Cleaning out mailboxes UGH!!!

If you're like me, you have multiple email addresses.

I have four.
One for school.
One for personal.
One for Taming My Flock of Firsties.
One for my photography business.

Oh my goodness!
It became overwhelming when I began looking at "categories".

You know you have not done a good job of managing your emails when it says at the top
800-901 of many!!!

Wow! That was a huge job!
But I feel so much better. I think my phone just might be a little lighter!!!

So, head on over and clean out your mailboxes. You will feel like you've lost weight! :)

This will certainly be one of my New Year's Resolutions.

By the way...
I don't know if you know, but there is a HUGE sale going on over at TpT!!!

Thank you to Sprouting in Second for the graphic. Isn't it ADORABLE???

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Kahoot!

Do you use Kahoot?

We LOVE it!

It is so easy to learn how to use it. My firsties picked it up in minutes. 

There are so many "quizzes" to choose from on the site or go and make your own. 

We get the iPad cart every morning. Ever since I introduced Kahoot, this is all they want to do. :)

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Math Daily 3

I have finally figured out how to do Math Daily 3 in my classroom every day.
I know how important it is. I took the graduate class.
But has this ever happened to you?
You know you're suppose to do something and the students will totally benefit from it, but you can't figure out how to do it in your classroom.

This was me with Daily 5 Math.

We use Investigations. LOVE IT!
It doesn't lend itself to all the parts of Daily 5...or at least I thought it didn't.

Well, I finally figured it out.

Math with Someone

This is the game we play to reinforce all our skills for the unit.

Math by Myself

This could be the practice worksheet or a game they can play by themselves.

Math Writing

This could be the practice worksheet or something in their Math Journals.

It is so powerful for them to have choices.

How do you do Math Daily 3?

Have a wonderful day!

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An Entirely Different Year and a Big Thank You!

Although my part-time business of photography gets the best of me from August to the end of November, I am trying my best to write a little on my blog through this time.

I am having an entirely different year than last year.
Last year I was looking for new jobs, thinking about quitting, and did not want to go into work. At some point last year I had to decide that I was going to have to look for a different job or suck it up.

I applied for new jobs. This actually made me feel better. Like I had a little control of it.
Everyone feels this from time to time, right?
I decided that I just had to go in, do my best, and teach.

I should have been reading blogs. All of your blogs. I somehow forgot how positive and motivating browsing is. I remember now.
Thank you for helping me figure out that we all go through this. The one year that nothing seems to work.
I finished out the year with a positive attitude. Everyone, adults included, learned something last year. Whether it was how to work with really needy kiddos or how to work with adults who may not have the same ideas as you.
It was tough, but I learned a lot.

Onto this year. I am trying to blog more and really look at the amazing teachers that are out there.
So, thank you for all you do. You helped me keep my sanity last year, when I was reading blogs, and now knowing that you are all still here as positive as ever. :)

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Five for Friday on Friday the 13th

I'm linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching. Wow! It's been a long time. 

I don't want you to think that I am not teaching... I've had a busy week outside of school and I wanted to share. :)

My daughter's field hockey team won Regionals and now they are on to states!!! WOW!!!

So proud of them!

I LOVE getting cupcakes. Unfortunately, I am gluten free and all my cupcakes go to our custodian. :)

A wonderful student also found me owl tissues. Oh MY!!!

One of my firsties drew himself at the local Science Museum.

I think it looks like Charlie Brown! :)

Thank you to all Veterans!

That's my dad in Vietnam. circa 1967

We went to see my son's girlfriend in Hamlet. She is Ophelia. Scary!!!

It was phenomenal!

And...onto states! Go Caz!

Have a wonderful day!

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November Song FREEBIE

Hello! I know it's almost the middle of November, but I wanted to share a little song that we use everyday during our calendar time.

My kiddos LOVE singing our month songs. It gets them to spell the month and remember a little about it. 

Click on the picture to bring you to my TpT store to download it. It's FREE!!!

Here is an audio recording of it. 

Be kind. :)

Audio recording

The background music is from

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Math in My Pocket

Do your kiddos need work on their math fact automaticity?
Who doesn't, right?

I created a new product because we needed something to enhance our existing math program.
 It is amazing, don't get me wrong, but we wanted to extend the impact it has on the students beyond the classroom.

Students can carry their facts EVERYWHERE! Get the whole school involved. We are going to be giving hole punches to the custodial staff, all special area teachers, cafeteria staff, office staff, basically anyone who will take one. :)

Once an adult asks them what facts they are working on and asks them "What is 1 + 2?" and the student answers correctly, they get a "punch". When they get all six punched, they get a prize. We are thinking something small like a sticker or maybe a pencil. 

The other thing we were thinking about was to print these on card stock and not fold them over. That way the kiddos won't have a hard time taking them out every time they are asked about their facts. The lanyard you see above could easily clip onto the card stock. 

In Math Workshop or Daily 3 Math, students could play their game. They could play it with a partner or independently. Students could also play with another player that is not on the same level as them. It would be more like parallel play. 

Students take a pencil and paper clip and spin. Each time recording their equation and answers on the recording sheet. More practice. :)

Head on over to my TpT store to purchase it. Today it is on sale for 20% off. 

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