BREAK AND TPT

I love Christmas Break! There is time to relax, more time to spend with family, sleep in a little, clean up around the house, clean out my teacher bag, and even have some free time to work on TPT products!

Over the summer I had BIG plans to create a TPT unit that I would use for my students on rounding to the tens AND rounding to the hundreds.  The unit became too big in my mind, that it got pushed aside with other things.  I had spent a great deal of time on rounding to the tens, so this winter break I decided to make a smaller unit on just that!  I think it turned out well!  I can still use it this school year for review, and next year I'll be able to use it when I teach rounding in the fall.  Maybe by then I'll have the rounding to the hundreds packet finished too!

 (Click the picture for more info!)

I also created some worksheets for my students on two-step multiplication word problems.  This skill will be on the state test in April, and 3rd graders need much more practice with it than our curriculum gives.  This is just three pages, but very useful!  The cute snowman is from Ta-Doodles Illustrations. It is just adorable!

 (Click the picture for more info!)

RELAX?

After a very crazy week, I was finally able to sit down and relax about 8pm Friday night.  I checked Facebook, found something cute from TPT that was posted, and the next thing I knew, I'm downloading and prepping a cute Math QR code task card set for my classroom!

First I downloaded this to use later: (click to check it out!)

Then I found this to use right away in January! (click to check it out)

I felt like I was a character in a Laura Numeroff book!

If you give a teacher a break, she's going to want to check Facebook, if she checks Facebook, she'll see that someone posted a cute clipart freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers.  That will remind her that she needs to look for a cute QR code word problem task card set, so she checks TPT.  She finds a perfect one on TPT that will match the Space theme of the January Science Unit, so she purchases it and downloads it.  Then she prints it. Then the printer runs out of ink, so she changes the cartridge. Then the cardstock has to be loaded into the printer one sheet at a time.  Once it's all printed, the teacher decides to cut and laminate it another day so she can take a break.  Taking a break will remind her that she was checking Facebook earlier, and chances are, if she checks Facebook, she'll probably end up doing more teaching stuff.

I think I'll just go watch tv now.  ;)

DECEMBER

Well, December has been a crazy month, but I probably say that every year!  Last week we had a field trip to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Fort Worth, Texas.  I learned so much about our country's money, and my students did too!  It was really a neat trip!  Everyone got a bag of shredded money at the end of the trip.  The kids thought they were rich!  Too bad we couldn't spend it!  This week we saw The Nutcracker performed at Bass Hall.  We read two versions of the book before we left so the students knew what to expect.   It was a great performance!

My school's Administrators have been working hard these past 2 weeks to keep up staff morale with little things like this.  This is such a cute idea!  

Today we had our annual whole school sing-along.  It's always a great time!  My partner teacher and I bought these cute reindeer antlers for our students.  Here is my first attempt at a group selfie.  Sadly all the kids didn't fit, and I'm not really good at blocking out faces without it looking strange, but it's still a good photo!  We had fun!

 My wonderful 3rd grade team had a great time!  

And what group picture is complete without a photo bomb!  

But I have to say that even with all of the fun things we have done this week, this van was my favorite thing that happened this week.  We call it the Vision Van.  So many of my students need glasses but are unable to get them. This van comes to my school to give glasses to those in need.  This year I had a larger number of students in need of glasses than usual, so I am very grateful that now they will be able to see!

NUTTY NOVEMBER

Recently it's been unusually cold in north Texas, and we've had to spend several days inside for recess. Those kinds of days are long and crazy!  I found the perfect Grumpy Cat meme for how I feel about indoor recess:

To add to the craziness, today was the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break.  I decided to stop for a large Coke Zero before school.  That is not something I do everyday, but this week has required several Coke Zeros instead of my usual Diet Coke.  A teacher friend who understands my love of Coke Zero and Diet Coke surprised me this morning with a new Coke product: Coke Life.  (Fun facts: Coke Zero is sweetened with aspartame and has about 24 mg caffeine/8 oz, zero calories.  Coke Life is sweetened with Cane Sugar and Stevia, and has 19mg caffeine/8oz, 60 calories.)   

