Printable File Folder Games, Other Fun Classroom Activities

How Many Titles Should One Teacher Have?

2013-05-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder what has happened over the years? Let me explain.

Years ago, we had a gifted program. Gifted kids were pulled out of the regular ed. classroom for more advanced lessons with a gifted certified teacher. Over the years, many other programs have evolved, such as having ESOL teachers to serve students where English is not their main language. Also, here in the state of GA, we have the EIP (Early Intervention Program), which is for grades 3-5.

So, what do I mean when I say multi-titled? Well, what if you have a regular ed. teacher who also has her gifted certification and even has her ESOL endorsement? Can they be all of those teachers in one? The answer..... yes! Well, at least that is what seems to be happening in some cases.

Let me create a real life scenario for you. Let's say you have a regular education teacher that has her gifted certification. In her class, she has gifted kids, regular ed. kids, and some weaker kids who also qualify for the EIP program due to low state test scores. Within that teacher's class, she has 24 kids. Eight are regular ed. with no additional services. Twelve are gifted and should be receiving additional differentiated enrichment lessons, and 4 have qualified for remediated teaching through the EIP program.

Please keep in mind that schools receive funding based on the number of kids in given programs as long as the service is being "provided". Let's now say that of those 12 gifted kids, 8 are going to be pulled out to go to another gifted teacher because they qualified on local test scores to receive a more advanced reading class. For that reading block of time, this now leaves 4 gifted kids in the class, along with 8 regular ed. kids, and don't forget about those 4 kids that are supposed to receive some extra services through remediation and review lessons. Sounds great, right?

Well, remember.... the teacher that those kids have as their homeroom teacher is also gifted certified , so those 4 kids left in the classroom are getting their 'gifted hours' from that teacher during this block of time. But wait! What about those 4 kids that are also supposed to be receiving remediation? Well, in this case, the state allows for a few different models to be used for the EIP program. One of the models is small group, one is reduced class size with a ratio of no more than 17 kids to one teacher, and another option is pull out sessions with a different designated EIP teacher.

Can you tell what is happening in this classroom? The gifted certified teacher is now left with a one hour block of time where she has 4 gifted kids in class, so she is their gifted teacher for that hour. The class is now a reduced class size because those other 8 kids left. With a reduced class size of 16 for that block of time, the teacher is now designated as the EIP teacher for those other kids that are supposed to get remediated lessons, and don't forget about those other kids that are just your average kids. Want to make this scenario even crazier than it already is? What if that teacher also has her ESOL endorsement? Well, if a few of those kids were in the ESOL program, she very well could be the ESOL teacher too.

Why in the world are schools doing this? How can one teacher provide for gifted, remediation, average, and even ESOL kids all in the same block of time. The answer..... THEY CAN'T!! Maybe schools are doing it so they get more bang for the buck out of one teacher's salary. You did figure out that the one teacher doesn't get any higher pay for being the robot she is expected to be, right? After all, as long as it can be proven that a child who qualifies for those programs is receiving services from a teacher who is certified in those areas, they can get the funding that the state provides.

I just don't understand it. It looks good on paper, but in my opinion, teachers should have one title for any given block of time. You have basically thrown the gifted program out the door when those students are being robbed of an hour of accelerated learning during their 'gifted block' of time. The EIP kids are being robbed of their remediated lessons that the state thinks are being provided. And those poor average kids? Well, they may be getting what they need and they may not. Oh, and the ESOL kids, are they getting their lessons modified in order to help them master this new language?

Yep, it just doesn't make sense. Scenarios like this bring a whole new meaning to the word differentiation. In this case, differentiation equates to near impossible. But, I guess there is one good thing. The state still provides the money because the service is technically being provided.

Maybe there is nothing wrong with doing it this way. Maybe someone can help me see the light that I am not able to see. If so, please do shed some light. No teacher that I have talked to that has had this scenario of multiple titles thinks it is effective. Quite the opposite actually. Like I said, it's impossible to provide all of that, and if you do have a way to provide all of that, you are not sleeping and you have no life outside of school hours because you are having to prepare 4 different activities for EVERY lesson you teach during that one block of time.

