Love Notes, Subtraction with Regrouping, and Christmas Break

Happy Weekend!

I'm trying to get my household and blogging responsibilities taken care of before racing off to a basketball tournament later in the day. We're playing for third place--and I'm trying to be okay that it isn't first! Ha! 

This preseason tournament is two hours away and started off on Monday, getting us all home about midnight. :-( Our girls (and boys, though I don't coach them) are exhausted and many are coming down with a nasty virus of some kind. Both my kiddos are fighting it...and I'm afraid I'm next. Ugh!

Anyway, let me jump in and give you a random peek at my week!

1

My class this year has an interesting dynamic that I don't know that I can fully explain, but one thing is for certain: I have a bunch of ornery boys! They try to make up for it with "love notes" in their writing journals, which I truly appreciate. ;-)

Here's one of my favorites...

2

These... 

The only prepackaged cookies I will eat. 

Seriously. 

I figure if I'm going to blow my attempt at healthy eating, it better be on something homemade.

I have a sweetie who brought a HUGE stash of these for snack time. Then I was reminded of when I had her sister a few years ago, and the struggle I had with these cookies... So if history repeats itself, there will be more coming. I'm happy to say that when I feel the need to have a bag, I am showing some self-discipline and making it last me all day. ;-)

3

Subtraction with regrouping...

I was seriously dreading this week because of subtraction with regrouping, but I think I'm getting better at teaching it--maybe?

It wasn't so bad after spending two days on the "concrete" of the process using Base 10 blocks. I'll see what they remember next week before declaring this a victory.

4

Speaking of next week, I know from posting this on IG and FB that many of you are looking forward to Friday so you can start your Christmas break.

I, on the other hand, will have kids until the 20th and staff development on the 21st. :-( 

Don't misunderstand me. 

I actually voted for an even shorter Christmas break so we could get out earlier in May (that calendar didn't win), but once you start hearing about other schools in the area being done this week, you can't help but feel a little jealous! :-)

And about that staff development...here's hoping admin somehow makes it "merry."

5

And finally, I'm taking Christmas back!

You can read about that here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sick day, Subtraction with Regrouping, and Interesting Art...

Hey there!

My Friday blog post is later than usual...this explains it:

I actually did call in sick on Thursday. I like the idea of all those emergency sub plans that I see on TPT, but I hate to get off schedule. My sick day started with about two hours of getting things laid out, grading, and contacting parents to rearrange tutor times, etc. It was needed though because I could barely get off the couch the rest of the day! Ugh! I've laid low all weekend and still don't feel great. :-/

I did have a few things to share though, so...

These three came in all excited to be triplets, so I had to snap a picture. 

We have been working very hard on subtraction with regrouping. It was fun to hear my kids repeating parts of this chant as they worked. One little guy kept saying the part about "going next door" and was impressed with how fast his brain was working! Ha! Chants and songs are so helpful to students. I need to be better about using them and revisiting them!

 

 

 

Okay, this next part just cracks me up...

This is what happens when you leave an art project for a sub.

Or maybe not...at least a few of the students got the idea. :-)

 

 

 This catching snowflakes idea came from here. 

Last, but not least...we are still cooking our way through my updated cookbook.

Copycat P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps and General Tso's Chicken...success!

Tomorrow is an inservice day for me. 

Hope you have a great week!

 

Five for Friday (a day late)!

Good morning!

I hope you have a great weekend plan with your idea of fun…mine right now includes a lot of relaxing. Hee hee!

I'm headed out later to watch my little kiddos play basketball. Several of the boys and girls in my class are playing "little league" and have been wanting me to come watch them. I can't wait! Reminds me of when my own kids were just little ones running around on the basketball court. 

But first I thought I'd pop in with some pictures from my week, so here goes…

Be sure to link up with Doodle Bugs!

First, I was finally brave enough to try writing on our table with dry-erase markers. I have seen this all over, but was always to afraid to try it. 

What if it didn't come off well and I ruined the table?

I tested a small area first because I'm cautious that way...

