Positive Thinking Thursday

I love this new linky from Jennifer at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings! In these uncertain days, we all need a little positivity in our lives! Here's my thought for today:

Source

Sometimes I need to be reminded that we do what we do for the kids, and that it matters. Every. Single. Day. Mrs. Nicholson still inspires me to be the best teacher I can. I can only hope to be half as good as she was.

Pop over to Jennifer's linky to find some more inspiration for your Thursday!

Stitch Fix #3!

This past Wednesday was a long day. It started with my little man waking up at about 3am, and me not being able to fall back asleep. Then, I spilled my huge cup of iced tea everywhere. There's more, but let's just say that it didn't really get any better from there. Anyway...it was the perfect day to come home to this on my doorstep:

In case you aren't familiar with Stitch Fix, it's a personal shopping service that sends you 5 items every month (or less often if you want). There is a $20 styling fee for each Fix that they send, but if you buy anything from your box, it becomes a credit, so essentially, it's free! Also, if you purchase all five items, you get 25% off - a feature I've been taking advantage of lately! You can read more details about Stitch Fix in the post I wrote about my first Fix.

Here's what was in my Fix #3:

Jordanne A-Line Skirt - This is a great basic black skirt for work, and the fabric feels really nice. Perfect length for teaching, and amazingly enough, I don't currently own a solid black skirt. Verdict: Keep!

Jaclynn 3/4 Sleeve Button-up Cardigan - I love the raspberry color of this cardigan, and at $38, it was a great price for a staple piece. Verdict: Keep!

Travers Short Sleeved Striped Knit Shirt - At first,  I wasn't particularly excited about this one, but I really do like it with the cardigan. Plus, it was only $28. Verdict: Keep!

Somerville Tribal Print Short Sleeve Top - I love that this is so loose and flowy. Perfect for spring weather! Although I'm not always a fan of tribal print styles, this one feels a little more geometric to me, and I do like it. Orange isn't my favorite color either, but it works on this shirt. (I like that Stitch Fix is making me branch out a little!) Verdict: Keep!

Emi Marled Knit Short-Sleeved Top - This one was just okay. I think it will look much better with dark pants instead of white, and maybe a black cardigan or jacket. It just kind of looks washed out here. Since I'm keeping everything else, it's actually $8 cheaper to keep this one and get the 25% off. Verdict: Meh.

I realized when I started writing this post that I never shared my second Fix with you, so here's a quick recap:

Going clockwise...
Kensi Skinny Jeans - LOVE! They feel amazing on, and are a nice navy color, rather than a dark denim color. One of my favorites so far!
Sheer Geometric Print 3/4 Sleeve Top - LOVE the green and blue print! Nice and breezy for spring!
Colorblock Top - Not a huge fan of the cream being at the top, but I love everything else about it.
Navy & Orange Geometric Print Tank - this was another "It's cheaper to keep it all, so...ok" item for me. I don't like the way it looks at the top at all, but under a sweater, it's actually really cute. I'll never wear it alone though!
Corrina Striped Dolman Top - LOVE! Super comfy!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post; I have paid for my fix on my own and have not been given any type of compensation for this review. I do however receive a small referral credit if you follow my link, so if you want to try it, just click one of my links to head on over to Stitch Fix and get started!

Five for Friday - 4/11/14

It's been longer than I intended, but I'm back, and I'm linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching to share five things from the past week.

My little guy turned two on Saturday! It's hard to believe time is flying by so fast. (This explains my absence around here...I was one busy mama working on birthday party decorations and my first homemade birthday cake...Last year, my mom came up to help, but this year, she couldn't make it, so I was on my own.)

 

Monday, we started Probability Stations. We haven't quite finished yet because our week has been broken up a little, but my kiddos are loving them! There are six stations in all, dice, playing cards, spinners, number tiles, colored cubes, and (everyone's favorite) trash can toss. My students are getting some much needed practice with thinking critically about probability! If you're interested, you can grab a copy of the stations (complete with printable manipulatives) in my TPT store.

  

 

Meanwhile, we are working on a March Madness themed research project. Students are researching the teams who played and calculating data, probability, and player statistics. Each pair will be making a Prezi presentation to present their work next week. I can't wait to see what they come up with! They have been so excited to get to use our new laptops this week with all of the projects we have going!