And we wonder why the national average for teacher burnout is seven years. SEVEN stinking years everyone. It's because teachers are expected to be robotic... to meet unattainable goals where teaching environments are not even conducive to providing the best learning environment for kids of all levels.

Now, when I write a blog post ....AKA... Vent Post......like this where I express my opinion, I like to always say that I love teaching. I love working with the kids. I am meant to be a teacher. BUT, there are just many things about the education system in my state and nationally that I simply do not understand. We really truly need to evaluate why our education system is failing in so many areas. We need to take a closer look at the effectiveness of situations like this that require 'multi-titled teachers'. I say it's not working!

Now, go make learning fun and do the best you can do with what is expected of you.

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Testing.... Out of Control

2013-05-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

What is it with the end of the year? It is wild and crazy with all kinds of activities. One of which is the state testing. We took our big state test for GA a week ago (CRCT), and just like every year, some kids think that this test indicates that school is over. To their surprise, there is still a lot left to be accomplished. I mean, come on!! I can barely get through the curriculum before the test, so after the test, I have to go back and reteach a few of the topics so they fully understand them. With three weeks left in school, that means there are many more grades to come. Grades that I had to explain can make or break your report card. Grades that could take an A to a D or a D to an A. Little did they know when testing ended, we actually had one more week of testing. YIKES! Yep, we will spend an hour each day this coming week testing some more. ... can't you hear the excitement in my voice?

The testing has really gotten out of hand over the years. In my county we take a beginning of the year test in each subject, and at the end of each nine weeks we take a benchmark test for that nine weeks in each subject area. In march, we take a D test, which is a determining test, which is supposed to determine how well they will do on the state test. Then we take the state test in each subject at the start of April. Finally, at the start of May, we take the county end of the year tests in each subject to see growth from that original test they took at the start of the year. Can you say CRA-zY! When you figure it all by the hour, it equates to over a week of school lost to testing. And with that said, I know third and fifth grade in my county actually take two other tests at the start of the year - The ITBS and the CoGat. Out of hand may be a good work to describe the testing.

Oh, I didn't even mention unit tests for the report card. How about throwing in a weekly Greek and Latin roots and a cold reading test! Plus, we have to rush, rush, rush through the curriculum, so that means the kids are taking another test or two each week to week and a half in other content areas, such as math, grammar, social studies, and science.

What's so strange about it all is that throughout the school year, the frame of mind is that we are working for the 'one test'.... that state test. Every lesson we teach is geared toward mastering the state test. Every test we give is to better prepare them and to indicate how well they may do on the 'one test'.

Want to hear something though. Let me spend a few weeks with a child at the beginning of the school year, and I can pretty much tell you how well they will do on the state test. Let me confirm my prediction after the first set of report cards, and then let me recheck my prediction a week or so before the state test. I bet 90% of the time I can tell you who will master the state test and who will not. It's not rocket science.

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You Own Everything I Do.... said no teacher ever!

2013-04-21T13:16:00.002-07:00

There is a lot of hype lately about teachers profiting from the educational resources they make and then sell on sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers. Articles such as the one linked HERE are what triggered this particular blog post by me. You may want to take a moment to read that article, as well as this recent article: ARTICLE HERE

Keep in mind, the resources are made after school hours and built using the teacher’s own personal technology that the teacher purchased with her own money. Despite that, there still seems to be a question as to whether the teacher owns the resources created. The mere thought of teachers having to give their intellectual property over to the system they work for seems ludicrous, therefore I have decided to address the issue.

Before I go on, I want to say that my coworkers and schools have been completely supportive thus far of my efforts to make materials, which I do sell. Some I use and others I do not. This is not the case for many across the county, which is why I felt the need to write this blog post.

Why do I find this insanely ridiculous? Well, let me create an analogy….

Just like a baker bakes, a teacher teaches. A baker specializes in cakes and a teacher specializes in writing up lesson plans to teach. So, let’s say that the baker’s boss has mandated he bake a chocolate cake. The baker then goes to gather the butter and the flour and everything needed, but unfortunately there is no butter.

