Some Elves and Math Stations

Here are the rest of the elves I've hid these week! Today's elf was definitely the trickiest. They couldn't find it till about halfway through the day. I'm so sneaky!!

Now here's a look at the BEFORE sneak peek of my math stations. I'll show you how I organize it all and what I actually do for stations and maybe it'll help you out or spark a new idea for your classroom.

Trust me when I saw every class is different. I know you already know that, but honestly what works with one of your classes will not always work with your next. I thought my stations worked perfectly with my last bunch. We did 2 20 minute stations a day covering 4 areas: Manipulatives, Application, Technology and Games. I love collaborating with my fellow teachers any chance I get. So when I hear a good idea, I think "I totally want to try that!". So I decided to start the year off with 3 stations a day: Teacher Table, Fact Fluency, Partner Play. This way I would see every student in a small group setting and not have to deal with a whole group lesson where some are bored and some are lost. Love the idea... didn't actually work out how I had planned. I found having groups of 5 or more in a small group was too much for me at the beginning of the year. Then I tried to use what worked for me last year... didn't quite work this year because I forgot to take into account that I taught only Math/Science so I had an entire 1.5 hour for my Math block where this year our Math block is cut in half by Lunch/Recess. It's not the best schedule but it gives them a nice break. Anyway.. I needed something new.

So, after more collaboration with fellow teachers, the fabulous fifth grade teachers shared with me their old way of math stations. To my current students and I, it's the perfect combination of getting in those lessons, really reaching your students through small group instruction, holding students accountable, giving the students choice and making it fun and enjoyable for them. See and print the actual schedule HERE.

• Monday - Introduce new concept and activity
• Tuesday - Review new concept and activity
• Wednesday - Day 1 of Stations
• Thursday - Day 2 of Stations
• Friday - Day 3 of Stations.

Wednesday - Friday I constantly pull my kids in the back and do whatever is needed. It may be fine tuning this weeks lesson, going way back and hitting a concept we've already covered but the student is still struggling on or getting in some Tier interventions. It has been working wonders and here is are some photos that showcase how I set them up as well as picture of each station for this week. Feel free to email me to ask any questions or you'd like me to send you copies of some stuff I have. Thanks! 

Station D is computers and I have no clue what happened to the picture I took of Station B... So please forgive me. It's been a long couple of days. Enjoy and look for pictures of the "during" and "after" tomorrow!

Day 3 of Elves and "I Can Find"

Today was a great Monday back. My kids were rather calm .. I want to say it was the drastic weather change here in Texas. Yesterday it was high 60s and then this morning it was snowing!

On to school stuff.. My kids needed to be up and moving so I was excited for them to do the Subtraction with Regrouping "I Can Find" from my 2-Digit Addition and Subtraction Regrouping Pack (you can check it out here). I hide them around the room so the kids have to get up and moving, find them and solve. I had them check their work 2 times before handing it to me! It paid off for some of my kiddos :).

 And for the Day 3 Elf...

I know I promised Math Stations last week but I realized this after my students had used it all. So this week I will take a picture of the before (how I set them up), the during (students hard at work) and the after (student work samples). For real this time.. stay tuned! 

Day 2 of Elves!

See where I hid today's elf... The kids are loving it!! The first thing they told me was "I can't wait to find the elf"(obviously breaking the first rule of the elves). I figure the excitement of the elves is all still new so after today I'll get more serious about the rule but for now.. I'll just let them be giddy. Not too late to pick up some elves to hide in your classroom too here.

Check back later today for another post on how we do our math stations!

1st Day of Elves!

Today marks the first day of my 12 Days of Christmas Elves! My students will be will be on the hunt starting today for a new hidden elf each day. The first one is ... pretty obvious. 

You can click on my store to the left or the picture below to purchase it. Today marks the first day but it's okay if you jump on the bandwagon a day late. No worries!

Not sure what they even are? A few days before school is out for the winter break can be pretty hectic, so this just adds a bit of fun for everyone. They need to find the Elf of the day that you have hidden around the room and write it down on the corresponding recording sheet. The one and only rule about the Elves though is "WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE ELVES!". The reason is that at the end of the 12 days I like to see how many Elves they found and then put their name into a raffle that many times. Everyone gets at least 3 because I make the first, second and last one the easiest to find. Stop by the Dollar Store and grab a few nicknacks and then celebrate at your holiday party the day you get out!

Happy Thursday!

