Sunday Randomness

This week has been crazy busy and a whole lot of random, so I thought today would be a gret time to get random with the Sunday Smorgasbord from Fabulous in First! 

 

I spent most of this week hard at work in my classroom getting my stuff organized after moving from one room to another room down the hall - I am changing grades again this year - lopping from third to fourth.

 

So this week my room went from this:

 

to this:

 

Not perfect or ready yet, but at least it's clean and I know where things are again.

 

In between cleaning, I worked on some painting for a classroom decoration idea I have.

 

 

I finally finished the pictures, so hopefully I will be able to squeeze in some time to get them hung up and ready to show the final product tomorrow.

 

 

Yesterday we went to San Francisco to take some new family photos.  I was able to snap a few pics of the boys with my phone, but I'm sure the professional ones will be so much better - I will share those when we get them:)

 

These are the 4 boys who are still living at home. Palmer (the one in the back who didn't get the wardrobe memo) graduates this year! Where does the time go?

 

Here are the three youngest:

 

At one point during the photo session, Luke, the youngest, fell in the ocean - he was a mess!  But... I still couldn't resist this shot of him:

 

After the photos were done, we went to an Oakland A's game.

 

Palmer looking super cool in shades:

 

 

Luke looking adorable:

 

 

 

The A's won, and it was a great family day - a perfect end of summer time!  Tomorrow is a crazy day with baseball camp, swim lessons, and Body Pump class! Oh and trying to squeeze some work in here and there because I go back to work in 10 days!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently - August and TPT follower Giveaway!

August? What? Already????? School starts in 17 days!!!

Linking up with Farley for August Currently to lament celebrate the end of summer:

Listening: My boys have a friend spending the night and they are in their bedroom singing Cruise - too funny!

Loving: One of the parents of one of my students is a professional photographer and she will be shooting our new family pics (minus my two oldest boys who are grown up and moved away - sniff!) in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I will share pics when we get them. We will also be hitting an Oakland A's game while we are there.

Thinking, Wanting, and Needing: There is just never enough time to squeeze everything I want to get done in! I really should be tackling my to do list!

My Back to School Must Haves: 

 1. My 31 teacher bag - I would be lost without it.  It carries everything and keeps me nice and organized.

2. My personal laminator - I am not the only teacher at my school with a million things to do!  Sometimes having a personal laminator really comes in handy.

3. I love these Personal Word Walls I just got from TpT.  I can't wait to use them!

And now.... My contest!  Do you see the tab at the top of my blog that says $25 TpT Gift Certificate Monthly Giveaway?  I giveaway a gift certificate each month to a lucky TpT follower.  All you have to do is follow me on TpT to be eligible!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's Your Math Problem!?! Book Study Chapter 8

Have you read the book, What's Your Math Problem!?! This is a brief review of chapter 8.

Questions form The Field

In the final chapter, the author answers some commonly asked questions about problem solving.  The first question answered is one that I think would be asked by most teachers:

How do I find time to fit problem solving into an already full curriculum? 

This is a question that I myself have wondered.  With the Common Core, it seems like more and more is being asked of teachers.  But, with the problem solving component, it is actually asking teachers to do less.  By giving students one complex rich problem instead of multiple easy operational problems, we are killing two birds with one stone so to speak.  We are not only teaching the skill, but we are teaching problem solving.

Where Can I find Rich Problems:

The author suggested NCTM Illuminations as one possible resource.

Some other sources I have used include:

Math Landing

NRich

I am linking up with 
                                                     Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun
                                                     Meg Anderson  from Fourth Grade Studio
                                                    Jamie Riggs from MissMathDork
                                                    and Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire 5th Grade

for this book study on What's Your Math Problem!?!



 If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Monday Made It

 

Well, I haven't had much time to make anything (except for my classroom a mess - lol!).  I am moving into a new room that used to be the staff room, so there is a ton of junk and professional reading material that I've had to pack up before I could unpack my stuff.  I've been working on it for two days straight (yes I went in on Sunday) and I still don't feel like I've made a dent in it :(  I did manage to get my desk area together (really a table) but, that is about it.

 

I did need to take a short break from packing and unpacking, so I decided to work on these:

 

(still in progress)

 

 

(This one is complete)

 

I will be painting two more and will be using them for something special inspired by Pinterest.  When I finish I will show you the final project along with the pin that inspired it.  I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

I also worked on a game for my massive Place Value Unit- I hope to finish it up this weekend so it is ready for the beginning of school.  It is currently 220 pages!

 

 

And those are my Monday Made Its!  What did you make this week?

