Currently: March

Cannot believe it's March already! Linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade, to share the Currently love.

Listening
I had off to Grade 4 camp on Wednesday so it is cleaning and packing central here tonight. 

Loving
My hubs is a saint, truelly. We have a lot going on at the minute and he has been amazing, God love him. I also turn 30 {gasp} on Saturday so Birthday Week has started! We have already been out for tea to Mason's (it's a-ma-zing) and I have recived a few sweet gifts. Birthday week in our house rocks!

Thinking
I just started packing tonight for our 2-night camp and think I am organised... Hopefully.

Wanting
I received a FitBit from the Hubs as an early birthday present and I am loving it. A kiddo in my room has one too so we have been competing (he has been kicking my behind but oh well). A quick walk tonight will get the next 1200 steps for today. Yeah!

Needing
I just made some super cute Reward Coupons for my class which I need to laminate. Download this freebie here or click on the picture to download.

Spring Easter Break Plans
Unfortunately Autumn has begun here, I am such a Summer girl. At least Easter holidays start in 3 weeks. We are road tripping along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide for a week.

Thanks for stopping by & remember that my blog is in the process of changing so please re-follow me on Bloglovin under Stars & Wishes.

Text to World Connections with The Lorax

We have had another fantastic week in 3/4, looking at making Text to World connections. I love these free posters from Megan at Teaching Super Power.

Earlier in the week we read and watched The Lorax by Dr Seuss and made some great TtS Connections. A lot of the kiddos were linking the story further afield to pollution in other countries, pollution and tree logging at home and the need to recycle. We used this free worksheet to record our findings and the key parts of the story.

On Friday we made these super cute Lorax cups. The cups were inspired by this craft and were really easy to make. As you can probably tell I didn't have any orange cups so the kids either coloured the cups in with texta or covered the cup with paper. We also improvised on the trees a bit but all was good :)

And these sweet Lorax's. You can find the template from Lovely Little Designs here.

Check out my Dr Seuss board for more Lorax ideas and to get ready for Dr Seuss week.

Bluntness and an overshare

I woke up this morning and decided to change my blog name. Books, Bugs and Boxes has served me well for the last year and a bit but it's time for a change, to move on, to find something that fits 'me' a little better. So for the next little while we'll be in transition until I get my blog header changed but welcome to "A Star and a Wish".

This is still my teaching blog but it's my life blog too. The title fits into both. I don't have the patience for two blogs, two instagrams, etc. Or you could say I'm lazy :) I'm just going for simplifying my life. 

Onto the story and the overshare. There may be a few more of these coming up {be warned}....

This morning I woke up feeling guilty because of something I blurted out at a bbq last night. My bluntness tends to get me into trouble, has basically since I started speaking but lately, I have been making more statements that are coming out as socially unaccepted gaffs. Most likely because I feel awkward every time I get asked this question. So awkward that I want to crawl into a ball and cry. Fun.

So the recap...
Last night, a husband of a friend asked, "So when are you having kids?" I'm almost 30, married for 5 years, standard question to be asked by anyone. Not thinking I replied with, "When my body agrees with me". Blank stare in response, asked me to repeat it, then awkwardly walked away. I spoke to him later, apologised, laughed, he made a point of asking if I was sure I couldn't have kids while looking me up and down (I swear this comes from my 'child-bearing hips', people are just shocked that I somehow can't get pregnant and pop out a string of children). Surely it had to be my husband's fault (wtf), I assured him that yes it's my 'fault'. We laughed again and all was good. I felt bad for replying that way, I wasn't at home, I've met the poor guy less than a handful of times but it seems I can't control the outbursts.

Maybe because my heart is breaking, my husband's heart is breaking and there's not a hell of a lot we can do other than follow the path we are on. A path of doctor's appointments and procedures,  invasive stuff and me, constantly feeling like a {not-so-prized} cow but still being able to smile while doing it.

I don't know how to avoid getting asked about when I am having children, short of wearing a t-shirt that says, "Yeah I can't have kids, yes we are looking at IVF, yes we can afford it, NO I don't want to hear your friend's/sisters/brothers-next-door-neighbour's miracle story, and no, sorry it's no-one's 'fault', yes we have tried that, no we don't want to try that, Thank you but go away".

I've asked the question of other women in the past, admittedly before I was married and realised how annoying it is, before we started on this baby-making path almost 3 years ago, before we both started feeling hopeless/useless/not-good-enough because we can't do something that others can do easily. 

Our story hasn't been a horrible one, we have had no miscarriages or horror stories, neither of us is sick or dying. We just can't get pregnant {I should add 'yet' but who knows}. Not a big deal in the scheme of things. I see the other women in the doctor's office, I know we're not alone, I know it probably shouldn't be a big deal but it is to us. I have the world's, seriously, most amazing husband, I have a supportive crew, we have an amazing life and existence but lately it's been tough. This morning, tougher than it has been other days.

I don't write a diary, I write a blog so here is a small slice of our story. I'm still not sure if this is the right place to have shared it but if I don't write it down I feel like things may fall apart a little and we are not going to let that happen. So read, don't read, share, don't share but be kind and gentle...

