11 in 2011

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Today is the last day of the year! Where did this year go? The older I get the faster time seems to fly. Today I am joining some of my blogging buddies in reflecting on my top 11 of 2011. Here are some of my favorite teacher things I have discoverd in 2011.

11. Favorite movie

I absolutely LOVE this book and had the opportunity to read it and show the movie with my kids.  The acting is so so however this movie is almost word for word the book.  Love it!

10. Favorite tv series

Oh my word...this is my NEW obsession.  My hubs and I love this show.  The vocabulary you can learn in one episode is amazing.  Beside that is is a great way to unwind after a long day with the kids.  

9.Favorite resturant

My grade level and I frequent the local panera when we are planning.  Great coffee!

8. Favorite new thing you have tried

Oh my word need I say more??? Pinterest is a teachers paradise! Visit my boards at http://pinterest.com/kds0425/.  Follow my boards and I will do likewise!  Seriously, this site is full of great ideas for all grade levels, recipes, fashion advise etc.  

7. Favorite gift

I love my new iPad.  I have been busy downloading apps for my kiddos.  They are going to be pumped on Monday when I show it off.  

6. Favorite pin

http://pinterest.com/pin/172614598187331705/

My kids have a daily word problem.  Each time we begin our word problem my kids KNOW I am looking and expecting them to use their pencil strategies.  They have a copy of this in their math folders and I have made a HUGE pencil to go in the front of our room. 

5. Favorite blog

She is amazing.  If I could meet her in person, I.would.just.die! Farley has so many cool ideas like the pencil strategies above.  This is my go to blog for all things 4th grade!

4. Favorite picture

Oh my...do my kids make me smile!

3. Best accomplishment

This really isn't teaching related but....over the Summer I planned and helped put on my churches VBS.  This was a BIG deal to me.  My church puts on some awesome VBS' in the past and I did not want to let them down.  It was such an awesome sense of accomplishment knowing that I had the right people in the right places and the kids were having fun.  

2. Favorite memory

Meeting Ron Clark was the best! He is such a teacher leader and truly lives out what he writes and speaks of.  I am so glad to have met him.  Now, I just need to find a way to watch him teach :) 

1. Goal for 2012

I have been thinking of a word that I can use to define my GOALS for 2012.  I think I have concluded that my word for 2012 is time.  I want to take more time for family, health, school.....etc.    

Ipad for our 4th grade pad

Mr husband and I got iPads from good ole santa. I am so pumped to use this with my kids. I have been searching google for must have apps. So far I have downloaded splash math. It is awesome! This game based program allows students to be assessed on all strands of math while being I engaged and focused. I plan on using this app during guided math and center time. Also, it will be used for enrichment. My kids will love the music and fun graphics.  Most of the apps that I have downloaded are FREE, this is a teachers favorite word!  However, there are a lot of awesome apps that are relatively inexpensive (like the full version Math Splash app for $9.99)

Here are some awesome blogs/websites for using your iPad in the classroom...enjoy

Math
Reading
Science
Social Studies

Blogger Buddies...what are the must have apps that I need to download before going back to school??

12 Days of NC Christmas

There is NOTHING like Christmas in the South.  The cool weather, lovely views, amazing fatty foods etc.  My class read the book 12 Days of NC Christmas prior to break and they LOVED it.  If you teach in NC this is a wonderful book to read.  You can incorporate Google Earth for more perspective too.  This book highlights some of NC's finest features(our amazing mountains, BBQ, fabulous beaches, Christmas lights).  Yes, Christmas Lights! We are home to Christmastown USA.  When I read it, I couldn't believe it, so I went to good ole' Google (what did we do before google? lol).  This place truly exists, it was shocked.  Well, Mr. Hubby and I happen to have an anniversary this past week and decided (last minute) to visit Asheville (where we went on our honeymoon) and therefore we took a little detour to Christmastown.  It was fabulous! In McAdenville, NC (Christmastown) the entire Main Street is decked out for Christmas.  I am not talking cheesy blow ups and lights randomly placed.  This town plans and really decks the halls right! I am so pumped to share all my videos and pics with my kids in January.  I love any opportunity where I can bring a book to life.  This was a wonderful read aloud that my kids begged me to read everyday.  Get your copy today!

