Tuesday

quotes and music go a long way. i promise.

"If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in
the life of a child—become a teacher." 
-obama (state of the union 2011)

after watching/listening and following the state of the union on...twitter (yes, i said twitter)...i felt a shock of inspiration, determination, and motivation go through me...(all the 'tions'...haha) so i wanted to share some suggestions, and a couple of my favorite quotes that always help me feel empowered or inspired when I feel like I have hit a brick wall...

i have to start with this quote....you ALWAYS have to stay true to yourself.

     "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."      Albert Einstein


after reading this HOPEFULLY you feel empowered and ready to make a difference... NOW you need to listen to your absolute favorite song with the speakers up loud....and I promise that tomorrow will be the best yet...(if it's not...I don't know how to help...sorry.)



here is a sneak peek to my "i need a pick me up" music playlist...(no judgement, no order)
- for what its worth-buffalo springfield
everybody i love you- csn&y
- the best of what's around- dave matthews band (duh)
- everyday people-sly and the family stone
- higher ground-stevie wonder
- drive my car/theword- the beatles (the beatles love mix version)
- nothing from nothing- billy preston
 that's not my name- the ting tings (just because a girls gotta dance and good memories)
***for those of you wondering, yes i was born in the 80s.... i just have good taste.

my suggestion to you is, always start off your day by music, it just starts your day off up beat and happy, which leads to being inspired and determined, yes?  try this out tomorrow, and let me know how the rest of your day pans out....
A) do you feel happier?
B) do you have more drive?
C)are you more into that lesson, that you thought might be boring?
but most importantly....
D)did you make a difference?

ok now sleep on it, implement tomorrow....and let me know how it goes...did it work?

feeling inspired and now rambling,

Thursday

“creativity is contagious. pass it on.” -einstein

"I would go absolutely anywhere I heard there was something creative happening."            -andy warhol
this quote is so me....in each and every way. which is why tomorrow is going to be such a fun day in second grade!!!....why???....we are going on a "creativity hunt" throughout our school to wrap up our "let's create" theme in language arts. here is a sneak peek.....i'll post more pictures and printable files this weekend!!!

...look what one of my students brought to school for me yesterday, my heart melted when he carried it in the room....a homemade peace sign, filled with some of my favorites....(see i need to cut back on the coke zero, haha) do you think he knows me well??? :) Obviously, our creativity theme has rubbed off of my kiddos. another example of why I love my job so much.....



anyways....happy friday....check back for more ideas, pictures, and printable's this weekend....here is another "andy warhol-ism"  for you...everyone should live by this, you'd be alot happier at work, i promise!!


"I'm just so busy ... not working, but busy playing, because work is play when it's something you like." -andy warhol

Monday

i get by with a little help from my...."things"

i was just sitting here thinking about going back to work tomorrow....then started thinking about all of the "things" that i have to HAVE every weekday or else i might as well get back into bed because my day will be "unbalanced" and "off"....so i thought it would be interesting to make a list of my "must haves" that get me through the workday....i am a little embarrassed that i NEED some of these just to make my day feel "right", but oh well it makes me happy, and it's who i am!!!


so here it goes....


1. i need my horrible iphone alarm tone to wake me up every morning, or i will have 20 lonely, teacher-less  students at school....my iphone also serves as my window to the outside world throughout my day (of course only during 'break' times). when my kids are doing something that i want to remember/document/have as a memory/the list goes on....it is so handy to just pull out snap a couple pictures, or take a quick video clip of it. (which i am trying to do more of because at the end of the year, i want to make a video of our school year together for each of my students.) 


2.  this is a BIG "must have"....MUSIC. i have to have some type of music playing at all times throughout my day. which most of the is the beatles, duh. my goal at the beginning of the year was to have "good day sunshine" playing each day when the children arrived, but sadly i think i can count on one hand how many times that goal has been accomplished. on the other hand, more than half of my class can now name all 4 beatles....not bragging or anything... haha :)

3.   i  look forward to picking out my 'daily ensemble' every morning...this may seem either A) stupid  B) corny C) snobbish D) really fun or E) all of the above
...if you chose D, we should become friends...haha....no but listen, here is my reasoning....my mom always told me growing up, "you feel how you look"...and that really is true, the days that i am running late and look all sloppy...i feel tired and sluggish (which i know is all in my head), but that is why i think it is really important to look your best because that is when you have more confidence and you are happier....i know that's the case for me!!!
....if you know me at all, you are probably thinking CLARKS is on your list?? WHAT??...the rumors are true, some of my favorite pairs of shoes are now clarks. it is official...i'm a teacher.

 if i wasn't educating young minds, i would probably be doing something in fashion...but i'm not so....i'll stick with my clarks and early morning ensemble decisions.


