Math and Mickey

I found out last month that I would be presenting at the FCTM conference in Orlando. I was going to be the only one from my school going, so I suggested to my husband that he and the kids come along. The hotel is right next to Sea World, so I thought they could spend the day at the park while I was at the math conference.

Then we got a letter in the mail from Disney. We could upgrade the tickets we had from this summer to season passes for about $100 a person. My little guy is still free, so for $300 we could have passes good until June. The offer was too good to pass up. Sea World was out, Disney was in.

The plan was to leave right after work on Wednesday. My daughter was so excited she couldn’t sleep on Tuesday. After finally getting her to sleep, I was up until 2am packing/prepping. Then Wednesday the Irishman and I both ended up working later than planned. By the time we got on the road it was 8:00pm. When we got to Orlando just before midnight, the kids were suddenly wide awake. It was 1am before we got to bed.

My little guy woke up at 5:50am. We were exhausted. The kids were wired. I got them dressed, packed, and ready for the 7:30 bus. Unfortunately that meant that I threw on clothes to check in for the conference and attend the opening session.

I headed back to the room after that for a nice shower and to make the finishing touches on my presentation. I ate lunch and headed to my session.

I was worried that no one would show up. The presentation started at 12:45. By 12:30 it was standing room only. I was so nervous.

I am not a fan of session where you have to get up and move around. I don’t particularly like to chat with my neighbor. I teach that way in my classroom with my students, but it is not my thing at a conference. I decided to try having people backchannel using Todays Meet. It worked! In hindsight I wish I’d have stopped to talk about the comments in the middle, but live and learn. People actually logged in and took part in the discussion.

I am really happy with how the whole thing went. I titled my session “New Ideas in Technology for the Elementary Math Classroom.” I did finish a little early, but then again it started a little early due to the full room, so one seemed to mind. I’ve met some lovely people and had nice comments from others who were in my presentation. All in all, I’m considering it a success!

While I was presenting, my husband sent me this picture:



When the kids got back we had dinner in the room (we brought food) and explored the playground/mini golf. The room only has a shower, so we decided a quick swim in the pool and showering off there would work. (Don’t judge – you wouldn’t want to manage a 2 year old and a 3 year old in the shower here!)

As a special treat, we used the projector I brought along for the presentation to show the kids a movie.



They lasted about 15 minutes before falling asleep.



After getting about 5 hours of sleep the night before and then spending the day at Disney, they slept solidly. I can’t remember the last time we all slept to 7:30!

Today was another day of conference for me and Disney for them. I picked up a few new ideas I’ll be trying out soon. It looks like our old Wii may be coming to school with me for some golf subtraction fun! The Irishman and the kids aren’t back yet, but from the pictures I got I’d say it was a good day today, too.

 



I’m excited to get to join them at the park tomorrow after a couple of morning sessions. I’ve questioned our sanity a few times this trip, but in the end it has worked out really well!

~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote this on Friday, but the hotel Wi-Fi wasn’t working and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to get online. We had a great time at the park on Saturday and a lazy day around the house today. I was all set for a productive teacher work day tomorrow, but it looks like I will have my little guy with me. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t also plan to purchase 18-36 pumpkins tomorrow for pumpkin week in the STEAM Lab. This could be interesting!

Math Monday: The Pumpkin Project

I’m linking up with A Burst of First for the first Math Monday. I recently downloaded old pictures from my iPad and realized that I never blogged about my favorite math/science activity.

My first year teaching I was introduced to a pumpkin packet of math and science activities. The pages were hand written, but the content was fantastic. My third grade partner had been doing the project for years and she had it down to an art. Students were estimating and measuring height, circumference, and mass with/without the guts.  My students sliced the pumpkins with a ruler while I was out of the room and then tried to attack my teaching assistant. I’ve learned a lot since then!

For years I’ve had each student send in a pumpkin. (Here is a rough idea of the form I send home) I also have parent volunteers come in to help gut the pumpkins. This is the type of project that parents at my school love. I typically start the students whole group. Each student names his/her pumpkin. We find the mass of all the pumpkins and record the information on a table and then a graph.

From here each group works on a different part of the packet. I usually stay inside and help with height, circumference, vertical lines, and classifying/ordering the pumpkins.



I send my fantastic parent volunteers outside. They do the sink/float test before gutting the pumpkins. We don’t carve – just gut them in the name of science. It is amazing to me how many third graders have never seen the inside of a pumpkin.



We find the mass of the gutted pumpkins and record all the data. As you might imagine, I’ve updated the old pumpkin packet. It includes pumpkin life cycle, physical properties, and all the measurements mentioned above.