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Tis' the Season

Tis' the Season for parties, ornament making, elf sightings and Starbucks :)

Christmas break is so close I can almost taste it....anyways, this week was awesome! I kid you not, my kids were on point and focused all week.  We began our week by discussing trips that we have taken (across town, out of state, country etc).  As a class we brainstormed about what we would need to take on a trip.  Of course, once they decided what they would need for a long trip we had to get prepared for our week long "trip".  You see this week was Christmas Around the World and boy did we see the World!  Our first stamp on our passport was to Mexico where students learned about Las Posados.  Using Goggle Earth we were able to see landmarks and other cool features of Mexico.  If you are not using Goggle Earth in your classroom, start.  I highly recommend it!  It is a great tool for connecting what we are learning with a visual.  Also, you can teach parallel/perpendicular lines etc.  Anyway....We read the Legend of the Poinsettia and also made Poinsettias with our hand prints.  So much fun.  As a grade level we decided to switch classes that way students could learn about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah as well (it was a great way to collaborate without lots of planning!) Student passports were stamped when they returned to their homeroom.  For homework they completed a travel log summarizing their travels for the day.

On Wednesday we read Polar Express and talked about gift giving.  Students shared with their groups about special gifts they have been given.  It was cool to hear things that were special to them.  Most were not expensive (i.e., piggy bank).  However, the reason they were special were so meaningful.  Students wrote a short narrative about their gift.  They had to tell me why the gift was special, who gave the gift and how they used it.  To conclude our gift giving lesson and to go along with the Polar Express we made ornaments.  We mixed together apple sauce, glue, and cinnamon for an amazingly spelling mixture.  Students rolled out the mixture and used cookie cutters to create their ornament.  The room was still smelling awesome on FRIDAY!

One highlight, well really two, this week was working with our buddy classes.  My class on Thursday and then again on Friday worked with a 1st grade and a kindergarten class.  We made our elves with them, see my previous post for the patterns.  It was awesome to see my babies working patiently with these children.  When they finished several took it upon themselves to read  a book with their buddy.  It was awesome! My kids are already begging to go back.

Here are some pics I took this week.  Enjoy!

Christmas Around the World--Our Poinsettia Tree

Decorating Trees at our Christmas Party

Thank you to my AWESOME secret santa

Yummy Smelling Ornaments

Merry Christmas from my baby Bentley 

If you given an elf hot chocolate...

I love this time of year! There are so many fun things to do with our kids.  Here is a peak at what my kids worked on last week.  They were so PROUD of their work!  I found the elf glyph instructions on mathwire.com.  The prompt was adapted from one I found on Pinterest.  Man, I am in love with that site. 

The final product....

We are going to make these Elves with our first grade buddies on Thursday...so excited!

Christmas Freebie

Wow! What a week this has been and not in a bad what.  We have had a very special guest in our room all week.  "Jay"  as my kids voted to name him made his first appearance Tuesday.  On Monday we discussed the Holland Christmas of Sinterklaas.  On December 6, children in Holland place 1 shoe by the fireplace in hopes of  Sinterklaas leaving goodies insde.  Well, Tuesday was December 6! Don't you just love when a plan falls into place?  Anyways after encore they each placed a shoe outside our door.  Well we got to work reading Snowflake Bentley and then came the knock.  I asked the kids if I should go check, they unanimously agreed.  There in their shoes were candy and a special package.  Let's just say, they slightly freaked out.  It was precious.   (Oh, I forgot to mention all of 4th grade was doing this-Fabulous!)  We read our note from Sinterklaas and check our our package--Elf on a Shelf :) That is how our adventure with Jay started.

Next week is our last full week before break.  I did not want to start any new math topics knowing they would be our for 2 weeks.  Anyways, I have come up with some amazing (if I do not say so myself) math centers. These games review subtraction, division, fact families, multiplication and more :) Enjoy!

Math Review Games