Workin' It Wednesday

Hi Friends!

Well, we are halfway through the work week!  Woot! Woot!

Actually, today begins my first day of "summer".

I couldn't wait to link up with my friend Corinna at Surfin' Through Second for her new linky party 

So I thought I'd start my first "Workin' It Wednesday" by sharing a personal goal I have been working on since the start of the New Year.   

My New Year's goal almost EVERY SINGLE YEAR is to lose weight and become more fit.  I have to say that I tried every year.  I even began running a couple of months after my youngest was born.  NOTHING seemed to work to help me lose the weight.  I tried several different weight loss plans over the years. It was so discouraging.

This year I was determined to try something different.   I got a personal trainer.  Another teacher friend and I met with him one hour every Saturday.  He also shared with us a healthy eating plan and helped me with a strength training work out.  We were measured once a month and our body fat percentages were calculated.  

It was HARD WORK!  BUT getting a personal trainer was the BEST thing I have ever done for myself in the area of health and fitness.  I understand the importance of "clean eating" and sticking to a low carb diet.  That first month was the hardest for me just getting used to the weight equipment.  I was always a cardio girl and never thought once about using weights.

I also had to juggle my schedule at home to accommodate this new lifestyle.  I prepared meals ahead of time on Sunday for myself and my family to make things easier during the week.  My husband was and still is so supportive.  I would work out each day after school.  I didn't go home first because if I did, I knew I wouldn't make it into the gym to work out. 

So after 4 months of working out and healthy eating, I have lost 21 pounds, 17 1/2 inches, and 11% body fat.  BUT the best thing for me is that I have so much more energy to keep up with the demands of my busy family and those of my students.  I also notice such a difference in my ability to handle stress and react to it.  

Here's my "before" photo:

AND here's my "after" photo

AND one more for Workin' It Wednesday

I'm loving that it's sundress season.

Here's my new favorite sundress that I wore to celebrate the last day of school.

It's from Old Navy.

Have a fabulous rest of the week friends!!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Five For Friday, End of Year Activities, and a Summer Countdown Bucket FREEBIE

Today was our last full day of school!

Sigh!!!  I'm a little teary eyed.  I absolutely LOVED my sweet

group of third graders.   We had such a fabulous year, and I will truly miss them.  

The end of the year is always a bit sentimental for me.  We spend so much time with these kiddos and learn so much about them that it can be hard to let them go.  I wanted to make these last few days of the school year memorable for my students.  

So I couldn't wait to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and share my Five For Friday on our end of year activities at school this past week.

1. Shaving Cream Fun

After the students cleaned out their desks and turned in all their textbooks, they had a little fun with shaving cream.  They could write letters, words, and draw funny pictures on their desk.  It was also a perfect way to deep clean their student desks!

2. Bucket of Sand

On our last full day of school, I treated my students to a "sandy dessert".  It was a great way to send the boys and girls off into summer and many students said it was the best school treat EVER.   I found this awesome idea from The Teaching Heart Blog
Click HERE to check out the recipe and find out more.

3. Carnival Day

The third grade classes always have a Carnival Day.  The students earn tickets to use during the carnival for completing homework, respectful behavior and etc.  Then on the next to last "full" day of school students are able to use those tickets at the carnival.  There are so many fun games and prizes.  We have parent volunteers that work at each game or activity.  This year we also had an inflatable obstacle course.  I was so busy having fun that I didn't take ANY pictures.

4.  Student Awards

My students had so much fun trying to nominate students for the end of year awards.  These were awarded on the last "full" day of school.  Before the awards began, students were trying to guess who might have gotten what award.

5. Countdown Bucket- FREEBIE

I used a "Countdown Bucket" in my classroom this year.  This bucket included short activities that students could participate in at the end of each day or a time that was appropriate during the school day.  I created an activity for the number of students in my classroom, and we began our countdown at that number.  At the end of each day, I would pick one student to choose a stick from our "Countdown Bucket".  This would list the activity the students would get to participate in the next day.  We did this each day until there were no more sticks left in our bucket.  It was just a small thing that the boys and girls looked forward to, and they had to "earn" the opportunity to pick a stick at the end of each day.   If you would like to make your own "Countdown Bucket" you can download this FREEBIE by clicking on the picture below.  Enjoy!!!

