Forehead Compensation (freebie)

My mathematicians are pretty good at making ten.  We recently practiced with this little activity.

I put equations on their foreheads and gave them a Making Ten recording sheet.  (By the way, there's something special and motivating about a first grader and their forehead.)  They visited heads, wrote down the person's equation, compensated on their sheet by making ten, and wrote the new equation before solving.

You can see above how they compensated with an arrow and the amount that must be given to the number to make it into a ten.

Here's the recording sheet if you're interested.

Happy making ten!

Dandelions, Where They Belong

Our final art project of the year turned out pretty well, I'd say. I found this painting of a dandelion on Pinterest.  It became our inspiration, as well as the many dandelions that are sprinkled throughout our playground.  

Since I didn't really know what I was doing, I kept it simple.  We used color crayons for the stem and attempted to do a bit of shading.  Then we used regular old white chalk for the seeds.  Like I said, it's simple but I'm very happy with the outcome.

They are much more welcome here on the wall than in my lawn!

When I Grow Up

I'm linking up today and answering a few questions about myself.  (Warning:  It's nothing too exciting.)

1.  What made you decide to be a teacher?

I'm not sure I can remember a day when I officially made the choice to teach.  I think it was always part of my plan and in my blood. I was one of those little people who said I was going to be a teacher when I grew up and meant it.  I loved my elementary teachers though, so I know they played a huge role.

2.  What has been the most rewarding experience as a teacher?

I can't really narrow it down to one experience, but welcoming non-writers and non-readers into the literacy club is part of what guarantees that I'll be forever in first.  It's a challenge but a rewarding one.

3.  If you were not a teacher, what would you be?

There was a time when swimming with the whales sounded like fun, but I got over that about 35 years ago.  I guess if I weren't a teacher, I'd probably be working with teachers.  Truthfully, I wouldn't mind becoming Regie Routman when I grow up.

If you're in the mood for a linky, go visit Latoya and let us in on your own answers.

Saturday Sayings: Play the Hand You're Dealt

In no way am I trying to trivialize my profession, but I've often thought that being a teacher is similar to playing a game of cards.  I play the hand I'm dealt.  I've no control over which cards I get at the beginning of the year, but I do control how I play the game.  Now that the game is almost over, I look at my cards and ask myself, "How'd I do?"  It's tempting to look at certain cards and list off excuses as to why that particular one didn't do as well in the game as I would have liked.  I've been there many times when someone asks "How's so and so doing?" and I start listing off home, social, or motivation problems that get in the way.  Although valid, those excuses are things I had no control over.  I can only worry about how I strategically used that card to its best advantage.  My goal is to find a way to sharpen my card playing skills in a way that ensures the success of each one in spite of the external factors that I have absolutely no control over.  Pie in the sky?  Maybe.

Gifts Worth Holding Onto

For many years I've given end-of-the-year gifts to my kids that were sweet and given with love but not long-lasting.  I've been wanting to make an upgrade to something more sentimental and worthy of keeping for years and years to come.  I think I found it.  I merged two great ideas from fellow bloggers to create these.

I found 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" tiles at Home Depot for 16 cents a piece.  (Um, wow!)  I used profile pictures, scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and a Sharpie marker.  There you have it.  Simple, cheap, cute, and sentimental.

Like I said, I merged two ideas from blogland.  K. Mo makes profile pictures for Mother's Day, and Natalie gives picture tiles to her kids at the end of the year.  Thanks gals for inspiring me!

K. Mo at Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade

Natalia at Teachery Tidbits

I hope my little ones hold onto these little gifts for a long time.

Math in a Classroom Book

We're nearing the end of the year, yet my kids still love reading our classroom books.  We just made a new one to go along with all the measuring we've been doing lately.

First we made clocks from this Pinterest idea I found that you can see above.  They're made out of toilet paper or paper towel rolls with a slit that I cut so they'd fit around their wrists.  Then I walked the kids through the process of drawing the clock face.  (I assigned them times to the hour and half hour.)  Then they traveled the room, asking others what time it was according to their watch, and wrote down times on the sheet below.

At the same time, I took pictures of all the kids' watches so I could make this book.

Math and classroom books do indeed go hand in hand.  My plan is to find more ways to integrate the two! 

Saturday Sayings: Not Just Kiddos

The above thought might not be anything extraordinary or immensely inspiring, but it's made an impact on my classroom throughout my career.  As the end of this year draws near, I can't help but think about the appropriateness of those words.  My kids will leave me soon, thinking of themselves as ready-to-be second graders, but I also hope they leave first grade thinking of themselves as mathematicians, scientists, artists, and authors, to name just a few.  That's what I've been calling them from day one.  Sure, they hear me say "kiddos" a lot, but when it's time to get into character throughout the day, their name changes.  Their name becomes....

reader

writer

thinker

editor

revisor

mathematician

poet

scientist

artist

historian

meteorologist

geographer

etc.