Currently December

I deserve a big ol' pat on the back.....because....I am actually linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade on the correct day for her linky party.

I am So. Proud. Of. Myself!!

Listening--I am currently listening to Monday Night Football......as I have said before....sports are ALWAYS on at my house.  And....I am okay with that!

Loving-- Today the hubs and I made a quick stop at Dollar Tree after school.  He needed to pick up some cheap playing cards for a math game he is going to play with his kiddos tomorrow (more on that later.)  I wanted to find some **cheap** kitchen timers. You see...I use timers A LOT in my classroom--and the ones I have are kinda on their last leg!

I didn't actually think Dollar Tree would have kitchen timers, and I wasn't really looking forward to buying several timers for $8-$10 a pop .  BUT--much to my surprise--Dollar Tree did have timers!!  WOOOOO HOOOOO----and they were only a buck!!  Yessssssss!!

I'll let you know how well they work after I use them!

  

Thinking--Tomorrow Rudy begins her training to become a licensed therapy dog! If you want to know more, read about it here! I have so many emotions going through me---excitement, nervousness, pride.....I just can't wait for her to begin touching the lives of the students at VCIS!  Wish me (and Rudy) luck tomorrow!

Wanting-- To see Mockingjay! Has anyone seen it??  Is it good??

Needing--Time to go Christmas shopping!  I have barely done any shopping for the holidays---and it is beginning to stress me out a wee bit!

Giving--Flarp.

Yes, that's right.....I am giving fart in a can to my secret buddy.

Before you judge---I think he is going to love it, and my goal is to make my secret buddy smile!  Have you heard about the secret buddy program?  If not read about it here!

It's On---Cyber Monday Sale!

Hello everyone!!

I sure do hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. :)  My family sure did.....we traveled to Hays, Kansas and spent time with my sister-in-law and family.  We all had a great time playing games, eating delicious food, watching football, napping.....and, heck....we even jump roped!  I call Thanksgiving 2014 a success! :)

I found this cute little gem floating around on Facebook.....and I thought it was pretty hilarious.  If you haven't seen it......You're welcome.....if you have.....well....you have to admit its pretty funny!

In other news......TPT is having a site-wide sale from December 1 until December 2nd!  My entire store will be 20% off !  Whoop Whoop!!  ALSO....if you use the promo code "TPTCYBER" you get an additional 10%.  YESSSSSSS!!!

Check out some of my products that will be on sale:

One Breath Boxes---Awesome for fluency!  Regular price: $3.50.....Sale Price $2.45!

Morphology Packs---Awesome for word study and vocabulary development!  Regular price: $5.00.....Sale Price $3.50!

Interactive Notebook Pages---Lots of pages to add to interactive notebooks based on particular skills. Regular price: $2.00.....Sale Price $1.40!

Interactive Notebook Bundle---Everything you need for a reading Interactive Notebook! Regular price: $15.00.....Sale Price $10.50! 

 

 Task Cards---Task cards are a perfect way to practice already taught skills! Regular price: $3.00.....Sale Price $2.10!

Soooooooo......... shop away my friends......shop away!!!

Monday Made It

I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!

I believe this is my first time linking up with Tara for this party, and I am pretty excited!!   Although I must admit I didn't **technically** make the products I am sharing.....the kiddos are doing it.

In fact....they aren't even really done....so I guess I should call my post "Monday MAKING It, " instead of "Monday Made It."    Nonetheless.... I am excited to share what some of the students in my school are working on.

 

The pictures may not look like much....but when the students are finished....they will have a product that means the world!

You see the kiddos pictured in these photos are students that volunteer (on their own time...before school....at like 7:45am own time) to be apart of Kindness Club.  In case you want to know more about KC your can read about it here.   I strongly encourage schools to start a Kindness Club, as my school counselor has, because the program makes a HUGE difference.

Anyway....the students pictured are modge podging jugs to begin collecting pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House!  How sweet, giving and empathetic is that?!?!  I just love the hearts of kids!

Collecting and donating pop tabs to a Ronald McDonald House is a small gesture that schools can easily implement.  This one small gesture has immeasurable impact.....so if you classroom, or school want to do something great for your community (or a nearby community), check out how donating pop tabs may make a difference!

