Place Value (& a Freebie!)

Flats! Longs! Units! Oh my!

There are way too many different terms for 100's, 10's, & 1's aren't there?!

We've been busy sorting through it all in our place value unit with 3 & 4 digit numbers.  Some days I can't believe these kiddos are doing math with such big numbers already.  Where has the year gone?

...Not that I'll be complaing when I'm sitting on the beach in June. :)

If your sweet students are anything like mine, sitting still is just absolutely not an option.  We get up and moving as much as we possibly can all day long.

Hunt the Room activities are life savers.

I make a HUGE deal out of them every time. We must put on our detective hats, use our sneaky tiptoe walks and all!

Well, I thought you could all use a little mid-March treat.  So here is our Place Value Word Problem Room Hunt & it's FREE!

While you could easily use the same activity in a center or small group, I just feel that the time spent moving & thinking at the same time does so much more for their growing brains.

Not to mention that I also get to be moving around the room at the same time, getting in some extra steps & "exercise" for the day. Win!

It's Currently 2015!

OH. MY. WORD.

What happened to the second half of 2014?!

I really fell of the grid.

But, life was crazy. Good crazy. Sad crazy. All kinds of crazy.

That's what's so awesome about a "new year."  You get that preverbial "clean slate" to start all over with.

So I'm starting with a blog post.  Is there any better way to kick off the year that with a currently that's chock full of wishes & resolutions?

I think not. #Imayevenhashtaginthispost

Listening: Acapella makes my heart so happy!

Loving: My mother in law got me the most amazing blanket (ever) for Christmas.  "Because you're always cold!"  {Sooooo TRUE!}

*Brrr!* I better stay under this blanket #alldayeveryday

#toldyouso

Thinking: Today is the LAST day I'll be 29! WHAT?! 30, seems like such a ridiculous number.  I mean, regrouping all of those ones into a ten is... I dunno! What is it? I have no words for how strange it seems in my head.

I've been thinking all morning about all of the amazing things that will happen at 30.  My first half marathon (hopefully), the possibility of an incredible vacation, maybe feeling a little wiser now that I'm in a new decade, &....

Wanting: I get my husband back after I turn 30!!! So very soon he will finally be home from his latest deployment. I am Thrilled. Elated. Ecstatic!

Joy! Joy! Joy!

Needing: I've been running for a few years now, but one of the reasons for my blogging absense is that I've been running a LOT more in the past few months.  Unfortunately, my holiday damper was the realization that I definitely pulled one of those important knee muscles.  I've been on a running break to allow it to heal, but I'm clearly impatient.  Why won't it heal faster??? I have a 10-miler next weekend & a half marathon in February.  If you're reading this, please say a healing prayer! There's lots of power in that.

YES: This year, my only resolution is to finish what I start.  For example, if I start reorganizing the kitchen cupboards, I will not leave everything on the counters for daaaaays.  Imma get. it. done.

(I'm hoping my knee heals ASAP so this can apply to the races I've got coming up, too!)

MAYBE: I run a lot.  I do yoga-esque workouts often.  I lift weights 1-2 times a week.  I'd really like to think about doing more with weights in the gym this year. ...We'll see!

I WISH: I wish & pray & pray & pray for GOOD HEALTH! Not just for myself, but for my family, friends, & all of YOU!

What are you ready for in 2015???

Thankful Hearts

It's been sooo long since I've written anything.  MONTHS, people!  I could give a million & one excuses, but I'll spare you all the drama. You're welcome.

Anyway...

It's finally Thanksgiving break!

Take this week to reflect on all the wonderful blessings in your life, big & small.  Be thankful for them.  Not just on Thanksgiving, but every day.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Mental Prep!

It's here! It's here!

I can't get in my room just yet, but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the HUGEMONGO task ahead.

Do you set up your class the same way each year or do you always completely rearrange???

If you need some organizational bins to help make your classroom look fantastic, head over to Teaching with Love & Laughter and check out her fabulous Lakeshore giveaway!

Hurry!!!

The BIG B2S Sale is almost over! If you haven't stocked up on all of your wishlist items yet, you'd better hurry on up!