In Social Studies, we watched a few sections of a great mini-series from The History Channel. If you're teaching the Revolutionary War, this DVD is perfect. The majority of my students were really engaged. It definitely helped them visualize the areas we've been talking about and the lifestyle that the Colonists had. I bought the entire mini-series on DVD for $10 on Amazon. So far, it's been completely appropriate for fifth graders, but I'm watching them all before I show them in class, just in case!

I am SOOO glad to be able to say that I am OFF of Grad School for the next 6 weeks! I have been taking an accelerated master's program for a solid year now, with no breaks. This teacher and mama badly needs some time to slow down and focus on things I enjoy instead of always working on grad school! I'm hoping to blog more, work on some TPT ideas, and of course, spend some quality time with the little man!

Well, that's it for me! Pop over to Doodlebugs to see what everyone else has been up to this week!

A Peek at my Week

It's Sunday, so that means it's time for...

We are jumping into probability when we get back from spring break, and I am excited about  incorporating Miss Nannini's March Madness unit! My students are excited about bringing March Madness into our classroom, and we will be using it to reinforce some of the probability skills that we are working on.

I'm also going to be using my newest product: Probability Stations. I was looking for a way to get students practicing be theoretical probability and then testing it out to see how it's very mental probability is different from theoretical. This way they get to do six activities over probably two days and practice the skills in several different situations.

I am really excited about introducing an online game to my students this week. I blogged about Mission-US last week, and I am ready to get back in the classroom and try it out with my students. I'm hoping that it helps them to understand the time period a little better by seeing and experiencing what a teenager in that time would go through. We will be playing Mission 1 starting tomorrow!

We have been doing Tuck Everlasting in my small group reading circles, and I can't wait to get back to it. I haven't read the book since I was a fifth or sixth grader myself, and I can't wait to get back to reading it with my kiddos. We are all loving it, even the ones who weren't into it at all in the beginning have gotten drawn into the story by this point.

We finished the math part of a project before spring break, and we are starting the writing section when we get back. As part of our fractions unit, students found recipes either from home or online that they wanted to share with the class and we practiced scaling them for different sizes groups of people.  Now that we are back, we are going to be publishing our own class cookbook. Students will be rewriting the recipes with new measurements and creating book pages on their own, which we are going to have bound into a class book. They are SO excited!

That's what's going on in my class this week! To hear about the awesome things everyone else has planned, head over to Mrs. Laffin's Laughings and link up!

Five for Friday! (Spring Break Edition) + Spring Cleaning Sale!!!

Well, it's here...the last day of Spring Break. I knew it would happen too fast! Here's what I've been up to this week:

I got five new TPT products posted this week: two sets of math task cards and three new Teacher Toolbox designs. And they're all only $2 each! Click the pictures to see them in my store.

First up: Evaluating Expressions Task Cards for Addition & Subtraction and Multiplication & Division. I specifically wanted them separated this way for when I introduce the skill, but I will likely be making a set of mixed operations to use for review also.

    

Second: New Teacher Toolboxes! My Teacher Toolbox labels have been my best sellers by far, so when a lovely teacher asked me to make some in college colors for her two daughters, I couldn't resist! Of course, I had to make some for *my* favorite team too! I'm not naming schools because, well, copyright and all. Can you figure them out? Guess all three in the comments, and I might just make your team for free!

            

Want labels to match your school or college colors? Just email me!

 

OMG!!! Sucked in! I started reading this at 5am because I couldn't fall back asleep after Hubs left for work, and I was finished before lunch. I'm exercising self control and not starting the second one until I've accomplished something today. :)

 

Last night, I went with a bunch of my teacher buds to see Wicked at TPAC in Nashville! LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT! Seriously, if you get the chance, go!

We're having a BBQ at my house this afternoon for my husband's unit, so I am off to clean house and help him cook!

Meanwhile, I'm joining in on the Spring Cleaning Sale fun with Georgia Grown Kiddos. My entire store will be 15% off today through the 31st! Head over to her linky to see who else has their store on sale!

Happy Friday, everyone!