Despite the fact that there is no butter, the cake still must be made. The baker decides to tell his boss that he needs some butter to make the cake. The boss says there is no money to buy any butter, but you must still bake the cake. Being the great baker that he was, the baker decides to buy a churn to make the butter to then be able to bake the cake. So, who owns the churn? Does the baker have to give it to the boss simply because he used it to bake the cake that would be sold at the bakery?

I say the baker gets the churn and not the boss. After all, the baker bought it. The boss made no effort to help get the resources needed to get the job done.

What if that baker then decides to make a few cakes on the side for friends to earn some extra cash? After all, he has this great churn to make the butter, which he did buy with his own money. He will bake the cakes on the weekends and at night when he is not working his regular bakery job. But wait! Does the baker now have to give his boss from his day job the money from the sale of those cakes? He didn’t use his boss’ recipes nor his equipment.

Should teachers have to give school systems things they buy with their own money? If a teacher decides to create resources in the summer time or in the evenings, or on weekends, and they use their own materials to accomplish the task, should they then have to turn over all profits from those materials to their school system?

To help make my point even more clear, let me ask this question. Should a police officer who decides to make extra cash to support his family by working security at school events or at the mall have to give his earnings back to his police force simply because he is a police officer for his day job?

What about a teacher that tutors on the side? They can tutor kids in their own home but they must give all profits to their school system? It simply doesn’t make a lick of sense.

The strange thing in all of this is that most school systems haven't tried to claim ownership of these teachers' property. It seems to be the general public that wants to encourage the systems to do so.

My response to that.... spend your time thanking a teacher for all of their hard work. Appreciate the fact that they are going above and beyond to develop activities instead of just accepting the fact that the resources are not available. For a change, let the teachers have the compensation they truly deserve. Have you thanked a teacher today? :-)

In closing, thank you for supporting my creative efforts over the past couple of years. I enjoy making and creating lessons, and my students love using them as much as I love making them. I am honored that so many people across the world buy my products and put them to use in their own classrooms. Thank you for your support. You are appreciated.

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Test Taking Activities

2013-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

The count down is on for me. I have one full week of school, then spring break, one more full week, and then it is time for "THE TEST"... yep, it is state testing time. In the state of GA, we take the CRCT. In 4th grade, which is the grade I teach, students have to pass ALL subjects of the test to be automatically promoted to the 5th grade. This is a county policy where I teach, and if they fail a section, they must go to several weeks of summer school and then retest.... hoping at that point they will pass and all will be good.

This coming week, the week before spring break, we do what is called Boot Camp. Several weeks ago we had a half day planning where we met and broke down some recent benchmark data to see what the twenty weakest skills were across the 4th grade as a whole. Each of the 5 teachers then has 4 lessons they will reteach to the entire 4th grade. The classes will rotate around throughout this next week for the first ten lessons, and then they will get the next ten the week after spring break. These are 35 minute intense lessons that review and recap the objectives. With that said, it is what I often refer to as 'crack down time'. This is it folks..... it's what we have been working towards.... it's all about "THE TEST"!

Don't you hate that it is all about a test. I try not to focus on it too terribly much, but in the end, it is the education system that pushes us to focus so much on those dang standardized tests. Benchmark after benchmark test. Breaking down data time after time. Even after nearly 20 years in education, there is still some level of stress that comes with this annual test. You want the kids to do well and you can only hope they will. I have to remind myself that I taught the material to the best of my ability. I made learning fun. I can't work miracles. When all is said and done and the tests are passed out and their #2 pencils hit the paper, it is going to be all about how the child performs and not how I taught. Why do I think that way?..............I am confident enough in my teaching abilities to realize that I was a damn good teacher this year, and in the end, the scores are what they are. Some will surpass standards, some kids will meet standards, and yes, there always seem to be a couple that don't meet standards. Did they progress? YES! Did I help them master two years of material in one year to bring them up to grade level? Probably not. Did I try? YES! Will I doubt my teaching ability based on any failures? Absolutely NOT!

