A Great Migration, Expressions and Fun :)

Wow...what a week.  My school is currently undergoing a "Great Migration"  {not to be confused with the moment in history of the same name---and, you're welcome for the history lesson}.
And let me tell you, it is a pain in the toosh.
Our version of the Great Migration is that we are converting our computers from Windows XP to the most current version {I think}.  Well, last night my computer migrated.  Ugh!  Nothing worked properly today.  Like AT ALL.
My husband just didn't understand my distress.  He said, "Didn't you to teach without computers and Smart Boards before?"  Well, yes....yes, I did.  But, I'm so USED to them now, that my life goes a little haywire when I'm suddenly without it.    Don't you just love technology?

Change of topic:

My students are doing a great job with understanding expressions and variables.  We are flying through this unit.

Thanks to using Calendar Math {again, thanks, Stephanie from Teaching in Room 6}, I think my students were able to understand how variables and expression work pretty quickly.

We started with this anchor chart:


Today, we put together our flapbooks.

I forgot to take a picture of the student version {oops}.  If you downloaded this earlier this week, please download it again.  I had a goof on it and it's now fixed.  Click {here} to download from Google Drive or {here} to download from TpT.

Change of topic one last time:


For those of you who have hung around with me for so long, I'm going to have a little contest.  I'm picking a number and will be looking for that number of comments on this blog post.  If I get that many, then I will add $5 to a pot.  Further, if I get double that amount then I will add five more dollars.  For each of my blog posts from now until Dec. 14th I will do the same thing.  On December 15th, I will add all of the money up and buy a gift card to Target in that amount.  Then, I will have a giveaway for that total. {Bottom line, I'm hoping to increase comments...I know, shameless bribery at its ultimate best...but I'm feeling a little lonely in Room 4B.}

So, spread the word...the more comments, the more $$$.

Oh, and one last topic change....

I'm extending my sale on TpT until Friday.  Because, if you are anything like me, then you are realizing that you missed some great items and want a "do over".

Mickey and Me...and a new Freebie

Ahhh...writer's block be gone!

I'm here to share with you just a little bit about my trip and make you drool a little over the massive amounts of food I ate.

Mickey and Me
I'm a Disney fanatic, just in case you didn't pick up on that before now.   I would go on a Disney Cruise or to Disney World every year if I could only afford it ;)   I share this passion with my Josh Groban friend, Beth.  Yes, we both love Disney and Josh.  We have a bond because of our mutual obsessions.  Haha! 

She has a chance to go more often than I do and whenever I don't get to go, she takes a "Minnie E" with her.  Minnie E has since been named "Minnie Me" to represent any friend who isn't on the trip. 

Here she is getting ready to enjoy a cocktail:

She's a lush.  But, I like her anyway.

The week was so relaxing and a wonderful way to celebrate turning 40!  The fact that 4 grown women were going on a Disney Cruise allowed us to be pampered and treated like princesses...cause we kinda stood out.

We had the best time!

Relaxing on Castaway Cay!  Ahhh...the life!  Now let me show you the some of the FOOD:

Birthday Cake :)



Yum!

The picture below wouldn't have happened if we hadn't made friends with the Character Manager.  This was a special meet-and-greet on the last night.  Along with one other cute couple, we were the only ones invited to his special meet and greet :)  See...princesses!!

I wish I could go back tomorrow.  It's that fantastic!

Now, on to that freebie.  I've been slacking on making things for my classroom (and then being able to share them with you) because of being so busy in my personal life.  Hopefully, now that I'm back and things have calmed down, I can start creating again.  I created this foldable to use this week.  Click on the picture to download it for free!  When you head over to Google Drive to download it, just go to file and click on "download". 

***Update***
 You may now download this from my TPT store {click here}
We have field trip tomorrow, but the rest of the week we are working on understanding expressions.  This topic should fly by because my students already grasp equations thanks to Stephanie's Calendar Math :)

I created this foldable to review the concepts below:

algebraic expressions
variables
input/output tables
addition and subtraction expressions
multiplication and division expressions

There are two identical foldables to a page to save on copies.  Also to save on copies, only run the inside pages with the definitions and let the students hand-write the titles for the front flap.  ***Which is exactly what I am going to do.

Hope you can use it! 

Now, I'm heading over to Teachers Pay Teachers to fill up my cart!


Cyber Monday {and Tuesday} Sale!

Have you been hiding under a rock?  Or, have you been on hiatus like me?  If so, guess what?!!  Monday {and Tuesday} are BIG days!

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My sale is from Sunday until Wednesday, but I'm sure you want the extra 10% savings from TPT (which gives you the total of 28% off).  So, shop 'til you drop on Monday or Tuesday!

You might be interested in the items below:

 This is my Multiplication Lapbook pack which includes foldables about basic multiplication strategies.

These are the task cards I used when I was completing the unit on multiplication.

Next up, my Division Lapbook:
And the task cards that go with it:
If you are interested in organization, here are a few items you might be interested in checking out:
And, believe it or not, I have an item that isn't organization or math related:

I don't know about all of you, but my online cart is FULL!  I can't wait to get all of the wonderful products that I've been eying for a while.

If you haven't already linked up with the fabulous Michelle, you need to do so:

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Check out some of these fabulous sellers who are also running a sale for Cyber Monday {and Tuesday}.




Cruising with Mickey {A 40th Birthday Surprise}

You might have noticed that I haven't blogged in a while.  I also haven't blogged since my birthday, either. 

Let's just say it has been a whirlwind of a week or two.

I have to tell you, getting old has it's privileges.  I can always say it's my old age when I forget anything, right?
Yes, I'm going with it.

Yes, I turned the big 4-0 this week! 


That's me with all of my get-ups from my teaching buddy.  She actually shares the same birthday, but she's a year older-ha!

My pod buddies went all out for my birthday and I felt so special.  We had food galore in our pod workroom.  It was delicious! 
Here's a little bit of the surprise I stepped into on Thursday.
My door looked even scarier than it needed to because our skeletons from Halloween were still up :)

When I opened my door...oh my word!

Next to my door you will see the number of the day.  Several times....oh, and yes, that's my room number just in case you didn't recognize ;)
(I just love the "Over the Hill" poster, too...it's staying.  See, I can pull that one out whenever I forget things.  I'm telling ya', I'm going to work this!)

Behind my desk there was huge puddle of black balloons. 
They stayed there for two days, too.  It was rather fun to see how long they would last without being popped.  Not a single one popped! 

Finally, above my Smartboard, one more "Number of the Day" posters.  It's staying, too.
Oh, the love, the love.  It was a memorable birthday to say the least.  So many special treats were brought to me all day long.  And at lunch, my birthday bud had arranged for the whole 4th grade to sing "Happy Birthday" to me in the cafeteria.  Other grade levels joined in, too.  As a payback, I had them all sing to her, too.  It was great!

So, why is my post titled "Cruising with Mickey"?  I bet you can guess.  {I know many of you already know of my love of anything Disney.}

My sweet, sweet husband, my parents and friends all surprised me with a trip for my birthday!  I'm heading on a 4-day cruise next week!  Then, we are traveling to "The World" for a day. 

The best part....it's a Girls' Trip!  No kids!

What-the-what?  I know, I know....I couldn't believe it either.  I am so excited.  I can hardly stand it. 

Off to plan for my time away.   Any suggestions about what I should plan for my students to do while I'm away?  I'm up for anything that's easy to prepare in only a week :)

What's the best birthday gift you've ever received? (Obviously this is mine...)

When I get back, I promise to get down to the business of posting classroom ideas to this blog.  Please bare with me until then...