June CURRENTLY...ALREADY?!?!?!

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that time is passing by way too quickly!  Here we are again starting out another month,  I'm linking up again with the fabulous Farley for her monthly CURRENTLY.

Listening: As I'm posting I'm listening to the show Renovation Realities.  My husband thinks he's being a funny man as he laughs and says "Maybe I should be on this show..."  I am not chuckling, at all...especially since he recently took on a home improvement project that didn't go as smoothly as planned, and has totally stressed me out!

Loving:  I am also loving that as I am sitting here I am being cooled down by crisp air blowing out of the air conditioner.  I was determined to hold out, but today the humidity got the better of me.  I enjoy the warmth of summer, I definitely do not enjoy the sticky humidity!  I will sleep well tonight for sure!

Thinking:  That I really do need to get motivated to go through my classroom, reorganize certain areas, and PURGE.  I have inherited many different teaching resources in the seven years that I have taught, and I have always suffered guilt over getting rid of things.  This year my goal is to really go through what has accumulated, and get rid of what I don't use or need.  I know that many of the things that I am getting rid of many of my students will want, and they will think that it's fantastic lol.

Wanting:  A quiet day at home with family to just relax.  With the different sports schedules and projects going on around here there hasn't been much quality time spent relaxing.  I'm hoping things will slow down a bit very soon so we can get this quality time in!

Needing:  A pedicure, badly!  Seriously, I can't believe that I have been leaving the house with sandals on at all....I hope to be able to fit this in asap as well!

3 vacay essentials:  1.  Relaxation, I know I keep saying that, but it's a must...this year has been very stressful, for many different reasons...it's time to get back to time with the family, and chill!
2. Family time-with all of the hustle and bustle of different schedules, and to-dos, I feel like time spent together gets pushed off too much.  Summer is a great time for us to recharge our batteries together.  We'll do this camping together, visiting with relatives, and I am very much looking forward to spending time with my best friend and her new born baby boy! <3  3. Outdoor adventures with my boys-I can't wait to go camping, it's a family favorite!  We also are looking forward to exploring trails while hiking, swimming at a local lake, taking walks, play ground trips, etc.  I am also really hoping that this year we will be able to go white water rafting as a family!  I went once as a child and loved it.  I've been wanting to go as a family, and we were just waiting for our youngest to be old enough and comfortable with the idea.  Now that he's ten, I think it's the time! =)

To all of the teachers who are already enjoying their summer vacations, I am jealous!  I will be in school until June 24th!  But, if things continue the way they have been, it's going to fly by, and I will be joining you very soon!  Happy June! =)

~Heather~

Are you ready to shop?!?!

I don't know about you, but my cart at TpT is full!  I am very much looking forward to cashing in tomorrow and Wednesday on all of the wonderful teacher appreciation sales.  I have also put all of the items in my store on sale for 20% off, add that to the discount being offered by TpT and you can save up to 28%!  So, fill up your cart now and get ahead for tomorrow's big sales!

Thanks to Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah-Designs for the sale photo! =)

This is my motto for the next two days! lol  Have a great night!

~Heather~

CURRENTLY...a little late, but better late than never, right?

Yet another month flew by and May is here.  I'm linking up again for Farley's CURRENTLY party.

I'm currently listening to Bones...love this show!  We are way behind in our DVR'd shows...our district implemented new teacher evaluations this year, and our evidence portfolios were due this past Friday.  So, a ton of work to get done for school on top of a jam-packed sports schedule with our boys lead to a week full of long nights working and no t.v. time.

I am absolutely LOVING that the weather has been so nice.  All winter long I was anticipating warmer weather, and then winter seemed like it wanted to hang around forever.  I adore days like today where I'm able to have the windows all wide open.  The hubs and I brought out the patio furniture out, so we're looking forward to grilling and enjoying some meals outdoors.

I made it a point to relax this weekend after how stressed out I was all week, and now I am thinking that I really ought to start thinking about getting some lesson plans going...no motivation for that yet though! lol

I am really wanting a trip to the nursery...my best friend is pregnant, and she's due just about any day now!!! =)  I am so excited to meet my "nephew" and can't wait to snuggle him!  My brother and his family live in California, so my niece and nephews are very far away.  Even my nieces and nephews on my husband's side are far enough away that we don't get to see them very often, so I will love a new little one to spend some time with. <3  I also want to make a trip to the nursery for a new rose bush.  My rose bush last year ended up turning yellow for some reason, and this spring so far it is showing absolutely no signs of coming back...no leaves, no buds, nada... =(  I definitely don't profess to be a professional, but I think it's beyond help at this point, and that I'm going to have to get a new one...

I NEED a haircut desperately!  My hair had gotten so long that it is just about down to my backside...I am really looking forward to having it all chopped off this Wednesday!  It will probably take some getting used to, but I will be happy to have it short again. =)

Finally, my summer bucket list doesn't have anything major on it, so it will all hopefully be accomplished...we want to finally get our pool installed and able to be used this summer...we've been planning to do that for the past three years!  Other than some family camping trips I am most looking forward to just relaxing and spending quality time with my family. =)  I am easy to please lol.

