Sunday Mornings

I love Sunday mornings!  I have always been an early riser, so I still get up quite early even on weekends.  The house is quiet, and for several hours, it's usually just me and my coffee and computer.
I don't have a lot to share about my week.  I was out of my classroom for 2 days helping with STAAR testing, and then spent most of Thursday just catching up.  We also had our Eureka science lab on Thursday.  Eureka is a parent/volunteer led science program my school has been using for a couple of years.  Every couple of weeks, parent volunteers organize a science lab for a grade level.  Our lesson this time was "Capillary Action" to go along with our plant study.  The kids love it!

We did use the MentorMob playlist I created in the computer lab on Friday. (Read about MentorMob here and here.)  The kids really seemed to enjoy it and cheered when I asked them if they wanted me to make another!  There is a way to include a quiz, so I may try that with the next one.

I spent a lot of time yesterday on the computer researching new tech tools and creating some activities.  I can't wait to try out some of them and share what I've learned.  Here's a little math activity I put together to go along with our fact fluency program.  Hope you can use it!

Google Docs

Happy to Be Back!

I am so happy to get back to blogging! I took some time off during the holidays to spend more time with my family, but fully intended to start back once school started in January. But then my student teacher came.  Without getting into all the details, let's just say it was a long 5 weeks for both of us, and ended with the decision that maybe teaching wasn't her calling after all.
Now that my class is settled back into our normal routines, I can spend more time planning, creating and blogging!
My district started a new fact fluency program this year.  Each grading period we have focused on  2 strategies to develop fluency with addition and subtraction facts.  We have been using this book as our primary resource:
                                  


One of my teammates mentioned that her students needed more practice so I made an activity this weekend that will help our students practice doubles and making ten, the two strategies we are focusing on this grading period.  Click the label below the picture if you would like a copy.

Gnome Facts for Doubles and Making 10

Now I need to spend the rest of the weekend preparing to lead some staff development for my team on Monday.  I'm presenting some tips and techniques for using our Smartboards and other technology tools.  Technology in the classroom is something I am passionate about, and I love sharing with others, so it should be fun!