Here is a fun little poster activity I have in my TpT store that I will have my kids complete this coming week. It will get them thinking about this very important test. These posters look great hanging outside the classroom. In addition, I have a banner that you can hang with these. Everyone that walks past your display will start thinking about "THE TEST".

Click HERE for Test Taking Poster Activity

Click HERE for Test Taking Banner

Click HERE for FREE Test Taking Motivation Messages.

Just add a treat.

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Will Common Core be the 'it' factor?

2013-03-17T13:45:00.002-07:00

After you have been in education as long as I have, you realize that nothing lasts for more than a few years. I have learned that they don't even let new approaches hang around long enough to see if they will work. Honestly, I am a firm believer that the thing that will bring on the greatest change is monitoring what happens between the hours of 4:00 pm to the start of the next school day..... AKA... parent accountability. Just my opinion, of couse. :-)

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Is it the Teacher's Job?

2013-03-10T06:16:00.002-07:00

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Hug a Child

2013-02-23T05:57:00.001-08:00

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February Writing Activity

2013-02-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

Right now my students are working to finish up a writing we started on Valentine's Day. When I came up with this writing idea called, "The Place I Love", I was trying to come up with something that was love related since it was Valentine's Day, but I didn't want it to be all lovey dovey or for it to be about loving someone. I feel like the kids do lots of other writings like that as far as "I love you because.....". So, I decided that we all have special places we love, and this would be a great way to get to know my kids.

By the way, this writing activity could really be used any time of the year since it is not really Valentine themed. It's simply about loving a special place. As an after thought, I realized it would work well with Patricia MacLachlan's book, All the Places to Love.

So, what's the place I love? Well, I decided I wanted my students to realize that the place to love didn't really have to be a place that was special to anyone else. It could be as simple as your yard or as big as a city as long as they could give evidence as to why it was the place they loved. For my place, I chose ..............My CAR!.....yep, I told them that after I drop my little guy off at school in the morning, I have a 30 minute drive to work. One of my kids yelled out, "You like the peace and quiet, don't you?" I said, "Yep! You guessed it." It can be so peaceful with my coffee, no bickering teenagers, no demanding toddler, no teaching of 25 kids.... just me and some quiet music and my coffee. They thought it was pretty funny when I described the place I love..... sad to say, it is quite dirty right now with a few sippy cups, a couple of pacifiers tossed here and there, a coffee mug or two, and whatever else a busy working mom of three has in her car. I am sure you can relate.

So, what's a place you love?

Get all of the details by clicking the link below.

The Place I Love Writing Activity

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Valentines for the Teacher

2013-02-16T20:37:00.001-08:00

When my daughter saw all of the stuff I got from my students for Valentine's Day, she said, "They must think you are a great teacher!" When I saw all of the chocolate I got, I said, "They must want me to gain a hundred pounds!".... WOW! I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents and students, and they really show their appreciation for me and the hard work I do as a teacher. I have worked in places before where I had to buy everything down to the pencils and paper, so to get a hot Starbucks delivered on Valentine's Day along with a message, "We love you a Latte," in addition to being gifted with all of the chocolate, teddy bears, mugs, and Starbucks gift cards, I would say I was in Valentine heaven. It was a great day. Check it out.

Click to enlarge.

Oh, and if you missed my face book post about my flower delivery from my husband, you can get the scoop by clicking the image below. The flowers that were delivered came in a pretty box and were packed so nicely, and then when you pulled out the flowers, it was like, "You have got to be kidding!".... I felt bad thinking that, but for Valentine's Day, don't florists prepare and know they need to send their best products. I mean, I would have been okay not even getting anything, but this is their business, and they it seems like Valentine's is the day they are either going to gain or lose a customer. My husband ended up pulling up a picture of what he ordered, and O-M-G..... these flowers look like they pulled them from the dumpster compared to the picture he saw when he ordered. Crazy!

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Where is the LOVE?