4.  which brings me to #4 my caffeine addiction....i know i know, it is not good for me, but i have to start off my day with either my starbucks skinny vanilla latte, or some home-brewed coffee....on the days that i don't have my coffee glued to my hand in the morning....my kids know somethings up!! then after lunch i'll have a coke zero in my texas tech coozie glued to my hand (which i am trying to be healthier and stop drinking coke zero and switch to green tea). i'll let you how that goes....hahaha

5.  mr. sketch markers and flair pens pretty much just make me happy. if we are making a poster, anchor chart, if i am writing a note home, a to-do list, or writing up on the dukane.....i HAVE to be using my colorful markers/pens for the sole purpose of just flat ou making me happy. everything is just more interesting, entertaining, and pleasant when it is colorful....i'm sorry if you don't agree, because your life must be pretty 'black & white'....


 6. i know the year is 2011 and i should be more "green" and have an online calendar, or use my ical...but nope sorry i can't. i have to write my birthdays/important dates, appointments, meetings, and most definetly happy hours (hahaha) down in my old fashioned calendar and have it with me at all times. it is also full of my many "to-do" lists, that i make daily, you know the ones that  half of the time you don't even look at again....don't lie...i know you all do that too, not just me. 
also, i couldn't get through even just half a day of scholl without my lesson plan binder...that is either glued to my dukane cart or my desk....i would be lost without it. i mean with all the time that my teammates and i put into making one every week....it better be used religiously, right???



well that concludes my list of "must haves"....i hope you found it entertaining....i would love to read about some of your daily "must haves"!!! 

until next time,




wasting time or not?? oh well....happy MLK day.

one of my projects i was able to check off my 'to do' list during this amazing 3 day weekend was....to clean and organize all my files on my macbook. it was so great to just sit and waste time on my computer because i never get to do that....it was a treat to say the least. i know it sounds boring, dorky, and a real waste of time....BUT it wasn't i promise.... 


anyways, while cleaning and filing the mac i stumbled across my poetry file, i made in one of my education classes while at texas tech. 


i thought this poem from my file was fitting for today.... ennnnnnnjoy! :)

more fun interesting things to come by tonight....fingers crossed!!!



think different.


I just came across this video on a friends tumblr site, and thought it was pretty amazing. If you know me at all, then you would agree that this video fits me pretty well...(am i right???)...  that is basically what I set out to do in my life.... become a teacher who makes changes and a difference in children's lives, and in the world. (baby steps, right??)


my goal for tomorrow is to blog some of my new projects I am working on, so be on the lookout!!!


also, something to think about....

this picture says it all.....

i'm pretty sure i did this maybe 40% of the time when i was little.... ok ok ok like 75%...oooopps....  i also posted this because...welllll, i love andy warhol....






Okay, well I hope you enjoyed my late night inspirations. (I know i did....)


xoxo, miss kranz

Sunday

newest DIY project

I wish I could say that I came up with this incredibly cute idea, but I did not. There were 4 teachers chosen at my school to go on a "business" trip to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA. Here's the link to the schools website...I would try to explain it, but I know I wouldn't do it justice on how cool/amazing it really is!!.... ---> check out the RCA 

Right before we went on break, while walking down the hallway to various places in the school... p.e. , lunch, music, library, you know the important places...ha ;). I noticed children with buttons on their shirts that said, "Ask me what I made on Ms./Mrs. _______ TEST!!!" They could only be wearing those buttons if they made a 100% on the test. Teachers were stopping those children all day in the hallway asking them what they got, giving high fives, and getting the chance to tell them what a great job they did. Their faces were lighting up so brightly when they got to tell anybody and everybody in the school that they made a 100% on their test. To see just how proud they were of their accomplishment was priceless.
I loved this cute idea so much, that I had to make my own button for my for my class.... 

Here are my buttons that I made on Friday.....



 Here is a close up of the buttons...

Even though I am sad that my first break is coming to an end....I am so excited to get back to the classroom and see all my students (hopefully) smiling faces on Wednesday!!! :) 

Also, 5 of my students get to wear my new buttons on Wednesday when we get back to school for a Math assessment they took on Thursday before break (yes, a test right before break!!!...we are hard workers!)

So THANK YOU to those teachers who brought back this idea from the Ron Clark Academy...I can't wait to learn and implement more of the fun/cool things you all learned there!!! :)

until we meet again,
miss kranz

Here is how I made mine....
- I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the large plastic buttons (you can pop off the back to them and fill them with your own paper), I also bought colorful scrapbook paper to them on. Next, I typed "Ask me what I made on Miss Kranz's Test" in a cute font (I'm all about the fonts) in a Word Document, and  printed that on the scrapbook paper. Then I used the back of the button to trace a circle around the words, and cut out all my circles. Lastly, I popped the circles inside the buttons.
anddddd there you have it ladies and gentlemen....your very own buttons for your kiddos!!!