Double Two for Tuesday deals

I am nearing the end of this break and the panic feeling about getting things done is starting to creep in. 
I have to calm myself down so I can enjoy the weeks I have left. 
I am starting to think about the need to plan and map out the year. I want to, but then again if I start then it means that summer is about over. 
Besides, it is summer, aren't teachers supposed to be off?! Ha ha! 
I also want to do more craft projects and do some sewing. 
Oh and there is the pleasantness of needing to go to the doctor. I really need to get "that" appointment scheduled! 
Ah, breathe!
Ok, so take it one day at a time. Today, I need to do a Target run, hubs needs something and I keep seeing people posting about school stuff in the dollar spot. I also need to do some school supply shopping for my sons, supplies can be pricey - if I can score some deals I won't feel so bad about shelling out some bucks for my own classroom. 
Summer cannot be all about planning to go back to school though, so I need to do something fun with the kids. 
Yesterday I surprised them with a trip to Menchie's (frozen yogurt) after our park excursion. Instead of eating lunch, we ate fro-yo, cool summer Mom points. 

Time to get up and enjoy the day with my sons, while I still can say, I am on Summer Break! Carpe Diem! 
What are your plans today?  

And now for another installment of Two for Tuesday! Except for the final installment, I am offering two times as many deals! 

If you are starting to plan or looking ahead, perhaps you might find one of these items of interest. 
Animal and Plant Cells packet

Cursive Handwriting practice packet which c coordinates with Wordly Wise 3000, but you do not have to use the program to use the practice sheets. 

Addition & Subtraction practice game for 1st-2nd graders

Decimals place value task cards

Thanks for stopping by and for all of the people who have supported me during the two for Tuesday deals! 

Two for Tuesday & Currently July

Time is flying, July is already here! As I walked around some stores with my oldest yesterday I could tell that they are gearing up for Back to School, I am not ready! I am still not keen on returning to school in July, but since the big bosses never asked, I will have to accept reality. Time to make the most of my July days!

It is time for Currently with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade!

I like waking up early for one reason, it is the only time of the day that everyone is sleeping and the house is silent. That silence does not last long, but those moments help me start off on the right foot. 
This summer, I have made a point of enjoying the little moments and brushing off the not so great ones. I appreciate that I have a job that let's me stay home with my growing kids for the summers. They keep saying how lucky they are that their mom is home, I think I am the lucky (although tired) one!
I have had some WEIRD, call the dream analyzer, dreams this summer. Why do school dreams have to infiltrate my REM? Ugh!
I am currently reading a book which includes alchemy, and one of the characters knows how to freeze time. If anyone knows the chemistry behind bringing a book character to life, let me know, I want him to slow the summer down!
I really wanted to work out every day this summer, and I do get up and out more than during the year, but I am not succeeding on my workouts. I do a great job on the workout, then my legs hurt so much I can barely walk for a day or two. That is not fun! I suppose I could try an easier workout, but that seems top defeat the purpose. 
What are your plans for the 4th? 
I am also linking up today for another installment of Two for Tuesday! Thank you to The Teaching Tribune for this great linky party. Check out the two-fer deals below and on their blog. 
Place Value Practice Tasks Cards using Whole Numbers. There are 7 sets of cards focusing on the 12 skills under Numbers and Operations in Base Ten. They are a bargain for $1.50 today.

How about a banner to help break the ice and decorate at the beginning of the year? 

My students loved making these at the beginning of the year, and reflected on what they wrote when I returned them at the end of the year. This banner was great for open house with parents, and made a colorful personalized display piece. 

Happy Tuesday to you! Enjoy all of your summer moments!

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! 

Two For Tuesday

I really look forward to the Two for Tuesday party each week with The Teaching Tribune. I appreciate all of the people who have bought something or left feedback, it is motivating to receive feedback about what other teachers think. 
Reading the other posts is enjoyable as well. As a bonus, I have picked up a few great deals along the way too!

This first item up today is my math task card bundle, for only $4.80. That is a great deal, with it you get 25 sets of task cards!

Second up today is my class BINGO and Reward Coupons set for only $0.50. 

This set came in very handy in my classroom to reward great behaviors and motivate those who needed an extra incentive. My students really liked getting to choose a coupon, and I also offered small snacks for those who preferred a snack item. 
Have a great time shopping with all the Two for Tuesday bloggers at The Teaching Tribune! 
Believe it or not, I will be doing some school stuff today. My son is participating in a math class this week, so I figure I can do a few things in my room while we wait for him to finish up. 
Tuesday night, I am heading to a colleague's house for our professional development book discussion, Core Six. The book is presented in a logical and user-friendly format. I am looking forward to hearing what my peers think about how they will use it in their classrooms, and how it will benefit our students as we prepare for the brand-new assessments that will be launched this year. 
Hope you are have a great Tuesday! 

Two for Tuesday! June 10,2014

As promised, I am posting two more resources reduced to 50% off in celebration of Summer Bloggin' with The Teaching Tribune! 
First up today, is my Dear Mr. Henshaw Reading Graphic Organizer and Writing Response packet. This packet is only $1.00 on Tuesday, June 10 until I remember to return it to its original price. 

Dear Mr. Henshaw, by Beverly Cleary, is one of my favorite books to read with my 5th graders at the beginning of the year. The text is so rich and can lead to lots of discussions about writing techniques, growth of writers, character and their motivations, vivid vocabulary, and life experiences. 
Leigh, the main character, struggles with the emotions of having divorced parents and being new at his school. He feels lonely, and it does not help that his lunches keep getting stolen. During the story you learn about the friends he makes that help him work his way through the issues of family and adolescence. 
I always read this at the beginning of the year because the writing response packet makes for a wonderful writing to display at open house and provides some busy (but meaningful) work while beginning of the year assessments are completed. 
The writing packets look great when they are bound. I learn a lot about my students, their family, and their lives with this quick assessment. I always give it back to them at the end of the school year and they love to see how much they have grown and changed. 
I am planning to add some more graphic organizers to the packet throughout the summer, so $1.00 is really a bargain!
And for our second item, Decimal Multiplication Matching Task Cards for $1.50. Decimals models are always a challenge for my students, so I designed these as models and to help them practice. 

There are 7 sets of matching cards in this packet, so it is one you can use throughout the year to practice, reteach, and review. 
Don't forget to hop over to The Teaching Tribune to see what other Two for Tuesday deals are available. There were a bunch of great items last week, I am sure this week will be just as great! 
Thanks again for all of your support, I am on a blogging roll and loving all of the comments and connections with other teachers! Don't forget to swing by tomorrow, I have a new freebie for you that you can use as a math and word work/spelling activity. 

Happy Summer Bloggin'!