Thanksgiving and a Sale :)

First off, I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so many things to be thankful for this year and every year.  I am very thankful for your friendship and for the inspiration you all give me each and every day.  Thank you for being a part of my blogging community :)

Are you a Black Friday or a Cyber Monday fan?  I love both.  Last night, we braved the crowd at Target.  Today, we are headed to the mall for even more fun....

If you are anything like me, you have shopping cart full over at Teachers Pay Teachers.  But, what about the items you need for Monday?

Thanks Kinder-Craze for the button :)

I'm loading up on a few items I need for Monday right now.  Luckily many shops are having this same sale early. I'm actually having mine all weekend long.  Then, joining the fun on Monday and Tuesday for this sale!

Thanks Creative Clips for the button :)

Monday, you get even more savings with the added discount from TpT!

Happy Shopping :)

Five for Friday...I'm Finally Back!

Hi, everyone. It's been a rough couple of weeks.  Too much to do and not nearly enough time.  Is anyone with me?

I'm finally rejoining the Five for Friday posts.  It's been a gazillion years since I was able to link up. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little.

If you keep up with me on Instagram, you might know what I've been up to lately.  And if you don't follow me, why not?  It seems like that's about the only thing that's *somewhat* consistent in my life right now.  It's easy to upload and share a photo...and a lot more to actually sit down in front of a computer for a blog post.  Follow me {here} on Instagram.

Anyway...here's my break down of my week.

Last Saturday, my Josh Groban and Disney Partner-in-Crime (Beth) and I drove to Orlando to see Josh Groban and then go on a marathon Park Hopper excursion across The World.  {Our trip was hijacked by two other friends, too.  They didn't do Josh, but joined us at Disney World.}  Beth and I combined our two favorite things into one trip and our heads didn't explode.  We survived and the memories are amazing!  This makes **ehem** concert #8, we think.  We've lost count.

Disney!  18 hours of non-stop excitement.  It was amazing.  This picture is one of my favorites.  The castle is so beautiful this time of year with the extra lights.

We are working on division concepts this week.  Long division stinks.  Who's with me?  We are plugging along working so hard.  I'm so proud of how hard all of my students are working.  We broke up in partners today to review.  These girls were working so hard they didn't even notice me snap a picture.

I just love listening in on the conversations between my students.  When they are helping each other, they are so cute.  I also love the way they describe the math to each other.  We've been using some of the flipbooks that I created last year that was in my Division Lapbook Pack.

My girls really loved the chevron division symbol from Ashley Hughes @ The School Supply Addict :)

A few weeks ago, I signed my class up on the Adopt A Classroom website.  It's a lot like Donors Choose, except that I didn't have to submit a project.  I simply signed my class up and was going to explore how to get donations later.  This week, I received an email from Adopt A Classroom that JCPenny had awarded my classroom $100.  That's awesome considering I didn't really do ANY work at all.  Have you signed up for Adopt A Classroom yet?  What's stopping you?  It's so easy.  It literally took me about 15 minutes.  That's a lot of money for only 15 minutes, don't you think?

Finally, I just love the way my Dum Dum Tree looks on a Friday afternoon.  It totally cracks me up.  Well, actually it doesn't.  It's an eye-sore.  My students love it, though, and that's what matters.  My students earn fuzzies for good behavior, answering questions, participation, etc.  At the end of the week, they can trade in two to go to the Dum Dum Tree.  I don't call it that, just so you know.  I also have other rewards (passes, treat box, etc.), but my students just LOVE this tree.  About 15 of the Dum Dums have a color on the end of the stick.  If they pull one with a color, they earn a bonus trip to our treat box.  The reason all of the Dum Dums are on my desk is because I don't let them eat these.  They have shorter sticks so that they will fit in the Styrofoam ball that creates the tree.  They pull their Dum Dum, see if it has a color, then pick a different Dum Dum from a box.

If you'd like to read more about my reward system, you can read {here} or {here}.  

Well, that's it for this week.  I hope that I will stay more current with this blog.  It's so tough this year for some reason.  How about you?  How's your year going?  Are you busier or less hectic than last year?

Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and read more link ups!

Math Workshop Final Installment

I'm back with the final installment of the Math Workshop Monday Series.  I will be taking a break from the weekly series and will post more about Math Workshop at least monthly.

For the final week, the focus will be on the fourth rotation:

During this rotation, I have my students work on math fluency, a review skill, a game, task cards, etc.

I've shared earlier how I now have this organized.  You can read the older post {here}.  I have 4 tubs this year, one for each group.

I try to change out the materials inside the tubs at least once a week.  I add items to the tubs based on the skills that need to be reviewed by that particular group.  For example, last week, Group 1 worked on subtraction word problems.  I love to make task cards for my tubs, but also love finding some great materials from my favorite bloggers.  In the picture above, you can see two of my favorites :)

I also have the luxury of having 3 iPads in my room.  I obtained these last year when I agreed to teach Saturday school for 7 weeks.  It was a sacrifice, but paid off in the end. I *just* introduced the iPads two weeks ago and my students are in LOVE.  No surprise, really.  I have the apps organized by skill and will tell the group what skill they need to review when I hand them the iPad.  It takes seconds to pass them out and tell them what to do.  I also have a 1-strike and you are out policy with the iPads.  If it even *looks* like you have broken and iPad rule, you go back to your seat.  No questions.  I'm a meany that way.  But, it works.

What do you put in your stations?  Do you find it difficult to manage?  Do you have any tips?  I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Hope you have a great week!

November Currently

One of my favorite months!

My birthday was yesterday, so I tend to make November birthday MONTH :) Just ask my husband.  Well, maybe you shouldn't.  It might give him the idea that it shouldn't continue.

It started off yesterday with a special delivery of flowers that you might have seen on my Instagram.  He hand delivered them, but I wasn't in my room.  The guidance teacher was there giving a guidance lesson.  He gave them to her and left!  Luckily, I spotted him in the hall before he was able to escape.  He came back and we had a nice breakfast thanks to the sweet ladies in my pod! We had a great spread of goodies for my birthday and my next-door-neighbor, too.  It was her birthday, too!  Happy Birthday, Caroline :)

Next up, my "Currently" because my "Needing" will explain why this is birthday MONTH :)

Listening~This is nothing new, actually.  He's the cook in the family :)
Loving~Facebook sure helps someone feel loved!!
Thinking~It's time to finish his SS Fair Project.  Joy!
Wanting~I really want to make more task cards, games, etc.
Needing~I leave next Saturday for a trip to Orlando and Disney!  See, I told you that Birthday Month continues.  I am so excited!  My two favorite things combined in one trip!  Amazing!  I think my head might explode from the excitement.  Plus, plus........I hope to make a great connection in Orlando, too.  ;)  More on that later if it happens.
Yummy Pin~One of the very first pins was this Skillet Apple Pie.  Long story short, it was the recipe I used to create a delicious apple pie from apples from the neighbor's yard.  Shhh!

It is a Southern Living Recipe.  Click on the picture to head to the original source.

Once you do that, head on over to Farley's and read what everyone has been up to lately!