2013-02-15T12:41:00.001-08:00

I think this is just one more example of how some schools are getting so caught up in testing that they forget what it was like to be a kid. All they see are test scores and not smiles on kids' faces from getting a heart shaped box of chocolate on Valentine's Day. I'm not sure why this bothered me so badly, but it did. This was my son's school, and quite honestly, he could care less other than to tell me about it. He would not have even given anyone anything anyway, as it's just not his thing, but it's the point that bothered me. I think it was the part of saying that 'Valentines is a distraction to learning' that got me. I have had two middle school students before but I have never taught middle school, so maybe I am over reacting. I don't know. So, here is my thinking.........

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I Can Statements for the Teacher

2013-02-06T14:22:00.001-08:00

"I Can" Statements for the Teacher

So many teachers are posting "I Can" posters,
I thought I would share what

I CAN DO!

I CAN drop my kids off at lunch, warm my own lunch, get to the workroom, eat, and then rush back to pick my kids up from lunch all in less than 25 lovely minutes.

I CAN wear jeans on Friday with spirit wear. There's just something to be said about a jean day.

I CAN tell 25 people what to do 8 hours a day. Some will actually listen.

I CAN hold my pee for hours on end, and then ask the teacher next door for 'permission' to go.

I CAN rush a class of 25 kids down 2 flights of steps and out of the building in 2 min. and 19 seconds flat. (along with hundreds of other kids)

I CAN tell who is yelling in the boys' bathroom without even entering.

I CAN reply to 30 emails, grade hundreds of papers, write academic contracts, update ESOL plans, write lesson plans for 5 subjects per day 5 days a week, and so much more..... all in my 3 day a week planning period of 45 minutes. (That should be a can NOT statement)

I CAN keep 25 kids walking in a straight line on the second square from the wall.

I CAN tell when a kid is pretend reading, or is the book just more interesting when they flip from page 2 to 5 and back to 3 and then read the back of the book before they go to chapter five.

I CAN call for the janitor to come clean up puke while I get the trashcan for the sick kid, and I can even keep teaching my lesson if needed. That's the only way to teach it all, right? :-)

I CAN test kids and then test them more, and then I can even test them some more.

I CAN do lots of things.

I CAN even teach.

_____________

What CAN you do?

_____________

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Fun Fraction Activity

2013-02-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

I have actually had this little picture for a while and never got it posted.

Today is your lucky day. :-) HA!

This is a fun fraction activity I did within the first couple of days of a fraction unit. I teach fourth grade, so it was sort of a review of basic fractions before we moved on to adding, subtracting, reducing, and all of that great stuff. The good thing about this activity is that while creating the little animals, we did get to talk about equivalent fractions.

For this fraction lesson, I used the book Picture Pie by Ed Emberly. Basically, it was a lesson that was guided by me. In the book, all of the creations are made starting with a circle. So, when referring to fractions, the circle was the whole. The students were then instructed to fold and cut in order to create halves, fourths, eights, etc. For each animal, I did not tell them what the animal was. It was a surprise. I built it using my Ladybug projector, so they were able to see mine and follow along. Once we added the extra details, such as eyes, dots on the ladybug, etc., they were like , "ohhhhh, it's a dog!!!" or whatever the creation was. They had a lot of fun, got a good review of fractions, and the finished product looked really cute hanging in the hallway.

I got lots of compliments.

I will add that I gave the students circles that were already cut out. This can be used with a cut-out machine, or you can just have your kids cut them out. I wanted to cut down on the time, so I had the correct colored circles prepared ahead of class. Enjoy!

The above photos are owned by Molly Phillips and Classroom Confections.
Feel free to share on your own blog, as long as you provide a link back to my website with credit. Thanks so much!

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Lines, Line Segments, and Rays

2013-02-02T06:24:00.001-08:00

I am always looking for ways to make math more engaging. What better way to engage than with CANDY, right! I Swear.... somethings I find myself in the grocery store looking and thinking of ways to use crackers, cookies, or candy. Yeah, Yeah, I know it's not that healthy, but they don't eat too much of it. :-) We are working on geometry right now. More specifically, at the start of this past week we did some activities with lines, rays, and line segments. I thought I would share how I tried to reinforce the definitions of each. As we went over each part, we built them using toothpicks, candy corns, and marshmallows. The marshmallows were the points. The candy corns showed how the straight path continued in a direction, and of course, the toothpick was the straight path. The kids had a lot of fun. Plus, I gave them a few extra to eat, which they always love. Enjoy!

