April Currently!

I'm linking up with Farley tonight to share my currently for April.

Some of these are pretty much self explanatory.  If you don't know me or are new to visiting me, let me share that I have 3 boys ages 9, 6, and 3.  

Listening - In the past hour we have had thunder, lightening, torrential rain, flooding in our backyard, and hail.  The dog went nuts, the kids went nuts, and after the worst of it was over I sent my kids outside bundled up in rain jackets and boots to splash.  They are boys and had this need to be silly.  I needed a moment to try and pack...

Loving - Spring Break suits me.  I do well with the idea of a vacation. :)  Something about the idea of not having an alarm clock and waking up this week to the sounds of the ocean outside our balcony... I'm going to be in dreamland.  

I had tons of fun over at TPT.  Tomorrow I'll show off what I bought and why I bought it.  I love sales and my favorite people were hosting sales this weekend.

Family time has been fun - draining too - but mainly fun.  I had the boys to myself this past Friday (hubby had to work), and we tackled a lot together.  I took the boys and the dog to the vet for the annual checkup with shots, then the 4 of us went to the Children's Discovery Museum, then out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, then we went shopping at Target and Babies R Us, then to the Animal Shelter to drop off the rabies info, then went to visit Daddy at work, then finally home.  Big day for the first day of vacation.  Let me also mention having to change 2 stinky diapers in the car.  I felt like Super Mom!  

Thinking, Wanting, Needing - We are heading to the beach tomorrow for a couple of days.  I love going to the beach - it's so peaceful... looking forward to hopefully reading a full book when we are there.  I need to finish packing since only 2/5 of us actually have stuff in the big suitcase.  Laundry has been started, but it's not done yet... do you do that too?  Just pack from the clean laundry baskets?  I mean, at least I know that stuff actually fits my growing boys...

Advice - My advice is for my students.  It's my mantra and something they need to hear almost every lesson every day... USE YOUR OWN BRAIN.  It's not that they cheat on purpose... but they need to do the work themselves, they need to show themselves that they CAN do it.  They have to prove it to me, but also to themselves.  Working on self confidence and all.  

Just a reminder about the 400 follower giveaway happening right now.  :)  Make sure you enter!

Hope you had a great Easter!

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Sunday Store Update

It's Easter!!!  I love Easter!! He has risen - indeed!  

Before the kids wake up and I make cinnamon roll bunnies, and we go to church, or have our egg hunt, or eat our ham dinner, I wanted to stop by and say hi.

This week I had every intention of making more stuff, but then life happened. 

Here's is a freebie though.  It might help you out.  

Remember way back last summer when I wrote about my Homeworkopoly board?  Probably not since I didn't know many of you then.  Well, last summer I wrote about making my Homeworkopoly board that I picked up from Ladybug's Teacher Files.  There were cards that Kristen made to go with it, and I added some labels on the back of them before I laminated of the different prizes kids could win if they landed on that spot on the board.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, the kids love the prizes:

Sit on the ground for a lesson... Choose a new pencil... Eat a piece of candy during the test... Take your shoes off during the test... Sit by a friend... Computer Time... Use a pen... Surprise Treat (I give out classroom tickets, Homework Pass, or school cash.)...

They really do love the prizes and remind me if we run out of time to play the game.

I only use Homeworkopoly for perfect homework though - not meaning the homework has to be perfect, but the kiddos have to have all their homework in to be able to play.

To make a long story shorter, basically I wanted the same prizes on a cute little "sweet treat" card for the remainder of the school year.  I want to have them be able to draw a prize for being awesome, or for staying on green, or for any other reason that they really should pick a prize.  

So, enjoy!  I updated my little store when I set up the TPT sale so this is the main freebie at the top of my page or you can click the image above to head over to pick it up.     

Have you entered yet?  The image above is linked to the post.

My stores are still on 20% sale until Monday  :)

Hope you have a wonderful day!

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Five for Friday on Saturday

So.. I'm on vacation. :) I've been doing the happy dance since 3:30 Thursday. I would have said 2:50 when the kids left, but I had 2 parent conferences after school and it probably wouldn't have been appropriate doing the happy dance with them present.

