Time to Be Thankful!

It is so easy to get caught up in the craziness of life.  Sometimes it is nice to stop and think about all the amazing things in life to be thankful for.  That is why I am linking up with Reading and Writing Redhead for this gracious linky!

October Currently

Wow!  October already!  And... I am super late for the party, but I can't miss Farley's fabulous Currently!  So here it is..

 

Our district has set aside monthly collaboration time for teachers at different schools to get together to share ideas for teaching our common units.  Each month a different teacher from each grade goes and brings back what they learn.  This month is my month, so I will be going today.  I always hate having a sub because it is more work.  I also have a challenging class, so I usually come back to bad notes :(  But.. on the bright side, I am excited to work with teachers that I don't normally see on a day to day basis.

I have been sick for most of September and I am just over it!  I am on day 8 of the antibiotics and just starting to feel a slight improvement.  I just want the sickies to go away!

As my treat for you I have a problem solving freebie for you to download over at TpT!

 

 

 

  You can download it here

 

And... don't forget to enter to win the World's Quietest pencil sharpener (now in pink) - in the color of your choice here.

Saturday Snapshots

I am linking up with Run! Miss Nelson's got the camera! for Saturday Snapshots. It is about capturing, documenting, and preserving all that is important to us.

Here are a few pictures that I want to remember from this week:

 

Tyler played in the All Stars tournament this week - his team got second place.  The picture above is him getting his trophy, and the picture below is his whole team with their trophies.

 

We were exhausted from this week of baseball, driving, and getting up early!  I snapped this cute pic of Tyler and Luke sleeping on the way home.

 

I got this picture via text from one of the teachers that I worked with a few weeks ago when I worked on common assessments for our district.  Our district uses Marzano scales, and I want to adapt what she used, but I deleted the picture I originally got from her.  She was ever so kind to send me a new one! :)

 

 

 

And... last but not least, the beautiful rainbow that I woke up to after a night of storms.

 

 

 

What memories did you make this week?

Five For Friday and A Blog Hop

It is Friday again - which means time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Here are a few random things from my week:

 

A bunch of the teachers in my school district have been obsessed with Shakeology, and since I've been working on losing some weight, I decided to give it a try.  My package arrived this week.  I also ordered some Body Pump videos for the days that I am too busy to go to class.  I will keep you posted on the results.

 

 

 

We finally got a chance to sneak in some movie time as a family.  We went to see Monsters' University.  We loved it!

 

 

 

 

I told you about heading out for Tyler's All-Stars tournament last week.  So far they have gone undefeated!  They are playing the championship game tomorrow morning, and if they win, they will be heading to Las Vegas for the State Championships!  We are so proud of them!

 

 

 

We celebrated the 4th of July by watching our town's parade and firework display!  Here is a cute shot of the boys during the parade.

 

 

And... last but not least, we finally got a reprieve from the heat with a torrential rainstorm!  The boys had a blast jumping on the trampoline during the storm.

 

And... unless you live under a rock, you have heard that Google reader is no more :(  I have made the switch to Bloglovin' - and I am loving it!  A ton of other bloggers have also made the switch and are getting together for a blog hop started by Teachingisagift, and Teacher without a class! Visit their blogs if you would like to join in, and be sure to link up below to keep it collaborative!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Made It

When I was a little girl, I carried around a Snoopy doll everywhere I went.  I might have even said that I was going to marry Snoopy.  So you could imagine my reaction when I saw the Peanuts line from Really Good Stuff.

Yes, I screamed and shouted really loud and asked hubby if he minded me changing my theme again this year.  He agreed and I ordered tons a few of the things they had.

But... I have a few classroom items that I use that I wanted to match, so for today's Monday Made It I wanted to show a few of the things I have been working on.  I haven't printed anything out or hung them up yet, but I have finished a few things on the computer.



The first thing I made were schedule cards.  My kiddos are constantly asking, "What time is recess?  What special do we have?" With schedule cards I can just direct their attention to the board.  They have to solve the elapsed time on their own!

 

 

I also use Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom, so I made the 5 rules Snoopy style as well.  Here are two of them:

 

They came out pretty stinkin' cute in my humble opinion!

 

I have also been hard at work on my place value unit for the beginning of the year.  It will be available at both TpT and Teachers Notebook when I finally finish it!

 

It has I Can Statements

 

Vocabulary/Word Wall Cards

Lesson Plans

Games

 

 

And Assessments

 

 

I will let you know when I finish it... It is a monster of a project.  Also, don't forget to enter my contest to win a TpT gift certificate and other great prizes!

July Currently

Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade has big vacay plans, so she posted Currently early - which was perfect for me since we are headed out to All Stars this morning and I have NO IDEA how long we will be gone!

Listening: With a house full of boys and a sports obsessed husband - I am surprised that this isn't ALWAYS my listening response!

