Thanksgiving Synonyms and Smoothies

Aw, the life of a busy teacher trying to keep it all together, enjoy this wonderful weather outside, and trying to still find time to plan for the holidays coming up.

In the midst of this fall-filled craziness, I wanted to share with you 2 Thanksgiving inspired concoctions that I've sort of made my own.

First: Thanksgiving Synonyms

This is my bulletin board right now. I love it, and I love how easy, fast, and inexpensive it was to do...not to mention extremely rewarding for the kids.
So.......

* I stole 18 paint strips from the store (hey, they're free and there was no sign about limits....but I still had my husband stake out just in case...hehehe).
* I wrote a base word at the top of each strip.
* I explained to my students that synonyms are a lot like paint strips: they're different shades of the same color...or different words with the same meaning. Each student had to write 2 synonyms below the base word and then switch with another student and then write 2 more synonyms for their new base word. (They could not use a word that had already been written.) Each student switched a total of 3 times. It was a blast to see what they could come up with!

*After I had all of my synonym strips, I made a quick cut out of a turkey, and then stapled the strips around the turkey to make them look like feathers.

Easy as pie!

Mmmm...speaking of pie, here's my next wonderful discovery.

Second: Thanksgiving Smoothie

I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes.....lots of things pumpkin. Have you seen pinterest lately? I'm not alone in this pumpkin obsession. However, I decided that I don't want to get myself into holiday overeating trouble this year. I know that I am going to eat way too much of way too many bad foods on Thanksgiving Day. I also know that most of the gifts I will receive around Christmas time will be coated in chocolate. I will balance myself out....I will...but I also wanted to start cutting back on the carbs that are so tempting to indulge in this time of year.

Solution? Smoothies. It's very helpful to replace breakfast and dinner with a nutritional smoothie. (Don't skip meals, though, and I do have a regular lunch.)

When I came across this pumpkin pie smoothie, I about died of excitement. If you are really a pumpkin lover, you'd appreciate its deliciousness.

Ingredients: 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 3-4 ice cubes, and I added 1/2 cup of this tasty iced coffee. (Caffeine is often vital in my day.)

Directions: Ummm.....blend it. Then pour. The end.

I've heard that whipped cream on top is good, too, but I decided to drink it plain.

Happy Thanksgiving Prep Days everyone! I hope to bring some more holiday themed ideas on here as the holidays whiz passed us.

May YOUR heart be filled with joy this week and next!

Personal Moment

Hello my dear friends and readers. I'm taking a moment to share a little bit from my heart, for that is what I made this blog for. I post different kinds of stories here, and this one doesn't have anything to do with a new idea or even a teaching experience (besides what I have learned). This is just a personal testimony of how great my God is.

As you read this, please do not be judgmental. Please do not become discouraged. Please understand that I write this with joy in my heart, even though it took me a while to do so.

A long while ago, a very young, tired, overworked newly wed became shocked, along with her husband, to find that she was pregnant. Looking back at that moment, it's a little bit of a blur, especially when I try to pinpoint my exact emotions. A little excited, but a little scared to death. "Are we really going to be parents?" I asked my husband while laughing and hyperventilating (just a little). He was in the same position I was in, though, so we just sat there on our bathroom floor feeling like 2 kids...not grownups....who just got the news that our entire world was going to change, and responsibility was a word we only THOUGHT we knew. Oh my goodness!

We told our families the next day. Their joy and excitement encouraged us and helped us feel ok about being excited as well.

What wonderful moments!

You can probably guess where this is going.

A day later, that sign of little life left us.

I was only a few weeks along. Evidently this is very common, especially for first pregnancies. And I knew that many people would even argue with me that it may not have even been a baby. Since it took a while for the hormones to leave my system, my husband and I were confused on what could be the truth for a few days before seeing the doctor.

On the day that my complications were so severe that we knew we had to go to the ER, I remember sitting on the couch, listening to the song, "Not For A Moment (After All)" by Merideth Andrews. This song touched my heart so much, and if you click on the video link below and listen to it, I think you will understand why. You can't NOT be blessed by its message.

