Saturday Success! (A week in review)

WOW! I feel like this week took all of my energy and then some. I may have looked at one blog and never had time to post on my own! I spent the week lesson planning, preparing experiments, and grading because first quarter report cards are due this upcoming week. Where did the time go? Here are my top five successful moments this week.

1. My husband and I had a date night! This rarely happens and he surprised me on Thursday with dinner and dessert. It was the one night this week I took a step away from being a teacher and focused on being a wife. Does that ever happen to you??

2. Reading ran smoothly this week to the point you could hear only a pin drop. I started a new reading block last week and we practiced and discussed what was expected. Monday through Friday this week was fabulous. Students were engaged in their work and reading their books because they were given a choice. I saw lots of learning!


3. We added to our math journals this week focusing on mean, median, mode, and range. To collect data my class got into groups and tried to stack as many oreos as they could on top of each other. Each member of the group would get an opportunity to try and in the end we wrote down each student's highest total. These totals will be used to find mean, median, mode, and range. They really enjoyed the challenge.

4. I have a boggle board up and running in my classroom. I loved an idea I found on pinterest to use my file cabinets as another bulletin board space. With the recent change in my reading block I have noticed I don't use it as often as I would like. How do you incorporate your boggle board into your reading block?

5. Finally, my weekend is full of endless possibilities! I have lots of grading to do and lesson plans to write but today I am focusing on my family who I have not spent much time with these past two weeks. It is just my husband, my daughter, and I today and we are going to rock it!

Happy Saturday to you all!
What was one success you had this week?

Posting Objectives

This year in our school we have been asked to post student objectives for each subject. I did something like this last year but never in objective form. I would write reading - theme instead of in objective language. After using the amazing pinterest and fishing through some blogs I found a way I wanted to try in my classroom.

I purchased Dry Erase Sheets from amazon. These are just sheets that you can stick to the wall, cabinets, or paper and use them as a dry erase board. They are FABULOUS to use with your students as well! After decorating a bulletin board that I designated for objectives I placed the dry erase sheets on the board. I created subject cards that I printed on card stock and laminated. I LOVE how it turned out!

Sharing theme in objective language.

Each morning before school starts I switch the objective board and when I forget to the students remind me that they need changed. I think eventually it could become a student responsibility when they come in the morning.

I am also going to start having students write out the objective on their notes/work during that subject. This way we cover the objective and students know what we are learning.

How do you post your objectives?

My objective board!!

October Currently

I love this time of year for the fall colors and the amazing sweaters! I am linking up with Farley again for this months currently! Enjoy!

 

Join the linking at Oh' Boy 4th Grade 

 

 Happy fall to you all!

My daugher is three!

Yesterday my daughter turned three and we had a family celebration to make her day special! She has been talking about it for two weeks and helped me decide what kind of cake she wanted, balloons, etc. The day went smoothly and I wanted to share some photos! First, the cake was a big surprise. My daughter is a HUGE Dora fan and this year she threw a curve ball at us. The cake was chosen by her and we got it from the HyVee bakery! It was amazing!

The party ended up being outside because it was so gorgeous out and our house was way to hot to stay in. She received a polka dot chair from her amazing aunt and that is where she opened all her gifts. She got so many great gifts and our family was there to share the day with us. It turned out perfectly! I can't believe my little girl is now three but Happy Birthday Avery!

Saturday Success (A week in review!)

Happy weekend to you all! I hope your week brought some positives to your life. Here are my top five positives from this week... some school related and some not!

1. Ending the school week on Thursday was a big positive this week! Friday was full of teacher planning and curriculum meetings. It is always nice to have a catch up day when you feel so behind!

2. Updating my reading block. After looking into my reading block I decided to make some changes that will start on Tuesday next week. With the catch up day on Friday I got a chance to get things organized for my new plan and I hope it helps academically and cut down on some behaviors.

3. Our first field trip of the year was Monday. I wish I had brought my camera to share some pictures but I will say it went well! We went and watched a skit on the water cycle and ended the trip with a "hike" to the river. My class did a great job and enjoyed the presenters. It is great to start the year off with a successful field trip.

4. My mother and sister came into town last night to prepare for my daughter's birthday. I got to spend the evening catching up with their lives since teaching a multigrade has taken up a lot of my time. I am so thankful to have such a great family to support me during the tough times.

5. My daughter's birthday is today!! She turns three and has been so excited for her birthday ALL week! She keeps reminding me that she wants a birthday cake, party hats, and goody bags. I hope this day is memorable for her! I will post pictures of the fabulous day! Below are her amazing invitations that I got on sale over at Shutterfly I was so happy with them when I got them in the mail! Take a look!

What was one success you had this week??

Wedding Card Album

Have you ever gotten married? What did you do with that HUGE stack of wedding cards you received from loved ones? My husband and I got married in June 2011 and the wedding card pile stayed in a small wicker basket in our spare room. I felt that the cards were to special to throw away with all the wonderful notes written inside and the signatures from people we love. Anyway, I found a great idea on Pinterest that solved my card pile problem. I created a Wedding Card Album!

To begin, I ordered all of the wedding cards from smallest to largest. This would help with the stability of the album and it also looks nicer than a random order. Each card got three hole punch, some only two because of size, so that they would all be connected together. I used large metal rings that clasped all the cards together as the "binding" of my album.


The front and back of the album was where you get to be creative. I took an old cheerios cereal box and cut it apart. Once you have the front and back covers you can use scrapbook paper to make them stand out. I used scrapbook paper that also ended up on my wedding invitations as well as ribbon and flowers that all appeared somehow on my wedding day. To tie it all together I used some black ribbon to tie the metal rings together on the binding to make it more appealing.

The end result is an album my husband and I can go through during significant anniversarys! It looks great sitting on our bookshelf and I am proud that I can say I made it! Did you keep your cards?

Saturday Success! (A week in review)

My oh my, time sure does fly! The first couple of weeks have just flown by but this last week was full of challenges and went by rather slowly. Come on October! I have high hopes for that up coming month! Here are my successful moments or events that happened this week. I hope some of you can relate.

1. My daughter is turning 3 next Saturday and I FINALLY got those birthday invites sent out. Now it is only family coming but I still like the idea of sending out invitations for a friendly reminder to our relatives.

2. Science class has begun and we started our science notebooks this week. I am trying out a new way to complete science vocabulary and the class is pumped that it involves illustrations. I will be blogging about this strategy soon.

3. The monthly teacher pay day arrived and it was so necessary! My husband and I have spent some time deciding what to get our daughter for her birthday but with a birthday comes the party accessories! We had to order a cake, balloons, and what soon to be three year old doesn't want party hats!

4. I have over half my class benchmarked and can't wait till it is through. Our district has us find individual reading levels by October so that we can see the progress throughout the year. It is a great program but a long process to complete. When the day was over Friday I looked through my completed benchmarks and realized I was farther along then I thought. What a nice surprise!

5. I purchased the Interactive Math Journal from Runde's Room and started it Monday. My students loved creating a math tool and gluing it into our math journals. My plan is to complete one a week and watch the progress. I love the layout so check it out at her TpT store!

I am praying for a wonderful upcoming week and hope yours were fabulous! What was a success in your week this week?