The times. They are a-changing.

Hello, friends!

Every time I start to type a post on my sad little blog I make all types of resolutions about how I'm going to be better.  It's just so tricky for me to find that balance during the school year.  It's at the very top of my summer to do list, and I'm hoping to find lots of inspiration in the relaxation (or crazy busy-ness) of the summer.

I'm here today to share some incredibly exciting news.  (Well, at least it's incredibly exciting to me.)  After 4 years with my current school, I decided to take a new position at a different school next year.  Teaching kindergarten!  Which is funny, because if you know me I always swore up and down that I would never go younger than first.  But, the school that I'm moving to has all the things I'm looking for, so I'm testing the waters of kindergarten, and I figure if I decide it's not for me I can probably adjust grade levels again in a year or two.  Right??  While I have no idea where/what I'm going to do with all the stuff I've accumulated over 4 years (no garage, live in an apartment), I am really excited for a new start in the fall.  It will be hard to leave the friends I've made over the past 4 years, but I'm pretty confident that I made the right decision.

Over the summer I'll probably start to transition to some more kindergarten based content, but I'm hoping to still share some first grade shenanigans.  I'm also planning to read Smarter Charts over the summer (I've heard a TON of great things about that book!)   In case you're not familiar, basically the author talks about how to make charts useful to kids by illustrating processes and making charts interactive.  

And I'm also planning to finish Putting the Practices Into Action, a great book about the SMPs (standards for mathematical practice) in the Common Core.  I actually got this book (an embarrassingly long time ago) at a PD and started it, but then got busy with school and didn't finish it.  I'm excited to go back and re-read/finish it because it has tons of actionable ideas for a variety of grade levels and it's a very easy read.

And in non-teacher related news, I'm planning to read The Fault in Our Stars.  Just because.  Should anything else be on my summer reading list?

Enjoy the rest of the week!
xoxo

A prize for teachers!

Okay, y'all.  I can't even really properly express how proud I am for actually doing some weeknight blogging.

I really think that I'm close to having some more closure on my life for next year, which is making me feel a little more zen.  Tonight I just wanted to share a super exciting treat that I'm sure other (nerdy) teachers will feel just as excited about.  I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with this amazing and super great math program called Splash Math.  It's available for K-5 and it's basically a self-paced math site that lets kids practice all their grade level standard.  I LOVE it because it auto-differentiates, and it collects data on each kid.  And, here's the best part!  Normally, because of how totally fab is, Splash Math charges you either per kid, or a particular amount for an entire class, but until the end of the year Splash Math! is giving you an entire class of kids, activities, and data tracking FOR FREE!  That's right, teacher friends--FREE!  You can sign up your entire class for the rest of the year using the link above.  It will guide you through the entire process of registering.

I hope you all enjoy the last few days, or weeks, of school with Splash Math.  =)
xoxo

May Currently...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

I canNOT believe that it's already May!  The Derby is already past and tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo.  How can that be?!  And while everyone else in the entire world is counting down until they are out of school I'll be in school all the way until JUNE 21ST!  Yikes.  Serenity now.

Anyway, I figure it's okay to be tardy to the party this month, considering how crazy my April was.  I mean, really, that month literally just zoomed by.  And every dang month I swear I'm going to blog more and then it's the next dang month's currently.  I really don't understand how this keeps happening to me!  =)  I'm going to try and blog once a week this month.  Without any further ado, here is my May currently.

Honestly, I think most everything in my Currently this month is pretty self-explanatory.  I would just like to encourage everyone to check out Fabulous in First.  It's the first blog I ever read, and I still love to check it out.  I also love her TpT store; she has so many incredibly helpful products.  

Happy Cinco de Mayo, y'all!  

xoxo

Super Focused

Okay, y'all.  The entire month of April has been super crazy--my parents came out to visit, it was spring break, we went to NYC, the twinnies moved to North Carolina, it was Easter, I turned 30 (ack!), and my siblings-in-law came out for my birthday.  Then, it was May.  Seriously.  So pardon the dust that is gathering on the blog.  We're going to kick it off today.