Tears just flowed as I sang along in broken sobs, for I knew deep in my heart what was true of our little life even before the doctor confirmed it. At the same time, though, I felt such peace, for I truly felt the presence of God with me. I felt held in the arms of  God, and I believed that our little (very little) one was in His arms, too.

It was so strange and yet so beautiful to feel such peace in the midst of such pain, to cry my heart out for 2 emotions - heart break and heart lift.

This memory comes back to me often. I don't talk about it often (I really don't) because people often shrug when they hear me talk about as if it's nothing. God also gave me the patience for that. To me, it was a life. To my husband and me, it was a baby, although not completely formed. I am not depressed over it or still curled up in pain, but today, for some reason, God has given me even more peace about it.

I realized that this is the month when the baby would probably be born. If the life had continued, I would most likely be full term now with the nursery all ready and my excitement bursting to meet him or her. Also, I would already have a name picked out. God did not intend it to happen that way, though, but that's ok. And today, God spoke to me and gave me a gift to make that a little bit better. He gave me a name for our little life. Boy or girl? I have no idea. But our life's name is Moment. It came out of inspiration from that wonderful song, God's special message to me at the time our life entered His presence again, and it also contains meaning, for we celebrated the life only for a moment.

I understand if you find this strange. I understand if you find this way too sad and personal to ever share on a blog. However, God has given me something to praise him for: He gave me Moment ....only for a moment... and I wouldn't trade that honor and celebration of being a mom, even though it was so incredibly brief. Again, it was a life to me, to my husband, and to God. Moment was loved so immensely, and so I choose not to hide his/her story or to forget it. God is the author of life, and I praise Him for what he gave and took away.

Someday this month, I am going to travel to the beach and have my own little celebration/mourning for Moment. I can't celebrate Moment's birth, nor could I really mourn the "death," so I will celebrate Moment's creator, and I will give God praise (still from a heavy heart) for a short moment of someone's life He let me share. Pictures of this event to come soon.

I hope you are blessed with this in some way, and I pray that you, who are reading this, truly celebrate your sacred moments of life today.

Review Balls

I have a wonderful, fun way to incorporate reading skills, reading comprehension, vocabulary usage, cumulative math review, and world history analysis.

Say hello to my Review Balls!

I found these inflatable beach balls at the dollar store (Dollar General to be exact) this past summer. Each was $1. I couldn't pass them up, especially with their different sports designs.

No matter the subject I'm reviewing, I throw the ball to a student, and when they catch it, they must answer the type of question that their left thumb touches. For example, if I am using my Reading Story ball, and a student's left thumb touches the section that asks, "What was the conflict in this story?" then they answer it based upon the story we just read. If I am using my World History ball, and a student's thumb touches the "land (geography)" section, I would then ask them a question that has to do with the land or geographic features of the country or civilization we are studying. If a student answers a question correctly, he/she may throw the ball to another student. If a student answers the question wrong, he/she is out, and cannot catch until a new review starts.

Here are the questions I wrote for each ball:

Vocabulary (baseball design):
*Give the defintion.
*Use it in a sentence.
*Is it a verb, noun, or adj.?
*Give a synonym.

Reading (beach ball design):
*What is the conflict in the story?
*What is the mood in the story?
*What is the setting in the story?
*Name a round character.
*Name a flat character.
*What moral/ lesson could you learn from this story?

World History (basketball design):
*Land (geography)
*Religion
*Accomplishments
*Rulers
*Culture
*Mistakes (that the people made)
*Compare to today (compare the ancient civilization to the current one, or if it does not exist anymore, compare them to our own society today)

Math (soccer design)
This covers the different skills we learned throughout the whole year. The yellow spaces include skills we learned in the beginning of the year, and the black spaces focus on the skills we learned later in the year. If you want to use this throughout the school year, it might be best to only have your students answer questions in the yellow spaces. If you would like to review for a standardized or cumulative test near the end of the year, this would be a perfect activity, and be sure to use all of the spaces.
I named skills such as GCF (Greatest Common Factor), Order of Operations, Decimals, Fractions, Variables, Circumference, and Word Problems. Again, these are just skills to choose from, and then ask your students math problems that use the skill.

