Productive Days...:)

Don't you just love a productive day? I know I do....and today was one of them! I got so much accomplished! First, I was able to take my classes to the computer lab today so we could do Discovery assessment 2 make-ups. I only had a few in each block, but it is just easier in the lab. It also gave us a chance to visit a fun website while the make-ups were being done. I let my kiddos go to edheads and choose from 3 activities to review some of the units we have covered or are currently working on. They LOVED it! When everyone was finished with make-ups, I let them have the last 15 minutes to visit A Kid's Heart and play some fun Christmas games. 

Once I got each class started in the lab, I was able to work on transferring a ton of documents I had saved on my laptop to my flash drive and organize them into folders. I find so may awesome things online and save them, but I'm always in a hurry and don;t take time to organize them on my flash drive. I was thrilled to get that job done!

After school, I was able to get all my Discovery data recorded and ready for our data meeting after school tomorrow as well as update my RTI data. 

Well, anywho.....my first block earned their last cupcake for their Sweet Rewards, so I went by the store and got what I needed to bake their cupcakes for tomorrow! 

Here's my Sweet Rewards board earlier in the year!

They are going to be so excited! I let them vote....cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, or brownies. 

Well, cupcakes won, but lots of kiddos wanted the other options, so.....lucky me found a mix that was brownies topped with swirls of chocolate chip cookie dough....so I made cupcakes and brownies/cookies! Now, they can have a choice.....:)

MMMMmmmmmmm!

So, while I was baking, I made grilled cheese and soup for supper and then finished all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Then, I sat down and made myself go ahead and type up my after-school tutoring progress reports that are due Friday. They are done and e-mailed! I am almost all caught up! Hopefully tomorrow I can finish lesson plans and grading and then I can totally enjoy the weekend. I am excited....my sister, nephew, and I are going to Tallahassee to spend the weekend with my daughter. We are going to shop till we drop and then go look at some fabulous Christmas light displays! 

Here's one from last year....they do a patriotic light display complete with music on the radio. The lights change and flash with the music.....gorgeous!

Same house....different music!

I can't wait!!! Well, it's almost 11pm....past my bedtime, so I better hit the sack! 5:30 will be here before I know it! Have a happy Thursday...:)

Be Blessed!

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Oreo Moon Phases, a Moon Viewer, & Discovery Education!

Hello all my blog peeps...:) Hope you all are having a fantabulous year! I know I am! I am absolutely loving 5th grade and teaching only one subject....science! We have been learning all about our Solar System for the past couple weeks and today we got to have some fun....not that we haven't had fun on the other days, but today involved food! 

The kids made Oreo Moon phases. Have you ever done this? Here is a picture....from the Internet, because we were so busy I totally forgot to snap some pics! 

 Since I have three blocks....60 students...I had them work in groups of four and assigned two different phases to each student. I didn't want to spend $50 on Oreos and that's about what it would have been to give them each 8 cookies! Not to mention....they don't need 8 cookies each! Anywho, they each made their two phases and then had to assemble them to show the phases in order.....similar to the picture above. They had a blast doing this and they couldn't wait for me to check their work so they could eat them! 

After they finished this project, we started making one of these....see picture below. Again, this is one from the Internet since I forgot to snap pics while we were working!

It's a moon viewer. They are making one to take home with a moon phase calendar so they can track the phases of the moon for a month from home. They are having fun with this project too!

And before we did any of this, we watched this video on Discovery Education. 

www.discoveryeducation.com

Does your school have access to this site? Oh my goodness.....it is AMAZING! They have so many resources...for every subject and/or topic you can imagine! My students took the Discovery Ed science assessment. It is set up similar to the FCAT science test that Florida students have to take in 5th grade. The data can be viewed in so many different ways and everything is color-coded which is great for visual people like me! I love, love, love Discovery Ed! I am new to it and would love for you to share your favorite parts of it if you are a DE user. Please leave me a comment and share!

Be Blessed!

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Science Songs, 2 Cool Websites, & a BTS Package!!!

Do any of you use songs to teach? 

I have discovered some awesome science songs over the past year. My 5th graders love them and want to listen to them over and over. The Solar System song is their current favorite! The picture below is from the video.

 Aren't they cute...:)

It's the most soothing song....and it runs through my head ALL the time! I will never, ever forget planet order...LOL!

Another one I love is the Photosynthesis rap. My sophomores loved this one last year. It is really catchy! I plan to use it this year as well. 

Today I found this one about the phases of the moon. I think the kiddos will really like this one! 

It is a tune they will recognize too!

Ok...on to a couple of awesome websites! Are any of you using Class Dojo? I just started today even though I discovered it over the summer. I had too much on my plate to start something new at the beginning of the school year but since we are finishing week 4 tomorrow and I needed a different behavior plan for my 3rd block, I decided to try it. Let me just tell you.....they LOVED it! I am using it with all 3 of my blocks and they all thought it was too cool! Each student is assigned a monster avatar and they can earn positive points or negative and have points taken away or even go in the red. You can assign the different things you want to award or take points for. The computer keeps up with the points and will show you a class average of positive and negative behaviors as well as keep up with students individually. You can print reports or e-mail them to parents. You can reset it to start over every week, every 6 or 9 weeks or however long you want it set for. It is pretty awesome. I am going to come up with a plan over the weekend for rewards for positives and consequences for negatives. You can check it out here.

Here is a picture of the cute little monsters you assign the kids. There are also other avatars, but they aren't nearly as cute to me and the kids didn't like them as much either. I let them choose which avatars they wanted. 

Another awesome website I found out about today is called Ninite. It is amazing....you can install and update software from this one site. Anything you can think of....from messaging sites to media. They are all there! My cousin, who is a tech junkie and who happens to be one of our school tech specialists, showed it to me today. She was in my room working on my student stations...:) Anywho....it is totally awesome! Go check it out!

And last,  but not least..... I got my Back to School package in the mail today from one of my sweet ProTeacher friends! Several of us signed up to send a package to a PT friend. It was so fun shopping for my friend as well as receiving my package today from another friend. You could choose to remain anonymous or reveal your PT identity if you chose to. I got lots of goodies from my PT friend....who did choose to reveal her identity! She sent me 3 purple pocket charts, 3 sets of science flashcards, a rubber band ball, a Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul book, and a container full of brightly colored binder clips, paper clips, and jolly ranchers! I was tickled 

PINK 

to open the mailbox and see my package in there! I love getting packages in the mail....especially when they are so cute.....see the turquoise padded envelope in the background!!! 

Well, I guess I should go.....if you're still reading this, I'm sure you are thinking I'm long-winded and are beyond ready for me to wrap things up.....;) Sorry if I rambled! I couldn't help myself!

Be Blessed!

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