A Day in My Shoes

I am linking up with Ana from Ingles360 as part of  TBA's International Blog Hopping Day to share a day in my shoes....



 
I am going with a Friday (on last year's schedule)

6:00:  Alarm goes off for the first time....:)  At some point I get up and shower.  I am lucky because my WONDERFUL husband is a morning guy, and he takes care of getting our 4 sons up, fed, and off to school.  (How about that?)

7:00: I grab some kind of breakfast (usually cereal or oatmeal) and if I need, fix a cup of Keurig.

7:15:  I'm off to school and arrive by 7:25.

7:25:  Final prep/get ready for kids

8:25:  Kids arrive in my room.  We do our morning activities to prep for the day. (lunch count, collect homework, announements, get laptops...)

8:40:  We begin our LITERACY BLOCK with a Daily 5 option.  Kids have a 20 minute block to read, blog, write, or work with words.  I conference with students or meet with small groups.

9:00:  Students share either reading or writing with the class.

9:10:  CAFE Skill lesson:  I typically introduce the skill and use a picture book or other short text to illustrate/practice skill.

9:30:  Partner Read/Practice:  Practice the CAFE skill with a partner using materials at their reading level.

9:45:  Class practices oral reading of this week's poem, quote, or song.  By Friday, our expression, fluency, rhythm and timing are pretty good.  :)

9:50:  Students conclude the LITERACY BLOCK with a Daily 5 option.  They again have a 20 minute block that they can use as above except they are not to do whatever they did in the first block.  We record our choices into our D5 Binder so that we can monitor how time was spent.  I continue to meet with students.

10:10:  We begin our  MATH WORKSHOP with our 1st rotation/activity.  Typically, students are divided into 2 or 3 groups working on materials at their level.

10:25:  We continue with out 2nd rotation of MATH WORKSHOP.

10:45:  ART  Because of our building's overcrowding, my class has to have art in the classroom.  This doesn't really bother them, but it makes my prep less than it could be.  No matter, it is a nice break.

11:25: Art is done, so we do our 3rd rotation of MATH WORKSHOP.

11:50:  We go to lunch.  Because it is Friday, I often go with friends to Subway (our only real out of school option)

12:40:  Students return and I read aloud to them.  :)

12:55:  This is our targeted instruction time.  Students go to one of the third grade rooms to work on interventions, maintenance, or extension.  I have the extension students.  Last year, we learned Greek/Roman mythology, made book trailers, read Shakespeare, did readers' theatres, discussed and learned about the Holocaust and WWII, and studied and thought about the issues of slavery and civil rights.

1:25:  Students return to the room and we have social studies.

2:00:  We fill in our assignment notebook and get our bags packed to take home for the night.  I post the assignment notebook page to our website.

2:05:  Science

2:35:  Writing Workshop:  This is where I present a mini-lesson on writing.  Hopefully, we have time for kids to practice, too.

2:55:  Students grab their backpacks and hustle downstairs to PE.  They are dismissed from PE.  I am done teaching for the day.

3:15  School day is done.  I typically work with teammates, have meetings, and do school work until 4:30 or 5.

5:00  I get somewhere to pick up one or more boys from activities.

5:20  I am home to put dinner together. (although since it is Friday, we often eat out.)  :)

6:30  Football game?  Basketball game?  If so, we go.  Otherwise, I get settled in on the couch or in my bedroom for a relaxing night of DVR'd shows, 48Hours Mystery, or Dateline.

10:00  It is Friday, so I am off to bed early.  I'm tired! 


What does your day look like?  Link up and let us know!

Time is Running Out!

If you haven't  entered the Kleinspiration HUGE giveaway, you had better get over there now!

It is a great blog, and it is truly amazing all that she is offering!  I hesitate to let you know about it, because I really want to win!!

Click on the image above to go to the giveaway post.

