Confession #9: Another FREEBIE

I just can't stand myself. I try to spend my spring break free of school and TpT work and what do I find myself doing? Making new products for my store!! So I have another FREEBIE for you fourthie's (is that a word?) out there! I've been looking at the Next Generation Science Standards and I'm excited to say that I'm already organized. I've created a checklist for the 4th grade standards to keep myself together this upcoming school year. Things are changing so rapidly, there's no reason we shouldn't be organized. Check out the sample picture below.

Boy, do I have a surprise for all of you fourth grade teacher's out there! I'm not going to say what I'm currently working on, but it's going to be a wonderful addition to helping you make the best of the Next Generation Science Standards!!!
There's another thing, don't forget my Spring Break freebie is still up and going strong! I hope you all will take advantage of this morning worksheet set.

Confession #7: A Spring Break Freebie

We are all just so excited that spring break is finally here! I have no plans whatsoever and it kind of feels good! I do plan to spend the entire week with my baby boy and pretend to be a stay at home mommy. I can't wait to do this in the summer, too! After spending a while cleaning my classroom it popped into my head that I wanted to celebrate by posting a wonderful FREEBIE opportunity for the entire week of my spring break! I'm hoping a lot of you out there are on spring break as well!

The freebie can be found on my TpT site by clicking HERE! This freebie includeS a download of THREE of my best seller Go Math! Morning Worksheet sets! I do have plans of completing the rest by the end of the year, but my time is very short with teaching and raising a toddler! I hope you all will enjoy and please comment or leave feedback at my TpT store! 

Confession #6

My confession for today is that I am truly exhausted. I rarely admit this to anyone except for my husband. I feel like I have a lot to do in so little time at work and at home. I'm working miracles at work, well, I'm trying to and have been all year. Right now I'm pretty sure the new school year excitement took off a few months back. It's the moment when you think to yourself, what else can I do?
Home is another story. A two year old on the run, a new addition onto our house and a business to run. I just don't know what to do first. Does anyone have a solution for 24/7 bloodshot eyes?

Confession #5

So my confession for today is that I have never been great at keeping up with classroom pencils. It seems that no matter what I do, I always end up with zero pencils in my pencil cup by the end of the week and there are none to be found. My children waste them and they just end up getting swept away at the end of the day which really gets me fired up.

I end up starting a new strategy each year and it almost seems like each month throughout the year I have to develop a new strategy to keep up with them. I think my biggest problem is that pencils are the last thing on my mind. I’m so much more concerned about the students learning that I forget about pencils. Another problem I have is that all of my scissors have disappeared. My next blog will be how to stop classroom supply borrowers from accidentally borrowing them for good.

My strategy around November was this: The pencil cup stayed behind my desk which meant my students weren't just free to grab a pencil at any time they wanted. They also had to pay me a “needs improvement” negative on ClassDojo as well as write their name on the board under “borrowed a pencil”. If they didn't return it by the end of the day, they had to pay me a certain amount of their recess time. I know this sounds drastic, but pencils go like hot cakes in my classroom. This worked great, but I wasn't able to keep up with it for long especially after all the snow days we had and getting out of the rhythm by February. 

Another strategy I'm thinking might work is rewarding students for keeping up with their pencil each day, all day. At the end of the day they could earn five minutes of extra recess or if they do that all week, they could earn lunch with the teacher on Friday. This would really be hard to keep track of, but if you use ClassDojo, it might be easier. 

Does any one out there have any simple strategies for keeping up with pencils? Have a good one!

Confession #4

As I sit here watching the UK game and spending time with the husband I realize that I'd like to post a confession. I love my TpT store and I love the resources on TpT. I also really love free resources. So this confession is that my blog will soon be turned into a resource for teacher's and photographer's that they will not forget. I hope you will all stick around by becoming a follower and watching my blog grow. Thanks for reading! I can't wait to get started on this!!

Confession #3

Today was one of those days where you're just so tired you can't even think by about 10:00 and the kids are waiting on you. The kiddos were awesome today.

So, my confession for today is that I absolutely cannot stand A.R. It seems like it wastes so much time and the kids aren't benefiting from it. I've been doing a lot of research on reading and I found that allowing a child to read a book of their choice for fun is so much more beneficial. I allow my students to read recreational books for fifteen minutes at any given point during the day. They are allowed to bring a book or comic of their choice from home or read what we have on our bookshelf. Our books include fun facts about animals or any thing scientific that draws them in. Reading can be fun and kids don't need the program to bog them down with it. I remember doing A.R. when I was in school and I was so excited that I didn't have to do it anymore when I got in high school. As a matter of fact, I don't recall reading a book for pleasure throughout all four years of high school thanks to that program.

Let me know how you all feel about the A.R. program. I know it can be beneficial, but I have yet to see it.

Confession #2

So today I started the day on an early duty day. I so very much dread these days as they just seem to drag on. I also woke with a sinus pressure headache or that's what I'm diagnosing it as. Please don't take these blogs the wrong way. I really just need to vent. I like being a teacher, but sometimes I just need a mental break and it's hard to find the patience sometimes that we all find at some point that we have lost.

The confession that I have for today is when kids pick their nose it makes me nauseous. When a child picks their nose and then proceeds to eat it, I start my gag reflexes. I will never understand this. I don't recall ever being this way and I know some kids just don't know any better, but we have to touch their papers for crying out loud!! The only way I know to stop it is to say something like "please don't do that any more. It's not very manner like or clean". Does any one else out there have any thoughts on how to tame the picker? It also grosses the other kids out which leads to a bunch of "Ugh, gross" screams.

I guess I just feel like I put up with enough paper work, arguments, back-talkers, interruptions, and hearing my name 100 times in one day, that I have to say nose picking is by far pushing it over the edge.

Confession #1

So I'm a teacher, a mother, a wife and an entrepreneur.  I am currently in pursuit of another life, well, another profession in which case I have always been on the hunt for a new career field. Since the day my son was born at least. My life long dream is to be a stay-at-home mom, but don't all of us ladies out there wish this dream at one point or another. I enjoy what I do for my kiddos, especially when it's rewarding, but I would also like to have a week or two of work where there is not an individual in my face under the age of twenty. Admit it, most of us out there have thought that at one point or another.

It's March, testing pressures are upon us and I can just say, I'm over it. I haven't given up by any means, but there's only so much you can cram into a ten year old's brain before they just quit listening and their eyes glaze over. I'm thinking each day, "I wonder what these kids are thinking? Do they hate me? Am I their worst enemy because I enforce learning and the dreaded A.R.?"

So that's my confession for today. It's currently too late for me to be up so I'd better hit the hay before I lose my much needed sleep to function properly for my kids. Now see, wouldn't it be nice to just have a simple desk job where you could be grouchy and eat all day?