Lines, Line Segments, and Rays

The above photo is owned by Molly Phillips and Classroom Confections.
Feel free to share on your own blog, as long as you provide a link back to my website with credit. Thanks so much!

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Classroom Game Card Storage

2013-01-27T18:52:00.002-08:00

I know most teachers are probably like me and use Ziploc® baggies to store their game cards for classroom games. For my file folder games I put the cards in a baggies and put them inside the folder. Some games though don't really go in a file folder, and they are just plain game cards, such as for memory games. For these games, instead of using just a plain 'ole baggie, I came across these adorable reusable sandwich baggies in the dollar isle at Target (every teachers favorite stop as they enter Target). These baggies will add a tad more flare to the game instead of just passing out a plain sandwich bag. Three bags came in a pack for a dollar.

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Kid President

2013-01-26T05:51:00.003-08:00

I just had to share this video with you. It was shared with me, and I just fell in love with this little guy, He calls himself "Kid President". He is so absolutely adorable that I'm thinking it's a good thing they have a minimum age for U.S. President because he would give the big guys a run for their money.

No politics, just real life messages. Listen and you will learn...........

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Teacher Pet Peeves

2013-01-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

Don't be thrown off by the title.

I mean.... come on!

We all have pet peeves, right?

We have them with our husbands, our own kids, co-workers from our jobs, and even with the person who lives down the street. So, it just goes with the territory for teachers to have pet peeves too.

Pet peeves.
you know what they are....
those minor occurrences that you find particularly annoying while others are not bothered by them at all. The ones that really get on your nerves!!

On the way to church this morning my husband was chewing gum. Smack... smack. I just can't stand the sound of smacking gum. I said, "I'm going to ask one time for you to please consider something." He said, "What? Stop smacking my gum?" Goodness, he knows me all too well. People should just close their mouth when they chew their gum and little Ms. Molly will be happy.

The gum situation got me thinking about my pet peeves within my classroom. After all, despite the fact that I am the teacher and adore the kids to pieces, pet peeves are hard to control. I figure the kids and I are all better off if I just warn them ahead of time what mine are. So, at the start of school I just tell them straight up. After we go over the definition of what a pet peeve is, I tell them mine, and of course, they get the idea, and can offer insight into what really annoys them, too. So here goes. Here are a few things that tend to annoy me.

1) Crinkling Snack Bags - I simply can NOT stand it when a child brings a bag such as a chip bag during snack time and I have to hear the crinkle sound every time their hand enters the bag. It is incredibly annoying while I am teaching. They are told from the start of the year to please use a plastic zip lock type bag or to put it on a paper towel. They are always so good at remembering, which puts a smile on my face.

2) Sticking a fork in apples and then putting a straw in the hole- I mean, really!! Can you really get apple to come through the straw? Maybe you can get your ears to pop. It's just weird, right?

3) Picking at name tags on desks- Seriously...... Why? Why do you want an ugly peeled name tag on the corner of your desk? Just respect the name tag and leave it alone. smile, smile

4) I Can Draw Books- This is not art class! They have a time and a place, but reading time is not one of them. I'm glad you want to learn to draw a dinosaur, but let's learn how to read the word dinosaur first. Take them home!

5) Piling up coats at recess - So, they take their coats outside and then get hot. What do they do next? Make a pile that is 40 coats deep. What is the logic behind that? We all line up and there they go... digging, tossing, and grabbing in order to find their jacket. Why oh why?

I probably have a few more, but you might start thinking I am wacky if I keep going. Okay, you might already think I'm wacky...LOL. Anyway, do you have any pet peeves in the classroom? If so, how about sharing a few in my comments section below. It will be fun to hear what gets under everyone's skin, so to speak.

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The Future of Teaching

2013-01-12T06:15:00.002-08:00

This part of teaching saddens me.

My thoughts....

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The Polar Express Christmas Activity

2012-12-28T07:16:00.001-08:00

If you like the book The Polar Express, then you are sure to love this activity.....

