New Year's Resolutions

I linked up with The Third Wheel for a resolution linky party. You can click on the link below to get the template!  Everyone is invited to join.

Work

My work resolution is probably the toughest one to keep and it affects all other resolutions.  This year we are under OTES and I really dislike what it has done to education.  It has taken the joy out of teaching life and I just need to quit thinking about it.  My students are learning and I can teach, but that ridiculous rubric is always in the back of my mind.

Leaving by 5 is a stretch, but if I can do it twice a week then it's progress.  My son loves to stay in the after school program, so I've been in the habit of staying later since he enjoys it so much.  Since I stay late, I seldom bring work home which is a bonus.  I can work on TPT products and blogging in the evening.

Home

I've grown to hate cooking. It takes up too much time and creates more to clean up.  If I leave work earlier, I should have more time to do this. We need to eat healthier, so I'm trying for most nights of the week. 

Exercise

I just need to do it. A year ago, I was concerned about my blood pressure and one of the doctors at the office (not mine- mine knows better) said that since I had taught for 21 years that I should be able to pick up and leave at 4 and relax and go for a walk.  I'm sure my blood pressure shot up because she had no idea how much more work we have to do now.  With that said, it was one of the toughest groups I had in all 21 years and I just had to get through it. Margarita Fridays were helpful!

I love to swim and now my son is tall enough to enjoy the indoor pool here, so we've enjoyed going. He's old enough to stay in if I swim laps. If I stay at work too late then we don't make it before closing time.

TPT/BLOG

I'm guilty of updating my school blog for my parents before this one. I need to spend a little more time here.  Creating products might interfere with everything above. It's a great excuse to procrastinate! It's so much more fun than cooking and exercise!  :) 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!

Gifts for Parents

Each year, my students make a calendar for their parents. They choose a theme for their calendar and draw a picture for each month and a cover. They are so much fun to look at.  Here are two of my favorite pictures from one calendar.  The boy picked farming and I just love these pictures and the details!

Ornaments

Each year I enjoy making ornaments for my students.  I've found that it is best to make one type so that I don't have disappointed family members each year.  One year I made a very unique one for my son and decided I could make it for each of my students using their pictures from the first day of school.  It's not an ideal project to make in the winter since it requires a spray that should be used outside.

I can't seem to find a picture of it on the tree, however, here's the copy from my computer.  I printed out the pictures and cut them out to fit the size of a cd.  Then I glued them to each side of the cd.  The last step was to spray and seal them since I used an inkjet printer.   Then I punched a hole in the cd and tied a gold ribbon to it.

My plan was to make one each year for my son, but life gets busy.  I use a laser printer now so I could go back in time and make them.  I miss this sweet age and the days of Mickey Mouse.


For the last several  years, I've made this type of ornaments and I love it! They are easy to make.

We finally put our trip up and decorated, so here's the ornament.

Holiday Freebie

Here's a little holiday freebie! Students can practice addition and subtraction with regrouping with these fun little Santa.

Multiplication

My students enjoyed working on x4 this week with the multiplication sentence find.  It's part of a Picture Puzzle Pack.

You can find the pack here. Click on the picture to go to the product in my store.

 

This year I've needed to change up my stations because my students just work better when everyone is doing the same thing. There's less distraction. Still a lot of distraction. Just less. 

I'm hoping to pull these activities out next week. 

 We are starting place value this week and this is fun to use.  I have so many station activities that I want to use, but so little time! My class needs it in small doses!