My plan was to enjoy the new Coke Life at school when I had finished my Coke Zero. But then I decided to savor it at home this evening to celebrate surviving this crazy day and week, as one might savor a fine wine.  It is currently waiting for me in my home refrigerator, waiting for some relaxation time to enjoy it.  (And as much as I am building it up, I sure hope it's good!  I've waited all day for it!)

I had purposely underplanned my lessons today, as I knew it was going to be a challenging day.  But late last night I realized that I did not pull out my fun Thanksgiving work, and I didn't have enough work for my students to do.  I'm usually much more prepared than that. So, I decided to check Facebook (that's the most logical thing to do, right?!). Actually I'm so glad I did! My new friend at Smart Puppy Learning had just posted the perfect Math Thanksgiving craftivity on TPT!  It would give my students a fun way to work on their multiplication facts!  I let the students decide how and where they wanted their feathers. Everyone's turned out a little differently, and they had a great time making it!  And, it took plenty of time to do!

 

You can find this activity from Smart Puppy Learning on TPT.  Thanks Smart Puppy Learning!  You saved the day!

One last fun, crazy event of the day was our annual Turkey Bowling!  Staff members get 3 throws (with a frozen turkey in a pillow case) to knock down as many pins as possible. I scored 24!  The second place winner had 25, so I was very close to winning a frozen turkey! (Thankfully the winners do not take the turkey that's been thrown around all day- they get a new one!).  I had a lot of fun, and my students were a great cheering section!

And to end the day, we WERE able to enjoy outdoor recess today!  Finally!   Goodbye to Nutty November!  School starts back December 1st!

JOY IN LEARNING

Sometimes teachers get so busy with endless testing that we miss the joy of teaching, the joy in learning!  This past weekend, my family and I took a family fun/educational weekend trip to Houston, Texas.  It was so exciting to learn new things, not only for my own children, but it will also benefit my students!

We were able to visit NASA's Space Center.  Inside the Space Center are some fabulous exhibits about space and space exploration.  We also took a tram tour to the Johnson Space Center across the street. Because it was the weekend and there were no active missions that day, we were allowed to visit the gallery above the Mission Control Center!  There was another Mission Control Center nearby monitoring the International Space Station, so we did get to view some of that via monitors.  It was fascinating!  

Thinking about my students, and our upcoming Space Unit, I went a little crazy at NASA's gift shop.

We also visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  What an incredible place!  My own children loved the Dinosaur Exhibit and the Egyptian Exhibit.  Fun fact:  When you see a dinosaur skeleton on display at a museum, you can tell if it's real or a replica by looking at the metal.  If the metal poles go through the bones, it is a replica.  If the metal is bracing the bones, it is real!  I did not know that!

I also found a Lakeshore Learning Store nearby and went in person!  It was so much more fun than just looking through their catalog!

Lastly, this was my fortune at dinner one evening.  Well said! 

I am excited to get back to my students and use my newfound knowledge, as I remember that it's not all about the tests.  There needs to be joy in learning!  

RULE # 1 and RULE # 2

Ever since my first year of teaching, I have followed two rules faithfully:

Rule # 1:  Never leave the classroom for the day until the next day's lessons/materials are ready.  

A college professor instilled this idea in me by explaining that you don't really know what's going to happen in life.  You could get sick, get in a car accident, etc...  A substitute teacher should be able to walk in, see your lesson pile, and teach the students in your absence without worry.

So I leave everything for the next day in a neat stack on my desk, in order, of course, with a clipboard on top with the daily schedule. (The rest of my desk may not be very neat right now, but the next day's lesson pile always is!)

Rule # 2:  Never leave on Friday until the next week's copies/materials are ready.

I have used stacking bins with the days of the week written on them for many years.  Everything goes into the bin that I might need: copies, supplies, manuals, etc.  Having everything ready for the week makes Rule #1 so much easier!

But this year, I just can't seem to keep up with Rule #2!  Instead of planning by the week, I've only been able to plan a day or two at a time. It's been crazy!  I have a new Math Curriculum and a new Science Curriculum this year, which take longer to plan for because they are not familiar yet.  Also, I have been spending more time with family in the evenings and weekends, rather than planning as much at home as I usually do. (But that is a good thing!)  I think I need to take a day off from school to work on school planning and prepping!  Lol! 

