Fundraising!

Hello all! I've decided to do something a bit differently this year. Instead of posting a Donor's Choose project, I would like to receive gift cards to Teachers Pay Teachers. If you haven't heard of this website, it's an amazing resource for teachers to publish the curriculum and supplemental materials they create for purchase to other teachers. Many teachers have a plethora of resources, and there are even those that specialize in curriculum for students with autism.

While I like Donor's Choose for physical items we need, like office supplies, manipulatives and large purchases, Teachers Pay Teachers is not included on their vendor list. There is a way for me to create a special project in order to request these materials, however, it requires me to use all my points to create the project, and substantial processing fees are added. Also, I need to itemize each material, which is cumbersome when I am looking to purchase upwards of 20+ items. Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards never expire, and to have a credit to my account will help me access needed materials for the rest of the year. Some items will be in a bundle, while others I will purchase individually.

It's been a challenging school year on many levels. Typically, I prefer to fundraise at the beginning of the school year, but this year, it's taken some time to determine what we really need in the classroom. Half of my class is new to me, and we have some very high behavioral needs. Now that we have adequate classroom structure and routines in place to support everyone, we are full steam ahead on increasing academic rigor. Although I plan on starting a Donor's Choose campaign, right now we are in need of tasks to maintain skills already learned for independent schedule following. Many times, I create my own materials, however, since I am in graduate school full-time, this is a luxury I have no time to afford. I have ink, laminating sheets, cardstock and velcro ready to go and parent volunteers to help. Now I just need the tasks! Please consider contributing by purchasing a gift card on Teachers Pay Teachers. My email address is christinamoliveri at g mail.

Click here to purchase a Gift Card

Here is a sampling of resources I intend to purchase:

Parts of Speech task cards

Language Task Cards



Thermometer By ABC Fundraising®

What happened to the summer?

So swimming has been amazing, and I've up to over 1000 meters of various drills each day, and it's getting easier.  My stamina is slowly increasing, and yoga is going well, too.  In case I haven't written about yoga, I started yin yoga in the beginning of the summer and have been feeling a big improvement in my daily life.  I can actually touch my toes now, instead of struggling mid-shin.  I highly recommend yin yoga, as I believe it's changing my life for the better.  Also, I should have a magazine article coming out in the winter, and am very excited about that.  Hopefully, people will like it.  I'm hesitant to recruit more articles in fear that I'll have to write them, but slowly, I will get over that fear.  This makes two articles under my belt, and the experience I've gotten going through the process has been great.  It's still scary, but in time will get easier.  I'm really tired now. It's been a long day, and I got to spend the evening catching up with my old colleagues from my previous school.  It was nice to see everyone.

Work starts next week, and in two weeks, the students will officially be welcomed back for the new year.  I'm excited and nervous, and can't wait until the day I feel confident going back to work, and have a good understanding of what to expect.  Every year so far has been filled with substantial changes, and I long for the day there's some more of the same, instead of everything different.  Good night.

Updates galore!

Hello my trusty follower!  It's been crazy here in NC, but that's soon to slow down a bit.  The great thing is a have a new job teaching in a self-contained autism classroom.  Years of hard work, money spent, tears and milestones, and I finally, I mean finally am getting the job I've wanted all along.  I hope I am not disappointed by the reality of it.  Looking forward to being back with my AU population.  I've missed them dearly.

I had a summer job but lost it, since there was no more work.  As stressful as it is to worry about lacking cash, it's nice to know I have a few weeks of free time.  I haven't had more than one and a half weeks off in years.  Haven't had a month off in forever.  This could work.

Been learning how to swim freestyle in the morning, which has been going ok.  Fibromyalgia stuff hasn't come up, and it's going to take a while to get back to a healthy place after years of bodily neglect.  Excited to get back to my old self in some capacity.  One day at a time :D

Tour de Fleece is up and running, so that is going well.  Finished three Loop singles skeins and am looking forward to getting more done.  A while back I joined a group called "50 skeins" with the intention of spinning 50 skeins in one year, but alas, have not done so well with this goal.  Making up for lost time will be fun.  I don't know that I've even spun one skein this year, embarrassingly enough.  To have three now makes me happy.