The Sunday Scoop {7.26.15}

I'm so glad to be back for Teaching Trio's link up for the The Sunday Scoop!  Be sure to hop over to their blog to check out everyone else linking up!

I am a week away from school starting back (WHERE did summer go???!!!???).  So all my have to do's are related to that.  Our district is giving us 3 work days, but has filled them up with meetings (insert sad trombone sound).  I vowed to stay out of my classroom and away from all things school related until last week.  I only have a few small room set up things left to do, so my goal after that is to lesson plan and make copies...and laminate!

Last year, I got SO super tired of kids having to drag their chairs over to my small group table, so I ordered 6 of these stools from IKEA.

Has anyone else tried these in your classroom?  I'm really hoping these hold up well.

Since this is my last week of summer vacation, I'm only planning on working on school work Monday and Tuesday.  After that we are headed off to Six Flags and spending time with family.  Do you have some end of the summer plans you are going to squeeze in?

The Last 5 Months....

So I disappeared...almost completely for the last 5 months and I'm back today to explain why!

Have you ever felt comfortable with your life?  Felt that you had gotten to a good place?  Had a pretty clear idea of what the immediate future held?

I felt that way too in February.  It was a lot like the picture above...miles of beautiful, straight roadway ahead.  Little did I know that my life would change dramatically at the end of that short little month.

One of my students started missing a lot (and I mean A LOT) of school days in a row.  A child who was always there, suddenly missed two weeks in a row.  I spent a good amount of time that last week in February trying to track her down.

Tuesday, March 3, I found out she had been removed from her home by Social Services.  The next day, the social worker showed up at the school to withdraw her and I volunteered to take her.  Thursday, another case worker came to my home, and Friday at 7 pm, Little Miss was dropped off at my house.

I went from being single with no children to sharing a tiny apartment with a 7 year old.  It was a big change.

Because I was her teacher and it was considered an emergency placement, I was able to get a provisional foster care license.  I FINALLY completed all the classes and paperwork just a few short weeks ago and am now fully licensed.

Little Miss is (thankfully) an absolute sweetheart and since I had been her teacher, we didn't have any drama related to her not knowing me.

We are living one day at a time...or court date to court date (which we have another one coming up the second week of August and if you are a praying person, we would covet your prayers).

So that, in a nutshell, is why I completely disappeared from Teachers Pay Teachers and blogging.  I needed some time this summer to really recharge after a challenging school year and becoming a parent! If you are on Instagram, I would love to connect with you there (@theprimarysource)!  It is the only social media platform that I haven't completely neglected!

I hope you and yours have been having a wonderful summer break...we sure have!