I will post tomorrow about how we do our Math Stations so check it out manana!

Liebster Award, SALE and Elves?

A few things...

I've been nominated for a Liebster Award by my sweet fellow newbie blogger, Anna Digilio, over at Simply Skilled in Second. Thanks so much Anna! You definitely inspire me :).

Just like me, you're probably thinking ... "What is a Liebster Award?"
Well a Liebster Award is given by other bloggers to new up and coming bloggers making their way with less than 200 followers. As you can see... I only have 8 at this point haha. It exists to help promote new bloggers and show them they are appreciated as well. There are a few things to know..

Here are the rules:

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

4. Choose 11 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers to nominate and link them in your post.

5. You cannot “tag back” the other blog, but leave a comment on this post with the URL of your Liebster post so I can learn more about you & see who you nominate.

So here I go..

11 Random Things About Myself

1. I have 3 cats... and people call me a crazy cat lady. I just love kittens so much :). I'm not a crazy cat lady though because I'm married and we are only outnumbered by 1.
2. I used to hate my curly hair but now I love it. It's what I'm used to, so I'd choose it over straight hair any day.
3. I am right handed but left footed.
4. I've played soccer since I was 4 (and still do).
5. My fourth grade teacher inspired me to be a teacher because of the way she read Hank the Cowdog in her crazy voices.
6. It took me 4 years to read the Twilight books but I went to the 5 in a row movie marathon. I'm a sucker for movie marathons/midnight premieres.
7. I love to bake things but don't like sweets normally. I bake things and my friends and family get to enjoy instead of me (by choice).
8. I studied abroad in Switzerland and had a mentor at an international school and LOVED it.
9. I literally fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow 6 out of 7 night of the week. I'm addicted to sleep.
10. I'm so excited to be a mommy but can and want to definitely wait a bit longer and enjoy the time when it's just my hubby and me.
11. I love clementine Izze's. 

Questions From Simply Skilled In Second

1.Car, SUV, or Mini-Van? I'd prefer SUV but I recently just went to a car.

2.  Do you have any children? Just 3 cats :).

3.  What is the craziest thing you have ever done? Went canyoning in Switzerland ... Google it.

4.  What is your favorite drink? Sweet Tea

5.  Health nut, couch potato or somewhere in between? Definitely somewhere in between. I have my days of laziness (more of those) but yet I can still get my act together.

6.  What is your favorite animal? Cats...

7.  Do you cry at movies? Always (and some commercials).

8.  Who is your favorite celebrity and why? Taylor Swift... I get a lot "You look like Taylor Swift"'s from my kids so naturally I keep up with her.

9. What is one thing you could tell us about yourself that others would be shocked to know? I didn't lost all of my baby teeth till I was a Jr in high school.

10. If you could have only 3 electrical appliances in your house, what would they be and why? TV, PS3 (for watching movies and Netflix on) and my fridge... I guess I do sound like more of a couch potato huh?).

11.  Italian food or mexican food? Mexican and boy am I missing some of that West Texas TexMex.

Blogs I am Nominating

Better With Bows

Seize the Day with Second Grade

2nd Grade Glance

Grade 2 Happenings

Now I know I am supposed to nominate 11 blogs and I've been do a lot of research but it seems like all of the ones I look at have already been nominated so I will keep searching and update when I find more :).

Questions to My New Blogger Friends

1. Favorite Burger Place (if you like burgers)?
2. What made you want to become a teacher?
3. How long have you been teaching?
4. Do you have any children?
5. If you were not a teacher what occupation would you choose?
6. Where do you see yourself in 1 year?
7. Which season do you prefer?
8. What is your favorite holiday?
9. Movies or Books?
10. If you could be a fly on the wall in any moment in history, which moment would you choose?
11. What advice would you give to a brand new teacher?

Whew... done with all of that and I still have a bit more! 

Today I've been working on a little Christmas activity pack. It's just a little something fun to do in the classroom before the break, when we all know our students are at their craziest. Click on the picture below to check it out! 

Go ahead and save things to put in your cart now for the big sale tomorrow. Here's an updated button for Cyber Monday and Tuesday courtesy of The School Supply Addict.

Click on the image to be taken to my store where starting tonight at midnight everything will be on sale! Make sure to enter the code CMT12 at checkout for addition savings. 

Thanks guys!! If you read this entire email then the first person to comment gets the 12 Day of Christmas Elves for free! Just leave your email in the comment box and I'll send it your way.