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching to share some random moments from Thursday. It was a fun day. Well, almost all fun.

We took our tests in the morning.  I felt a little bad about giving them a test, but it had to be done...

Then after PE prep we had our own egg hunt in the classroom. They needed to find their own name egg. Then we created our paper bag Easter baskets. We made our buddies a basket as well.

We went outside and hid eggs for our buddies throughout the playground. When it was time to search we helped our buddies find their specific classroom number.

After the egg hunt we had an hour until lunch, so we posed for our Donor's Choose photos and wrote our thank you letters.

Then we reviewed math skills using the Skittles Math packet. There are tons of activities she provided, I choose 4 pages and the kiddos worked with partners to complete using a small bathroom cup filled with Skittles.  After they were done working on them, they separated out their skittles and put them inside their plastic egg to munch on later.

Lunch came and went, I filled their baskets with a bookmark, a homework pass, and a pack of cheese crackers.  Why cheese crackers?  Because I'm cheesy... ha ha!  The kids got my joke. The kids also shared treats to add to the baskets. Then we munched and read and colored.

We ended the day outside as a grade level, having Friday PAT on a Thursday.

How did you celebrate Easter/Spring?

Just a reminder about my 400 follower giveaway going on.

  Make sure you enter!

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Almost 400 Follower Giveaway

Wow!  This little blog is growing.  We are almost at 400 and I don't want to wait any longer to celebrate.

8 blogging friends have helped me to make this bigger than I could have dreamed it could be.  Thank you so much Crystal @ The Lamppost in 1st Grade Math, Kelly @ An Apple for the Teacher, Holly @ Fourth Grade Flipper, Rebecca @ Ladybug's Lounge, Diane @ Fifth in the Middle, Bethany @ Fab and Fun in 4th, and Amanda & Stacia @ Collaboration Cuties.

So... when I was thinking 400, I started thinking of things in 4's... like 4 items of winner's choice from my store... and 4 days at 20% off over at TPT and TN. 

These lovely bloggers have helped me out with gifts... everything from winner's choice items, to specific packs, to a Starbuck's Ecard.  Just a little/big something to make this Easter week extra special!

So - don't forget to sign up below in the handy dandy Rafflecopter.  The giveaway will go on for the next week - ends on Friday, April 5th.   

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a marvelous day!

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Guest Blogger: End of the Year Gifts

Hello everyone!  I have Becky W. visiting me today on the blog.  She wrote an informative article on easy and inexpensive end of the year gifts for our students and wanted to share.  If you have any comments, ideas, questions, please leave them below and I'll make sure to pass it onto her.  :)  
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Great End of the Year Gifts for Students
If you are a teacher, you may be wondering about the best end-of-the-year gifts to give to your students, especially as the end of the school year is steadily approaching. Giving your students a gift at the end of the year is a good idea, especially if they have worked hard and have done well to receive good grades in your class. There are lots of ways to reward the students with different types of gifts, some of which are quite creative.

Kiss and Hug Creativity
Before you think anything inappropriate, this is actually a cute idea to give to younger students. You can take the Big Hug fruit drinks and tie a small sandwich bag of Hershey Kisses, tie them together with colorful ribbon, and pass them out to the kids. It is an affordable and useful gift for the younger students, especially if they enjoy a little chocolate and something to drink. Just about everyone can get a kick out of this creative gift idea.

Homemade DVD of Memories
A special present for him or her could include a homemade DVD loaded with all of the memories for the entire school year. Throughout the school year, you may have taken plenty of pictures with the students for all types of events, such as the Nondenominational School Dance, Thanksgiving Celebration, and even an Earth Day trash cleanup. You may also have gone on several trips with your students where you would have even more pictures, such as a trip to the zoo, local farm, or a museum. 
You can upload these photos to your computer, put them together in a slideshow with nice music, and then burn them onto blank discs. You can hand the discs out to your students at the end of the year so that they never forget what an enjoyable school year they have had. Not to mention, the discs can be held onto for years. If you need help making the DVD, you can use Movie Maker, which is a program that is likely already available on your computer.