You can use review questions from a study guide, from a quiz or test, from their notes, or you can make up note cards to go along with the ball. (The note card idea might be best when using the Math ball, for it reviews many skills learned in our book.)

A simple sharpie and beach ball can go a long way. My students get so excited when they see me reach for a ball. "I love that game!" I hear one say. "Oh yes!" shouts another. I especially love to use this activity right before a test or quiz for one more last minute review, for it puts them in a more positive mood. (It also helps build confidence.)

It only took me a couple of hours (maybe) to make all of these. I blew them up first before I wrote on them. You can let the air out in order to store more easily and then inflate them again for the day of use.

So that's it for another easy breezy (also cheapy) resource idea. Recreate and enjoy!

"I Have, Who Has" Vocabulary Game

It's been a great school year so far in that I feel much more prepared (experience and curriculum wise) and very much in love with my class this year. They are some of the sweetest kids I've ever met!

On the other hand, it is ironic that my "technology themed classroom" has about zip technology resources right now. I have been, and still am, battling my projector (made in the dinosaur ages) this year, and right now, it is winning. This includes a long story, but to keep it short and simple, my most prized resource tool (which is old school to begin with) will probably not be available to me until I raise enough money to buy my own. (I am growling inside at this.)

Since we're on this topic, I might as well share this thought with you. I believe that an effective teacher needs 3 things in order to keep his/her classroom constantly engaging, up to date, organized, fun, accurate, and challenging: time, resources, and money. (I know...all of you veteran teachers are laughing right now..."Who gets those?" you might be asking.) I also believe that if a teacher has just a good source of just 1 of these things, then the teacher can use that to make up for the other two. For instance, if a teacher has enough time in a day to work, then resources can be made from more inexpensive materials. If a teacher has the needed resources available, then it helps make up for lack of time and money. And, of course, if a teacher had enough money, then he/she could buy the needed resources and then save more time. (Yeah....no teacher has that one....but it goes along with the theory.) Why am I going on and on about this? Because I don't have ONE right now. Planning periods are rare, money is extremely low (lower than the average teacher's salary), and I am not provided with the resources I need or want.

Ok. Whining over. It doesn't matter what I don't have in my profession - we teachers still are expected to make miracles happen, and so that's what I'm trying to do. With a lot of prayer and determination, I am making things work. So, I present my Vocab game/ activity (finally):

Without a projector, I'm usually spending a lot of time writing on my white board.....a lot of time. This vocab game does not require me to write anything down.

Once a week, my students gain about 15-20 new vocab words they will be quizzed on. Once a week, I make them create fun and colorful flashcards for their words to study with. Nearing their quiz, we review the words with the "I Have, Who Has" activity.

Directions:
1. The students pick 2-4 (you pick the number) vocab flashcards.
2. The teacher holds the master list of the definitions.
3. The teacher begins the game by asking, "Who has ______insert-definition-here_________?"
4. Students who have the vocab word that matches the definition just calls raises their hands.
5. The teacher calls on one of the students, and the student then answers, "I have ___insert-term-here___, who has ______insert-new-definition-here____?"
6. The process goes on and on until either all vocab words have been read or until all students have had a chance to play. If there is not a student who has a matching word, the teacher takes another turn.

"I Have, Who Has" can be done many different ways, but this was a great activity that requires little to no prep time from the teacher. It's hands-on, fun, and different.

Teachers, sometimes we forget that not all resources have be brought with a "bang!" This was low-key, but sometimes the low-key resources and activities work the best.

Stay tuned for some more easy, simple resources and activities coming up on the blog.

Finally, if you are reading this and can identify with my "whining" and/or my no-tech, low prep resources and activities, I would love to hear your story. Maybe you even have an idea to pass on! I would love to feature you on here!

Hang in there, teachers. Let's keep making miracles!

Labor Day Top 10

This is an old anniversary pic, but I still love it. 

