Just Breathe

It has been too long.  I don't even know if anyone has ever read my blog, so I don't know why I feel bad for not blogging!  I want to begin writing and reflecting on my teaching, though, so I guess a weekly blog entry (or more, if I can) will be a good place to start!

Thoughts right now:  I'm overwhelmed, as I always am, prior to the beginning of the school year.  I have a million different lists, both written and in my head, of things I need to plan, print, laminate, organize, do, buy, put together, etc... I have a zillion new programs and ideas I want to implement in my classroom.   School doesn't begin for another week, but I'm planning to be in every day this week to get my room ready.  I had to move to a new room, so I have a bajillion boxes to unload and put away before I can even get to the fun stuff!  My mind is racing, meaning I'm already not sleeping.  I've started having the back to school nightmares . . . you know the ones.  I can't turn it off!  It is the curse of a teacher. 

I need to just breathe.  I need to remember to be present with my little ones both here and at school.  Right now, I have three kids, who I love and adore, who need my attention.  In about a week, I will have closer to thirty, because my kids at school will be my kids.  I need to breathe, so that I can remember to just LOVE them all, and to be there for them.  The other stuff will fall into place. 

Just breathe.

Skip Counting Made Easy!

My kiddos still need daily practice with skip counting.  I made it visually easy for my visual learners with this number line.  Every day we are in school, I put the next apple up on the wall, going around the room.  Then we count by 2s, 5s, 10s, as far as we can.  Evens are red numbers, counting by 5s are on green apples, counting by 10s have a worm coming out of the apple.  Fun and colorful.  Have a parent cut them out for you at home one night after you have laminated them, and then you can use them every year!

 

I have ideas for other themes, but would love to know--what would you like to see that would go with your room theme?

March Madness

Sadly, we do not have cable this year, so there will be no watching of the March Madness games in our house this year.  I must admit, I will miss them a bit.  It is always so exciting, especially when one of your favorite teams is doing well!

However, I am super excited because I just finished my March Madness Math and Literacy Packet.  I know my students will love practicing their common core math and language skills with these adorable basketball centers!  I have lots more ideas in mind, and I'm going to try to add a few more in to the packet this week.  But for now, There are five awesome centers. 

I'm new to the teacher blogging thing... but I know I want to include lots of freebies from my blog.  So, every time I post a new product in my TpT store, I'm going to offer the first three blog followers (three because I have three beautiful children!) who comment on the post, a free copy!

So, without further ado, please follow my blog if you aren't already, and then leave me a comment with your email address!

Happy March!