Techy Time!

It's official...I have the crud. Ugh. Every year when school starts back I have to drug myself with Sudafed, Nyquil, and Afrin for about a week straight.I am living on Luden's wild cherry cough drops this week. Please pray for a rapid recovery! 

Okay, my pity party is over now... Thank you for listening. =) 

Our school's Instructional Technology Facilitator shared some awesome new websites that I had not previously heard of yesterday and I thought I would share!

This website is sooooo fun! You can take any picture that you have saved and make it talk! I thought it would be fun to take pictures of my students and record a message from me to welcome them in the morning. They would die with laughter! 

There are so many other things you could do with this. The possibilities are endless! 

This next website is a great ELA resource. You can use it to help teach all kinds of reading and writing skills and even have your students create their own cartoon comics!

This last website is just an all around great teaching resource. There are TONS of videos and tutorials that can help you teach any subject! Sometimes, it's just nice to sit back and let someone else do the teaching! =) 

The best thing about all of these websites is they're free!! So, go check em' out!

Easy Peasy Partners!

I am a big fan of using time wisely and making transition time smooth and quick! I stole this lovely idea from a colleague at my school last year and it made my partnering/grouping go so quickly! The kids know who their partner is and what part of the room to go to so less time is wasted! 

Click the photos to download. I am linking the word version so you can edit for you own needs. 

Genius. I know... 

Unfortunately, I can't take the credit, but I did want to share with you all in case you haven't seen them before.

I post these on the whiteboard at the front of the room so I always have it right in front of me. 

MAP goals

We do the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) Test every year in our district. It is becoming quite the secure test these days! We have so many students that receive oral administration in Math that it literally takes our school the entire month!

Anyhow, before we take the test, I always conference with each student about their goals and how they are going to improve from the last time. At the beginning of the year, you can use their previous years test scores as a jumping off point and take that time to explain the purpose of the goal sheet and its importance. My students are responsible for keeping these in their PIRATE binders and know where they are when testing time rolls around.

Here is the goal shee that I use in my classroom. I have linked it to the word version so you can make changes to suit your own classroom and needs. Just click on the picture to download the file.

Do you use a goal sheet in your classroom? If so, what does it look like? I am always looking to improve my goal sheet!

Problem Solving Words and Strategies

So, I am sure many of you have seen these on Pinterest or The Teacher Wife's page. 

And maybe you have seen this from Oh Boy, 4th Grade. 

Well, I have taken these two lovely ideas and made a perfect marriage! After seeing these two wonderful ideas, I thought it would be a great thing to have glued inside my students math journals! 

Let me know what you think! I hope I didn't break any rules by using these two ideas and combining them into one...

Click on the picture to download! 

Per Request - Friendly Letter

Someone asked about getting the printable of the friendly letter guy and I found who I stole it from! Visit Thriving Third Graders to download the document with the friendly letter guy in it! She also has some great lesson ideas for teaching the friendly letter!

All I did was take him from paper to poster! But he looks so cool hanging on the wall!

I am also working on finishing my Rocks, Minerals, Fossils, and Soils unit! When I am done, I will post for all to have!