It's been a while...

Well, things have been busy for me...
Last semester I completed my first Practicum at Restoration Academy  5th grade and LOVED IT! I got to teach some, grade some, help in other ways, and I really learned a lot!
Now I am doing my second Practicum at Westminster School at Oak Mt. 3rd grade and I LOVE IT TOO!

Other things in life lately...



We already had our two cats Momo and Teddy-Bear, not sure if I ever introduced them...

And we have our rabbit Bella :) *We are currently trying to find her a spayed/neutered companion

We adopted a German Shepherd mix from a rescue in Killen, AL. Her name is Sam and she is adorable! She is still learning but she is very well behaved for not having been trained. She acts like a little human :)

We also rescued a kitten that the un-named pet store was going to "get rid of".... His name is Vespa because when he plays he makes these funny motor sounds like a vespa would... :) He is crazy... :) He is also crazy cute! :) Yes I am turning into one of those crazy cat people :) Good thing my hubby is too!

And that is only some of the things that are going on around our house :) lol... 

And not only will my animal kiddos help me learn patience and love, and I can show them love, but they can also help me win over the students :) And they will be great educational helps when I'm a teacher :) I can bring them in for short periods of time and have the students observe them :) 

What are your thoughts on bringing animals into the classroom? 

Are you brave enough to bring crazy animals in?

Bingo anyone?

I found this cute idea online somewhere for algebra bingo, and modified it a little for 4th-5th grade. The interactive board is actually fun to play, 1-4 players, and it shouldn’t take them long to play... 

The goal is the same as bingo, except you have to simplify fractions on the “bingo balls” from the blue pocket, find the answer on your board and get five in a row. The only catch is the students are required to work out each problem on a worksheet, and have to hand it in, otherwise they don’t get credit for playing. They can earn points for doing this which they can use later... i actually like it... No, its not one of those boards that pops out at ya... (those i prefer) but it’s still cute... i think....:) 

You could use this idea for subtraction, addition, multiplication, or anything else really.... you just have to decide :) have fun with it!
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For the background: I used navy blue material (great because I can reuse it).

For the Bingo Balls: I used colored construction paper cut out in circles with the answers (simplified fractions) and then laminated it so that the kid's hands would not tear the answers. :)

For the Bingo Boards: I used white card-stock paper with the drawn out grids and problems then laminated them. I attached by yarn a dry-erase marker so that they could cross out their answers and get a bingo.

The worksheets: They had the rules once again and then places for the students to work out each problem in order to get credit for playing the game.
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Finally got smart...Blasting Into Space

 

I finally took my own advice and got some material for the backing of bulletin boards... and I must say... it is SOOOO much easier to clean up and its ability to be reused is phenomenal!

This bulletin board was for classroom management.... Work thats out of this world... The construction of it was a little more complicated than i wanted it to be but hey...what can ya do? And I made it a little easier on my self by cheating with the precut stars.. Hey...nothin wrong with that! :)

I made my earth from construction paper and laminated it for future use along with the stars > always a plus! And the Rocket I used white paper for the body, (it would’ve been easier to use an oatmeal canister) and black paper for the wings... i used foil covered styrofoam cups and orange tissue paper for the bottom.. It was definitely fun, but somewhat time consuming... 



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I also did an arithmatic ed. bulletin board.This board was kind of last minute, so it doesn’t really jump out and grab you... but its still cute.... Third grade math dealing with square roots: 

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Reading, Vowel Tree

I did a Vowel tree bulletin board, this would be definitely younger grades.

For the background I just used a green tablecloth. I used a putty knife to push it under the wood on the board so I didn't need to use any border...but a fall border would look nice too.

For the tree: Using brown felt > cut out branches and then the base, and just use a whole piece of felt for the middle. Take a black sharpie and draw lines and knots on the tree to make it more realistic. I used a leaf-vine that I found at the dollar tree for the tree leaves and just stapled it up (this board is full of staples). 

For the falling leaves with vowels: I cut out from construction paper leaves that I had drawn before hand. I need to laminate the leaves and such so I can save them for a later date! Then you just need to use coordinating colored construction paper and put up words that have each vowel... 

*You could also make this an interactive board by putting velcro on the back of each words and having the students match the words with the vowels :)

Here is a closer look:

 

                                          

Bulletin Boards :)

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MAKING BULLETIN BOARDS! To me they are so much fun & I usually just can't wait to get started... I love using bright colors and making things just jump out at you.... But sometimes that can get expensive.... Not going to the teacher store is my first move... I think thrift stores is the way to go... You can almost always find gadgets to make what ever it is that you need for almost half the price! Yes, I will admit it is way easier to just get pre-made cut outs and stick them on the board... But where's the fun in that?

I think it is wonderful that there are so many options for bulletin board backgrounds. I bet you could add to this list, but here are a few that i have found work pretty well:

*Tablecloths (If you have light colors you would need to double them, otherwise you'd be able to see the cork board behind it).
*Sheets
*Fabric
*Wrapping paper (I can find solid colors at my local dollar tree).
*shower curtains
*or of course you could use the paper designed for bulletin boards, if you have cheap access.

and you can make your own border or use pre-made, i usually can find some at the dollar tree for cheap.

My very first bulletin board was on weather:


The makings of the board:

Background: Blue wrapping paper.
Clouds: Pillow batting, with tons of staples :)
lightning & rain: Using yellow card stock cut out lightning rods and for the rain using silver christmas rain-like-tinsel from the dollar tree. staple it under the clouds.
Sun: Huge yellow poster board, cut into a half circle and then long skinny triangles to make the sun rays.
Wind: White poster board cut into swirly shapes with grey marker in the middle. Stick the biggest one like its coming out of a cloud :)
The thermometer: Using white card stock paper cut out a rectangle and outline it in red, use a real thermometer as a guideline for drawing.
On the board i have a place where they can place what the weather is today... and off to the side i have different elements of weather listed :)

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REALLY THOUGH, JUST HAVE FUN WITH IT! :)