Loving: I am not motivated to exercise - (at all!) but I know that it needs to be done, so I am loving the fact that I have been getting up every morning to run on the treadmill, and I was able to go to BodyPump class this week! I LOOOVE Body Pump but with our busy schedule I don't always get there.  YEAH ME!

Thinking: Tyler made All Stars for baseball this year, and we are heading out this morning.  The way All Stars works is if they lose two games they go home, but if they win, they stay until they lose. So... we have no idea how long we will be gone for!  We have packed enough for 5 days and figure we will find a Laundromat while we are there if we need to.  Packing is always so nerve wracking trying to make sure you don't forget anything.

Wanting/Needing: Yeah, these two are combined.  I couldn't make up my mind if it was a want or need.  Anything over 100 degrees is just WAY TOO hot! While it is exciting to be involved in something record breaking, a heat wave is just not my idea of fun!

Tips: Blogging can seriously take over your life if you let it.  As soon as I discovered you could schedule posts ahead of time, I definitely took advantage.  It allows me to still be with my kiddos and share with all of my readers.  Family needs MUST come first. :)

Don't forget to enter my Blogaversary Giveaway for a $25 TpT Gift Card and other great prizes!

Five For Friday and Giveaway News!

It is Friday again - which means time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Here are a few random things from my week:

 

I spent most of this week working on writing common assessments for our district.  I learned a lot from the other teachers there and I can't wait to share some of the great ideas! Above is a picture of an activity we did prior to writing the assessment.  It gave me some ideas for having students sort and sequence all sorts of things - place value, story sequencing, historic figure timelines, etc.  Have you ever used a sort like this in your class?  How did it go?

 

 

One of the teachers there had just purchased these books (she had the ELA one too) and shared them with our group.  I am thinking about getting them, but I'm not 100% sure.  Have you used these books (or types of books) in your class?  What were the results?

 

 

On a non-teaching note, this week had a touch of sadness and joy when my second son moved into his own apartment! Well, technically not his own, he is living with his older brother, but still!  Powell was born with special needs and we had been told he would never walk or talk.  He just graduated high school last month - with a regular diploma!  A bittersweet moment losing a son, but joyful knowing that he has overcome so much in his life to be able to take this step into adulthood!

 

On another kid note, Tyler got hit with a baseball at his practice Monday night.  It hit him so hard, you could see the laces from the ball on his forehead! OUCH!  But.. he is so tough - he smiled through it and asked to go back out after putting ice on his head for about two minutes.  We will be heading to All Stars this weekend - it is supposed to be 106 degrees!  YIKES!

 

 

And finally... can you believe it??? Today is my blog's one year anniversary!  Time really flies when you're having fun doesn't it?  But... that also means it is time for a giveaway!  I will be having a giveaway starting tomorrow where I will be giving away some of my favorite things!  A few fabulous TpT sellers will also be getting in on the fun with a few donated items as well!  Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to enter!

 

Clipart from MyCuteGraphics.com

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Books - A Linky Party

 Shhh! Can you keep a secret?  I have an addiction... to picture books!  Ok, maybe I have another addiction... linky parties.  So... I just had to link up with First Grade and Fabulous for this picture book linky party filled with books we use for the first week of school!

 

My shares are going to be two-part, the ones that I used last year, and some new ones that I will be sharing this year since I am most likely looping with my kiddos next year!

 

So without further ado, here are a few of the books I read to my third graders last year:

 

We all have jitters about the first day of school (even us teachers) and this is a great book to talk about just that! My kiddos loved making predictions about who the story was really about!

 Reading about Mean Jean the Recess Queen is a great way to begin a chat about recess rules and expectations.

The Wednesday Surprise is a great book to talk about the importance of reading. 

 

Here are a few new ones that I think I will begin this year with:

 

 

I just found this gem of a book at Barnes and Noble yesterday. It talks about a girl and her memories of first things - such as the first time she rode a bike.  I will be using it as a mentor text for generating "seed ideas" to write about - students will make a list of firsts.  It is also a great way to talk about those first few days of school, and being brave even though we are facing a lot of unknowns.

 

 I will start out reviewing expectations using Officer Buckle and Gloria.

 

What books are you reading the first week?  I need a few more ideas, and despite hubby's protests, my Amazon wish list is NOT that long! LOL!

 

Link up and share!

The Best Items On TpT------ A Linky Party

I am linking up with Classroom Confections for this fun linky that highlights the items that are on the tops of everyone's Wish lists on TpT.  I know my list is scary long!

The item of mine that is on the most wish lists is my 3rd Grade Math Journals.  (I didn't even know you could check this out on TpT - but if you filter your products by wish list you can figure this out!).

 

My Third Grade Math Journal Contains 4 different prompts for each of the third grade math common core standards!

 

And... Because I will be rolling with my kiddos up to 4th grade next year, I also made a set of 4th grade math journals as well!

 

 

What items have you made that top the wish lists? Link up and share!