The packet is available in my TpT store. It really is one of my all time favorite projects. I am still trying to figure out how to adapt the idea in my new role. We’ll see how that goes!

I’m going to leave you with some pumpkin love. Click the picture below to download these fun free pumpkin note cards.

I’m also going to e-mail a free copy of my Pumpkin Packet to anyone who can correctly guess how many pumpkins my little family of four has purchased so far this year.  This offer is good through Sunday, October 20, 2013.

~~~~~~~~

For more fun Math ideas, check out Math Monday:

Five for Friday: The one with the hashtags

One of the blogs I used to read, back when I had time to read blogs, did a Five for Friday five word hashtag thing. I don’t remember who it was, but I’m going to borrow the idea this week.

 

#newcomputersgreattosee

~~~~~

#pumpkinspumpkinspumpkinarteverywhere

~~~~~

#smartboardfinallycomingMonday

#couldntstandtheplainwood

~~~~~

#inprogressbookpagecollage

#thissuckerisREALLYbig

~~~~~

#Whoooelselovesaweekend?

~~~~~

#WhoooolovesaTpTsale? 

This one takes more than 5 words! TeachersPayTeachers is having a FLASH SALE and giving 10% off all purchases if you use the code fb100k.  I am joining in and holding my own 20% off sale in my store.  That means you get a combined savings of 28%. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~

Got any hashtag comments for me?

Five for Something–What I’ve Learned

I intended to blog last night, but it was quite a day. My two-year-old was sent home sick 20 minutes after he got to day care. The Irishman picked him up and they had a great day napping at home together.

We’d planned a trip to the pumpkin patch and to the library this afternoon, but we decided to keep the little guy home for a good nap. He still isn’t quite 100%. My almost-four-year old headed off dressed up in her Ariel outfit for an afternoon of fun with her Daddy. My husband is a fantastic father!

During this nap time I was trying to decide the best way to update the blog. I’ve decided to share five things I’ve learned since moving from third grade to the STEAM lab.

1

When ordering giant computer tables, 2 bases and 2 sides means you ordered one table. I got the e-mail saying that the table we ordered August 5th would be delivered Tuesday. The singular “table” concerned me. Our purchasing director looked at the quote and tried to reassure me that it was two tables. Then she called to check.



My ONE table was delivered on Thursday. In the middle of class. I had to make of last minute plan changes. Twice. It took longer than they thought to put it together. (The picture was taken after school on Friday, so the stools were already on the old tables so that they can clean the floors.)

The table is lovely. It should have 12 iMacs on it in the next week or so. My only complaint is that there is only one table. They are ordering a second one. I’m hoping it gets here before Christmas!

2

When ordering a SMART board, I’ve learned to pay attention to the size of the wall.
I’d barely recovered from the table-installation while trying to paint in the room episode when they told me the SMART board would be installed Friday.

They wheeled in the giant board and all the equipment at 9am during my planning period on Friday. They took a look at the wall and said it wouldn’t work.I watched as the equipment I’ve waited months for was wheeled back out of my classroom.



Two hours later, in the middle of my first grade painting project the electrician showed up and removed a light bulb. He is going to come back next week to remove the light fixture so that the SMART board will fit. They will try again to install the SMART board a week from Monday.

Fingers crossed!

3

On the plus side, I’m learning how to organize things. I have six classes a day (one each for grades K-5) for 50 minutes each. There are two minutes between classes. My days fly!

I got this “Tasty Toppers” set from Really Good Stuff years ago. (I think it has been discontinued – I bought it on clearance) I used it when I taught third grade, but it has been a life saver in the lab!



Now that I’ve explained the “May Do” options, they know exactly what they can do without me having to give instructions again.

4

LEGOs have saved me. In my third grade class, my students had a book in their desk. I had other activities for early finishers, but there was always that one to fall back on. After about a week I knew I needed to figure something out.



All my classes, kindergarten through fifth grade, beg to play with the LEGOs. These three tubs belong to one of the middle school teachers. Her son is now in college, but his collection is still getting much love!

I’ve gotten wooden blocks and LEGOs from teachers with college age kids who have long outgrown them. My next project for tonight is to create a poster to ask for donations of old building toys.  We are a K-12 school. Our high school is a dual enrollment program with some amazing students. I suspect that there are more than a few of those kids with old collections of K’NEX or LEGOs or gears that my students would be thrilled to use. If that doesn’t work, I’ve started researching ideas for a Donor’s Choose project.

5

I’m spending hours researching art projects. Until my computers are set up, I’ve been a little more art heavy on the STEAM than I’d expected to be. I’ve learned to use Pinterest in ways I never expected. I’ve even surprised myself and created several of my own projects.