You can grab my latest little fun for only $1.00!

You can also check out all of these other fun goodies I snagged up in the sale!

*Addition & Subraction Review Math Stations from Amy Lemons

*Mr. Putter & Tabby Writing Prompt from The Applicious Teacher

*Data Notebooks for Students from First Grade & Flip Flops

*Some fabulous clip art from Creative Clips

What did you stock up on?!

Currently, I'm...

Just another day in August!  I'm beginning to prep for school... finally.

But for now, I'll just give you a little peek at what I'm up to at the moment with Oh Boy, Fourth Grade.

Listening:  It's been so spring-like this past week.  I love leaving my door open & listening to all of the robins chirping outside.  Sooo relaxing.

Loving:  If you haven't tried Chocolate Shop wine yet, what are you waiting for??  This stuff is fabulous.  It's like drinking a chocolate covered cherry.  And I don't even like chocolate covered cherries.  Or cherries for that matter.  But YUM!

Thinking:  So, there's a story behind my "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" date with a glass of chocolate shop wine.  It's that my lovely iPhone just happened to decide it was finally going to update to iOS7 whether I liked it or not. {Yes.  I was STILL ignoring the update and living blissfully in iOS6 land.  Don't judge me.}  The kicker is that it updated in the middle of a convo with my deployed husband.  Then kept telling me to click "restore factory settings."  Sweet goodness! I was beside myself.

Who wants to restory factory settings ever??? What about all of my stuff?!??! Hello! I was in the middle of an important conversation here, phone!!!

I ran drove to Verizon pronto.  They said I was out of luck.  I had to click the factory settings button and hope my things were backed up in the cloud. When I said, "What CLOUD????"  I think the worker about died.

So, I came home, hit the button, said a pray, & opened a bottle of wine for good measure. {Ok, and the leftover Tagalongs, too.  They go so well together.}  Great news - all is well! Except for this whole iOS7 thing, but eh, could have been worse.

Wanting:  Before the phone incident, I had  been working on setting up my new homework folders.  They are looking swell, but only half are completed.  More to come on this!

Needing:  I need a mani so badly.  I've literally picked my nails down to nothing in the past few weeks.  It's a terrible habit, but I tend to let them grow beautifully when I have a fresh gel mani.  And after my phone debacle, let's throw in a nice massage, too.

I can't believe it's already August.  School is coming soo fast!

Any advice on a good polish color for my nails??? :)

TGIF!

So, I realize that in the summer Friday is really no different from any other day.  They all just kind of blend together in a blissful "What day is it?!" kind of feeling.  Love it.

But Friday is always a cause for celebration.  So after another super long hiatus {I promise I have a boat load of excuses}, I it seemed like the perfect day to jump back in to blog world.

Here's my #notevenclosetoschoolrelated week so far:

1. I spent quite a few days in PA at my parents house.  It's the middle of nowhere & incredibly relaxing.  I enjoyed laying on the couch watching this momma doe and her twin fawns playing in the yard.

2. The reason for my trip home? I had some super sweet friends get married this past weekend - 3 to be exact!  What a popular wedding weekend!? I was honored to be able to stand by this sweet high school friend as she married an amazing guy. #weddingsmakemeteary

3. One of my goals for this fall is to run the Bay Bridge - I have a goal time to beat, so I've officially started "training" {ya know, eating more veggies :)} in preparation for this awesome event.

4. Perks of living close to the beach? I have spent many days, including some this past week, just laying in the sand & soaking up the sun.

5. Aaaaand I FINALLY got my first Stitch Fix! This was like Christmas morning all wrapped up in a sweet little box!  My stylist was fantastic, but I consider myself cheap, er, thrifty.  Sooo, I didn't keep everything.  But I had had HAD to keep these adorable mint skinny jeans & polka dot tie front top.

{sorry for the blurry iphone pic}

I promise, now that it's August, I'll get myself into school mode ASAP.

Don't forget the HUGE Back to School Sale coming up on Monday & Tuesday!  Stock up your wish lists!