Five for Friday: Back in the Groove

I've been MIA for the past couple of weeks. I have been busy figuring out some unexpected things for school and then trying to relax at home with my family. Key word: trying 

My husband is super sweet and I am lucky that he tolerates my incapacity to just leave things alone. I am hoping that by Mid-September that I will have the majority of my kinks worked out. 

Now for...

My husband finally came home from his {10 day turned 2 1/2 week) work assignment right in the middle of back to school. I will admit, I was a little overwhelmed during that time.

He is definitely my rock.

 

We had a beautiful double (full) rainbow and a view of Pioneer Peak. 

We were in the car so this picture really doesn't do it justice.

We meal planned and I had leftovers for a lunches for a couple of days. Yay!

This is the Asian Beef Noodles (made with moose meat) from Chef in Training.

We've also had Baked Cream Chicken Taquitos. 

Both were yummy and not difficult to make. 

This is my first go to website for fairly simple recipes.

I found a solution to the passing out/collecting materials!

Future post to come.

As well as how I am going to run my intervention reading class, social studies for each homeroom, and my *hopefully-still in the planning phase* somewhat flipped math class! 

We have an "Opening Day PD" for the ENTIRE district (we span at least 2 hours driving from one side the the other) the Friday before Labor Day every year. I think part of it is because the Alaska State Fair starts after we go back to school, so they give families a day to go without missing school. We teachers meet and have kind of a "State of the District" address, a keynote speaker or two, some pretty yummy food from our nutrition services and get out early.

Our district is beginning "Capturing Kids Hearts" from the Flip Flippen group. 

They also made a "Happy" video, I didn't get the part that our kids were in but if I am able to post it, I will.

My First Giveaway…Favorite Things…{$370 Amazon}

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

Pencils all sharpened and baskets for turn in,

Borders and labels and crayons galore,

This is my favorite thing and more!

I love that song and that movie! 

Anyways, I'm am super excited to be able to participate in my first ever giveaway! If the song didn't give it away, I'm here to share about my favorite back to school item.

Fiskars Guillotine Paper Cutter

Now, this wasn't my favorite thing for school my first year. In fact, it was a Christmas present from my grandmother for scrapbooking at home. I realized that I had things to cut and didn't alway enjoy the walk across the school and down the stairs to the work room to use the paper cutter. I brought this to my classroom and it has a nice home there. 

I love it for a few reasons…

-A guillotine is a lot cleaner than the slider cutters.

-It is great to have a personal cutter in your classroom for those last minute tasks.

-You don't have to spend an insane amount of time in the work room with people waiting in a line behind you.

- This specific guillotine cutter is super lightweight and easy to carry. It even has a handle to carry it by.

- I can easily bring it home and chop away while watching a show (after my little girl has gone to bed).

Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog and for a chance to win some great prizes!

Good Luck to All and have an A-Mazing year!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out these other must have back to school items!

An InLinkz Link-up

Class Community

At the beginning of the school year, I  really wanted to build a class community. My school creates heterogenous homeroom classes and then levels for reading and math. Sometimes the homeroom class doesn't really connect because some kids are never with others during the core subjects. I wanted a fun way to have the kids and work together before we started switching for classes. I found this activity at Science Gal's blog. It was great! Most groups figured it out with out too much trouble. 

Materials per group:

6 cups

1 rubber band 

4 pieces of strings 

(Science Gal suggests that you tie the strings to the rubber band prior to the activity, but if you want it to be more difficult, don't.)

Set Up:

Goal:

Some of the kids at work:

This last group had the most trouble. There were two very strong personalities that clashed. I would not  let them change groups and everyone had to be working a string. It took awhile but they finally got it.

I feel like this was a very beneficial activity for the beginning of the school year. This activity was a simple set up. It allowed the kids to talk, work cooperatively, and practice classroom expectations. I am definitely planning on using it again.