Ten Things...

I thought this was a great Linky idea so here it goes...

TEN THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM TEACHING

1 ~ You can never have enough markers...
        I {PUFFY} Heart SHARPIES!!!  I just got the limited edition 80's Glam pack...LUV IT!!!
      Leg Warmer Orange is my fave... (photo thanks to SHARPIE)

2 ~ Coming up with the PERFECT baby name gets harder and harder each year!!!

(Drew Leighton )

3 ~ I can handle projectile vomit, nose bleeds, scrapes, & blisters....BUT show me a loose tooth and
       I get FULL BODY SHIVERS!!! YUCK!!!

4 ~a. Keep a Costco size supply of clean white socks for those kiddos who are too embarrassed  
      to take their shoes off  when we have no shoes day... because their socks are filthy!!!

4 ~ b. also stock up on Costco sized bleach wipes....kids are GERMY

5 ~ Friday Choir Practice is a MUST (at least once a month)...what do you call your after school HAPPY
       HOUR?

6 ~ Keeping good communication with parents is a good thing... BUT....Telling a parent they got a 100 but
      the child got a ZERO is NOT OK..even if the WHOLE ENTIRE thing was in the parent's handwriting!!!

7 ~ It is easier to come to school sick (sometimes) because I HATE preparing for a sub!!!

(yes this is me in the hospital...recovery room)

8 ~ Laughing at the word Uranus is contagious...I even do it!!! I can't help it EVERY YEAR during their
      Solar System Project Presentations... there is ALWAYS one that says.... I LOVE UR-ANUS because
       it has rings... LOL... see I did it again... OK WHATEVER I know I am like 12 :)

9~ Scheduling an observation while teaching about life cycles and  the octopus is never good.... because 
     your LOUDEST student will YELL TESTICLES....instead of the desired answer of TENTACLES!!!!  
     and when corrected she will ask.... WELL what are testicles then??? My reply~ your mom's a nurse ask
     her!!!

10 ~ I {PUFFY} heart what I do... it is rewarding everyday and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else... well
         maybe Disney or Santa Fe BUT I DO LOVE ME SOME 3rd GRADERS!!!

(Santa Fe)

WOW that was FUN!!!
If you want to see more TOP 10s
Head on over to.....


ROWDY IN FIRST GRADE

FaBuLoUs~NeSs

Head on over to this great BLOG to enter a FaNtAbULoUs give-away!!!
Let's just say if you LOVE Jump, Abs, and Fab...you'll PUFFY HEART this give-away!!!

2 StArS & a WiSh

Just a quick post. ( ok not really but when I started  writing this I thought it would be short!!!)
Wanted to share with you how my students give compliments and critiques to one another. This requires a lot of modeling in the beginning BUT they catch on quickly.  We started 2 Stars & a Wish ~ by orally critiquing when they share their writing journal entries. After a student shares their journal entry,  I would pull a stick & that student would  have to give 2 stars (compliments) and then one wish (critique) to the reader.  This not only makes ALL most students pay attention BUT it also gives me an idea of their writing knowledge.  For example, a student that compliments the reader/writer about their use of vivid adjectives and gives examples KNOWS what is going on. OR when a student critiques about too much dialouge and how he got lost... that gives me goose bumps because I KNOW HE KNOWS writing expectations!!!! 
We also talk a great deal about what is a GOOD WISH.
We do not want to hurt or embarrass the reader/writer. 

SO when do I use the form?
I use this form for BIG projects.
LIKE ~
Solar System Projects
Lit Circle Final Projects
Power Point Presentations
Published and Presenting Works of Writing
Habitat Floats (Dioramas on Wheels... I live VERY close to San Antonio and we do this at FIESTA) :)
you get the idea...right???

ANYWHO... I have 17 students so I write one # in the corner of each form (so 2 #s per page) from 1-17.  I do this 2-3 times. I then cut them out & pass them out randomly. Each kiddo should get 2-3 forms to fill out. As the students go up to share I will say ~ THIS IS # so & so if you have # so & so please write their name in the blank.  We TRY to keep it a secret who has who!!! When all the projects are presented I collect the forms and read over them to make sure they are OK.  I also fill out one of these forms for each presenter.  I then hand back the graded rubric, my 2 Stars and a Wish, & usually 2-3 kid forms to each student.
The kids look forward to receiving these slips!  They even try to guess where they were STARS and what they might have for wishes!!!

Well I hope you might be able to use this form and if you have ANY questions LET ME KNOW!!!
I {PuFFy} HEART COMMENTS!!!!
Really I do ask my HUBBY I am obsessed... when my phone dings (letting me know I have a new email) I secretly WISH and HOPE that it is a comment!!!! (((BLUSHING)))

Operation USE YOUR BRAIN

I LOVE {PuFFy} HeArT LOVE...

