Two for Tuesday & Tried it Tuesday 6/24

Greetings blogger friends! 
Today's weather looks a little dreary, but I plan to make the most of this summer day. It looks so gloomy out and there is a good chance of rain, it might be a perfect day for the $1 summer movie at our Regal theater. Everything is AWESOME since today's feature in my area is  The Lego Movie, the boys have been waiting for this week. 
Before heading out for the movies I am linking up with the wonderful team of bloggers at The Teaching Tribune for the Two for Tuesday deal. I am also linking up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday. 

The first item available at 50% is my Scoring Spelling Sheets packet. Today, it only costs $0.50. This packet includes a scrabble like spelling activity for students to spell and add up their points. The sheets are great for word work centers, homework, sub tubs, and early finishers. 

Today's second item is my Coordinate Grids Task Cards set. Today, they are only $1.10. These were a huge hit with my 5th graders this year. My teammates really enjoyed them too. For our unit test I copied two of the task cards and used them on their test. They were excited and surprised to see the task card questions on the test. 

Something else that I did with the task cards was to copy the cards for them to work on in their notebooks, then they explained how to solve it to their classmates. 
Don't forget to hop over to The Teaching Tribune to see the other great Two-for-Tuesday deals. 

I always imagine the best outcome for everything. 
I think that is a good approach to life. 
Of course that means that not everything lives up to the expectations. 
Today, I am going to tell you about some things I tried, that did not really work up to their potential. I would not want you to think that everything is butterflies, lullabies, and rainbows in my world, it is more like tantrums and bruises with some wonderful victories along the way!
I want my sons to grow up to be responsible, well-rounded, and able to take care of their home and selves. Over the years, I have set the expectation and envisioned them helping us out with tasks around the house. I think it is really important for them to grow up knowing that I am not going to wait on them hand and foot. I am sure you can guess where this is going, chores. 
Oh, the boys doing chores! Yes, it means less work for me with them helping around the house. Right? Wrong! Take a look....

The top is a picture of the counter after my youngest tried to bring in the mail. He LOVES to help and I never discourage it, but it often means a mess that I end up cleaning up. Since he is stubborn and determined to do it his big-boy self it is tough to help him out during the process. This was what the mail ended up on the counter, this was of course after he went back to pick up the pieces off of the driveway. Hopefully only ad flyers flew away. 
The bottom is not really bad. It is my oldest son's version of putting away the silverware. He obviously does not have any OCD tendencies! I left it as is, I can live with it. He helped and I did not have to empty the silverware tray, left me plenty of time to clean up the counter. 
Being eager and motivated about encouraging them to help out I made chore cards for them. After all, they wanted to earn money and were so excited about the opportunity. Success? Nope, another fail! 

I made 3 sets of daily chores so I could rotate the jobs (wipe down the bathroom, recycle, vacuum, set the table, clear the table, empty the dishwasher, pooper scooper, swiffer the dog hair from the floor, and help with the laundry). They would each get I set of 3 jobs a day; read and clean room was a mandatory daily chore. All was well for the first 3 days, then the enthusiasm fizzled out. 
My youngest always asks to help, so for him he still works on the chores or jumps in to help when I am doing something. 
The cards weren't motivating them and I heard lots of complaints. My oldest told us he wanted to find another place to live where he wouldn't have to do any work. I told him that he was welcome to move, just give me the forwarding address. I don't think he expected that response, which lead to a whole other set of issues.  
So what am I doing? Giving up? No way, they need to help out. 
I still post the chores, remind them about them. I am not fighting it. Honestly, I don't clean that much daily so if we skip a day or two, all will be fine. But as I am working on something, I call them to help. I have stopped myself from doing everything all of the time. 
They can carry in groceries and help put the items away. The end result might be a little messy, but they need to learn. 
I have learned to ask them for help and do the chores alongside them.
I have not given up, just adjusted my vision back to reality. Small steps will lead to great strides in the future. 

I must have huge finger beds, the sample only fit my pinky!
(Day 1 - looks nice)

Here is another high expectations, but fall on my face tried it, Jamberry nails. I keep seeing all these cute posts, and wonderful offers. I love the look and really wanted to hop on board, I even considered joining as a sales consultant. Well, after a brief trial, I found my reality. They just do not work for me. 

Day 3 - not looking so good - besides the sample did not fit my ring finger)

My nail polish did not last nor did the Jamberry.