Hey everyone. So, I really liked my last "Top 20" post, I decided that I wanted to keep it a semi regular thing. August was a pretty busy month, so here's a short summary of what's been on my heart lately:

1. It's really nice to love my job again.

2. Second year of teaching is SO MUCH BETTER than the first.

3. Sometimes, one big reason I'm grateful for marriage is the fact that we are STUCK together in the good times and bad.

4. After revamping our budget for the millionth time last week, I'm pretty sure that this is just an ongoing and ever changing process in life.

5. There is just nothing like hearing those words, "Have you been losing weight?" Just amazing and inspiring.

6. #1 hated PMS symptom: Feeling more hungrier than usual.

7. One of my favorite things about school starting back: my shows start back, too.

8. I love making Central Florida my home again. It's no longer my childhood home; it's full of new adventures and cool new people.

9. I'm excited about having a new sis-in-law!!!

10. Autumn is my FAVORITE season, and I'm happy it's here.

3D Paper Flowers

The other day, I saw these flowers on sale at Walmart for a not-so-much low price. I said to my husband, "I can't believe they're selling these things for this price when you can make them at home, using whatever color or design paper you want for SO much cheaper!!!"

I actually made these for my wedding reception. We placed them on top of the napkins.

Kind of hard to see, but it is a black rose.

I have also used this for a Mother's Day boquet craft with kiddos at children's church. However, my latest use was bulletin board use. When my classroom had a garden theme, I used them for my first bulletin board of the year.

These things are SO easy to make.

Woo! Swirl!

 Let me prove it to you.  

First, draw a "swirl" on your sheet of paper. 

(The bigger the paper, the bigger the flower.)

In this picture, I am using a scrapbook sized
sheet.


Next, with your scissors,

Snip, snip.

 cut along the swirl lines.

You should have a dangling   

swirl left over.

(Btw, these CAN be fun

to hand from the ceiling.)

Now, starting at the end of the    

Cut it, then roll it, and now we're almost done...

swirl, begin rolling it towards 
the middle of the swirl.
It should look like a very tight
tulip when you are finished. 











When you finally have it bunched up, release it. You'll be amazed at how it sits like a flower. It can get a little too loose, though, so that's where the hot glue gun comes in. For heavy paper, like the pretty scrapbook paper that I used, it's best to use this so that the "petals" don't come apart too easily.

Glue guns solve almost any problem. 

See! I told you they were easy. 

So please don't go spend your hard earned money (or somebody else's hard earned money) at these home decor stores or sections. 

Make them yourself. Hang them anywhere!

I hope you'll love them as much as I do!!!

Say What?!

Yes, it's Friday. I should be thinking about anything BUT school, but I had a great first week, so I thought that I'd share another idea of mine.

Ok, before I explain, another fact you should know about me is that I'm a tiny bit of a theatre geek. Not a huge one; I've never wanted it as a career, I've never been to NY Broadway (although I will someday), and I don't know all the shows and names and stuff. However, I like acting, and it was my "thing" in high school...the drama club, that is.

Therefore, I got pretty familiar with Improvisation...ya know, the kind of acting when you are given a situation and just go with it? Shows like "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" have made it pretty famous.

Well, I'm no Wayne Brady, but I love improv, and I like integrating it with teaching.

Teaching English can often be a drag, especially when teaching diagramming, grammar, classification, and so on. So I use improv to teach the first lesson in our English curriculum: identifying types of sentences. After we study them, I challenge my kids to play a game called, "Say What?!" A group of students are called to the front (my stage) and are given a funny situation, like driving a car and then crashing it. However, they are limited to certain types of sentences to use. I switch it up every round. For example, sometimes they can use every type of sentences except exclamatory. Other times, they can ONLY use declarative sentences. If a student uses a sentence he/she is not supposed to, the entire audience (who is supposed to catch it) shouts out, "Say WHAT?!" and the team loses their round. If they can make a scene work for a couple of minutes without messing up, they win their round.

It is a great way to engrave the sentences in their heads. I've done this 2 years in a row, now, and my students always beg me to let them play it, even during their "free time" (last 15 minutes of the day). It is the favorite game so far.

I encourage you to use this if you can, or just incorporating improv into your lessons. The students love it, whether they're participating in the acting, or just watching (laughing uncontrollably) in their seats.

Happy Friday everybody!!!