I know I will catch up eventually, but we're heading into the 8th week of school and this is so unusual for me!  Since my school is making SMART goals, maybe "I will start following Rule #2 by Thanksgiving Break." would be a good one. Let's hope it doesn't take that long though!

MONDAY MUSINGS: COPS!

During recess today, a Police Officer came by my school. As he approached, all of my students RAN in the opposite direction. Shocked, I asked them why they were running away (the Police Officer was on the other side of the fence).  Their response was something like "It's a cop!"  I recognized the Officer and went over to greet him. My students followed to see what was going on. I introduced him as my friend and sent them back to play.  He had just answered a call in the neighborhood, saw me at recess, and stopped to say hello.

Afterwards, I explained to my students that the Officer used to help me in my classroom before he became a Police Officer.  (He had been my Special Education Assistant before joining the Police Department.)  Not only did that surprise them, but one boy was just incredulous, "You're friends with a Cop?" While it seems a bit funny, it made me realize that my students only see Police Officers in a negative light due to their environment. Most of my students come from low-income families and have been exposed to crime at such a young age. Several students have parents currently in jail.  As I thought about this, I realized that the only "good cop" they see is the one who visits on career day.  Those officers share info about their jobs, but don't have time to interact personally with the students.

I usually don't teach "Community Helpers" in 3rd grade (that was a big  Social Studies unit when I taught 1st grade!). Maybe my students need a fresh look at Police Officers so they will understand that they are the "good guys" and will help them.   My Police Officer friend loves children!  Maybe I can talk him into visiting my classroom to read a book aloud so my students can see first hand that Police Officers are there to protect and serve, not to be feared.


*Cute Police Graphic from http://www.mycutegraphics.com/*

SMART GOALS

My school is adopting S.M.A.R.T. Goals this year.  Students and staff alike are creating personal and whole group goals that are :

Specific            

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-bound

Creating classroom goals is not new for us.  Due to the fact that I teach mainly Math and Science, I centered our goals around Math this year:

90% of all students will be at Level 4.0 or higher in Moby Math by the end of April 2015.

 

90% of all students will master their Multiplication Facts from 0-10 by the end of April 2015.

(3rd graders in Texas take the state test at the end of April, so that's why the due date is before the end of the school year.)

This year we are implementing personal SMART goals as well.  My students did a wonderful job setting a one-week goal for themselves.  Many of them chose to set their goal around our Accelerated Reader Program.  "I will read 2 AR books this week and pass with an 80% or 100%"  Others set their goal to align with one of our class goals, "I will complete 4 Moby Max Math sessions this week." or "I will master my multiplication x2 facts this week."  

Our entire school set goals this week, so some wonderful teachers created a space in the hallway to hang the goals.  Once the goals were completed, the students placed a sticker on their 3x5 card.  Next week each student will create a new goal and staple it over the completed goal.  Eventually we will create one month goals instead of just weekly goals.

I set a few goals for myself as well.  Realistically, every teacher sets goals for themselves when creating a To-Do list, but by making it into a SMART goal, I knew I would have to make it a priority, rather than just another thing on my To-Do list to get to whenever I had the extra time.

I still had two students left to test with the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessment, and had been putting it off.  So, that was perfect for my first SMART goal.  It was accomplished by Tuesday afternoon!  I had a secondary goal about using my Planning Time wisely, and I can say that most days I was successful!  

Overall, SMART Goals were very successful this week!  I'm looking forward to next week.  It will be interesting to see what the students choose for their new goals.  And I need to come up with a good one for myself too.  I can't expect to use my Planning Time wisely EVERY DAY, as there are always friends/co-workers to chat with!

Have a good week!  

FACEBOOK

Check out my new Facebook Page at Just a Second, It's Time for Third!  

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Thanks!

COLLEGE AWARENESS DOOR

My school district's mission is to prepare students for college, career, and community leadership.  This week we are focusing on College and Career Readiness to support that mission.  One of the activities my school started this week was a College Awareness Classroom Door Contest.  Every year teachers decorate their door about a particular college.  But this year is different.  This year, it was turned into a contest, with a rubric and prizes!  My students and I were excited about it!  They could win a pizza party, popsicle party, or extra recess.  I could win a long lunch, no morning duty for a week, or a jeans pass.  Doors had to be completed today, and the judging will occur on Monday.

