Dec 31, 2011

My 2012 Resolutions

I am joining Mor over at A Teacher's Treasure for her 2012 New Year's Resolutions Linky Party.

Directions:
Copy and paste this image to your post & link it to the party at A Teacher's Treasure.
Make sure you include both personal and professional goals.  No more than 3-5 goals each.

 I always tend to make too many resolutions and end up only keeping one or two... if any.  That's good, but I probably could have done better at those one or two, had I just tried to focus only on them...and not so many.  So, I am going to make only 2 or 3 for each category.  So here goes...

Personal

1.  Lose at least 20 pounds.  
Here's my plan:  I am going to try to do this by drinking way less sugary drinks, eating healthier snacks, and exercising regularly!

2.   Get back to blogging more on my personal blog, as well as,  continuing this one!

Professional

1.  Keep a clutter-free desk.
Here's the plan:  I will take the time to put things away right then {easier said than done!}

2.  Communicate more with other grade level teachers.
Let me explain this one...This is the first year in our brand new school building.  It is fabulous to have doors and windows!  In our old school, the design was an "open" concept so, no doors...and no windows to the outside!  However, I saw other teachers all the time...even if it was just to wave at them, say hello, etc.  Now that we are in our beautiful new {HUGE} building...our doors are shut, hallways long, and we go days without seeing other grade level teachers.  I MISS that so much!  I see my grade level all day, but I feel isolated from all my other friends!  So I am going to make a point of traveling down their hallways just to say hi!  

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm off to see what resolutions others have made.

New Year's Blessings,


SNOW MUCH FUN!

I have added a 16 page "SNOW MUCH FUN" unit to my shop tonight.  


You can take a peek here.
Thanks and Winter Blessings,

Dec 29, 2011

New Year's Resolutions FREEBIE



Get students thinking about New Year's resolutions they can make to improve in several different areas with this FREEBIE!  ENJOY!

New Year's Blessings,


Dec 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  You all have touched my life and blessed me beyond measure.  May you be surrounded by those you love this Christmas season!

Christmas Blessings,

Dec 22, 2011

Currently

Currently,  it is 3:00 a.m., and I'm wide awake.  So, I am finally getting my "Currently" post completed.


Head on over to Oh' Boy 4th Grade to see what others are currently doing!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Dec 20, 2011

Blog Award!!!!!



Wow!  I am so excited and honored that Mandy over at Mandy's Tips for Teachers chose me as one of the recipients of this blog award!  

Here are the rules:

Copy and paste the award on your blog.
Thank the giver and link back to them.
Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

Now, this is always the hardest part for me but here are the blogs I have chosen...


Thanks again, Mandy!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Dec 17, 2011

Christmas Tags and Cards Freebie!





Enjoy!

Dec 15, 2011

Well, are you coming????


Hop aboard THE POLAR EXPRESS!
The kiddos had such a great time on Polar Express Day!

Dressed in our jammies, bathrobes, and slippers each third grader received a ticket to take a ride!

With tickets in hand and punched, we all piled aboard the train!


We were all smiles as the train made its way toward the North Pole!

Of course, we had to have some refreshments...some choc-O-late!

Ahhhhhh...LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!!

It was a GREAT day for all!



Dec 14, 2011

Paper Garland FREEBIE

I recently saw this idea somewhere, so I thought I'd try my hand at creating paper garlands. Here's what to do...

Print the worksheets that you'll find at the end of this post and have students color them.

Fold accordion-style.


Cut around each frame leaving each frame attached to the next one at the dotted line. 

Tape or glue the two garland strips together.
Make as many copies and continue to attach as many as you want {according to the length you desire}.
{remember it will be colorful after the kiddos color it!}

So, here are the FREEBIES for ya!  Some are made with colored graphics, so just assemble.
Enjoy!






Chatterbox Blessings,

Dec 10, 2011

Santa's Got Problems!


Santa definitely has problems in this Christmas Activity Packet.


Come by and check it out HERE!

Thanks for taking a peek!
Christmas Blessings,

Dec 6, 2011

Christmas Alphabet


Here's a Christmas center that's easily put together.

Provide this Christmas Alphabet sheet and add lots of Christmas books...
Students search for Christmas words A-Z.



Instant center!
Enjoy!

Dec 3, 2011

All Aboard!


The Polar Express!

It's finally here...the train is packed and ready to roll!


Climb aboard...here.

Christmas Blessings,

Whooo's That?


Every year, I have a class theme.  Since this is our first year in our brand new GREEN school, I decided to go with something along those lines...so I came up with owls..you remember, "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute!" ??  And with owls really making a come-back, there's a TON of cute owl stuff out there!

So, our classroom is centered around owls this year.  Our interactive binder is O.W.L.S {Organized With Learning Success}, we have an OWL of the week, etc. etc.  I have always wanted to do owl pellets in my classroom, but never got up the nerve.  So, with our theme for the year, I decided that this was the year that I was going to do it!  

Do you know much about owl pellets?  Most people think it is owl poop...NOPE!  It's not!  

~HERE'S A QUICK SCIENCE LESSON~
Owl pellets are so informative for several reasons. Firstly owls have weak bills and often prey that isn’t too large is swallowed whole which leaves the skeleton of the prey, including the skull, intact. Unlike most other birds, owls have no crop, and the food passes straight into the foregut (they do not posses a true stomach). The acid in the owl’s gut is rather weak with a pH of 2.2 - 2.5 which is the same as vinegar. This means that owls can only digest the soft tissues. The bones, fur and feathers remain virtually intact. The opening from the foregut into the rest of the digestive tract is small and prevents any undigested material from passing through. Instead, it remains behind where it is compacted into an oval pellet and is then actively regurgitated back up through the oesophagus. Pellets, therefore, contain bones including intact skulls, fur, feathers, the chitinous exoskeletons of insects and even the chaetae (bristles) from earthworms and so discovering what owls have been eating is quite straightforward.


So, I ordered our owl pellets, and they arrived promptly.  One student's mom is a nurse, so she furnished gloves for us, and one student brought toothpicks.  We were good to go...I think...lol
Yeah, we were!


Each student received a copy of the bone chart.  We discussed the different animals bones that we might find.  So, came the day to start the dissecting.  OMG!  Everyone had a blast!


I do have to say, I thought I might gag once I touched them {with gloves, of course} but I didn't!  


We all got so swept up in the activity at hand, that we no longer thought of it being "owl regurgitation". lol

I'm glad that I finally did this activity!  I will do this again!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Building A Classroom Community

Classrooms are actually communities...after all, educators and students spend a lot of time there together....at least seven hours, five...