5 For Friday May 9, 2014

The week is over and we only have three more weeks of school left!  It is just flying by!  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! Well, a day late - the end of the year can get a little crazy can't it?

And in a blink of an eye - this happened!  My third child turned 18 this week!  Let me tell you that it doesn't get any easier from the first to the third.

He helped his friend DJ his high school dance this week (it was an 80's theme) - and they all looked great!  Definitely brought back some memories!

If you can't tell, he is the one rockin' the sunglasses and channeling Tom Cruise from Risky Business - lol!

And speaking of my children, I got the best gift ever from my youngest son, Luke.  I was at the copier during my prep period when he walked in (during his lunch) and handed me this note:

It was so special to me!  I really appreciated it, because sometimes I think I give my students so much of my time, I wonder if my own kids feel neglected, but obviously he is ok with sharing me!  I made sure to give him a lot of extra love in return for his sweet token of love!  I may need to make some Love Coupons for him instead of the other way around for Mother's Day.  If you are looking for any easy way to help your students celebrate Mother's Day (that can be used for other occasions as well), see my post here.

With this week being Teacher Appreciation Week, I have been feeling the love all week.  Here are a few of my goodies from my students:

Pretty flowers and a pretty girl - this little one LOVES getting her picture taken!  I have lots of selfies of her on my ipods and iphone from when she uses them for centers or QR code scanning.  I also have lots of photo bombs of hers in other classroom pics I take.  Love it!

She got me this for Teacher's Appreciation Week.

She knows me so well!  I have a Starbuck's Chai Latte - EVERY SINGLE DAY (serious addiction going on here!)

If you haven't entered already, be sure to head over here to win a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card.  Only 2 days left!

And last but not least, I just want to wish all of you fellow mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

5 For Friday - April 4, 2014

The first week of April is officially in the books!  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

I booked my hotel room for the TpT conference!  I guess that means it's real!  I can't wait to meet up with many of my blogging and Teachers Pay Teachers friends in real life. I am also excited to learn even more!

I got to enjoy lunch with a two of my students this week.  It is one of their favorite goals/rewards.  When they reach 25 AR points they get to have lunch with me.  I let them pick whatever they want.  This kiddo picked a cheeseburger from Jack in the Box that was almost as big as he is!

I covered for one of the teachers who usually runs our study hall/detention this week.  A few of the students that came in said they wanted to be in my classroom and did I think the principal would let them switch.  I told them of course they couldn't switch and why would they want to anyway?  Their reply threw me for a loop, "You have the best books in the whole school!"  Your students are LUCKY!"

Glad my investment in books has paid off! LOL!

We have been neck deep into test prep this week because our CRT's are next week.

I thought the kids (and I ) could use a little break, so we had some whole class origami lessons this week.  It was a great stress reliever!

We made pinwheels to "blow" the stress away! LOL!

I also managed to add two more products to my Teachers Pay Teachers store this week!  

The first one is a set of Base Ten Collaboration Cards that will get your students talking about numbers in the base ten system as they group up.  You can use them to form groups or teams, or simply by themselves as a collaboration activity or center.

The second product is a Roll the Die And Multiply which features print and play dice activities for your students to practice their multiplication facts.

I am giving away your choice of these two items to the first three people who comment below with your choice and your email address!

5 For Friday - March 28, 2014

Oh my Goodness! This week has been the longest week ever!  Well, at least it felt that way!  Thank goodness it's Friday and thank goodness it's over!  Also time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for 5 For Friday!

One reason why this week was so incredibly long was that I was sick most of it :(  !  I had a spider bite morph into a staph infection.  The bite started to flame up a bit over the weekend, but by Monday afternoon I had a full blown fever.  I had a headache most of the day on Monday, but didn't take my temp until I got home. 101.3 - no bueno!  So, it was a trip to the doctor for some antibiotics and sub plans for the next day.  I must say, my hubby was awesome and went down to the school to make copies for the sub so that I could stay home and rest.  He is definitely a keeper!  

Anyway, the sub day was a complete bust as I had 5 - yes FIVE parent calls to tell me what a disaster the day was, so I had to drag myself into school on Tuesday because I couldn't subject the students to a second day.  I have a few kiddos who are a tad on the emotional side who DEPEND on structure and routine.  When I got in that morning the sub left in the note the following quote, "I didn't follow your discipline plan our seating chart - it was too chaotic for me to do anything."  - WHAT??? What do you expect if you don't follow the discipline plan???  And changing the seating chart is also ridiculous - I have students seperated for  a reason!  GRRR! Sorry, vent over... It just didn't start my week well at all!  Or my students.  Two of them passed by my classroom before school on Wednesday and I heard one say, "She's here!  I see her Starbuck's on her desk!"  ( I May be a bit addicted...)

This week has also been taxing because it is test prep time.  We have our state tests April 8 - 11th so it is crunch time!

Our city received an art grant to install some large art sculptures downtown.  One of the artists is making a turtle that will have tiles made by the students in our town. The artists came into our classroom this week to help make ours. 

Each student made two tiles - one to represent Nevada and one to represent themselves.

Last week I asked for help voting for my school to win $10,000 to help repair our dire playground.

Well, GREAT NEWS - WE WON!  They presented the check to our school this morning.

As I look through my pictures from this week, I notice that my classroom could use a little spring cleaning for sure!  If only there was a magical classroom cleaning fairy! Speaking of spring cleaning, my Teachers Pay Teachers Wish List is also in need of a little freshening up - it is getting a bit too large to manage (imagine that!).  Luckily for me, a few of my favorite sellers are having a Spring Cleaning Sale!

I am also joining in the sale with 20% off until the end of the month!

5 for Friday March 21 - Vote to Win a Freebie of Your Choice!

  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday for a look back at our week.

This week we had parent teacher conferences.  I had mentioned in an earlier post about how I have my students lead the conferences and evaluate themselves.

On Monday I had them complete these "report cards" evaluating their own work habits.

They often write funny things on their papers, but this one really cracked me up!  I might have to buy him a tub of sour cream one day!

We also presented our animal reports this week.  They really did a great job!

This little one was even dressed to match her project -love the tights!

We played a game with the counselor this week using special balls that the students passed to each other and then answered the questions under their thumbs.  I have seen this idea before for math facts or comprehension questions - it was a good reminder for me.  I think I will be incorporating this activity into our test prep coming up the next two weeks.

I just absolutely LOVE this picture!  They were having so much fun!

Spring craziness and parent conferences always makes for a rough week - so we decided to indulge in a healthy snack during Daily 5 with a fruit tray.  The students loved it since they don't normally get to eat in class!

Last, but not least- our school is in the running for $10,000 to improve our playground which is in dire need of repairs.  Please take a moment to vote to help us win!  You can vote even if you aren't local, and you can vote once every 24 hours.  Voting ends Sunday!  It is really neck and neck and we would love your help and support!

As an extra incentive, I will give everyone who votes (and leaves a comment below) any item of your choice from my 

TpT store.

 Vote here!  Our school is Fernley Elementary :)

Enjoy your weekend!