Have a fabulous weekend!  I would love to hear how you celebrate the end of school.

Division Fun and a FREEBIE

Hi Sweet Friends!

We are wrapping up our last full week of school!  My oh my has this school year flown by!

In math we are wrapping up our study of division.  I know it seems a little out of order since we worked on multiplication last Fall and are learning more about division at the end of the year.   Our state testing in early March is heavy on geometry, measurement, and fractions so I try to get that out of the way before I ever begin division with my sweet 3rd graders.

My students have been LOVING all of our activities on division.

1. Division Games

Listed below are a few division games that I have either used on the Promethean board for whole class or on the computers for station time.

I found Mr. Nussbaum's Learning and Fun site that has reference to many division games that  work well on our classroom IPAD.  Click Here for the link.

Number Eaters- this was great division practice for my students and used the vocabulary of quotient

Skater Math was another favorite of my students.

AND

Demolition Division 

2. Picture books to use with Division

This book is perfect to read when introducing a division unit.

3. Dividing with Food

We've also been using lots of food to help learn the concept of division and division with remainders.

Check these out!

Divide and Conquer with Skittles

Fishing for Remainders

4. Division lap books

5.  Division Task Cards

I use them for "Scoot".

It was a beautiful day, so my students completed their Division Review task card activity outside.

Many of the activities listed above can be found in my newest math unit " Divide It".  It can be purchased as a bundle which includes 101 pages of games, worksheets, food activities, task cards,  assessment , and lap book all aligned to the Common Core.  The Divide It lapbook can be purchased separately as well as the Divide It Unit which includes everything but the lap book. 

To find out more click on each of the links below.
Divide It! Division Unit aligned to the CCCS
Divide It! A Division Lap book
Divide It! Division Unit aligned to the CCCS *Bundle* includes lap book

AND for a freebie that is part of this unit, here is the I HAVE/WHO Has Division Activity.  Click HERE to be taken this free download from TPT.  I divided my students into two groups to complete this fun activity.

Enjoy your week!!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Five For Friday for May 10

Happy Mother's Day Weekend to all of you!!

  I hope you find some well deserved time to relax and get LOTS of sweet hugs and kisses from your little ones.

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for:

 1. Division and Food

We have been wrapping up the end of the year with division.  I've tried to incorporate food into several of the activities we have worked on.  It seems to help keep my students focused with only a few days left of the school year.  

"Fishing for Remainders" Activity

2. End of Year Benchmarking

This week was spent completing our last benchmarking of the year.  Woot!  Woot!

Our school uses STAR math and STAR reading for benchmarking. 

3. Three Cheers for our Classroom I Pad

Currently we only have 1 classroom IPAD, and it had been kidnapped taken in for repairs by our tech department this past winter.  My kiddos MISSED the IPAD.  Often, I would hear them ask, " Mrs. Mehrtens when are we going to get our IPAD back?"   I think they had given up hope that our "classroom friend" would return before the end of the school year.

It was returned this week!  My generally calm students were ready to mob the tech guy when they saw what he was bringing back to our classroom.  

I added a few new apps to it as well.   My kiddos are loving the "Math vs. Zombies" app.

I also added EduCreations.  My kiddos love to use it as a whiteboard and practice their math facts or spelling words.  "Earth School" was also highly recommended.  Several of my students are hooked on this science app on the planets.

4. Teacher Appreciation Week

It was such a great week filled with delicious desserts, salads, and a luncheon provided by our PTO.  I also received many sweet cards and handmade notes from my students.  Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of you!!!

The picture on the left is of an iTunes gift card and a spa gift card I received from one of my students and his family.  How sweet and thoughtful!! 