By the time kids get to 4th grade, some are wavering on the Santa thing. I always like to do a special little activity to get them pondering the magic of Santa. The afternoon before our Christmas break starts, I put little silver bells in the back of each of their desks. Then the next day I read them a couple of my favorite Christmas books, one of which is the book The Polar Express. A short time later, I have the kids clean out their desks (I do this at the end of each 9 week period), and you guessed it, they find the silver bells. My fourth graders always love this! I hear one of them say, "I found a bell in my desk!".... a few seconds later, "I found one too!"... Before you know it, they are all ringing silver bells and saying things like, "It's the first gift of Christmas!" This year no one even questioned where they came from. It is such a fun Christmas activity!

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Remembering Sandy Hook Elementary

2012-12-16T05:46:00.001-08:00

There are no words....

Happy Holiday Dollar Daze Linky Party

2012-12-10T08:44:00.001-08:00

$1.99 or LESS

Guess what! It's a linky party hosted by Classroom Confections.

Shop for grades k-5.

Join the fun by either posting an item or shopping for an item. Whether you are posting an item or here to shop, I thank you for posting about this link up either on your blog or facebook page with a link back here. That way everyone can shop til they drop!

Feel free to use the image below when you post.

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8:00- 4:00.... NOT!

2012-12-06T17:11:00.001-08:00

Do you sometimes feel like you work around the clock? I do.

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Free Christmas Activities

2012-11-21T18:49:00.002-08:00

Life has been so incredibly busy for me!
I'm sure your life is just the same.

By the time I get home from my teaching, get the teenagers to where ever they need to go, find something to eat for dinner, go to sports events, make sure homework is done, get the toddler bathed and ready for bed, I can sometimes find the time to make a custom lesson or two for my fourth graders. As far as blogging though, that has taken the back burner. I have not made it a priority.

So, here I am on Thanksgiving break squeezing in a blog post. And guess what? You get some free Christmas activities out of this post. You can't beat free, right?

This is a Christmas activity for the younger kids. Sometimes I will make something cute for my k-1 friends even though I won't be able to use it in the classroom. In this activity, the kids cut out words to glue down and label the picture. They can then color it. This will make for a cute center as it gets closer to the holiday break. You can download this from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Christmas Activity - Word Recognition

This next activity I made for my fourth graders. One of the fourth grade common core objectives is to form and use prepositional phrases. This is a Christmas themed slide show to introduce the topic to my students. I hope you can find a way to use it in your classroom.

Prepositional Phrase Christmas Activity

If you are interested, I also made an I Have Who Has activity for prepositional phrases. It goes along with the slide show. It is Christmas themed. Get all of the details by clicking the link below.

I Have Who Has Prepositional Phrases

Don't foget to look through my TpT store for all of my other fun Christmas activities.

As Thanksgiving approaches tomorrow, I would like to say how thankful I am for all of you that continue to visit my blog and purchase from me at my TpT store. You make my addiction to making fun lessons worth while. :-)

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Election Activities

2012-11-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

The election is just a short time away, and if you are like me, you have talked about it a time or two in your classroom. Actually, I talked about the election today with my students because it was the feature article in my Scholastic News Magazine. We had a long discussion about the title question that read, "Where do they stand?" None of my students knew what that question meant. We then talked about how people typically select who they are going to vote for based on where the candidates 'stand' on issues, such as education, health care, war, and jobs. This was about the third time Scholastic has printed an article about the election, so my kids have become quite familiar with the candidates.

Do you all do mock elections in your school? We are having one this year, but surprisingly, we are not voting for the candidates that are running for the presidency. I know.... I was a bit shocked too. My husband, the political science/social studies teacher, was really shocked. He said we might as well not even have an election if that is going to be the case. So, who are we are voting for?..... that would be Lincoln or Washington. Since no one has had time to teach their kids about these two candidates, I guess the kids will be doing 'one potato, two potato' to make their choice. After all, I have been teaching my kids about the 2012 presidential candidates not two candidates that aren't even from the same time period (I know, seems so strange). I am not really 100% sure why we didn't go with the real candidates, but I think it had something to do with this being a pretty heated election, and no one wanted to stir the pot with political views. I dunno. Regardless, I am sure the kids will have fun, and I know they will cheer if their candidate wins.