Rulers
Every student needs a ruler at some point in time. This may not seem like an ideal gift, but there are ways to spice it up and make it fantastic. You can attach a finely decorated note to the ruler that says, “Dear Student, You Rule!” After you address the student, you can also write a short poem for all your students, thanking them for behaving and letting them know how much you enjoy being their teacher. The students will be able to use the ruler when they head back to school during the following school year and they can keep the poem as a keepsake for as long as they want. 
There are lots of great end of the year gifts for students. It is always best to be creative and fair with what you are giving the students. You want to give the students something fun, memorable, and useful. There are just a few of the ideas that you can put together to create amazing gifts for your students to enjoy. With these gifts, your students will feel appreciated and will be very thankful to have been lucky enough to have a teacher like you that cares about them.

  *Contribution made by Becky W.*

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Thank you Becky for sharing :) 
What gifts do you usually make for your kiddos?  
Hope you had a great day!  Can I mention again that I'm on Spring Break?!?  So excited!!!  Well, not super excited that my middle son woke up at 4:30 with the same stomach flu as the rest of us... but at least hubby cleaned it up and stayed home today with him.  I couldn't miss the egg-stravaganza that I had planned.  
I'll share more later about my day, but make sure you check back tomorrow because I'm so close to 400 followers that I've decided to celebrate!!!  It's party time and 7 lovely bloggers are helping me out!!! 

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Workshop Wednesday - Mentor Texts

Today Jivey's linky focuses on mentor texts to work on author's craft.  I had to really think about this today... and had to go through my books at school, it was really hard to choose just a few!
I've noticed the past couple of years, especially since I switched back to 4th grade from years in 2nd, that I really appreciate a good picture book.  I know the kids do as well... so we read:

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - Great to teach Perspective and Organization.

It Could Always Be Worse - Great to teach Perspective and Organization

When Jessie Came Across the Sea - Wonderful to teach Voice
I hope these help you!  Go link up.  :)

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Tried it Tuesday

Did you have a good day?
I did, though it hasn't been pleasant since I got home.  Putting out fires that the progress reports started when they went home.  Like I mentioned on FB, I don't know why it's such a shock every single time they go home.  All year long the grades have been posted on the online grading portal so families can check progress...and student work/assessments are sent home every Friday... There shouldn't be any surprises in week 30 of the school year!
Okay, okay... onto something that is working in my classroom!! 
I'm linking up with Holly for the first ever Tried it Tuesday Linky.  So what did I try?  I used my brand new task cards today and the kids did a great job with them.  

It's review, so it isn't the first time they have seen the material, but it was important for them to review what operation is completed first.  
We have officially started our afternoon math stations.  By the afternoon the kids are sick of sitting in their desks, and have this urge to talk.  So I make them talk about math.  I'm sad to say that Social Studies will be put on hiatus for the remainder of this week and the week after spring break... it's all about review before the BIG TEST!
Today our math stations included three 20 minute rotations:Station 1 was Order of Operations task cards.  The kids also used the Operation task cards from this set.  They worked by themselves and then had a partner check their answers.  Then when they completed everything, they had a chance to peek at the answer keys.  I love answer keys!Station 2 was using the Curriculum Associates curriculum to work through a couple of pages of practice test problems.  They worked with a partner and had to agree on an answer.  If their answers did not match up, they had to walk through the problem together to figure out where one of them went wrong.  Tomorrow morning we will go over those same problems whole class to figure out the problems.  
Station 3 was with me.  We reviewed fractions - specifically the skill of labeling a number line.  I used this freebie from TPT and we went together through it.  The art of counting at it's finest.  I sounded like a robot saying over and over again, "Now, what fraction does this 1 whole equal?"  That was the skill they messed up with the most on the practice test though, so it was important since it will transfer to the mixed number lines.Okay, I'm done and ready to go read some blogs!  Have a good night!  

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