For the birds...

I am a Pinterst addict.  I was beyond excited when Google Play Store finally got the app, now I'm getting an iPhone and will have to learn how to use it all over again!   Ahh!

I found this on my homepage from one of our followers, a good friend of ours who rode the bus with us for 10+ school years and was in my little brothers grade.  It is called "10 habits for a well-run home."

Hold the bus!  There are actually well ran homes?  Lets look at the 'helpful hints' they gave us and see how well we fare!

1. Wake up early
2.Go to bed earlier
3. Evening Preperations
4. Institute meal planning
5. Do 1 complete load of laundry a day
6. Finish dishes before bed
7. A place for everything, everything in place
8. 5 min. bathroom cleaning per day
9. Bedtime routine
10. Do not say yes to new requests

For day to day actions, I failed miserably.  Being an overachiever naturally, I laughed hysterically when I read the article and told myself they were trying to make us strive to be the perfect housewife and mother.  Who finds time to do all of this?  Although they are great ideas and if used correctly would make life easier, they left out big aspects of every day life!  What about play time with your children or animals?  Teaching socialization skills and active play are a big part of molding a child.  When I was in HS I remember my mom doing many of these, but life is chaos and will always remain so. Also, waking up early is for the birds :)

If life was not filled with chaos I  would not know what to do!

Day2Day Printing!

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Multiply and Divide with Sticks and Steps~Review~

Multiply and Divide with Sticks and Steps

Teach This Easy Method in Just 5 Minutes

Author: Maureen Stearns, B.A., M.S.
96 pages, Trade paperback, line illustrations throughout, For ages 5 and up, 8.25 x 11
ISBN: 978-0-9726908-5-0 $14.95
Pub Date: January 1st, 2011
Published by: Enrichment Books
Distributed by: Available at bookstores, Amazon and online.

As a Special Education teacher I am often faced with math difficulties, in both the students and parents.  I implement a home letter to inform the parents what is going on in the classroom and a bit of review on topics that we will come across in case they (the parent) need help! Trust me, this is important!  If you have a little one who is just starting school ask the teacher for a parent letter - especially if the district is using a set math curriculum.  

Sticks and Steps is a great book to have in the classroom and to have as a parent!  I always implement Math Facts, which allows me as a Special Education teacher to track the students progress with addition/subtraction and multiplication/division.  You would be surprised how many student do not  understand multiplication when they encounter it in school, even HS students!  It is scary at first for a teacher, but for me it is a beginning.  It allows me to set my own goal for that student - "By the end of the 9weeks I want this student to be able to multiply up to the 9X9 with 90% proficiency."   By the way, that could also be used for Progress Monitoring or for an IEP goal/objective :)  

First I need to say this book would be great for a Bell Ringer.  A Bell Ringer is the beginning 5 minutes of class to get the 'Brain in Motion' and begin to learn.  It would be extremely easy to photocopy onto overheads to use, which I highly recommend.  With some Special Education students it may be appropriate to actually copy a page for them to see in front of them and on the overhead - it often does help!

The supplementary curriculum in this book is great!  It easily allows one to follow along and try their own multiplication.  With sticks and steps it is easy to understand what the Sticks and Steps are.  I would have loved it the Sticks and Steps were different colors, not just light grey and black.  If you do copy on overheads you can use your colored markers to do this!   It is a little longer to do the sticks and step method in division, but once the student/child learns the process and reasoning behind it, they are set.  I loved how you can do LCM (Least Common Multiple)!  When I taught this last year I wish I had this idea.    

Without a doubt I would recommend this to any teacher or parent.   The final words of advice from me for teaching multiplication and division are 'Always give encouragement!'

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UPrinting.com offers a wide variety of products you can design to have printed and shipped to your home.  From business cards to stickers, they have all your online printing needs.  There are even event tickets you can design and personalize that would be great for a fundraiser or school prom.  

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14pt Cardstock Gloss / Matte / High Gloss (UV), or 13pt Cardstock Uncoated
6 Business days print turnaround time
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Got all that? Enter below!

J-O-B

Throughout the day I think of a million things - honestly I do!  I will start to vacuum then remember that I made coffee, then think I need to enter some contests, remember I made coffee and have to heat it up, watch some Ellen (she is so funny) take the dog out, eat, then remember that I was vacuuming when I look up and see it plugged in.  WHOOPS haha.   Yeah now I forgot I was going to talk about a JOB...you know one of those things we have to have to get money?  I know I almost forgot what was as well since I was furloughed as a teacher in PA.  What a terrible thing - I think I was an awesome teacher, not to mention my students and co-workers did as well!  It is a dog-eat-dog world out there though, nothing I can do about it but truck on!

Have you applied for jobs lately? There are NO teaching jobs unless I want to move 5 hours away (no) or get paid $8.00 (Won't even pay for my student loans!) ... So I am forced to wait it out like the other zillion teachers in PA who lost their job.  I admit, this no job thing is cool - I clean and make a lot of food, so it is kind of fun in a domesticated kind of way.  I loved teaching though, so it is a bummer!