Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Get Your Hall Pass!

Well, I don't know about you, but for me, it's been one.of.those.years...however, it's only eight, yep, I said eight days until spring break, and I CAN MAKE IT!!

I am excited to join the hundreds of other fabulous teacher bloggers that have linked up with Reagan from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits for her Hall Pass Linky.


First, the deets...

(P) Product

My favorite product of mine (never you mind that it's the only product I sell) is my Differentiated Number Building Using Number Scrolls. Need a use for toilet paper and paper towels rolls? I gotcha covered.

It meets Common Core Standards for counting in sequence and place value and will keep your kinesthetic learners engaged...in other words, your "active" boys and girls will be quiet for at least a little while...

check it out here
My kiddos really enjoy working on this during math choice time. They l-o-v-e seeing their scrolls grow longer each day.


I have one little spunky girl in the 3,000s...woot-woot!! Did I mention that she's just a wee bit G.T.? But, that's beside the point...

(A) Area

It was hard to choose just one favorite area. After all, I did a classroom makeover and theme-change at the beginning of this school year (remind me to never do that again), and I have many fav spots. If I have to pick one, I would have to say it's our classroom timeline.

It's difficult for my firsties to remember what we did last week...(or yesterday or 5 minutes ago)...so, I wanted a visual way to remind them of what we've studied, the holidays we've celebrated, and how far they've come each month.

(S) Signal

You mean you don't just yell at 'em? Just kidding, of course...I have used a desk bell (which resulted in one of my students responding with "order up Krabby Patty" (he was a huge SpongeBob SquarePants fan), I have used train whistles (not quite loud enough for my group this year), and I have used response chants like, "Ring, Ring" to which they respond "Hello."

But, then I found these gems from Miss Nelson and I haven't used anything else. My students think they're fun, and I can use them a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e...which is nice when you don't want to carry your bell around or you need to get their attention quick! Plus, it's fun to have code-words that only you and your class know...

(S) Sanity

You mean I'm sane? Hahaha...well, for one, I always keep some chocolate close at hand...me loves Valentine's Day... 


But, there's also the game Candy Crush that my friend, Miss Squirrels, introduced me to (peer pressure# and new addiction#)...

That is, until you run into level 29...and you've been stuck here for days...and you run out of lives and see this pop up on your screen...


Which brings you back to the brink of insanity...because you know your kids are due back any minute...blargh!!!

Until you remember that you also have a great group of blogging friends that will lend an ear, offer support when you most need it, or share a great idea that makes your teaching day that much easier...the Cincy crew!!


From left: Michelle, Miss Squirrels, Me, Jessica, Hadar, Nicole, and Tessa.


If you have any suggestions on how to get past level 29, I would love to hear them!! 





Cincyrocks#