Five for a Rainy Friday

While most of the country has been dealing with snow this week, we had a major rain event here in south Florida. It has been a while since I linked up with Five for Friday. There is a definite theme to my five.

1

My day started with a 4am wake up call from my two year old. When I got to the kids’ bedroom, I heard an ominous dropping sound. Sure enough, there was a leak in the bathroom. Not wanting to wake the kids, I threw the drenched towel in the bathtub and moved the toddler potty under the drip.

2

At 5:30am my alarm went off. I took a shower and snuck downstairs to finish a presentation and sub plans. At about 6:15, I was waiting for the iron to heat up. A few minutes later, I learned via social media that the local school district canceled classes. This was significant because our day care closes when the school district closes. I teach in a single school district. My husband and I both had school. Oh, boy!

3

I was actually only going to be in my classroom for an hour today. I presented at a technology exchange at the university. There were only 7 presenters. 5 were university professors. The main event was on the other campus. I have never presented via teleconferencing. It was unnerving. To make matters worse, there was only one other professor in the room with me. I wasn’t even sure which camera to look at or if they were seeing me or my screen. It went well, but it was odd.

4

After that I headed home so my husband could go to work. I called the condo association to report the leak in the roof. I won’t go into it here, but they are questioning the root cause of the leak. My wonderful neighbor is going to fight it with us. I fear this is going to be an ordeal.

5

The rain that fell last night was incredible. We had 12.7 inches. On my way to work there were roads closed and subdivisions flooded in. As soon as I got to the city limits where my school is location everything cleared up. There were hardly even puddles on the road. It was unreal.

Just north of my house, I-95 was closed. They had 22 inches of rain, most of it in just 3 hours. They are calling it a once in a 100 year rain event. 

I’ve had snow days (not in Florida), hurricane days, and now rain days. So much for the dry season!

Giveaway and THE Board

I’m happy to be taking part in an awesome giveaway with two of my favorite bloggers. Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching and Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper have each reached 1,000 followers.



To help with their giveaway, I’ve contributed two of my favorite products.

and

This are both task cards with self-checking QR codes. I LOVE using QR codes to provide instant feedback. I’ve blogged about it here and here.

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In other news, I have spent hours this week on my bulletin board display. I had it in my head that all 400 students should contribute to it. It has been a big headache!

This was the fall board:
Each student painted an old book page and I put it together.


I spent my teacher work day gluing down out funky Florida snowflakes. There were no kids around, so I put You’ve Got Mail on the SMARTboard while I worked.



It is almost ready to hang. It takes about four people and a staple gun to get this in the glass cabinet.



Fun times! I’ll post pictures when it is finally posted!

Resolutions and Goals for 2014

I’m not usually much for resolutions and goals, but my husband has just typed out his list of ten goals for the year. I came across this linky at First Grade Nest this afternoon and decided to join in the fun. (I had computer issues on the laptop I was using. I wrote this initially Dec. 30)

Professional goal for my career: I want to have my class set up the way I envisioned it. When the school year started, the computers, furniture, and data/electricity upgrades were not ready. My plans for setting up my classes had to be modified….a lot! Twenty-five computers, two beautiful large conference tables, and two days of being relocated while the electricians were there, and the room is almost finished. Now I need to start implementing the things I’d planned. I’m still making changes as I go, but the general plan is still a good one!

 


Professional goal for my blog/TPT side job: Going along with the “finding balance” I need to get into a routine for blogging/creating. I have products almost ready to post, but I haven’t found the time to finish. Last spring I was blogging regularly, but I wasn’t sleeping much. I want to find a way to make it work in my schedule.

 


I saw a post on Facebook along the lines of “I had children and I became a bad friend.” While I can’t blame the kids entirely, I have been bad about keeping in touch. I have unplugged a bit in the last 6 months or so. While it has its perks, I feel like I’ve been a bad friend to some people I should have checked in on more often. I stayed up the other night e-mailing people I haven’t checked in on in a while. I am going to make a big effort this year to keep in touch.

 


Cleaning. Sigh. My house is a challenge. We are a family of four living in a two bedroom townhouse with no attic or garage. We are trying to de-clutter enough to clean underneath. It is getting a little better, but we are still not there yet. I am going to try to leave work early (on time that is, but early for me) once a week to work on the house before my husband and kids get home. If my work on TpT pays off, I might look into hiring someone to help clean the house a couple of times a month.

In my new role at school I spend about an hour a day organizing supplies and cleaning. I see 6 difference classes a day with 2 minutes between classes. I have much less grading and paperwork. The planning is less involved, but I spend hours and hours each week cleaning and organizing. It is never ending!

 


I used to be a real jet setter. In 2008, we traveled to Australia, Ireland twice, Houston, Boston, Minnesota, and Orlando. I haven’t left the state of Florida since January 1, 2011. (Okay, so technically I took a weekend cruise to the Bahamas last Christmas, but when you live in South Florida that is not nearly as exotic as it sounds!)