Hospitals and Monday Made-It (on Wednesday)

I had so much fun doing Tara's  Monday Made-It a couple of weeks ago, and I had really been looking forward to this week's.  I worked on my project over the weekend, and was all set to post on Monday morning.

Well....the best laid plans...My youngest son had to go to the hospital on Monday morning for a blood test.  I took him, and planned to come home and write my post.  But, when I returned, my 15 year old son, who had been sick all weekend, was looking worse than he had when he woke up.  Because we were supposed to leave on vacation at the end of the week, I decided I had better get him in to the doctor so we weren't dealing with that on vacation.  Well, he only got worse and worse as we went to the doctor's office, the doctor did a couple of tests and determined that he needed more tests and observation.  After getting him admitted to the hospital, and a 1 am CAT scan, we found out that he had a RUPTURED appendix! (We can't do anything easy at our house :)) So, 6 am on Tuesday morning, he underwent surgery.  He is now in the hospital til at least Friday to monitor.  We are so blessed that this didn't happen on our trip to Florida.  It means that we won't be able to take our vacation to Nashville at the end of the week, but he is recovering nicely, and we are thankful of that! 

So...that is the reason for my Wednesday Monday Made-It!  Please excuse me this week. 

I can't remember where I got this idea, so I apologize, but also thank you for it! Please feel free to let me know if you think it was you! I can't wait to make this happen!

This poster is all done except for lamination.  It will be a great way for us to show what we have learned each day or week.  I think right now I will have students be accountable for one post-it per week, but we'll see...

Here's how it works.  The poster itself has 30 numbered squares where students will place a post-it note which shares what they have learned during the week.

Isn't it genius?  I love it!  I made the title to coordinate with all of my other classroom paperwork for next year.  Then I used the cute little bear paw prints (My school is the Bears.) and put numbers onto each one.  We use numbers for our behavior management, so students will place a sticky note with something new they learned over their pawprint.

This will be a great tool for me to use to monitor their learning, and it will be good for them to take ownership of their learning.  As we clear sticky notes, we are going to have a location in our Daily 5 Binders where we can store them.  We will then be able to share them with parents during our springtime student-led conferences!

What do you think?  I hope you are as excited about it as I am!  (Even if I am a couple of days late.  :))



Surviving a Rainy Florida and planbook.com

My family and I just returned from a rainy trip to Orlando.

This was a big trip for us because a family of 6 at Disney and Universal is a lot of money, and I don't like spending a lot of money!  More importantly, it was, most likely, our last trip there as a whole family because my oldest son is going to be a senior this year.  (Wow!)  We had only been one other time as a family, and my youngest son didn't remember it.  We were very excited about it all, and had been planning for months.  We couldn't wait to get there, and we were especially excited about the Harry Potter experience at Universal.  We decided to make it a short and productive trip, visiting both parks in 3 days.

Well, Tropical Storm Debby decided to visit with us!  Thankfully, she didn't wreak to much havoc, but we were unsure of what to expect day to day so it made things a little stressful, and very wet for the first three days!  Finally, on Wednesday, we were rainfree.  We had a great day at Epcot that day and a fun final evening reriding some of our favorites at the Magic Kingdom and watching the fireworks SPECTACULAR! 

While I have found Disney to be MagICaL during both of our trips, I have to say the Harry Potter experience was more than fabulous!  As a huge HP fan, I was really caught up in it all!  The castle, the effects, the rides, and the Hogsmeade part of the park were all that I could hope for.  I have so enjoyed these books with my sons, and I was so happy to share this experience with them, too!  So, even though we were wet often, and our shoes and socks stink to high heaven, we had a great trip!  (In fact, on our first day at the Magic Kingdom, we had almost no lines or waits because of the rain.  :)) 

And now for school stuff....

Before I left, I contacted other teachers in my building about  a site that my friend (who is moving to my building this year :)) showed me earlier in the summer.  It is an online planbook.

