Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Let's Get Acquainted Linky!

This week I'm linking up with Mrs. Reed's Let's Get Acquainted Linky and sharing my three favorite areas in our classroom.


#1
My 1st area to share is the view from my classroom door.  I wanted my classroom to be bright and inviting, and I hope that I achieved that!  When you walk in my door, the first thing you see up on my wall are two inspirational quotes:  "Dare to dream it...work to achieve it!" and "The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you know, the more places you'll go." Dr. Seuss.  I love it! =)  I really do try to foster that drive in my students to set goals, believe in themselves, and work hard to achieve whatever it is they have set out to do.

#2
The second area of my room that I wanted to share is our class meeting area.  I realize that it's not very large, but it works because we really become a close-knit classroom community, and don't mind having to be close to each other. =)  I also really like this section of our classroom because it's where our interactive white board is located.  Our whiteboard is such an important tool for learning.  I honestly don't know how I ever taught without it!

#3
The third area I chose to share is the other part of our whole group meeting area.  This is where a lot of the magic happens. =)  We have had so many wonderful mini lessons and class discussions in this area of our classroom.  I really love getting them up close when I'm teaching.  It not only brings us closer together, but I find that they are more engaged when they are right there in the mix.

     I hope that everyone is having a wonderful spring.  Today was our first really nice, warm spring day, and I was loving it!  Especially since we didn't have our typical spring vacation week this year.  We ended up having to go to school three out of five of our vacation days to make up for some of the many snow days we had this winter.  I am definitely looking forward to getting the patio set back out on the deck and enjoying the sunshine! =)

~Heather~


Monday, April 1, 2013

April...really? And CURRENTLY...

April?  Seriously?  Pause button please.  We had a very lovely Easter this weekend.  We cooked a nice dinner at our house with my mother-in-law.  My own mother is currently on vacation in Washington, D.C. so we didn't have our typical egg hunt for the kiddos.  We'll have that when Granny returns from her trip.  Even with such a relaxing weekend Monday is back and I'm exhausted!  I'm thinking it's from all of the hard work we're doing in class. ;)  We are chin-deep in our fractions unit, and presently reviewing before our unit assessment on Wednesday.  Once we finish up with fractions we're moving on the geometry.  I have to say that this year's class has really enjoyed fractions much more than classes I've had in the past have.  Two resources that I have used along with my fractions resources/lessons are:

And also:
 
These two were worth every penny!   My class has really enjoyed digging deeper into our math notebooks, and they keep asking to play fractions tic tac toe. The hands-on activities in More Time 2 Teach's unit were excellent!  

I suppose it's time to swap out our seasonal writing prompts.  I use these for my students who are fast finishers.  Time to take out my April prompts I suppose!
Sorry for the glare by the window...
 
Speaking of April, I've linked up with Farley for this month's currently.
 
 
Happy Spring! =)
~Heather~