While I have attended several colleges, I chose my first one.  Maybe I thought it would be easier to work with, or maybe I was just feeling a little homesick.  Next year is a big High School Reunion year for me, a trip back home has been on my mind recently!  :)

San Diego State University

I found this beautiful beach paper at Mardel.  I was disappointed that it wasn't long enough for the entire door, but I used the school colors of black and red to fill it.  We have to keep the window clear, hence the cut out.

I found some bling to add to the top while looking through Homecoming Decor.

My next-door-neighbor gave me a box of Luau decorations, and this plastic sun was a perfect addition to my door.  So cute!

 This is the completed door.

This is my secret weapon!  I hung it up on the last day of decorating.  I recorded part of the SDSU Fight Song on a motion sensor sound recorder!  The students loved this!

I also sprayed beach scented air freshener on a piece of felt.  My students loved this too! 

Information about San Diego's location and Extra Curricular Activities offered at SDSU.  The rubric said to mention degree programs as well, but 188 was too many for my students to write.

I added this part (not on the rubric).  Famous Alumni!  I've taught my students about Ellen Ochoa in the past, but didn't realize she had attended SDSU as well until this door project.  And of course we had to have Tony Gwynn, my favorite baseball player of all time.  (Granted, I don't know many, but growing up in San Diego, everyone knew of and loved Tony Gwynn!)  After he retired from the Padres, he went back to SDSU as the head Baseball Coach.

Keeping with the mission of this project, every student had a part in putting this college door together.   I look forward to walking through the school on Monday and seeing everyone else's college doors.  It opens up the world to these elementary students, who might not learn about college otherwise.  

HANDS-ON FUN

This week we had a great deal of fun in Math and Science!  Lots of hands-on activities!  My district purchased brand new Math manipulatives this year, so my students will have a great year using them!  We just started our unit on Place Value, and the students enjoyed "playing" with the new Base Ten Blocks.  One student set out a certain number of blocks, and their partner counted them.  Working with three digit numbers was easy for them but they had a lot of fun refreshing their memories from Second Grade before we move on to adding more digits.

In science, we also had a fun week of hands-on investigations!  First up was my personal favorite that I like to call "Buried Treasure".  I buried some treasure (well, ok, maybe not real treasure, but things like paperclips, magnets, rubber bands, erasers, etc...)  The students used magnets to find all of the magnetic items, and then used their hands to find the rest of the buried treasure.  They sorted all of the treasure by Magnetic or Non-Magnetic, and recorded their data.  They really enjoyed this!

We also worked on measuring mass this week in Science.  Our new Math manipulative set came with plenty of these really nice balances.  The students had to make predictions before actually measuring the items.  It was interesting to listen in on their conversations, and hear their excitement when their predictions were close to the actual mass!  

For more hands-on Math, check out my Guest Blog over at Math Teacher Tales! 

M&M SCIENCE

Now that we have covered all the safety rules in Science, it was time for a Descriptive Investigation. We're not using the term "experiment" anymore.  "Investigation" it is! 

A Descriptive Investigation involves "collecting qualitative and/or quantitative data to draw conclusions about a natural or man-made system. A descriptive investigation includes a question, but no hypothesis. Observations are recorded, but no comparisons are made and no variables are manipulated.” (TEA, Science Curriculum, August 2010)

So, what better way to do our first Descriptive Investigation on Obervation than with M&M's!  The students were so excited about seeing the M&M's on my desk, and I had to be very clear that they would get to eat some, AFTER our investigation.

The students observed the M&M's using as many of their Five Senses as they could.  They even got to taste ONE during this part.

The students recorded their observations.

What would happen if we placed an M&M in water?  Let's find out!

This generated some interesting conversations about if the M&M was melting,  was the water was taking the color off the candy coated shell, etc...

The students enjoyed this very much!  So we decided to ask the question, what would happen if you added three more M&M's to the water?

And there you go!  A fun Descriptive Investigation!  And the students enjoyed eating more M&M's when they were finished!