Click on image to go to website

We have a good number of teachers who plan to give it a try, and I can't wait to put it into action!  It appears to be a useful, easy tool for us to use.  I have played with it a little and watched the videos that support it, and I think it is going to be awesome.  It even has a feature to help me mark the standards that are being addressed.  :)  Have you heard of it or used it before?  Would love to know what you think.

Great Feature on Sumdog

So, if you have followed my blog, you know that I am a big fan of the FREE math website, Sumdog.  Sumdog is a great math game site that allows my students the opportunity to practice math skills in a game setting.  My students last year LOVED it!  (and so did I!)

The site allows for me to set up challenges, join competitions, and to differentiate what skills my students practice.  I am currently trying to decide if I am going to purchase the reporting option. 

Well. I recently visited the stie, and they have made some nice additions/changes to the site.  Today I am going to talk about the Lesson feature.  When I logged on, I found a tab at the top that said lesson.  I couldn't really tell what it was for, until I began playing the games myself.  (I love to play the games!)

When I completed a couple of games, I clicked on the lesson tab again, and this is what I saw...

The lesson was set up for a half hour, and during that time I had played two games.  What great information this will be when I have small groups or whole class time to work on Sumdog.  It will really help to hold the students accountable for what they are doing, and it will give me good feedback on whether students are understanding the skill that we are working on.

Underneath that view, was this image...

This individual information will be awesome, too, and it happens in real time!  What great formative assessment!  This will really help me to zoom in on those kiddos who are having a tough time with a certain skill!  I love it! 

Of course, tonight's practice was with only me playing games, when I begin in the fall, I'll be able to monitor any of my students who are practicing.  I'll also be able to monitor their work when I have given Sumdog practice as homework!

I think this is going to be an awesome feature for us!

Have you checked out Sumdog yet?  Were you aware of these new features?  I'd love to know what you think.  I know people use other free and subscription math websites, and I am curious to know how  you and your students compare them to Sumdog or other math sites. 

Hands down, in my classroom, Sumdog is always the winner of choice!

Happy Day and a freebie to celebrate!

I am in an especially happy mood today because I found out that a good friend will be working in my building next year!  I am so glad that we will have her and all of her awesome talent!

One way I have found to help struggling readers in my classroom is to have a joke each week.  I have it hung by the door so they can see it when they line up.  I have it set so that they lift the flap to see the punchline.  This is good practice reading, but it is also an important comprehension skill.  It makes the children think about WHY the joke is funny!  All of my students look forward to each week's new joke.

So, I put some new ones together tonight, and I wanted to share them with you!  Click on the image below to go to the document.  Each joke is set to print on one page, but then you can just cut them apart and display as you wish!

Lots of laughs!!

My First Monday Made-It!

I have been enjoying watching everyone's ideas in Tara's Monday Made Its, so I decided to join in the fun this week.  Click on Tara's button to go to the rest of the projects.

I have been busy making things for the new year.  I just can't totally complete anything that I have yet because I won't receive my class list until the week before school.  :(

I know everyone else is sharing cute, craftsy things, and that is my goal for next week, but here's what I have for this week...

I have been working on my "supporting papers" for the classroom.  My school's mascot is the Bears, so that is kind of my theme...(I am not attaching a link to these, but if you would like to have them, just let me know...:))

These are inserts for the front of their Daily 5 BinderNotebook and their portfolio notebook.

These are my new CAFE title pages.  I plan to make some for my 6+1 Writing Menu, too...

These are the labels for their book baskets.

As I have said before,  I am going to try using a math notebook this year.  I made some wonderful little matching inserts using information that I got from Doris over at Third Grade Thinkers.  She had a great post with lots of journaling info and some freebies from her TpT store.

I still have to create some labels, and some other little things, but these were a great thing to get done and out of my hair!  :)  Not that they are really "out of my hair..."  I still have to personalize them, print them and laminate some of them.  :(