Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Currently and win an Erin Condren gift card

I love October.  I love Fall.  Like all of you, I always look forward to Currently.  I only had four hours of sleep last night, so I am glad I stayed up long enough to watch the Debate and write my Currently.

 
 
I watched the Debate and find it interesting to hear the commentations afterwards.  I definitely need to spend more time researching the specifics of each of their plans.
 
I love clean sheets.  I have 3 cats and a dog.  So clean sheets on the day I vacuumed is my favorite day of the week.  Tumblefurweeds, be gone!
 
Today was a good day.  It felt like we accomplished a lot, and I got a lot of organizing done. I spent a lot of time last night creating some charts for my students and organizing lots of TpT math resources I have purchased.  I feel like I am slowly but surely getting the paperwork, structure, and organization of my classroom figured out.  I have a grade 4/5 split class.  I only have about 10 students, but they span about 4 grade levels of math.  So the logistics are a learning process.  I also have a lot of gifted, but emotionally less mature students.  It is creating some interesting dynamics we are working through.  I purchased the 7 Habits of Happy Kids last night, and we are studying the Olympics right now. Discussing the Olympics will gives lots of opportunities to discuss handling disappointment, perseverance, a good attitude, and working hard.
 
To help with the independent math practice with so many levels of math, I am thinking a class membership to IXL might be the way to go.  Anyone tried it?


I need sleep. Enough said.

I haven't read too many Fall books with my students, but I have covered Poetry before.  I think this time of year is a great time to think about the senses.  I look forward to reading everyone's Fall book recommendations.


Don't forget Day 1 of my giveaway with credit to TpT stores of 10 bloggers.

Don't forget Day 2 for Starbucks and Cheesecake. 

For Day 3, I have decided to do another easy giveaway.  I will be back tomorrow to share more contributions from bloggers.  As I am trying to get organized, I am loving my Erin Condren Life Planner.  It is helping me keep up with my home and school to-do-lists.  I like that it is broken into the times of day.  My goal is to start more consistently logging my work-outs and food choices.  My exercise has not been up to my goal, but I have lost 3 pounds.  I need to keep the momentum.  I have about 9 pounds to go to be back to my normal weight.

Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App
Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App

Enter below for a $25 gift certificate to Erin Condren.

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34 comments:

  1. Sounds like you have your hands full with all the different kiddos in your class! I bet they are having a blast with the Olympics theme! :)

    --Caitlin
    thekindergarden.blogspot.com

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  2. I live by my stackable trays for organizing papers! Our school has an IXL subscription, but I need some time to figure it out. I've heard great things about it though!

    Young Daze in 5th Grade

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  3. Ahhh I love clean sheets too! There's nothing like climbing in to a yummy cozy bed with fresh new sheets! I'm curious what an IXL membership is.

    coveredinglitterandglue.blogspot.com

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  4. I use Studyladder for my kiddos independent math and literacy practice. I love it because it is free and the kiddos can access it from home as well.
    Tania
    Mrs Poultney's Ponderings

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  5. I LOVE a concrete planner to organize my days! i use binders, as well as filing cabinets to organize papers, etc.

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  6. My best tip for staying organized? Start and stick with routines. I am jealous of your new planner. I just wrote a post about planners today. Another tip? Spend 15 minutes a day cleaning/organizing. It is amazing the amount of things you can accomplish. This is my non-teacher blog with a post about planners.

    Life with Mrs. L

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  7. I just bought one of the big accordian files to put paper in. A tip I read was to label each section and file the paper in there as you go.
    And I love clean sheets too!!

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  8. Oh how I love clean sheets! I hear ya about the clean sheets and the furballs.
    Kimberly
    Funky First Grade Fun

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  9. Our district purchased a subscription to IXL and I am OBSESSED! It helped my kiddos SO much last year and all the teachers at my school love it. My 4th graders spend at least 15 minutes a day on it. And it's aligned with the Common Core.:)

    Kristin
    iTeach 1:1

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  10. I love clean sheats. I've had a membership 2 years in a row that I bought myself. I'm sad bc my kids would rather use sumdog, scootpad and xtramath.org which are all FREE. I sure wish my students would take advantage of the $200 I spent I IXL.com.