Now that the nice weather is here I am starting to get summer fever.  We have our state testing in math this week, and it feels like school should be just about done.  Not for us though.  We will still be in school until June 21st!!!!  That's what a winter with tons of snow and lots of snow days gets us here on the east coast...fortunately it seems like time keeps flying by and it will probably go by quickly.

I hope that you all have a fantastic week!
~Heather~

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~

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:

Math Interactive Notebook-Fractions by Michelle Harper of No Monkey Business

And also:

Fractions Math Unit by More Time 2 Teach

 

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~

I'm such an absentee blogger... =(

Am I the only one who's feeling overwhelmed this school year?  I feel like lately it's all I can do to stay caught up.  When I get finally get home, get a few things picked up around the house, get supper going, and have a few minutes to chill, I get completely caught up in blog surfing.  There are so many amazing teaching bloggers out there, I wonder what teaching today would be like if we didn't have the ability to communicate with so many amazing educators all over the globe.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who can look around their classroom and see inspiration from so many different teachers out there!  I'm going to set a new goal for myself to get back to blogging more regularly, and hopefully I will reach that goal.  We have definitely been busy in our classroom.  We've been working on finishing up our unit of study on the Puritans.  Man were my third graders amazed at some of the punishments they used back in colonial times!  I have a poster I always take out during this unit that is made to look like an old historic document that shows a lot of the different punishments that were used as well as how someone could get punished that way.  Each day that it's been up on the front board I've had multiple students that love to just stand there and examine it, it's so funny!
 I FINALLY got around to taking some pictures of the Wampanoag Daily Life books that they created at the end of our unit on the Wapanoag people of Massachusetts.  They really did a nice job.  I try to always fit in an assortment of assessments, and during my science and social studies block four of my students are inclusion with intense special needs children.  These types of activities make it possible for them to participate and get so much more out of the lesson than they would if we were just reading from the textbook and answering questions on paper.  They really worked hard on them, and they were very proud of themselves. =)  Here are some highlights:

 

The pictures in the last row of the photo are from one of my special needs students.  He really did a great job demonstrating what he learned, and it would have been so much more difficult for him if he just had to take a test.  For this project they were focusing on the Wampanoag people's winter and summer homes, clothing, tools, jobs of men, jobs of women, and jobs of children, as well as foods they ate.  They all did a great job!

We have also moved into our fractions unit recently.  They are really seeming to grasp the concepts which I love, especially since I wasn't a fan of fractions when I was a kid!  There are so many great resources out there for lessons, but I wanted a little something more to add to my math workstations.  I put together a March/St. Patrick's Day themed activity pack for my students to use during their math rotations.  We're still working hard on becoming fluent with our multiplication facts, so I had to include a bump style game for them to practice with.  I also really need to increase their stamina with multi-step problem solving, so I created a board game that has twenty-four different word problems for them to work on while playing with a partner.  I've also included two different practice activities with input/output tables.  The rules are focusing on multiplication and division facts, and I just print these and slide them into page protectors for them to practice with.  I have them pass in the sheet in the protector before they wipe it clean so that I can see their work and know if they made any mistakes or are not understanding the concepts.  I included a page that I also put into a page protector that has them working on ordering numbers in order from least to greatest.  We seem to slip in some of our skills from the beginning of the year, so I want to spiral whenever possible.  Finally, I made a fraction match up where they are sorting the picture, number, and word forms of fractions.  This could also be used as a memory game it's up to you.  Here's a peak at it:

You can check it out now in my TpT shop...and if you click on the preview you'll find a little goodie ;)  Have a great weekend! 

~Heather~

I've been busy...

Time seems to keep slipping by on me.  It's already February, and vacation will shortly be upon us.  I can't say that I'm not excited about having a break, that's for sure!  Along with keeping up with the normal day to day classroom tasks, I've been working hard on getting some more activities put together for my students to use during math workstations.  We still need lots of practice with our multiplication facts, and multi-step problem solving as well.  I created my Penguin Comparisons for my third graders to practice both of these skills at once.  I love how cute it turned out!

Over the weekend there were some pretty incredible sales going on over at TpT...did you all stock up?  I ended up checking out-twice!  Just don't tell the hubby! ;)  Along with my fabulous TpT purchases I took advantage of the awesome sale that KPM Doodles is having until the 14th- 50% off!  Can we say yes please?  As soon as I saw her Valentine Monsters I had to have them.  Then it came time to decide what to make with them.  My son was a great inspiration with this one.  He suggested making a game where the students have to use a code to determine what math problems they would be solving, and voila!  Creature Code Multiplication Monsters were born!

I love all of her graphics, they are seriously adorable! Both of these games are up in my TpT store if you're interested, and only $2 a piece!  I'd love to hear if your students enjoy them as much as mine.  What's your favorite way to practice multiplication facts with your students?
The other project I was working on was giving my Contractions Hearts Mini Pack a facelift.  I've updated the graphics, as well as added a contractions memory game for additional practice.

 

Well, that is definitely all for now...it's time for bed!  Have a great rest of the week!

~Heather~