GARAGE SALES!!!

WHY???

because you can find crazy things like

MY OPERATION HEAD!!!

and what does this crazy thing

do in my classroom????

Well he doesn't look PURTY...

that's for sure

BUT he does

encourage

GOOD GREAT THINKING!!!

When one of my students has a

GREAT answer or even

a REALLY THOUGHTFUL

question...

or as I like to call it

USES THEIR BRAIN.

They get to pick my brain!!!

I make a BIG deal out of their AWESOME questions or answers and

 YES we stop the lesson for them to

Pick my BRAIN!!!

I only do this about once or twice a day so it doesn't interfere with EVERY lesson.

It also seems to WAKE UP my dreamers :)

THEY LOVE it and BELIEVE me if we haven't picked my BRAIN

by the end of the day...

they let me know!!!

 

SO WHAT IS PICKING MY BRAIN???

Inside my "HEAD" or BRAIN

I have placed content questions

for the students to answer.

Like

Why do my 2 magnets repel?

OR

Can you name the planets with rings?

OR

What are the some examples of genres?

OR

What is an 8 sided polygon called?

On the back of these questions are points.

( I use the cards from an old hundreds pocket chart

like this one)

source here

If they get the answer right

they get to add that card to their group's treasure box.

If they get it wrong...it goes back into my head!!!

(about my treasure boxes....

I have 3-4 groups in my class each with 4-6

students.  Each group has their own treasure box

~ really they are see through recipe card holders~

The groups compete with each other on who can earn the

most treasure through out the whole week.  On Friday, the group with the most treasure

gets to go to MY TREASURE BOX

filled with all sorts of GooDiEs!!!)

So you see winning one of these BRAIN CARDS is

HUGE!!!!

BUT...

BEWARE the BRAIN

is also filled

with commands....like

Find someone wearing a School Shirt and give them this card!!!

or

Name and spell 3 spelling words from this week's list!!!

or

Give this card to a friend NOT in your group...

count to 10

if they say Thank You they keep it...

if they do NOT you keep it!!!

or

(AND THEY HATE THIS ONE)

If there is a bird at our bird feeder

(we have one stuck to our window)

keep this!!! If NOT put back!!!

(that one is worth 100 so they really want a bird to be at the window)

I add questions and commands about every 2 weeks.

I try to keep the points in multiples of 5 and 2 so it is easier & quicker to add on Fridays.

I keep the OLD questions in there all year!!!

HOPE you like this IDEA...

and if you want to know more about my treasure box system

let me know!!!

It has to do with that SKULL I showed you

HERE!!!!

Hope you guys have a great DAY~ tomorrow!!!

Fairytale chance to win...

Want to win 10 ~ ExTrA ~ CuTe ~ Easter ~ Math Centers? If that was a YES I heard...
then head on over to Ms. Durning's to enter... I just did *WINK*

& he picked a winner

I am not a pro at making those cute
WHO WON IT PICS
 (working on it though)
you know the kind you
see all over BLOG LAND
they are way cute
BUT
I am a pretty good at
filming my #1 CUTIE PATOOTIE...
SOOOOOOO
I filmed him last night picking out
 the winner and it was adorable!!!
He did a great job stirring and picking JUST one
and he even showed the name to the camera!!!
AND then I had to load it to BLOGGER!!!!
AGGGGHHHHHHHHHH...
to say the least!!!
It took FORRRRRR~EEEEVVVver
and then it
told me it couldn't load it!!!
I condensed the file to less than 100 and still NADA!!!
I had such high hopes of showing you my talented 2 year old!!!
after about OHHHHH 5 hours 2 hours 2 minutes 27 seconds of racking my brain and
trying once again to download the video over and over and over....
(((just in case it would work that one MAGIC time))))
I GAVE UP!!!! and made this....

I hope this will do :)
If i can ever figure out how to get that video to download
I'll do it!!!


Alrighty!!! So if you were the lucky
WINNER WINNER
(fill in the blank) DINNER
email me!!!
I need your address
PURTY PLEASE
so I can send you
your Vera Prize!!!


&&&&
A BIG
ThAnK YoU
to every SINGLE one
of you LUVERLIES for entering!!!
Here is a FREEBIE weekly planner
I made just for you!!! (KISSY KISSY)

weekly planner

Winner Winner...please email me within 48 hours
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
or Mr. Cutie  will have to draw again!!!

Day Of Silence

reminder and sneak peeks

JUST a ......

 a friendly reminder

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER MY (if I do say so myself)

FANTABULOUS

LINKY PARTY GIVE AWAY!!!!

 click on the picture above to go to the linky party..... PLEASE!!!!



and here are a few sneaky peeks
 @ some things I will be sharing soon...

 what on Earth can that skull be used for???
(secretly hoping Johnny Depp shows up as a WASHED and NOT STINKY Captain Jack Sparrow and steals me away to sail on his Pirate Ship...maybe)

AND this... can you guess what I use this garage sale find for???
ANYONE??? ANYONE??? BUELLER???