Click here to learn about Ronald McDonald House

Or....watch the video below to learn more about Ronald McDonald House Charities!

Currently November

As in typical fashion.....I am (once again) late to Farley's Currently party.  Better late than never, right?!?!

I am currently listening to  Monday Night Football......We are addicted to sports in our house.  Sports are always on......no joke!  Is anyone else watching football.....just curious if anyone heard Chris Botti perform the Star Spangled Banner?  It was AMAZING!!!

I am loving that tomorrow is our third wedding anniversary!  Happy anniversary to my amazing husband!!

I am thinking I can't wait for Rudy to start her therapy dog classes.  In case you have no idea what I am talking about.....you can read all about it here!  Basically.....I applied for a grant to get my pupper trained to be a therapy dog....and I GOT THE GRANT!!  Woot Woot!!  She starts training December 

2nd!!

I am wanting to figure out Tsu??  Do you guys Tsu??  I just recently joined because so many people were talking about!  I still don't really get it.....hopefully I can figure it out soon!

I am needing a good reading diagnostic!!  Currently our district uses the DRA....but teachers are so not a fan.  Their biggest complaint is that it takes TOO MUCH TIME!!  Does anyone have any suggestions?

I am currently reading What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. 

My building is doing this as a book study for PD.  It's a book that will make you think and reflect on your current teaching practice......plus its a quick read!!  I highly recommend it!  I plan to blog about the chapters......but I haven't been the best at blogging lately......but it's a good plan!!

Happy November everyone!!

Five for Friday

TGIF!!!  Man I am I glad it's Friday....this teacher needs some rest and relaxation!!  It's not so much that I had a bad week with my kiddos....in fact I had a great week with with my students.....but my throat is in the beginning stages of becoming really sore.

Needless to say I have been downing Vitamin C like its my job!!

Okay.....here is my Five for Friday!!

 The number one thing on my mind tonight (besides my sore throat) is how amazing my school counselor is.  Seriously....she is stupendous.  I don't think I have ever met a person that has such a BIG heart.....she is empathetic, sympathetic, compassionate, considerate, nurturing, intuitive, understanding.....the list goes on and on.  Quite honestly she is all of the best things rolled into one human being!  I say this because I feel so blessed to have her in our building....every building needs her.  She does amazing things for kids (and staff) in our school.

Below is just one example of what she does.  She has started a "Kindness Club" in our school....and they created this video to spread the message of "Be the Change."

Also she has a blog  (Simply School Counseling).....check it out if you want some of her amazing ideas!

 I get to start Tier 3 math groups....and I am SOOOOOO PUMPED! I have been solely focused on reading intervention for so long, that I really need some time to wrap my mind around what interventions to try.  I've got all my data....but I just can't decide on an intervention program??  Any suggestions?  I have heard about TransMath, Corrective Math and V-Math.  Thoughts??

 

I am watching the Royals....and they are starting to stress me out!  Come on boys!!

I am almost done with Gone Girl!!  If you haven't read this book.....you need to....its seriously amazing!!  

So, I got my husband stuck on task cards ( you can read about that here) and ever since he has been begging me to make more and more and more!  So I just finished up a set for him on evaluating expressions with variables.  Gotta love task cards.....

Sunday Scoop

Hey Ya'll.....

Today I am linking up with Teaching Trio for her weekly Sunday Linky: Sunday Scoop!

This is my first time participating in this linky.  I have always thought it was a great idea.....and I love reading what my fellow bloggers are up to on Sunday......so I am linkin' up for the first time today!!  Thanks Teaching Trio  for the awesome linky!!

I have:

So I really need to plan my tier 2 math group.  This past week we worked on division.....and they have that down (yay!!)...so I am going to introduce long division with decimals (fun, fun!).  I also really need to clean up my dishes.  We had company this weekend and the breakfast plates are still sitting there (don't judge people!!).  Oh....and I HAVE to pay my courtesy dues at school.  It's not like they are expensive ($20 )....but I just keep forgetting!!  Do you all have courtesy dues or a courtesy committee at your school??

I hope:

So I am pretty mad at Lester Holt.....because today while I was watching the Today show....he blew the ending of Gone Girl.  I  am on page 147 of 493....and Lester opens his big mouth and just flat out said the ending to the book I am not even close to finishing!  Dang you Lester!!  Anyway....I will finish it....even though I know the ending!  I also hope to see the Royals win tonight....and they are off to a good start!!!