I am not saying anything about the quality of the product, I do not think my experience is necessarily a reflection of the quality. It is more about what works (or doesn't) for me. They are so cute and I love the sassy styles. But as I talked about yesterday, I am a KLUTZ! I am not a glam girl partly because I am awkward with the utensils and products necessary to go all glam. I constantly burn myself with a flat iron and mess up make-up application. Why would nails be different? It probably doesn't help that I am hands on with my kids. Climbing and playing at the park does not lend itself to finely manicured nails. 
The stickers did not stick to my nails too well either, especially after swimming. Once they started to lift, I was doomed, I peeled them off. So for me, it is back to natural and polish free. 
If you are interested in trying Jamberry for yourself, you can then tell me how well it worked, check out Tori's Jamberry webpage. 
So I think I have shown you that I really am just a normal girl who tries things and sometimes fails. It is all about learning and growing. I am thankful for all of the great lessons I am learning and not afraid to admit, sometimes I learn the most from my mistakes! 
I hope you have a wonderful day full of success! 

Tried It Tuesday Figurative Language, Go Noodle, Geography, & Math Errors

Test time means high stress, trying to review everything in time for the big exams, and crossing your fingers that they retain it all! 
I am linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper to share some things I have tried in my classroom to help with the review and keeping the kids using their noodles!

As we reviewed, I realized the kids were still struggling with the differences between metaphors, similes, and personification. This meant it was time to review, again. Thank goodness for Teachers Pay Teachers and the awesome resources available from amazing teachers.
First up, the Close Reading Figurative Language Stories packet by Lovin' Lit'. 

During small reading we discussed and analyzed the passages while identifying the different examples of figurative language. Some were a little more difficult to identify which meant they had to closely reread the text We had wonderful discussions as they hunted for their answers and defended their answers. They became enthusiastic figurative language detectives!

The passages were great for reinforcement of the need to reread passages 3 times closely! They were useful during small groups, as homework, and as an assessment. 
I learned a little extra about my students' prior knowledge, several did not know who Dorothy from Wizard the Oz was, and we had a discussion about Tom Cruise.
Here is a funny snippet of a group conversation for you. While reading Princess Penelope, a student said, "Who is this Penelope person? Is she the one who's nose grows?" Several students turned in awe, saying in unison, "That's Pinocchio!" 
This child is my constant reminder about the importance of giving kids a chance to ask questions about content. You cannot assume they know the connections mentioned and will at times get hung up on small details, missing the overall meaning of the text.
To help reinforce figurative language further, we also read Owl Moon and worked on the awesome Figurative Language page (freebie) created by jivey. This activity was a wonderful opportunity for us to review poetry in addition to reviewing similes, metaphors, and personification. 

Owl Moon is a great book to read aloud. It is full of figurative language, a nice example of a non-rhyming poem, and full of beautiful images. 

Image from: Cricket Magazine

This time of year is hectic and stressful. In order to maintain my sanity and the kids' ability to focus, I have been incorporating a lot of brain breaks. 

In the past I would pull up youtube videos that I previewed, but sometimes still had to deal with pop-ups that were not so kid-friendly. I was more than relieved to discover Go Noodle, designed for kids and teachers. I kept reading about it on many of my friends' blogs, today we tried it and are Go Noodle followers! 

You need to sign up for a free account but it was easy and the kids LOVED the videos! This will be our daily reward, our midday breaks, and the motivator to get us through our final 22 days! If you have not checked it out, you definitely need to! 

During indoor recess today, we danced, sang, and then calmed down with some belly breathing so we could use our Noodles to cram geography in to our minds. 

Speaking of geography, I need to brag about another awesome product I am a proud to own and use. 

Monster Wrangler Mike designed it for Georgia Performance Standards, and it is perfect! At one point I considered creating a product for these exact standards, but time slipped away from me. 

Needless to say, I was thrilled to discover this product, it answered my testing prayers! It supplements our book, and prepares the kids for the geography section of our state exam!

Monster Wrangler Mike also has some great Goofus products to help kids analyze common errors. 

The kids have to find the error, explain it, and solve it correctly. We used this in math the other day, and the kids loved it. 

I absolutely love the answer that this student provided for the error...

I had to add a little "LOL!" to match her humor. The best part is that she typically HATES math, yet this assignment helped her express her wit decreasing the dislike she typically expresses in class. 

It was a great twist to the typical problems and encouraged them to look for those traps that test writers set for the {impulsive} kids to fall in to. While discussing Goofus, they really started to understand why I keep saying, SLOW DOWN! 

What have you tried lately? If you are looking for something new to try out, check out the links on Fourth Grade Flipper's blog. 

Tried it Tuesday Stitch Fix & Pencils

It has been a whirlwind few weeks. I have been running on fumes, burning the midnight oil, burning the candle at both ends. You name the idiom and I am probably the epitome of it! 
Tomorrow is a big day for my class. Tomorrow is the 5th grade state writing test. It is a big deal, because where I work it is still promotional. Not all counties require them to pass, but my county does. We feel the pressure and take it seriously. 
My performance as a teacher is judged according to how the students do. Part of our school evaluation is based on how they perform. High stakes doesn't even seem strong enough a term. 
While I have been working hard to prepare my kiddos for the writing test, I have not been writing beyond my classroom. Instead I was preparing for our last hurrah writing celebration and swimming through the sea of other activities the school year and life have thrown my way! 
No, I haven't been eating bon-bons with my feet perched upon an ottoman.Instead I have been....