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. "Voodoo" economics. (Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986)

NO I don't use it for VOODOO economic lessons!!!OK~ Guess you will have to wait and see!!!

AND one last reminder....
don't forget
to enter my
linky party and give away!!!
If you have already entered thanks so much I {PUFFY} Heart YOU!!!!!
& welcome to my new followers...
LUVERLY to have you here too!!!! (((SMILING)))

Show Me Your Nest Linky Party & Give Away

I refer to my teacher desk area as my nest!!!

I love my NEST for the most part!!!

Here is the GOOD, the BAD, & the Ugly when it comes to my nest!!!

Here are 3 things I PUFFY HEART (the good) about my NEST:
1- My OWL lamp... I revamped this lamp all by myself (((bLuShInG)))
2- My race car chair... that was also an upcycle project by yours true~lee (((smiling)))
3- All of my teaching resources are either organized in my filing cabinets or on my shelves in nice dollar store baskets with labels.  Such as multiplication, problem solving, word work, writing, etc...

NOW 3 things I don't like so much (the bad) about my nest:
1- the attached student desk...enough said
2- can you even tell where my computer is??? NO because I have a HUGE clear magazine file blocking it...this magazine file holds all of my "I have no clue what to do with you papers"  If you still can't find my computer...find the wires and follow them up!!!
3-my ELMO... don't get me wrong I LOVE my ELMO but I hate that I have to have it at my desk!!! YUCK... before my school got remodeled, it was conveniently located in the front of the room so I could stand in front of my class and instruct. AND NOW.... at my desk...don't even ask why...DO NOT GO THERE!!!

and now the UgLy
1- All the junk still on my desk... i even did a little picking up :)
2- See the cardboard box??? by the attached kid desk...well that is a light bulb waiting to be put in his new home...my projector... life is horrible in room 101a when the projector is down (whhhhhhaaaaa)
3- i am trying my hardest to drink more water... see my super cool water bottle that I got for Valentine's day from a WoNdErFuL student... well it should be empty...it is NOT!!! (((SIGH))))

WELL there is my NEST

NOW... I want to see your NESTS too!!!
PUT ON YOUR PARTY HATS
I am going to do my FIRST LINKY party!!!

YAY!!!

When you link up...
tell us the Good, the Bad, & the UGLY about your nest!!!

Along with this Linky Party I feel like doing my first give away too
 soooooo
you can also win a FAB Vera Bradley change purse!!!

* when you join the linky party you earn 3 entries into the contest

* earn 2 entries for posting / sharing about my Show Me Your Nest Party (leave me a comment with your blog address)

* earn one entry for becoming a follower of my BLOG (must be a separate comment)... if you already follow the BLOG put that in a comment

* earn one entry for joining my TpT Store (MUST BE A SEPARATE COMMENT)

so there it is...
if you do ALL of those things you could be entered 7 times 

all entries / comments MUST be in before 8:30pm March 18^th  
I will announce the winner March 19^th
I hope you can join me!!!

New Mystery Student Box

Not an exciting post
but if you read my post
 HERE
about my Mystery Student Box you will remember that
I had a teal box (maybe a safety deposit box)
WELL....
I changed it up...
I had this cutie at my house and I thought the kids would love it
and
I was right!!!
We took as vote and this
oRaNgE DeLiGhT WON!!!
I PUFFY HEART IT
because
it is ORANGE (my fave color)
and I love the frilly ribbon and
what-not accessories!!!

HERE take a look...

BEFORE

AFTER

Our school follows the 8 Keys Of Excellence 

for our desired behavior traits

AND

my Mystery Student Box

sports a KEY!!!

SOOOOO

they have NO CLUE

in its former glory

their BOX

was a fishing tackle box!!!

So there it is....

our NEW and cuter

Mystery Student Box

I also changed the way I ID the winner...

when my lovely assistant picks a stick

I just put their stick in the the box with all the goodies....MUCH EASIER than a post-it!!!

my assistants are NEVER 3rd graders!!! :)

&

I have 2 sticks with the kids names on it...so

they still have a stick that I can pull throughout the day!!!

The box stays behind my desk or like I like to call it... my nest!!!

I LOVE my nest!!!

Do you have a NEST???

My 3 Kids

I am so excited to share this pic...
because... I just took it YeStErDaY!!!
These are my babies...
2 fur and one real :)



the BIG dog is Dori Dawg
She is named after Dori from Finding Nemo
and let me tell you what sometimes she acts like that too.
She is a not the smartest dog in the 'hood but she is the sweetest!!!!
We adopted her at a Chinese New Year Celebration
and
it was the year of the dog... so that is her middle name.