I thought I would share with you a couple of election activities I made for my classroom. One is a basic election word search that I plan to do for morning work. Another one is a set of election themed writing paper that is very colorful and would look great hanging outside the classroom in the hallway. You can find both of these in my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking on the links below. Thanks for checking them out.

Election Word Search Puzzle

Election Themed Writing Paper

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Words and Phrases Alluding to Mythology

2012-10-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Mythology......Yikes!!

If you are like me, that is exactly what you thought when you read this new common core objective:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

If one thing is for sure, I could not stand mythology when I was in school, so the thought of me having to teach anything related to it just freaked me out. Plus, when I went searching for material related to this common core objective, there was absolutely nothing to be found. Don't you hate it when we get objectives to teach and yet there are not really any lessons prepared to help us out. I mean, I know we are capable of designing lessons, but sometimes it just makes things difficult. As in the case of this mythology lesson, I won't kid around, I had to read and search to find the descriptions of these characters from mythology. It took me some time, but I hope you like the finished product.

This mythology lesson does not really teach mythology itself. It really focuses on the basics of the common core objective listed above. I put together some mythological character descriptions to help kids understand that these characters have traits based on their actions in the stories from mythology. I then put together some common phrases used in today's time that might pop up in literature that make reference to these character traits, such as "opened Pandora's box". When students see these phrases, they will have a better understanding of the fact that they allude to the characters found in mythology. In addition, there is a little illustration activity where students take products from today's time and see how these product names actually originated from mythology. A few examples, are Trident gum and Amazon.com.

I hope your kids have fun with this lesson.

Click the link below to find out more info. or to purchase this lesson.

Lesson: Words in Text Alluding to Characters in Mythology

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Sub Plans

2012-09-29T05:43:00.001-07:00

What is it with teachers and being sick????
You know what I'm talking about!
Most of us would prefer to go in and teach rather than have to deal with those stinkin sub plans.

Do you think people in other career fields feel that way? Do they have to spend over an hour preparing plans, getting paperwork together, etc. just because they are sick and need to take a day off?

Maybe I put too much pressure on myself (could be). Despite the fact that I have 'emergency sub plans' at school, I feel like if I am going to take a day off for something like a sinus infection, I need to prepare very detailed plans about how the day runs, especially if I want my sub to be able to keep me on my schedule of curriculum that has to be taught. After all, it's a race to get it all covered with me being there all 180 days.

When I think about having to do the sub plans and about all the kids will probably miss if I am not there, I decide that it is probably best if I am there, so I don't even worry about getting a sub. There I go... trudging into work with weeks and weeks of sick leave built up that I never take, feeling like crap, going on with my day, teaching away.

At the school I used to teach at you had to find your own sub - even if it was last minute and you were puking all over the place. Yep, let's say you have been throwing up all night, you wake up the next morning realizing you have to have your class covered. Guess what, you better get on the phone and start calling a hundred subs despite the fact that you have a fever, can't hold down your stomach acids, and can barely hold your head up. Believe me, I know it to be true because it happened to me.
One time my daughter threw up in the car on the way to school. Once I got to school with my sick daugher in tow, I went to the front office and had to get on the phone and start calling subs. And yes, my sick daughter was right there beside me. After calling about thirty subs, I was told they would take care of it, but geeeesh.... I was so worked up about that situation, feeling terrible for my daughter, and I was so frustrated!!

Is that right? It sounds so insensitive and backwards to me. I always wonder if the general public knows these kinds of things go on for teachers. I am fortunate where I am now. If it is an emergency situation you can call a designated person and they will find your sub. You only have to find a sub if you know in advance you are going to be out.

What is it like where you teach? Do you feel like me when it comes to being out?

If you need some ideas for your sub plans, you may my sub folder activities helpful. You can find these in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Click the link below to view these substitute folder ideas.

Substitute Teacher Folder

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