For example, I looked at looked for something to do with cutting practice with kindergarten. We spent time practicing with lines. The final activity was to cut on the lines and to turn the finished product into a rug.




Right now I’m working on a collaborative project with all 18 classes using old book pages. After 10 years of teaching I have a box of books with pages falling out. I couldn’t part with them, but now I’ve found a use for them.

Each grade level is working on a different part. K and 1 painted blue sheets for the background. Second grade painted colorful half sheets for the board border. My third, fourth, and fifth grade classes have all painted fall leaves.



I’ve painted “Fall into Learning” letters and a tree trunk. I hope to have it all put together this week. Expect pictures!

~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it. Five things I’ve learned so far this year. I’m enjoying the change, but I will be thrilled when all my technology is in place.

Enjoy your weekend!

International Dot Day 2013

This post is about a week past due. Last weekend was my birthday. This weekend was just family time. It’s all good!

While my room is in the process of being transformed to the STEAM Lab, it is the old art room. About half of the kids call me the art teacher. I was discouraged by the number of students who declared to me (the ‘art teacher’) that they can not draw. There were kindergarteners who refused to try to draw because they are not good at it.

I consider myself to be more creative than artistic. I have always worked to integrate the arts into my teaching. Teaching an actual art lesson is a little outside of my comfort zone, but I’m working on it.

I decided to start with The Dot because of the message behind the story. We started with individual dot galleries (see here for more about that) made up of four to six little frames.

For our International Dot Day display, each student made one additional frame. With just over 400 students, it took me about two hours to hang these all in the hall.



I sorted the dots by grade level. I’m loving The Happy Caterpillar paper set by My Clip Art Store. (Not MY clip art store by the way – that is the name of the store!)

 

 

The teachers and staff got into the fun as well. I gave all interested adults a full sheet of paper from the teacher’s guide.



Next year I should be able to add a digital component to the day. I’m still waiting for the computers and SMART board to arrive, but they should be set up in the next couple of weeks. By next year’s International Dot Day, we should be in business! There are lots of possibilities with Skype and such. I can’t wait!

Using Evernote Web Clipper to Save, Organize, and E-mail Posts

I am a huge fan of Evernote. After years of taking notes on random sheets of paper at every meeting, I made the switch to Evernote last year. I love that I can organize my notes in notebooks and search for key words to find notes.

I was a huge fan of Google Reader. I like some of the features in Bloglovin’, but I was miss being able to e-mail a blog post. I would often e-mail a post to myself for later.

I often find posts like this one or this one that I want to share with my coworkers. Pinterest is great for keeping things for yourself, but some posts are worth sharing via e-mailing to others. Some people have a button to allow you to e-mail a post, but that usually just sends a link. The Bloglovin' mobile app sends just a link. I discovered last week that I can use Evernote to e-mail full blog posts from Bloglovin’. It made my week!

The first thing you need to do is download the Evernote Webclipper for your browser. It will add a little button with an elephant on it. This picture shows Firefox. The button went to the other side on my Mac, but it still served the same purpose.



If you are signed into your Evernote account, you will see this box. You can chose to clip the whole page, part of a page, or just the address. You will also be able to choose the notebook and add any tags to the post.



That’s it! It is saved as a file in your Evernote account.



The note looks just like the website.



From here you can share it via e-mail or other social media.



I have found some fantastic resources through blogs. E-mailing the webclip this way makes it easy to save, organize, and share posts.

How do you save your favorite posts?

(Button credits: Computer: Ashley Hughes , Background: MyClipartStore.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so excited about this that I’m linking up for my first Tried it Tuesday.



Be sure to stop by and read some posts worth e-mailing to your friends!

Five for Friday

We had a three day week. It feels more like a Monday than a Friday, but I’ll take it!

1

 My classroom is under construction. Literally.



They are adding electric outlets and data ports for the new computers and SMART board. There was no school on Thursday, but today my classes were relocated to the Media Center. By this time next week I should have enough outlets for a lab.

2

 There was no school Thursday, but I spent the day cleaning my house. Sad, but true.

3

I’ve used Evernote for note taking for the last year or so. Last week I discovered the Evernote Web Clipper. I’m going to go a blog post on the topic, but it is awesome. For now you can just take my word for it!

4

My other new (old) love is Dropbox. I’d used it in the past, but I’d exceeded my free space. I broke down and upgraded my account a couple of weeks ago. I’d been using a combination of flash drives and server space. I’m so much more relaxed now that all my files are safe in one place.

5

I’m so ready for my room to be finished. By October, I *should* have the tables, computers, and SMART board in place. I can’t wait! I’m trying to be patient, but it is wearing thin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy your weekend!