Survey Says Linky Party

5th Grade ROCKS, 5TH Grade Rules is having a linky party! I totally remember these from middle/high school and filling out the surveys for my friends. I am pretty positive I used to lie on them though to make my friends think I was cooler than I actually was, but I promise to be 100% truthful with you all of course! ;)

1.  Are you married, do you have a bf, or are you flying free as a single lady/man?
I have been with my boyfriend for 4 years.

2.  Where did you grow up?

I was born in Texas, but spent most of my childhood in Charlottesville, VA.

3.  Do you have any pets?  If so, what kind and what is his/her name?

Yes, two wee little chihuahuas. Milo and Olive are their names, peeing and barking are their games.

4. What is a favorite tv show you are embarrassed to admit to watching?
Pretty much any Bravo reality show. I am such a sucker for drama that I am not immediately connected to!  The Housewives are my favorite. :)

5.  Are you a saver or a spender?
I'm a a total spender, but I have great intentions to be a saver... I really do... well not at Target, it all goes out the window there!

6.  What is your favorite children's book?
I loved any Greek mythology stories. I was completely obsessed with them. They were like my childhood soap operas.

7.  Were you the class clown, teacher's pet, or neither?
I want to say I was the teacher's pet. If I ever got in trouble, I was absolutely devastated.

8.  Who is your favorite athletic team?
Hmmm, I don't really have one... I know that sounds terrible. I just don't really watch sports, like EVER.

9.  Where did you go on your last REALLY fun vacation?
I think any time I go home or see family I have fun! But I have to say, I think when my sister and I went to Vegas that was probably one of my favorite recent-ish vacations.

10.  Who is your favorite actor?  Actress?
My favorite actor is Stanley Tucci! Don't ask me why, I have no idea, I just love the man. I don't think I have a favorite actress.

11.  Tell about the last time you cried because you were happy.
A couple of months ago, my students gained 12% on their benchmarks from fall to winter and while I told them how proud I was of them, it definitely brought some tears to my eyes! We all work so hard so it's nice to see the rewards once in a while.

12.  What is your favorite season?
Fall! I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie, the leaves (oh wait, we don't have fall leaves in Phoenix), the clothes... I love everything about fall.

13.  What is your biggest regret?

That I didn't go abroad to do my student teaching. That will always be something that I will always regret not doing.

14.  What food do you just NOT like at all?
Ewwww, meatloaf!!!!!! Yuck! I love beef, but there is just something about a loaf of meat. Blech, it makes me shudder just thinking about it.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST FOR MY TEACHER BLOG....

15. Who was your most memorable teacher, and why?
My favorite teacher was Mrs. Burchette in 2nd grade. I remember she let me stay after school to give me extra help on how to read a clock and I will never forget that. I still remember the masking tape on the floor and her having me stand on the hours.  Teachers that put in that extra time for their students are invaluable and wonderful.

Review Test Prep Game

I haven't blogged in so long! I have missed you all so!

I was trying to think of a new way to review in my classroom when a light bulb hit me!  I have completely been drawn into the mustache craze and so have my students. The fake mustaches are always the first to go in my treasure box.

I decided to devise a game that would separate the class into teams and as they answered the questions correctly, their mustache grows! Here's a little snapshot.

First page

Each number has a link to another page with a question on it (see below). After the team gets their question right, the mustache gets "shaved" off into the trashcan and the bushier, more robust mustache is applied.  I put the X on each page after we were done because I kept forgetting what question we had already done!

You click the wee little friend in the corner to send you back to the main mustache page.

The kids loved it and so did I! I got into the spirit as well and sported a fake mustache as well. Didn't get a picture, but you can tell it went a little something like this...

I have no idea where to even begin to embed a smart notebook file so if you want the game, leave a comment with your email and I will send it to you!   All you need is a smart board and some mustache needs!
You change the game to anything that suits your needs. All you have to do is change the questions on the slides.
I know a lot of you have started testing already and I hope everything is going smoothly for you all ~ good luck to all the testers this week!

Sunny Day Review Game

I'm linking up with Cara's Standardized Testing Linky Party over at Teaching My Calling.

I was introduced to this fantastic review game at my latest professional development. I played this with my math students right before our last math benchmark and they got so into it! I have known a lot of teachers that have played this game and they have ALL had success with it.

Here's how you play:

Cut about 20-30 die cuts of snowmen and write a variety of points on the back. (I made some 15, 50, 100, 200, double your score, triple your score, etc).  On a handful of snowmen, write on the back "Sunny Day".
What's a snowman's worst enemy? A sunny day! If that card is pulled, it wipes out your team's score.