It made subtraction with regrouping so much more exciting and I was the "best teacher ever." Ha! 

And look:

Afterwards, a Clorox wipe and good as new! 

You should try it (if you haven't already) and then you can be the "best teacher ever" too.

Math problem types…I posted this last week, but didn't have the shading. Here's the problem types by grade level:

K - Green

1st - Orange

2nd - Blue

This definitely shows how much ground work is laid in the K-1 classroom. Thank you K-1 teachers (and I really love teaching 2nd)!

I am a dark chocolate kind of girl. I have a piece (or two) after lunch every day. I came upon this wrapper twice this week and it gave me a chuckle.

And finally, the reason that I don't post on Friday evenings. 

I am supposed to, you know. That is the deal during the school year. Kristi posts on Mondays. I post on Fridays Saturdays.

The green arrow is pointing to my son.

He is a freshman. Last night was the first time he got to suit up for varsity. He looked so short (even though he has outgrown me and nearly his dad too)! I love cheering on my kids…and I'm really glad they love to play basketball. It is my favorite sport.

My daughter has two more weeks playing in middle school, which means I have two more weeks coaching. I love to do it, but I am definitely ready to have more time on my hands. 

Speaking of basketball…Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! KU plays K-State today. I told my littles that I'd wear purple on Monday if we lost…hope the Jayhawks don't let me down! ;-)

100th Day, Subtraction with Regrouping, Block Art Take Two, and Basketball

Block Art Take Two

 

You might remember my block art in my dining room from this post. I *loved* it!

 

Well, right behind that wall we are adding a second bathroom and hubby was doing some work in there...can you guess what happened?

 

Yep, the blocks fell down...

 

No big deal, right?

 

Well, I had never put a sealer over the modge podge. I picked them up and stacked them. BIG mistake. They stuck together and when I tried to separate them... Let's just say, it wasn't pretty. :-(

 

The good news...it was much easier this time around! I followed my tips in my first post and ta-da:

Block Art Take Two

 

I was so happy to find my favorite scrapbooking paper again...was worried I wouldn't be able to replace this one!

100th Day

Hubby laughed when I told him reading 100 books was one of my plans for the 100th day of school. He didn't think my kiddos would be too excited. I assured him kids will be excited about anything if the teacher is excited and makes it sound like the BEST thing EVER! ;-)

 

The idea was inspired by this pin and as expected my kids had a blast! They blew past 100 books and ended with a whopping 217!!!



Notice I'm also playing around with the Aviary photography app...what fun! My kids read a lot of little decodables--and I let them put a tally mark for every chapter read (if they were reading a chapter book).

 

We also borrowed this idea. My favorite "I wish I had..." is in the smiley face - BOOKS! :-)

Now for the "I would not want 100..."

 

Here's a key to all the stickers:

 

Star - KIDS, funny because I really wanted to write that I would not want 100 students!

Green Circle - BOOKS, my least favorite...unfortunately I have not won them all over. :-( 

Heart - "Boys in my class" - LOL! My favorite! After she wrote this one, a boy wrote "Girls in my class" a little above it.

Blue Arrow - Mrs. R!!!! Are you kidding me? This kid is pretty funny. According to him, 100 Mrs. R's would give way to much work. Ha!

Subtraction with Regrouping

Found this great freebie on TPT for regrouping. Love the sheet that broke it down to just having the students practice the regrouping part (top number)...actually used that one today with a few of my strugglers. Check it out!

Basketball...

Basketball has been keeping me pretty busy!

It is winding down for us though...tourney started Saturday. Both my kids play (middle school).

I'm the assistant for the girls team. The girls survived the first round (and I do mean survived) and play Thursday in the semi-finals. We *should* win the tournament (we are 13-1 for the season and a really good team - most of the time - HA!).

The boys lost, but they had a good season with a 10-4 record. I'll leave you with a pic of my son in mid-Andrew Wiggins move (minus the dunk, of course). I'm trying to find it on video because I want to see it again!

 
Hope you have a great week!

Crystal