New Year's Update & FREEBIE!

A few weeks ago, I linked up with Mrs. D's Corner to share my New Year's Resolutions. I thought I'd check in for an update.

On the personal front, I'm trying hard, and I'm finding that it gets a little easier each day. God is right there, at the front of my heart and mind, and He has led me to be able to let so many things go! For the first time in a long time, I'm fully at peace with whatever may come our way. I know His plans are perfect.

Professionally, I'm getting better at planning in advance, buying stations on Teachers Pay Teachers, rather than always trying to produce my own, and being able to use my planning period to make copies, look over student work, and, yes, plan!

On that note, planning has become easier for me because I bought 30 activities before Christmas, made all the copies, and laminated all that needed to be laminated. During the bowl games, I cut everything out and organized it all into Ziplock bags. 

Laminated, and ready to cut...

All the copies, ready to sort out...

Laminated, cut, sorted, boxed, and trash ready to toss!

Y'all, I know there's tons of Pinterest pages devoted to organizing and storing stations, but I gotta tell ya, put the directions and any cards or pieces in a page protector and put that, with the recording sheets in a gallon bag, and it is per-fect! Every kids knows where everything is, how to put it back neatly, and it's ready to go for next year, or reviewing later this year!

Okay, I admit, I haven't started the Organization goal yet, but there's still time - we're only 2 weeks in, and I did just tell how I organize my stations!

Students are always first in my class. Really. I love, love, love them! When they're having a bad day, I have a bad day. If they cry, I almost always do, too. So when work is hard, and I see that look on their little faces - the one right before frustration sets in, I practically RUN across the room to catch them, before they get frustrated. So far, in 2015, they are still fighting to learn, and that's more than most of us can ever wish for!

If you stuck with me this long, you deserve a freebie! We've been working really hard on knowing when to regroup in addition and subtraction. Yes, we have the posters. Yes, we've used base ten blocks, Unifix cubes, and every other manipulative in the universe, but the most effective thing we've started to do is CHAS. Circle the ones place. Highlight it if there's more on the floor. Analyze what we have to do, regroup or not, and Solve. To help us, we've sorted a ton of problems into little booklets. Click on the pic to get your copy of everything, including directions!

XOXO,

Brooke