousse 1983

for sharing this particular challenge

join in if you want

#febphotoskill

thrifted it thursdays

these two little guys sat on the shelf at the thrift store for several weeks

I just kept waiting for those tag colors to get to 75% off

I think because the green one appeared to be a little beat up

but clearly it was just in need of a good scrub

and the blue wheat, being a promotional piece, most likely got passed up

I must admit, when I saw it at first I wasn't sure if it was Pyrex either

so now the lime green & blue wheat casserole have joined the rest of the family

just the little things

so maybe I was feeling a tad guilty about the length of the study guide

or maybe I just had a little blank corner to fill

either way, a little personal touch never hurts

and let me tell you

these hand made notes continue to be a hit

so I'm just going to roll with it

and stock up on Sharpies while I'm at it