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  11. Mmmm, clean sheets, love the feel and smell:) I wish I had tips for organizing, but I am awful, I have things written all over the place, and piles of paper:( I need a good system!!

    Aloha,
    Corinna
    Surfin' Through Second

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  12. I'm with Corinna, it's so hard to organize! I have been using binders and dividers this year. Now if I can remember to punch holes in everything to put it in the binder lol.
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  13. Hmm organizing student papers I have down to a science for me. Each subject has a drawer and they turn their work into the drawer and cross their name off a list that I have pretyped (100s of copies). I then use that slip of paper to record grades until I transfer them to the gradebook. now organizing other paper work... well. I am not good haha. Each student has a file in my cabinet that I put all their things in, but my own personal paper work. I am a mess lol
    Gina
    Third Grade Tidbits

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  14. I don't have one!! I really feel like I'm lacking organization this year. However, I've always been a big fan of making lists!


    Aimee
    aimee@vanmiddlesworth.org
    Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks

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  15. The only organization that I've accomplished and managed to stick with is for my construction paper. I bought a dish plate stand at walmart and I use the slots to hold my paper in the horizontal position. I don't have to lift up tons of paper to get to the color I want anymore. (I know a picture would better describe, but I had to take my blog down. :( )

    Catherine

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  16. I try to touch papers only once (file, toss, etc.) and I color code and label EVERYTHING (binders, file folders, labels, etc.) which helps me to find things quickly.

    œKaryn
    A is for Apple B is for Blog
    Kideducator@comcast.net

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  17. My best way to organize schedules is to color code & put in 3 different places - iPhone, on my Mac calendar, and in an agenda. As for files, I have an expanding file folder and I only file the most IMPORTANT things!

    Sara
    Miss V's Busy Bees
    ventrellasara@gmail.com

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  18. A 3-ring binder with tabbed sections is how I've always organized paperwork, especially all my daughter's school forms and information.

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  19. thanks for the great post! enjoy!

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  20. I need to be better organized myself, but I love trays or baskets and paper clips!

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  21. Just got your comment on Adventures in Sixth. We'll be reading A Wrinkle in Time at the end of the year--I've never read it, though, so I'm excited to see what all the hype is about!

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  22. File folders, crates, paper clips, and I use my iPad to give me reminders and take notes.

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  23. My best advice is label everything and only touch a piece of paper once. Do I follow that advice--not all the time!
    Patti
    pattib203@yahoo.com

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  24. Decide what you are going to do with something as soon as you read it: file it, pass it on, or ditch it. If you don't have time to file, keep a weekly folder and file once a week. This is what keeps me sane, as long as I keep up with the filing!

    faithfulinfirst.blogspot.com

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  25. I have five stackable trays, one for each day of the school week, that I put all of my pre-planned copies for the week. I also have two different files for students -- one for their portfolio work and one for all the stuff that's just for me.
    Thanks for the fun giveaways!
    Katie
    I Want to be a Super Teacher

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  26. I have a file sorter to organizer all the worksheets for the upcoming week. There's a Monday shelf, a Tuesday shelf, etc...

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  27. Lots of to-do lists, writing everything down, and a big planner to keep all the lists together!

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  28. I have an Erin Condren Life planner for 2012, I need to get another one for 2013! I also use a little notebook to make daily to do lists!

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  29. I keep a whiteboard on the fridge and will list any important dates, tasks each week. That seems to help. As my boys get older, I'll have to develop a better system, I'm sure.

    Thanks for hosting this giveaway!

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  30. My organization tip is to write down everything that you have to do along with stating when you expect to have them done.

    Thanks for the offer!
    Sharon

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  31. I use my Outlook calendar to keep myself on track in terms of schedules. For paperwork, I have a filing system I made that really keeps me organized.

    Best Tip: When you are finished with it, put it back up!


    Kristen Hernandez
    www.teacherplayground.com

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  32. I have lots of crates with hanging files. That way it's easy to pull out the file that I need, or just take the whole crate with me if necessary.

    Diving Into Learning

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  33. I use my Erin Condren life planner to help stay organized! Love it!

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