Math Summer Homework Log

I'm counting down the weeks.  I'm seeing some of you have just a couple of days!  I'm jealous but I keep reminding myself that if it started sooner, it would end sooner.

I've been horrible about blogging.  I remember before I started blogging, I would find it strange when people apologized for long breaks between posts.  Now as a blogger I understand blogger guilt, but I keep telling myself that I have all summer to post all the pictures and ideas I haven't had the brain power to post lately.

Is guilt a teacher thing?  I don't think it is physically possible for me to give more of myself to this job, yet I always have things in the back of my mind nagging me to do more.  I'm guessing I'm not alone.

So, before I get to the freebie I have to post, let me share some of the fun I've been up to.

We got the best Teacher Appreciation Gift ever!  (By we, I mean every teacher and staff member in my school district.  That is a lot of people!)  We got free tickets to Thursday night at BottleRock which was a huge 4 day music festival.

Thursday night I saw Joan Jett, The Black Crowes, and The Violent Femmes.  Then my husband and I volunteered for a non-profit education foundation booth at the event which gave us free tickets for Sunday and we were able to see Cake, Michael Franti, and Train.


I walked down the isle to a Train song and we played  Michael Franti's song  Say Hey! as soon as we were pronounced husband and wife so the line up was perfect for us.  Best perks of being a teacher ever!

This weekend our school participated in a Race for Education and won some money for our school.

I love the people I work with.  I love their enthusiasm and commitment.  We enjoy each others company even outside of school.  Do you spend time with your fellow teachers outside of school hours?

Now, what you stuck around for....  a FREEBIE.

Every year I debate, do I make a math packet for the summer?  Our students don't have a lot of support at home and very few are returned.  I don't want to waste paper.  We have a consumable homework book that always has tons of extra pages but sometimes if you don't staple something together, kids don't take it seriously.  So, this year I decided to send home something like our summer reading log.

Here is a Math Summer Homework Log.

Students can record pages they worked on, time on math websites, time practicing flashcards.... The possibilities are endless.

I made it generic so it would work for any grade.  I hope some of you find a use for it.  :)

Click here to download it from my DropBox.

Hello May!

I blinked and it was May!

Where did April go?

I taught three hours of Saturday Math Camp each Saturday in April.  Could those 12 hours really account for a whole month flying by?

Well I've been a little MIA and I'm more than 1,000 blog post behind on google reader.

Tomorrow is the last day of testing and I will be back sharing what I've been doing in my class soon.

I did want to let you know that I've set all my stores to 20% off.  Whether you go to TPT or TN, you'll they'll give you a bit more off of that 20%.

I'm off to fill up my wish list!

Am I crazy that I'm already thinking about printing and prepping some games for next year?

I like to prep new games and such over the summer.  I print and laminate them before school gets out and cut cut cut during the summer.

Thinking Caps

Each year, during testing, I try to give the kids something to be excited about. This year my team decided to make Thinking Caps.

My kids are excited to wear the hats. I can't count the number of times I've reminded them to take their hat off. Now I get to remind them to put their Thinking Caps on.

Division in the Real World

How will I use this in real life?

I asked that question all the time in school. 

This activity gives the students a chance to see how important division can be. 

What do we all wish would happen in the real world?  Finding a pile of money, of course!

I gave my students a pile of (fake) money and this worksheet and let them figure it out. I made sure the pile had different denominations.

 My students weren’t very efficient.  If I found a pile of money with some friends, I’d count it, do a division problem and we’d each get our share.

My students took forty five minutes figuring this out.  Most used the one for you, one for you, one for me method.

The discussion they had involved the need for problem solving and logic which was a challenge for them.

The key to this was walking around and prompting them.  Here is an example of one conversation I had.

  “You have a remainder of $211?” I asked surprised.  “If this were real money would you leave that just sitting on the ground?”

  “We only have two hundred dollar bills and there are four of us,” they replied.

  “Hmmm.  There has to be a way to solve that problem,” I said while walking away.

The debrief was key.  Each team shared their methods and I did the long division with them on the board.  The students had an “Aha!” moment when they realized it took them 45 minutes and it took us 2 minutes to do it with long division.

  They hadn’t realized long division could make their life easier.

I hope you enjoy the discussions that this project can bring.

I’ve provided a blank in case you want to have them find something like a bag of candy or almonds. 

The possibilities are endless.

Click here to download the freebie.  If you enjoy it, please consider leaving feedback.

Tick, Tick, Tick

This time of year feels like a race against the clock.  So much to teach and review with the state test looming.

I've noticed that some of you are already testing.  Ours will be the first two weeks of May.

This week ticked by.  There was no school Monday.  I had a school business sub on Thursday.  Then I taught an intervention class on Saturday.

I think the challenge of this time of year is to still try to relax and have fun.  (Ha!  Easy right?)

I found myself Friday teaching a lesson about percents to a group of students that were staring at me blankly.  I'm asking a question that should be a given, something that's been asked and answered several times this year.  No response.  Maybe I'm filling up their brains with too much?  Maybe it's all slipping away?  They needed something to remember.

"When you want to convert a decimal into a percent, how many times do you move the decimal?"

Silence.

"Ok.  How many of you have seen Madagascar?"

Suddenly they are full of things to say.




I don't know how this came to me, but aren't those the best bits of inspiration.

I played the video.  We held up our fingers and counted to two every time they said, "Move it, move it."

For the rest of the day, every time we had to move the decimal, we'd say, "Move it, move it."

"When you want to convert a decimal into a percent, how many times do you move the decimal?"

Now they yelled out an answer, "Two!"

I want to congratulate Erika, Rachel, and Deneise on winning my 300 follower giveaway!  Look for emails from me.

Flash Freebies and a Giveaway to Celebrate 300

When I started this blog this summer, I had no idea what a blessing it would be.

I feel like my world has opened up.  I've had the opportunity to talk with, and learn from, so many wonderful people.

I'm happy to say that my blog followers and TPT followers have passed 300 each.  I'm guessing the same 300?

I can't begin to tell you what an honor it is that people spend money on things that I've made.  I definitely can't begin to tell you what a blessing the store has been for my husband and me as he hasn't been able to return to work.  Thank you for providing hope and a little added security during a challenging time.

As a way to say thank you, I decided to post 3 Flash Freebies.

I tend to make things and then just let them sit there on my computer.  What a waste, right?

These freebies will be accessible while the Rafflecopter is going.  I want all my followers to have the chance to get them.  They may some day be for sale in my store.  They may never resurface again.  So, make sure to download them now.

First Flash Freebie: Honeycomb Backgrounds 20 PNGs in a variety of colors

Second Flash Freebie: Buckets and Shovels 8 PNGs in a few colors

Third Flash Freebie: Waves Backgrounds 10 PNGs with a variety of textures

If you are stumbling on this page after the freebies are available, become a follower. You never know what flash freebies may appear in the future.

If you are thinking of following on Facebook, please don't let that be the only way you follow.  For some reason they've decided my blog is spam and I can't link to this site on Facebook.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter!

Gift Tiles for 12 Cents

My students made cute gift tiles for their parents for Christmas.  I thought it might be time to share them with you.  If you are like me, you start thinking about a Mother's Day gift after Spring Break.  These gift tiles would be great for Mother's Day.

I had the kids glue felt to the bottom so they could be used as coasters.  That's optional of course.

I had so much fun making these that my husband and I made some for our family using Christmas Scrap Book Paper and family photos.  We tied them up in groups of four with ribbon to give as coaster sets.