I am ready for the upcoming Teachers Pay Teachers Back-to-School Sale! The sale is August 3 & 4th, and I updated all of my multi-select math resources for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. It took three fun-filled days of making sure the content standards are comparable to others states, but as a lover of math I felt it was necessary. I do use the Florida Math Standards since I teach in Florida, but Common Core standards are the same (from what I understand the Florida Standards are only different with 2 standards) just a different name - just ask any Fl teacher.
This is all new to me, and I am enjoying creating each new resource simply because I am learning so much as I read and reread the standards. I don't know about you, but multi-select questions are not what I grew up learning. I was taught there was ONLY one correct answer. That you could always get rid of one obvious wrong answer, and then figure out the correct answer from there. Now students need to find 2 or more correct answers per problem! Sometimes all of the answers are correct.... it's MIND BOGGLING! It's not just a learning curve for the students, but for us teachers as well!
A little background on why I started my store: Last year I wasn't satisfied with what our district gave to teachers to prepare our students for the new assessments. So I started to do what I always do (and what many teachers do), I created what I needed. Poof! :) My teammates saw what I was using, and wanted to use it too! Next thing I knew the other grade levels were asking me to make math resources for them as well! That's when I really knew I had something special. It's one thing for me to use something that I make, but when my colleagues find value in it.... :)
Everything that is in my store are products that are used in either my classroom, or something that a colleague asked me to create for them- with 2 exceptions. The Math Center Task Cards. This is a huge deal to me. Last year my students asked me to create centers for them instead of practicing with the standard "worksheet" style. I'm going to be honest with you. All I did was take the same questions from the original resources and made them into centers.
Here is one: 3rd Grade Math Center: Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Here is the other: 3rd Grade Math Center: Number and Operations in Base Ten
It was a HUGE hit! Students loved it, didn't realize they had seen the same problems in the other format... and of course I was happy because they were practicing and were highly engaged. Highly engaged students makes me an incredibly happy teacher!
I realize what you must be thinking. My store must only contain math resources. That is not true at all! I have classroom management resources, Language Arts resources, and a few other goodies as well. One of my favorite items I have posted is a close read rubric/ assignment that my students use every single week. I print 100's of this rubric monthly. It's simple but HIGHLY EFFECTIVE. I use Level Readers and students complete different activities based on the book, using the rubric each night. Parents are a key component to this assignment because they have to sign the rubric in order to earn full credit. Without the parent signature, the highest score a student may earn is 80%. Most parents won't just sign a piece of paper without seeing the work that goes along with it. Now I know that each week parents at least see what their child is reading, and possibly engaging with them regarding the content that is being read. I have used this assignment rubric for 5 years now, and the positive feedback from parents has been overwhelming!
As always, Happy Teaching! Happy Learning! :-)
Sandra Dobrin
Here is the direct link to my Teachers Pay Teachers store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Happy-Learning-Den Make sure you click the star on the top of my page to follow me. That is the best way to see when I post new resources.
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Thursday, July 30, 2015
Sunday, July 19, 2015
My Newest Obsession: My Laminator!
Two weeks ago I bought a laminator from Amazon – the best out of all my school supplies (maybe not – but go ahead and play along anyway?).
It wasn't really difficult to choose one. Each machine looks a little different but they work the same. All you need to do is turn on the power button, wait for the light to turn on that it’s ready to go, slide whatever you want into a laminating pouch (you need to buy those separate) and feed it through the machine. I didn't even bother to read the instruction manual (as always).
I spent the past week laminating all of the math vocabulary word cards for the next school year. I printed them in color on cardstock (I also bought the printer, ink, and cardstock from my new favorite store- Amazon). I also love that I can turn regular lists/charts/bookmarks into things that will last- no more ripped up name tags, chore charts, printed games. Are you starting to see why I love my laminator?
Other Reasons I LOVE my laminating machine:
I can't wait to bring my new toy, ahem, my new laminator to school!
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Summertime Goals
This summer is the first one where I haven't taken on another job through the summer months. My original plan was to focus all my energy onto my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I just wanted a few weeks of doing nothing except for spending time with friends and family and taking care of doctor appointments that I never have time to do during the school year.
Well I am happy to say that I have spent a good amount of time with my family and friends, BUT it's July and I have yet to work on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I can't seem to get myself motivated. I need to update some cover pages, edit my product descriptions, and add new products.
How do you get yourself motivated?
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