And maybe next time think for a second before you ask the baby question.

Love,

Five for Friday~ 30th of January

Oh boy, it's been a while since I've done one of these! I'm linking up with Kasey from Doodlebugs to share the happenings from this week.

Thursday was the first day back at work for 2015. Yay! New room, new year level (hello Grade 3 & 4), new kids. My new room is a gorgeous pile of gorgeousness. Love it!

Love my minion cushion from my niece.

 Bag lockers & tubs

Reward charts

Star display from our transition day.

Fish and pencil trolley.... because that works? :)

 Our Reading Corner

Curtained area

We kicked off our first day with some Name Zentangles. The kids did an excellent job with their artworks, I have definitely missed teaching bigger kids. 

I got the idea from this pin. We looked at filling the background in with different Zentangle patterns and I used this template as an example.


As my iPhoto has just decided to die I don't have any other photos to share (grr).

Happy weekend,

Minion Mayhem

As we start our new school year next week in Australia this week has been crazy fun as I have been putting the finishing touches on my classroom. I moved rooms {again} this year but am really excited to be moving to 3/4... plus I'm in a newer room which kind of rocks.

This year I'm going with a Minion theme to match my {slight} Minion obsession. Plus since the movie is coming out this year it's a great tie-in.

I made these sweet minions for our door display. 

If you'd like a copy download the editable freebie PowerPoint file here.

My name tags and this awesome Minion Calendar are from Yara Sea of Knowledge. I attached them to my whiteboard with magnetic tape {I just noticed the wonky '17' card, sorry about that} which is just surviving this heat. 

Download the free name tags from Yara's store here and purchase the calendar from here.

Need more Minion ideas? Check out my Minion board on Pinterest and follow me @becsperry on Instagram to keep up with all the fo-shizzle happening in Books, Bugs & Boxes land.

Classroom Set-Up: Display Ideas

As the beginning of our new school year is only 3 weeks away I need to set up my new classroom. I both love and hate this part as I normally have too many ideas, or not enough! 

I've spent this morning flicking back through some old photos to get an idea or what I might do this year and thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you.

Last year I used clipboards for my changing display. Each child had their own clipboard with their name underneath. The kids and I both loved this as it was easy to add up new sheets or art works. My hubs nailed the boards onto the wall at a kid-reachable height.

I have always used material in the past for backgrounds for display areas as my old rooms have had either brown or grey carpet for pin boards. Real pretty. I have also used cardboard but the material is brighter, quicker to put up and can be washed at the end of the year.

My new classroom door may be in too sunny of an area to have a 'Welcome' display but I am thinking I might put one up and see how it goes. 

All I could find of my previous door displays was this one, but I have tried a heap of different ones in the post pre-blogging years. Wish I had taken pics! If you are looking for more display ideas take a peek at my Displays Pinterest board.

Currently 2015! And a bit of a review of 2014

Welcome to 2015!! As this is the first time I've managed to blog in over a month, I have a lot to catch up on and there's no better way to do that than with a little Currently and linking up with Farley.

Listening- My hubs always puts the radio on when he gets up, I love that man. It's all old school this morning- love some Queen.

Loving- It's summer here and it's been a fantastic break so far. We are in about week 2 of our 6 week break and it has been much needed. We have had a couple of day trips away. Follow me on Instagram to check them out + all my school stuff, I tend to Insta more than blog at the minute as it's quicker. I'm also too lazy to have two accounts, as with my blog it's a mix of everything.
After the holidays I will be moving from Prep to teach Grade 3/4. I am so, so excited. Really looking forward to {another} fresh start.

Thinking- 2014 hasn't really been our year, I've been a total stress bucket and complete cow at times. We've had a lot going on personally and work has been really tough (new school, new co-workers, etc). It's been a struggle. 
I have the best support system out there. I am a very, very lucky girl. We honestly wouldn't be where we are this year without these great people in our life, I know if they could have they would have picked me up and carried me but they've stood silently by, ready to jump in as needed, as they (including my Hubs) know I'm an independent, stubborn pain in the butt. They've lifted me up, given me a reality check as needed, kicked my arse and are the best people I know. Thank you.

Wanting- Rest! Sleep! Holidays not to end :) Visit the beach, city, etc, etc. To exercise EVERY day. Basically to chill and enjoy life, which I've done a pretty solid job of the last 2 weeks, I'm planning to continue it. I've even gone two whole weeks without checking my work emails, it's a record.

Needing to do those odd jobs that have slipped over Christmas, like pay bills, doctor's appointments, etc. I'm hoping to not think about work for a bit. I vow I won't go in to do serious stuff (other than feed the fish) until the 19th of Jan.

2015 plans:
-Yes to being less of a stress bucket.
-Maybe to a big holiday as I have 10 weeks of long service leave sitting there but that will all depend. Would love to go to the US.
-I wish for our plans for our future to work out, as they truly didn't in 2014. There's a bigger plan out there for us, unfortunately we have to sit back a little now and let the universe do its thing.

Wishing you a fantastic, fun filled 2015!!