Saturday, February 28, 2015

Spark Student Motivation: Foam Dice

Two days in a row! Wow! I'm impressed with myself :)

I'm linking up with 


I don't have a great picture of it but this is what I have...




We don't have a Dollar Store/Dollar Tree here in AK. We have a couple of wannabe dollar stores but they are not even close to what I grew up with. It makes me sad. :(
Fortunately, I hit it up when I visit family on the Outside (lower 48). This last summer, I found some awesome large foam dice. I bought quite a few pairs and brought them home with me. 

We don't use them a lot, but the kids love when we do! 
It makes the dice "special" and a privilege to use. It also makes me happy because they are not easy to lose on the floor and they don't make noise when being rolled. :) 

The large foam dice are a *win*win* in my room!

*Steph*


Friday, February 27, 2015

Back in the Groove…Hopefully (Five for Friday)

Time to get back in the groove!! I'm hoping to be able to post 1-2 times a week, we'll see how it goes! Spring fever is hitting here as we near Spring Break and we have had lovely weather while the rest of the country freezes. 

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs to help me get back in the habit to share random little bits about my life with you!





I was able to attend the ASTE 2015 (Alaska Society for Technology in Education) conference in Anchorage on Monday and Tuesday. It was pretty cool, yet overwhelming, to be surrounded by so much possibility! A lot of the sessions I ended up going to seemed to be geared more toward high school/middle school, but I can definitely see the possibility for my 5th graders. It makes me excited and hope that I can try a few new things just before Spring Break.


 Who wouldn't want to play an arctic fox?! There is a new video game out that has educational value! Never Alone was created to integrate information about the Native Alaskan Inupiaq culture into it. They are also in the process of creating games along the same line with other cultures around the world.

My first thought was Sheldon! Ha Ha. (Any Big Bang Theory fans?)
This is a real robot that students can use to "attend" school and still participate if they are homebound. Seriously cool! 



We used The Brown Bag Teacher's Main Idea Comprehension Passages: Animals & Habitats, which are meant for primary students today and I loved it! I have intervention 5th graders for reading, ranging from the really low to the just below grade level. This was great so that every could read the short passage on their own. We practiced highlighting and citing direct text evidence. 
Our state just switched over to new standards (not Common Core but only 7% off) and new state tests. We haven't had much, if any training on what to expect. Kind of scary! This was a great way to introduce/practice specific skills to meet their standard, but still not overload them with too much.




I love our lunch lady's door! 
She is super happy, which is a change from last year's lunch lady, and is always decorating for the season/holiday.




I love my little girl! 

Don't look at the background too close but this her first time completely dressing herself.
Her shirt is on backwards, it should have a bunch of strawberries.
She is wearing two skirts, a black one and a blue one.
:)


Enjoying the last of February with a moose. Kasila loved it! 
The next day she asked me where the moose was. 
I told her I didn't know.
Her response, "Go find moose."




Finally, the main reason I've been MIA…


Baby #2 is on it's way! 
Due Aug. 3

That is a Happy news! and news…for a teacher. 
It's going to be an interesting start to the year as I'm planning on taking off the 1st quarter and we've had a horrible time finding subs this year. Also, we are going to be having a new 5th grade team teacher as one is moving away a Tennessee. (If you have any connections, I'd love to share those with her!) 
I got a horrible cold and took a long time to recover and just the normal tired feeling. I've had to start staying away from dairy again. Also, because I started feeling nauseous more after 12 weeks, I have to be careful with sugars. Overall, it's totally worth it! We will hopefully be able to find out if this is a little boy or girl on March 13! 


Hope you all are having a fabulous start to your weekend!!

*Steph*






Monday, February 9, 2015

Piggy Valentines

I have been pretty M.I.A for the past couple of months. I will try to be back more often!

 Until I have time for a longer update, here are some pig valentines I made with some free clipart/graphics.

The clipart is from mycutegraphics.com and the background is from  Teresa Lewis @ TPT.
 I'm not pro at creating things but thought I'd try it out. I hope the link works!
(If there's a copyright infringement, let me know please! I'm not sure how that specifically works.)




*Steph*