The little black and white is my pure breed BRAT
Merriweather Blue
She is named after the Blue Fairy on Sleeping Beauty.

and yes ALL my dogs are named after Disney characters
I worked for the Big Mouse ALL through college

I wanted a cute dog that I could dress up and put bows on....
well this dog is anything but prissy!!!
She is the BOSS!!!
BUT I must say she is the BESTEST friend to
child #3... Drew.

This was so much fun!!!
thanks to Ladybug's Teacher Files
for hosting this wonderful Linky Party

Spring Break Math & a question

I only have ONE week left til.....
SPRING BREAK!!!!!
YAY... I made this
quick little math warm-up and
thought I would share!!!


Spring Break Problem Solving

and a big
THANK YOU to
Persnickety Pickles
for the shout out!!!
and I love what you did with my to-do list!!! :)
I even down-loaded yours :)

BUT she does bring up a good point....
that I had NEVER thought of....
is SCRIBD (which is what I use to share my files)
too hard for you guys to download or too inconvenient???
I was using google BUT then it got too complicated to embed!!!
WHICH do you prefer???
If I continue to post on SCRIBD is that OK???
After all I am posting and sharing for you guys!!! :)
PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK on this!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!

Plot Map Freebie

As I promised...
here is a freebie...
plot map

I used it a lot in the beginning of the year BUT
wanted to revisit it during our Van Allsburg Unit!!!
I am sure you have seen or used something like this before BUT
mine is way cuter (right???)
*** WINK *** WINK ***
ANYWHO...
I use this template a few times with them
and after they are use to the format we move on to
plain paper.

We had the kids do a rough draft of what they wanted on
their Two Bad Ants plot chart
and challenged them to think what an ANT chart should look like.
WE WERE SO SO SO HAPPY
with what they came up with!!!
Take a look!!!

Some of them still include the arrows & others completely went into crazy ant pile detail!!!
LOVE IT!!!!
The conversations they had while publishing these was fun to listen to!!!

Here are a few up close pics!!!

Let me know what you think....
OR....
if you have any questions about the chart!!!
HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

mystery student and 2 bad ants

My class is quite a challenge this year...
& I love it!!! (most days)
With almost half of my class being in the TAG program I am
always on my toes!!! (((SMILE)))
While I was walking through Blogland I came across
this idea and I puffy heart it!!!
Problem is I have no clue who I "borrowed" this idea from...
if you know let me know so I can give credit to this FaNtAbULouS person!!!

WHAT IS IT ... you ask?
It is the
Mystery Student Box

(flashback to last summer)
I found this box
(I think it is a safety deposit box... have no clue... not a box expert :)
anywho it was only 49 cents at Thrift Town
and I had to have it...
didn't know why I NEEDED it but HELLO 49 cents!!!!

 I needed to Farley-tize it...
so I added scrapbook ribbon to the handle and
WHA LA
too cute!!! RIGHT???

OK NOW BACK TO
the present...
I was in Blogland found this Mystery Student thing on a
blog and (insert light bulb above my head)
I could use my pretty box for this...

SO WHAT IS IT...
well... I pick a random student right before I go home for the night
(YES night...don't we all leave at night???)
I put the name on a sticky and post it on the inside of the lid.
Then based on the kid I put a few goodies in the box.
NOTHING big or expensive...
I always put some of our 3rd grade bucks in there too

I then close it up
the next day I remind the kids that I have picked a Mystery Student
throughout the day I will randomly say stuff like:
OHHH my Mystery Student (MS) is a great role model
or
OHHHH my goodness my MS is NOT following directions right now
or
My MS is walking so nicely down the hall
or
WOW my MS needs to get on task

It is so funny how they react to this.
At the end of the day I ONLY reveal the MS if they have not had any behavior issues for the day. 
We do card changes at my school so as long as they are on green...
they get to open the box and collect the loot.
IF they are NOT on green I do not reveal the MS
AND (here is the best part)
I keep the contents in the box...(except the sticky)
PICK a NEW MS... (place new sticky)
AND add new treasures
SOOOOOOO the next day
the MS will have a chance to win DOUBLE!!!
on double days or even triple days
the behavior of the class is AHHHHH MAZING!!!

RANDOM thing...
we are still doing the Chris Van Allsburg Unit and for 2 Bad Ants the students broke into groups and made plot action maps.... here is one of the best examples....

they turned it into an ant mound... if you are not familiar with a plot chart... good luck for you...
I am going to post a FREEBIE printable this weekend AND it is a plot chart!!!! YAY

well I hope you have enjoyed my randomness...
have a great next few days
and TRY the Mystery Student thing... it is FUN for all!!! :)