Separate the class in to two separate teams.

Show a review question and have all the students solve the problem on their white boards. Show their white boards (that way you can also see who understands it, while playing the game).

Select a student at random from one of the teams.

If they get the question correct (or in my case could go up to the smart board and solve for the correct answer), they get to choose a snow man for points.  If they get the question wrong, it goes to the other team for a student to have a chance to solve.

Be sure to keep track of the score on the white board so the students can see.  When the question is done and the snowman has been pulled, continue to the next question and swap teams for a chance to answer the questions.

I hope you will have a chance to play Sunny Day in your classroom! Let me know if you have any questions, I'm not sure how great I did at explaining the game.

Virtual Teaching Expo Giveaway

It's Expo time, people!!!

I've paid for the primary one before and it was well worth the money...

But now, there's an intermediate one coming up soon. Even better, Janaye over at Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes is giving away free tickets for her loyal followers. Woohooo! I really want to win! I think I can, I think I can...

Hop on over and enter the giveaway! But if you win, be sure to save a free ticket for meee!

Top 10 Blog Award

Thanks to Jena at Caught in the Middle for awarding me the top 10 award! I feel so honored and be sure to check out her blog. It's a goodie!

In order to pass along the good tidings here, I will try to pick my top 10 blogs among all the ones I love so dearly. Such a tough decision. If only they made a magic eight ball for this kind of situation.

1.  Finding JOY in 6th Grade
2.  Life is Better Messy Anyway!
3.  Making It As A Middle School Teacher
4.  Multi-Grade Matters: Ideas for a Split Class
5.  Teaching Tweens
6.  My Life as a Fifth Grade Teacher
7.  Middle School Math Rules!
8.  5th Grade Rocks, 5TH Grade Rules
9.  Teaching in Room 6
10. Runde's Room

Half of these bloggers probably already have this award because they are all amazing, but they are among my top 10!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far and happy St. Patrick's Day!

3rd-5th Grades Linky Party

Love me a linky party!

Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies set up a 3rd through 5th grade linky party. Hop on over and check out all the fabulous blogs that have already signed up.  

By the way, who's excited about Hunger Games coming out soon?!? I bought my t-shirt (yes, don't judge, I'm a nerd, just go with it) for whenever I end up going.
 

Tomorrow's Friday and then a week of blissful relaxation other wise known as Spring Break will commence. I am one happy camper! If you are on the tail end of yours, I hope it was the most perfect break from school that you all deserve.  :)

Currently, Field Trips, and a Question

  I love it when Farley puts out the newest edition of Currently!

It was really hard to think of 3 words that start with the same letter as your last name. I had to look up how to spell mischievious and I am sure I still spelled it wrong. This is why I teach math, people.

Today we went on a field trip to the Arizona Science Center.

It was FABULOUS! My kids were actually much better behaved than I thought they would be and I have to say... perhaps better than some of the other students from the other schools there????  I hope I didn't just jinx myself with behavior problems tomorrow in class. If you are ever in the great city of Phoenix, you have to go! We even did the Planetarium and that was so cool to see because we are wrapping up our planets unit right now. Completely amazing, can't rave about it enough.

 I have a quick question that I am hoping some of you computer savvies can help me with. How do you get the link of your blog to appear when you leave comments on other people's blogs? I am the "cool" one who just copies and pastes the link on their and it is not too jazzy looking. Looks kinda lame, not gonna lie. Thanks for the help ahead of time!  Have a great week!!!

My Wallet Got a Workout

Soooo... today I bit the bullet and bought an expensive purse. Yes, indeedy I did. None of us in the education field are millionaires, let's be honest.  We didn't exactly pick this career because of the lucrative salary.
You might as well know that I am a habitual buyer of cheap purses. Target (p.s. love it and not dissing in any way shape or form) is usually my purse provider but they always fall apart after a few months!
I had a bad week at school (when is spring break????) and I was looking at my gross purse with cracks in the leather and threads coming off it and I decided enough was enough! Retail therapy here I come!
A Coach outlet store just opened near my house and I bought this bad boy for 50% off!  I had to fight an old lady for it in the clearance section, but it was totally worth it!

Ooooo, ahhhhhh

It makes me happy and every day until Spring break comes I will stare at it lovingly.  I suggest you all do some retail therapy ~ it's very rewarding!  Have a fantabulous rest of your weekend!

P.S. I am not affiliated with Coach nor are they paying me to endorse, I just really like my new purse. Can you dig it?