First, I'm here to tell you about an AMAZING giveaway going on at the Primary Chalkboard.  (By the way, if you don't follow them you should.  It's an amazing collaborative blog.)  They're giving away $35 to TpT right before the next sitewide sale.  Great timing, right?!  You can enter the most amazing contest on the face of the planet right here:  you get a giftcard, you get a giftcard, EVERYONE GETS A GIFTCARD!  Sorry--I couldn't resist doing my best Oprah impression.  But seriously.  Go enter the contest.  I'll be back later today after Jillian Michaels kicks my hinney and I go to Eastern Market to share real classroom things.  =)

xoxo

I did it!

Hello, friends!

We still have one more day of school before spring break, but I wanted to share a quick update.  As I mentioned in this moment of brutal honesty I've really been dropping the ball on math instruction for a few months and I vowed to do better.  (A coworker of mine is really fond of saying when you know better you do better.  And I definitely do so I am.)  So for the past month, basically, I've been assessing my kids 3 times a week and really trying to use that data to meaningfully group and reteach my kids.  One part that I've REALLY liked about this personal push is that I've been really pushing my highest math group much more often, and I'm really seeing growth out of them.  For example, right now we're in a unit on data, time, and measurement and I've been able to not only push my high group to create their own questions, data, and graph, but I was even able to teach them in a small group how to use a scale other than 1 on their graphs.  It's been so nice to be able to challenge my highest group, as opposed to constantly pushing up the lowest groups.  I'm sharing my skip counting by 5s on a graph activity with you, should you be interested as well--for before or after spring break.  =)  I've honestly never done this before, but if I understand technology correctly, you should be able to click this link and download the activity.

Enjoy your spring, friends!

I am so late to the game.

Y'all.  I'm so late to the game and I've been so distracted by testing and report cards that I didn't even realize there was an April Currently up until this morning.  *So embarrassing!*  This is beyond fashionably late, but this past week was CAS for us and even though first grade doesn't take the test we still feel the effects--no specials, recess duty every day, and no Sp. Ed. support for the entire week.  Just me and my 26 love nuggets for 5 straight days.  Buuuuut we made it out the other side (Phew!  And also?  Just barely!) so now I can share my Currently.

I've set some very ambitious goals for myself today--do all the laundry, do the taxes, go to the grocery, AND get the lessons planned, so I'll be leaving you here, but you'll see me at least one more time before spring break.  It's a promise.  

Enjoy the springtime weather, friends!

xoxo

Hey, there! Remember me??

Hello, sweet friends!

I hope that everyone is doing well!  It has been an insanely ridiculous amount of time since I have last updated this little blog of mine, but first we moved and then it took Verizon 138945309 years to install our internet.  (To be perfectly honest, we still don't have internet.  I'm staying at school late today because enough is enough.)

I don't know about y'all, but I am ready for spring!  We just had a snow day yesterday (Snow Patrick's Day), and I am about finished with the cold.  Mid-March is time for weather to start getting warmer and flowers to start blooming.  Not for 6 to 8 inches of snow to be dumped on my city.

So, I was inspired by the amazing Katie King (who you might know as the Queen of the First Grade Jungle) in this post to admit something to you all:  I have not been teaching math the way I should this year.  I've rationalized it a ton of different ways, but the bottom line is I need to raise the bar, both for my kids and myself. I'm part of a fellowship this year, and now in our third cycle we're studying formative assessment so for the rest of this math unit I'm going to assess my kids in some way every day--exit ticket, mini-quiz, journal response.  But every day I'm going to hit those kids with some type of check in and then I'm going to reteach the one who aren't getting it the very next day during math work stations.  I'll be trying to update the blog 2-3 times a week with details about how it's going, and hopefully some freebies that you can use as well in your own class.  Hopefully we can all learn something.  I believe that teachers sharing ideas with each other makes everyone better.

I hope that you're all staying warm and getting ready for spring!
xoxo