Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Linkies Galore

Hey Y'all!
 
I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper and Teaching (Powered by Caffeine) for their weekly linkies.
 
 

 
I'm trying to eat more dark green vegetables. In order to do this, I have invested in a NutriBullet!
 
I am in love with this thing!
 


Every morning (and some evenings) I make a smoothie with spinach along with some other things...
 


It doesn't even look green! It blends everything up so smooth I can't even taste the spinach. Wonder if I can trick my boys into drinking these?
 

 
 
We have been very fortunate to have had a very mild winter.

With that being said, Mother Nature can not make up her mind what she wants to do.
 
One day it's sunny and 50 and the next day it's snowing and in the low 20's or below.
 
Yesterday was one of those snow days...7 inches!
 

(I tried to capture the blizzard we were having...this picture doesn't do it justice)
 
I'm ready for the sun to make a steady appearance!
 

 
Last week my class made Paper Mache hot air balloons inspired by Buggie and JellyBean. I blogged about the Paper Mache balloons {here} and as promised here is my step by step.
 
 

Water balloons covered with strips of newspaper coated in a flour/ water mixture.
 
Let them dry overnight

The next day we painted them a solid color and added stripes or polka dot accents.
 

To resemble a hot air balloon, I used a pipe cleaner and a candy holder with the handles cut off that I found at the Dollar Store for the basket.

Wrapped the pipe cleaner around the balloon...

 Poked the pipe cleaners into the basket...
 
Voila!
 
Hot glued them to the bulletin board...
I still need to add their little smiling faces to the baskets.
 
Happy to report none have fallen down yet. I think I will be leaving these up for awhile!
 
I'm sure I can think of some way I can tie them into a spring theme...hmmm???
 
In the meantime, I'll be participating in TPT's 3 Million Teachers Strong Sale!
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Veronica-Porche

 
Head on over to Pinkadots Elementary to link up your store.
 

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Five for Friday: Oh the Places You'll Go

I've linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for...
 
 
 
 I've been messing around with my blog design...again!
 
I've decided not to pay for a design but to create one myself.
I mean, how hard could it be?
 
I've got a bit of research to do but I'm up for this DIY challenge!
 
Stay tuned...
 
 
 Today we kicked off our reading week. This years theme is 'Oh the Places You'll Go...Colleges and Careers'
 
 
All the teachers decorated either their door or a bulletin board with a hot air balloon.
 
I couldn't stop at just ONE bulletin board, I had to do the other to match! Cause I'm all matchy matchy like that!
 
I decided to go all out and have my students Paper Mache mini hot air balloons.
 


 
These were so fun to create!
 
I will be blogging about them in an upcoming post.
 

Whenever there is paint involved in an art project, things are bound to get a little messy.
 
Well, our custodian doesn't like mess!
 
What?!?! I know, right!
 
She was not happy to see the girl's bathroom.
 
 
I really don't think it's that bad, do you?
 
She kept telling me to look and all I could say was 'Yep'!
 
Geesh!
 
Later I found out she cornered my teaching neighbor and was asking her why we have kids use these bathrooms? Why can't we have them all wash their hands in our rooms?
 
 Seriously? Speechless!
 
My teaching partner and I joked that that would be like us walking into our rooms and saying 'Look! All these kids are here! Why are these guys here?'
 


With the kick-off of reading week, the kids dressed up in either college or career clothing...
 
 
I had teachers, vets, sport team members, scientists, a zoo keeper, military personnel and a principal show up for school today! Whoop, Whoop!!!
 
Those that didn't dress up were given name tags to wear with the name of their career so that no one felt left out.
 
 
At the kick-off assembly, Kid President gave us a Pep Talk. He reminded us that we are all AWESOME and we can make things happen!
 
 
I love this little guy!

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Friday, February 14, 2014

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Kacey over  at Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.
http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/02/five-for-friday-linky-party-february.html
 
100th Day!
I missed the 100th day of school because I was at a math GVC meeting. Waaaahhhh!!!
Our district adopted Math Connects about 5 years ago. At that time it aligned with our state standards really well. Now that we have adopted the CCSS, it doesn't anymore.
We spent the majority of the day drafting an argument as to why we needed something different so that our math coordinator could to it to the powers that be.
We also had to include what program would align. 
A lot of the teachers in our district have been using Engage NY to supplement our current curriculum. This program aligns really nicely with the CCSS.
http://www.engageny.org/
Not only does it align, but it is FREE!
Duh! This is a no-brainer. We choose Engage NY!
Fingers Crossed that the powers that be will agree!
 
101st Day!

Since I wasn't at school on the 100th Day, we celebrated on the 101st Day.
We had so much fun with Brooke Hilderbrand's Hundreth Day Heros pack.
Our mission was to defeat Dr. Evil Double Digit (who doesn't want any numbers to exist with more than 2 digits) and strengthen 3 digit numbers. In order to do this we had to complete tasks throughout the day.
 100 capes
 
 

100 chart writing
 Ummm, something is just not right?
 
 Even my lower level kids were able to complete their charts...YEAH!!!
 
 Finding numbers on the 100th chart
 
100's many disguises...
 Submarine and a Prisoner
 
 A Cat and a Wheelchair
 
Monster Trucks
 

100 snacks
 

 
We defeated Dr. Evil Double Digit and were rewarded with these super hero lollipops.
 
I have a little guy that can not keep pencils and erasers out of his mouth.
This terrifies me!
Not sure if you can tell by the quality of the picture, but he has chewed the metal part off of the pencil and has chewed the wood down to the lead (no the pencil isn't sharpened on both ends)!
I have given this little guy hard candy and Bazooka gum to chew on but he spits it out and goes back to his favs. UGH!
I am scared he is going to get some of the pencil stuck in his throat. Hoping the OT can come up with something genius next week.
 
This little sweetie was ready to celebrate Valentine's Day with a heart braided in her hair.
CAH-UTE!!!! 
 
I don't know about you, but I am beat!
100th Day, Valentine's Day and a Full Moon all in 1 week!
Time to re-energize!
 
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