I am happy to:

Catch up on my Bloglovin' feed....I have 237 unread posts.  I don't know how I always get so behind....but I do enjoy catching up on them!!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!!

Sight Word Practice....With Technology! :)

Today was SUCH a GREAT day......today we began our MTSS (some of you may call it RTI) groups!  I just love getting into the swing of things.....and this year my building started swinging early!!  Whoop Whoop!! 

I am so proud of the staff in my building.... we completed our screener, analyzed our data...and rolled out our MTSS groups an entire two weeks earlier than last year!  YES!!  Go team!!

Anyway.....the first round of RTI/MTSS groups have a focus on fluency.  

I have a lovely little group of 8 amazing kiddos.....and today we did a fun warm up activity that I thought I would share.

These precious kids are still requiring a bit of work with sight words....so we used the website Cando's Helper Page.  This website has a plethora of sight word practice---you should check it out!!

Anyway..... from this website, I used the 2 syllable flashcards in conjunction with my Mimio.

I had one of the students be in charge of the mimo pen.  A word would flash on the screen.

All of the students in my small group would shout the word out, and the student with the pen would click "yes".....and a new word would pop up!

The students would then shout the second word.  The pen holder would click yes....then a third word...then more shouting....etc.  You get the idea.....  We did this until all 25 words were correctly read.

Now what made this activity so fun.....was that we had a team competition!!  I love me a good competition. 

I timed the students to see how long it took them to say the 25 words......then I timed them a second time to see if they could beat their initial time.

The kids loved it!!!

Spark Student Motivation: Task Cards

Happy Saturday everyone!!  This Saturday has pretty much been the absolute best.....and I can basically attribute that to the GORGEOUS weather we are having in Kansas right now!

66 degrees.....slight breeze....sunny.....on September 13th?!?!

This is pretty much unheard of in Kansas for this time of year.  Typically it is still scorching hot....and every. single. person is ready for summer to be over......but not today...today is PERFECT!

Now that my beautiful weather rant is over.....the real point of this post is to link up with Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Student Motivation Linky. She typically has the linky every Saturday....so if you are looking for fresh ways to motivate your students...hop on over and check out some of the posts!!

In my classroom.....one way I motivate my students is by using task cards.  The kids love that they are able to get up and move around the room....and I love that they are getting practice with various skills.  In the past, I have written posts on task cards and their powerful impact.... if you want you can read that here. 

Anyway, As you know (well some of you) my husband is a teacher too.....and I recently introduced him on to the idea of  task cards.  When he peaked an interest in this strategy......I barely could contain my excitement.  I mean...I LOVE task cards!

So he tried it out this week in his 6th grade math class......    

The kids loved it so much.....that they actually begged him for more task cards!!  AND.....my husband loved it so much....that he happily agreed!  

In fact his exact words to me in an email said:

"Those worked AWESOME!  The kids worked like crazy the whole time and were even talking about how fun it was!!"

So his sixth graders did task cards this week.....not once....but twice!!  

His kiddos are working on division and order of operations....so the used the task cards pictured below. 

     

The hubs used his task cards two ways.

For the first time he used the "Magic Number" way of using task cards:

1. Give each student a specific starting number.  Example: Johnny started at 6, Baylee started at 9, etc.
2. After the student completed a problem, they had to check their work with him or a para.  If they got it right they could move on, if they got it wrong they had to re-work the problem with his help.
3. The kids worked and worked until the time was up.
4. He picked a "magic number" and if the kids got that many questions correctly completed they got a jolly rancher.  Example: Mr. Orr picked 5 as the "magic number" so whoever got at least 5 correct...got candy.  He did not tell them the magic number until the end....this made them work harder!!!

For the second time he used the "Scoot" way of using task cards:

1. Give each student a specific starting number.  Example: Johnny started at 6, Baylee started at 9, etc
2. Students got 1 minute and 15 seconds to work each problem (or more or less time depending on the needs of your students)
3. Timer goes off.....and students scoot to the next problem.
4. Repeat until students have worked on all problems, or class time is over. 

Well that's that folks.......Task Cards Rock....and they are definitely a way to spark student motivation!!!