• Completing winter parent teacher conferences.
• Helping devise a plan for the extra 30 minutes a day that were tacked on to our schedules in order to make up the snow days. 7 snow days is a lot to make up!
• Surviving parent conference week with my 3 boys while my hubby was on the other side of the country for a work conference.
• Prepping for Saturday school to prepare for the week long state test that are 6 weeks away.
• Helping out teammates who are dealing with family crises. 
• Guiding my struggling student teacher through the realities of education. 
• Starting a new sport season with my boys (flag football for the oldest and youngest).
• Trying to finish up a few products for my TpT store. 
• Attempting to remain sane during this crazy time of year. 

Seeing as this is not my first year teaching nor my first year in 5th, I think I have rolled with the punches pretty well. I am not panicking. Using what I know from previous students, I know my class is ready. A few might struggle, a few will definitely shine. In the long run, I know that I have done my job. My team has done a fabulous job together to get our kids to this day. We will conquer this test!  

I am linking up today with Holly for Tried It Tuesday. I have peeked at a few posts, and they are fantastic! I highly recommend that you check them out. 

I have read a plethora of reviews about the pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies. They were enticing and yet, I could not break down and order one. I tried to win one on many occasions. Then I discovered that a friend had one in her classroom, so I tested hers out. I really liked it. She said I could use it any time, but did she really want me hanging out in her room daily with a batch of pencils?  
My son happened to be in her class and he told me how great the sharpener works. I decided it was time to act. Unfortunately snow and ice thwarted the delivery, and I did not get it as fast as I wanted. 
When it arrived, my husband decided to check it out and see why I was so excited. He liked it. The boys all played with it before I got a chance to really test it out. 

 My youngest son loves it so much that he questioned why I took it to school. Yes, it is easy enough for a 4 year old!
In my classroom I keep the sharpener up, I do not want it to be broken. I will happily sharpen for the kids when they need it. I often sharpen a stash and swap out their dull ones. 
It works so well on their pencils. Produces sharp points and does not eat up their pencils like my electric sharpener. 
I mentioned the writing test, well guess what? I really am ready. Look what I did tonight...

I tried it. I like it. I approve it! If you are skeptical like me, you might wonder if it is really worth it. It is! 

I also have been reading about Stitch Fix. I decided to give that a try too. I received my first fix today and I am glad I tried it out. 

I really liked the styles of clothing they sent me. Many things I might not stop and try if I went shopping on my own, but all things I really liked. 
I am not super fashionable, but I like nice looking things. I tend to go for cheaper things, and with limited "me" time shopping is low on my list of things that I get to do. 
Here are some pictures of things they sent me...

Skinny jeans, White sweater, Striped top, Blue blazer, and chevron infinity scarf.

Love the dots on this. Too bad my muscular arms did not squeeze in easily! This was the only item that did not fit. 

Chevron infinity scarf. I liked it a lot, but chose ti send it back. It was bulky on my neck thus not super flattering. Since I did not love the way it fit, I could not justify the price.  

I love that I could keep as much as I wanted. The discount for keeping all 5 items would have been nice, but I was not in love with the white sweater and my arms did not love the blazer. THe white sweater was a little too see-through for teaching 5th graders. Even with a camisole or tank top I would have felt self-conscious. 
I would never try on or buy skinny jeans. I am not a skinny girl and tend to hide my muscular thighs. But man, they were so comfortable and they made me feel good. So I splurged and am keeping the jeans. It is jeans week so I am going to proudly wear them on Thursday. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone and be comfortable with my body. 
I love the striped top. I am going to wear that tomorrow with some slacks. We cannot wear jeans on testing days, but I cannot wait until Thursday to wear my other "fix."
Here is a bad selfie in the striped top...

Think I might need to get a cute red beaded necklace to accessorize this top. until then, I think my turquoise necklace will do. 
If you are looking for something to do for yourself or want to try out something, I recommend trying it, click here. I used a referral code by another buyer and they got a $25 credit toward their next fix. Since I bought some of the items in my shipment, the $20 styling fee was applied to my cost, worth it for a little personal shopping. The other great part is the other items get shipped back at no additional cost to me. 

I am hoping that after tomorrow I will feel a little less crazy, and be able to keep up with blogging a little more regularly. Stay well and keep smiling as you make your way through the hectic testing season!