 

Reading Comprehension Cubes - Goodies from SmileMakers

When I was initially approached by SmileMakers to choose an item of my choice to review on my blog, my first thought was that I was going to get stickers for my sticker economy.  Because after all that is what SmileMakers is all about.  Boy was I wrong!  It took forever for me to pick something from their catalog because they have sooo much to choose from! Seriously, they have everything from classroom decorations, to arts and crafts supplies, to curriculum materials.

I finally narrowed it down to these reading comprehension cubes that have been on my Wish List forever!

 

I can't wait to use these this year with my kiddos!

 

The set comes with 6 cubes as you can see above and a set of directions with suggestions for using them.

 

According to the directions, there are 2 pre-reading cubes, 2 during reading cubes, and 2 after reading cubes.  Here are a few pics of the questions.  I love that some of the questions are right there while others require more in depth thinking which is perfect for differentiation.

 

 

 

 

I plan on using them in small groups, for partner reading, and even for whole group lessons and read alouds.

I am not only thrilled with my reading cubes, but also with the amazing customer service from SmileMakers.  Here are a few facts about Smile Makers:

• SmileMakers has been helping teachers to create smiles for over 35 years.  You can count on us to make a difference in your classroom.
• We have what you need!  We bring you products you won't find anywhere else.
• Our product safety testing meets or exceeds Consumer Products Safety Standards.
• We offer quick, easy, hassle-free ordering online and on the phone.
• Same day shipping means most orders are received within 1-5 business days.
• Everyday low prices on a wide selection of giveaways.  Plus get great sales offers when you sign up for emails.
• Everything at SmileMakers is backed by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.  If your order doesn't meet your expectations, just call us to exchange or return for a full refund.  We'll even pay the return freight.
• SmileMakers is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• SmileMakers is a business unit of Quill Corporation, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Staples, Inc.

SmileMakers also offers Teacher Perks which offers sales and discounts just for teachers.  As a member of Teacher Perks, you will receive free shipping on any order over $49 and flat rate shipping of $4.99 on orders less than that.  There are also special private sales for members only!

So, what are you waiting for? See what SmileMakers has to offer!

Have you ever purchased from SmileMakers?  What did you buy?

Do you have these reading comprehension cubes?  How have you used them?

Disclosure: I received the product from SmileMakers in order to facilitate the review.  No other compensation was received, and all opinions expressed are my own.

 

Saturday Snapshots and a Giveaway!

Today I am linking up with Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera! for



My snapshots of memories this week:

We started the week with a fun visit to an indoor trampoline park.  It was just me, Cody, and Luke because Tyler gets a lot of extras with baseball, so we wanted to give them some special time.  They had a blast!

Here are Luke and Cody anxiously awaiting for them to announce our time to jump.

This is Cody after one of his million jumps into the foam pit.  I failed at it miserably tried it once - and let me tell you - it is much harder to get out of than it looks.

I also got to start moving my things from my old classroom to my new one.  Unfortunately it means this is what I get to go into on Monday morning :(

A giant mess!  But, I am excited to get my classroom set up, because once we report back officially they keep us so busy with PD we don't have time to step into our classrooms.

Another thing I am excited about is my new Arc notebook!

I got it all set up and ready to go for this upcoming school year!

Then, today I bought this which is going to help save my marriage:

Well, truthfully my marriage is fine, but do you ever have those petty arguments with your spouse that you just wish would end?  Well. my argument with hubby has been over our power cords for our iphones.  I have an iphone and an ipad and I have two cords.  I would like to have one cord for each so I can charge them at the same time.  The problem is that hubby broke his cord, so he constantly steals mine and then forgets it at work!  GRRR!  So I broke down and bought him a new one, and an extra one for me to keep in the classroom. 

Also, I am super excited to be helping my friend Meagan over at Oodles of Teaching Fun with her 150 follower giveaway!  I donated an item of your choice from my TpT store, and there are a ton of other great goodies you can win, so get over there and enter!

Friday Freebies

Here are a few great Freebies I have found this week:

 

I love this clock freebie from Mrs. VanMeter of Primary Possibilities.  I had a similar set around my clock last year, but I can't remember where I got it from (if you know let me know and I will link up!)

 One thing that I really like about the freebie is that you can print it on colored paper or cardstock to save money on ink!

Another time oriented freebie I found this week was these adorable schedule cards from Cara at the First Grade Parade.

 

I used these in my classroom last year as well and I loved them! She has updated this version, so if you already downloaded them before, go back and check them out!

 

 

Last but not least - I love these monthly spelling menus from Christine Statzel.

 

I love that she has different activities for each month.  These would be great for Word Work, Spelling, or homework.

 

 

And speaking of Freebies? Did you know that I have a Facebook Page now with Fan Freebies?  You can follow here.

 

An Apple For The Teacher

Elementary Teacher - Inspiring Fellow Teachers and Educators with tips and resources through An Apple for The Teacher Blog

 

 

 

Have you found any great freebies this week?