Five for Friday: Happy Birthday to me!

It was a long week! Seriously, 5 day weeks are really tough. (Ha ha!) Needless to say, I am excited about this 3 day weekend. 
I am going to cherish it because it is the last day off we will have until April. I will also be working on Saturdays for the next few weeks as we prepare for our state writing test. This time of year is crunch time, and we will be working incredibly hard to prepare for our state exams. 
I had this blog written out in my head already, but was just too wiped out to sit in front of the computer for the last 2 nights. Sorry I am tardy to the Five for Friday party. I am so thankful to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting and not fussing at the late folks! 

Happy Birthday to me! And Happy belated birthday to Doodle Bugs who celebrated her birthday yesterday. 

My husband loved teasing me about getting "old," at least he will always reach the milestones first!

Nothing says "I love you" like roses! My mom had these beauties delivered to me at school, so sweet. 

It was a wonderful birthday (Wednesday). Well wishes all around. 

My teammate made a delicious dessert for me and I received a super sweet card. My best teaching friend gave me a new workout top, perfect for our after school workouts. 

My sons were so sweet this week in celebrating me. They reminded their dad to go shopping to buy me something really nice (he succeeded, love my new earrings), they insisted on a super yummy cake (raspberry elegance), and told all of their friends at school. 

It was really sweet when I saw both of their classes, they all wished me happy birthday. 

My 4 year old kept all of his drawings from school this week, hid them in his room, and on the morning of my birthday gave me them as birthday gifts. It was absolutely endearing and precious. 

Speaking of my 4 year old, his school celebrated the 100th day of school on Friday. They asked them to dress up like 100 year olds.  He looked pretty darn cute in his hat, glasses, and tie.

He took on the role of an boss. He kept telling his brothers, "I am the boss, do what I say or you won't get a green smiley." Guess his teacher's smiley face system is impacting him, he thinks that is the ultimate prize in life. Every morning when I leave he smothers me with hugs and kisses and well wishes for my day including the statement, "Have a good day Mommy, be good, get a green smiley!" 

We finished our first full week of Whole Brain Teaching's Super Speed math for fluency practice. I love this fluency practice. Friday I introduced the fractions fluency and we had amazing math talks about how to do the fluency practice. (I will blog more about this at a later date because I love it!)

Can't wait for me to blog, check it out here. 

We also began reading Esperanza Rising and Frindle in class. 

I have a wide range of reading levels so we needed two books. 

This year, I had the ultimate goal of encouraging my kids to self select books but I found that they were not reading. So I had to resort to assigning the book and assigning reading and writing responses to hold them accountable. One big task for me this weekend is scoring what they have done so far. 

With guidance they are doing well. A few of my higher readers finished the book and are planning to read Frindle for fun. One of my Frindle readers asked to read Esperanza Rising when he finishes his book. Hey, I would call that a success! 

I have taken on a new role this past week, student teacher supervisor. Wow, it is a lot of work. I have had students who did their field experience in my classroom and that was pretty easy, they just hung out, observed, and helped me out as needed. 

This time around I have a student who is going to be planning and teaching. This is her final experience before graduating. This week was full of questions, and changing the way I do things so that she can get the full experience. I do most of my planning at home, so that will need to be adjusted, not a problem.

She is already getting great experiences with discipline. Was it the full moon or the new person in my room? They must really want her to get a full experience as well! 

I want some tips from my readers. What are the best things your lead teacher did for you? What did they do to help you become fabulous teachers? What are some tips you would give to me to be a terrific lead teacher? 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, especially if you are as lucky as me to have a 3-day. 

Tried It Tuesday: Timers and a Healthy Shake

Hello teaching friends, hope this Tuesday evening finds you doing well! I am excited about linking up again with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for this week's Tried It Tuesday link. 

This week I want to tell you about some awesome stopwatches I was so lucky to win in a giveaway on Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge. 

My boys loved opening this package with me, they were the first to test them out and all were successful (4-8 yrs old).

Christine had reviewed the stopwatches for Learning Resources and was granted a set of 6 to giveaway. You can read Christina's review here.  
After reading her review, I knew they would be perfect for my kiddos. We do weekly reading fluency and are working on daily math fluency; I knew they would be used frequently.  
In a busy classroom simple tools can be better! They are bright, have only 3 buttons (stop, go, and clear) - no more, "How does this work?" which means, no more wasted time!
My students love them and strive to receive this timer instead of the "old" ones.  
Unfortunately, after I distributed them we discovered that 2 did not work. 
I thought that maybe the thingy you pull out from the back did not come out all the way, My hubs took them apart for me and he showed me that something in the timer just was not working. 
I emailed Learning Resources about the issue and a representative contacted me immediately. All I had to do was email a copy of my packing slip to her and within 2 days I received replacements of the 2 broken timers. My customer service experience is really what sealed the deal for me. The ease of replacing the broken timers and the apologetic nature really let me know they were a company worth purchasing from. 
If you are looking for some stopwatches, I highly recommend them! If you run in to trouble with one of their products I recommend you contact them through their website, they will help you. 

I have mentioned that one of my resolutions this year is to take better care of myself. I am sticking strong to it. I finished my 4th day of T25 today and I feel good. My best teaching buddy and I have been talking about other ways to take care of ourselves and drop some of the pounds we have picked up over the last few years. Over the weekend she downloaded the Weight Watchers app and I may join her. Until then, we are sharing tips on better/healthier eating. 
School can be stressful and eating healthy is not always easy when the schedule fills up and you have a million things to do, so I wanted to fill up my arsenal with some easy yet filling options. 
I decided to try some Special K protein shakes as an option for lunch or on days when I forget to eat breakfast and end up starving. I am not a diet drink gal so I was not sure it would be for me. Well, after just one drink, I am hooked. 

I tried the chocolate mocha and I just have to say, YUM! I love coffee and the flavor of the shake was delicious, tasted like a coffee shop treat. It was filling and I was not hungry until after I got home (and that was even after a T25 session). 
If you like coffee, are looking for something to keep back hunger, I recommend stashing some in your desk. 
It is tough to make life changes, but it is worth it. Having supportive friends really helps. I love the rallying effort of all the teachers in our approach to be more healthy in 2014! 
Do you have any products you would recommend for school or sticking to resolutions? How are you doing with your 2014 goals?  
Looking for some more tried its? There are some great posts already linked up, don't forget to check them out.  
Thanks to Holly for hosting the party! 
Happy Tuesday to you! 

(I did not receive money for either product review, nor was I asked to write these reviews. But if either company wants to send me money, I am all for it! Ha ha! )

Welcome to my newest followers and a Link to a giveaway

Welcome to all my new followers. I loved receiving an email that I have passed 30 followers, it has been a slow yet awesome experience. Thank you for all the support as I journey through the world of teaching and motherhood! 

I just wanted to take a quick minute to share a link to a great giveaway. Cheryl at Techie Turtle Teacher has reached a milestone of 100 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers and has a huge bundle to giveaway. Click here to read her post and enter her rafflecopter. Good luck to you, I would love for one of my followers to win!
You can tell that school is back in session, my to do list is about a mile long. It will take a little while to get back in to the efficient groove, this weekend was not it for me, I felt like inefficiency was thwarting everything I attempted. Some days are just like that. 
Hope you are cruising along smoothly.  Have a great day!