5. Muffins With Moms

I am so amazingly blessed to teach in the same district my children attend school.  It makes it so nice when holiday vacations, parent teacher conferences, and special events take place such as the one that we had today because I am able to have someone cover my classroom as I attend some of these things.    The first grade classes in our district have an event called " Muffins With Moms".  The Moms are invited to come eat breakfast with their child and take a look at the sweet things their child has made for them for Mother's Day.   

I was able to attend this with my son today.  Wow! It was such a PRECIOUS event!  His AH-mazing teacher had worked so hard!  She is truly AH-mazing!!! When we walked into the classroom there were pink table cloths over the tables and at each student's area was a decorated mason jar with a flower, a cute handmade purse  craftivity, and a bound scrapbook of the year.  After I had a chance to eat breakfast with my sweetie, we looked over the things he had made.  Too precious!!!  

AND that wasn't the end of this sweet event..  My son's teacher had taken a video of each student talking about what they loved the most about their Mom.  She showed us this video presentation on the class Promethean board along with a slideshow of the year in pictures.  P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S!!!  Each Mom was also given a CD of this " melt your heart" kind of presentation.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the classroom at the end of this event.  It was SO special and his sweet teacher had put so much thought and effort into this event.   What a great way to end the work week!!!

AND fortunately each child in the class had a Mom or Grandma in attendance.

Enjoy your weekend of "spoiling"!  You deserve it!!!

I've already started mine with this: A spa pedicure

AND it was much needed!!

Shopping Fun and Teacher Appreciation

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week Dear Friends!!!

Thank you so much for all that you do for  children.  

My children have  been so blessed to have such amazing teachers that have made such an imprint in their lives .  My Sweeties LOVE to go to school most of the time.

Some of my most favorite things as a teacher are those sweet notes that I receive from students.  Today a couple of my former students stopped by my classroom to deliver a "thank you" note.  These notes made my day!!

NOW onto shopping fun...

I filled my TPT cart up with lots of clip art and fonts during the TPT Teacher Appreciation Sale.

It's an obsession!

Look at all this fabulous clip art I found from Krista Wallden!

AND MORE clip art from The LibraryFox

 I couldn't resist these fonts from Cara Carroll

AND with only a couple of hours left.. I'm filling up my cart again.

You can check out what other goodies bloggers purchased on Blog Hoppin'

Have a great rest of the week!  Friday is just around the corner!!!

The Most Fabulous Feedback

Hi Sweet Friends!

I am so thankful for your support and kind words that many of you leave on my blog, facebook page, or in my TPT store! Thank you!  You are the best! Countless of you have brightened my day with your kind words when I was having one of those "blah" days.  It makes such a difference!

So when I heard that Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge was having a fabulous feedback linky party, I just had to join in the fun.

So here are 3 products with my some of my favorite feedback..
AND here's a twist.. I will include the name of the buyer on the feedback and if the buyer is reading this post, please  comment below, and I will send you any product of your choice from my TPT store.

Product #1
Biography Mega Pack aligned to the Common Core Standards

AND here's the sweet feedback I received from this buyer:

So kristimarie9588, if you are reading this, THANK YOU, and leave me a comment below for a free product from my store.

Product #2
My Morning "Core"Warm-ups..  December, January, February, March, and May
The feedback left was for the April unit.

This sweet buyer has left me wonderful feedback on each month of the "Core" morning Warm-ups I have created.  She has helped motivate me to continue creating these warm-ups for the summer months and the rest of the year.  Thank you!!

Pamela Wendt, if you are reading this post, please comment below so that I can send you a free product of your choosing from my store.  Thank you again!

Product #3
Common Core Fractions Mega Pack *Bundle*

I had to share two of my favorite from this unit.

The first is from a fabulously kind buyer that always takes the time to leave such great feedback!  Thank you!

AND here is the second:

 

If teacher858 and staceypowers76 is reading this post, please comment below so that I can send you a free product of your choice from my store.

Thank you again for all of your kind feedback!  It really makes my day.  I am SO FLATTERED when you purchase my products to use with your students.  You are AMAZING!