My cousin is getting married in Maryland at the end of the summer. I’ve applied to present at a conference in Houston in November. My husband is desperate to get back home to Ireland this year to see his family. I’m really hoping that we can fit in those trips!

 


My age and two kids is catching up to me. I’m going to try to watch what I eat this year. I wouldn’t call it is diet, but the candy and sweets are going to have to go!

 


I made the switch from PC to a Mac at home and (almost completely) at school. I have signed up for a sessions at FETC on using iMovie and having students create ebooks. I really can’t wait for the conference to learn how to use the tools I have in my classroom!

 


Blogging! I miss the community and interaction.

 

I want present at least two professional conferences this year. I submitted a proposal for a regional math conference already. I’ve attended a few conferences this year and have some ideas on what I could share.

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So there you have it! I'm going to ignore the fact that my main goal is to blog more yet it took me four days to get this posted. I am telling myself that I'll get into a routine once school starts. Fingers crossed!

400 Followers!

I am working on two new products for my store. The first is a research project I'm finishing up with my 5th graders. They are creating some amazing snowmen inspired by famous artists. The second is a 3rd grade cookie multiplication/division craftivity. I hope to have both posted by Friday. (Fingers crossed.)

Back to the point of this post, I just got an e-mail saying that I am up to 400 Bloglovin' followers! To celebrate, let's play a little 'Pin it to win it' game. To enter, pin any product from my TpT store to Pinterest. Leave the link to the pin in the comments here. You may enter as many times as you would like. Each comment containing a pin counts as an entry.  I will pick three winners to pick the prize of their choice.

The game ends Sunday night after my kids are in bed. Good luck!

Winter Planning Giveaway Stop B-1

 How did it get to be December already? My Pinterest boards are brimming with winter projects to start on Monday. Speaking of winter planning, I’m excited to be part of the Winter Planning Giveaway hosted by I’m Lovin’ Lit.



This is my favorite kind of giveaway. Everyone wins! If you haven’t been there yet, go visit I’m Lovin’ Lit for all the details. Prize Pack B has two of my favorite things: Math and Clip Art. Love it!



For those of you who might be new to my site, I teach at an elementary school in Florida. After ten years in third grade, I am now teaching in a K-5 STEAM Lab. (Think STEM + Art.) It has been a big transition, but I am LOVING what I do!

As for my contribution to the prize pack, I’ve donated my Merry Measurement and Writing.



I’ve made applesauce cinnamon ornaments with my class for years. When I was student teaching (over a decade ago – goodness!) my kindergarteners talked about the senses as we made the decorations. Teaching in an older grade, we added some measurement activities and then wrote about observations we made using our senses. Last year I got some great clip art that I used for writing organizers and paper for publishing the student writing. I hope you enjoy this activity as much as I have in past years.

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For my part of the giveaway, I’m asking you to please follow me:

Blog lovin’

Facebook

TpT

While you are there, be sure to check out my Math QR Code games. I have several in my store, but this might be my favorite:

 

I love self checking activities. My students love the games. It is a win-win! (End of shameless plug)

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Here is my secret word:

Thank you for stopping by!

Long Time, No Post

I have dozens of pictures and tons of ideas for posts, but this year has gotten the best of me! I haven’t even managed to find time to read blogs. I miss it!

I’d like to say that I have spent all my time cleaning my house and that I am all caught up at work, but I can’t. I am happy to say that I finally have all the computers set up in my classroom.



I’m thrilled with the computers and the tables I picked out. They are set up and functional, but there are still a few things that need to be installed/updated on the computers. I’m thrilled to actually HAVE computers though, so I won’t complain!

I also just registered for FETC. Anyone else going? I've signed up for two workshops that sound fantastic. This will be my first time and I can’t wait

At home, we’ve spent the last two weeks celebrating our birthday princess. She has never actually watched The Little Mermaid, but she loves all things Ariel.



We brought a cake to her class at day care and celebrated at home. Instead of a party, we went to Disney last weekend. She beamed every time someone wished her a happy birthday at the parks!

My how the time flies!

Using the Wii in the Math Classroom

At the FCTM Conference last month I went to a session on gaming in the classroom. I am not a gamer. The only game I could almost play successfully was Tetris back in the day. I really stink at video games.





I bought my husband a Wii several years ago, but we haven’t used it in a long time. We decided to donate it to my classroom. My students were THRILLED!

At the conference we used Wii Golf to practice subtraction. I did this with my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes.



We did this as a center. I had 6-8 kids at the Wii at a time. They split into two teams. The first group recorded the math, while the second group golfed. After each student had a turn to swing they switched places. I used the SMART board to record answers.



My first and second graders were bowling. They wrote an equation to show what happened each time a player bowled. I talked them through it. “There were 10 pins. I knocked down 8 pins. How many pins are left?” (One of those pictures was taken on Halloween. They do not usually dress like that!)



I’ve been researching ideas online. I’ve used this site quite a bit. My students are now looking for a “math excuse” for some of the other games. We will definitely be doing this again!

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I’m linking up:

 

Be sure to join the math fun!