January 2015

I'm linking up with some of my new blogging buddies today for a blog hop that is SNOW much fun!! (Pretty appropriate for the snow that's going to be dumped on CT, and the rest of New England this week!!)

Today I want to share how we beat the winter blues in my classroom! Living and teaching in Connecticut, we spend a LOT of time indoors this time of year. As I'm sure you all know - it gets to us. It gets to the teachers, and it gets to the kids. So how do I keep the kiddos (and myself!) from going crazy?

Fun Projects.
One project I did last winter was inspired by the pin that led me to this amazing blog post from Primary Punch.

We wrote about what would happen if we woke up one day and we were trapped in a snow globe! Then we assembled our projects just like the picture...I took the kids pictures, they assembled the picture and background and we added some snow. They got SUPER creative with this, and loved the end result!

GoNoodle.

If you are a teacher, and you do not know about this most fabulous, sanity-saving resource, RUN! Do not walk! To GoNoodle.com
We in Room 6 are BIG fans of

Indoor Recess MegaMixes

Pop See Ko and ANYTHING by the hilarious dudes of Koo Koo Kangaroo

Kitty High Five

aaaaaand....

AirTime Space! We love this super-calming, deep-breathing one!

Roam The Room
Read the Room, Write the Room, Solve the Room - it goes by many-a-name, but we in room 6 call it "Roam the Room." We. Love. Them. I do a TON of these for math. Put some independent practice or a review on some task cards, slap 'em up around the room, and watch your kids be engaged in practice but MOVING their bodies! Incorporating movement around this time of year is CRUCIAL for us to not go stir-crazy! :o) Check out my 3-digit addition & subtraction Roam The Room HERE!

Blizzard BINGO

Now, what happens when the inevitable snow day comes along? Or...DUN DUN DUN...multiple snow days in a row?! A few years back, we had back-to-back blizzards up here in CT, and we had no school for a week. I made a Blizzard BINGO and emailed it to my parents. The response was AWESOME. It kept kiddos busy, kept 'em learning and reading, and entertained them for a little while to get keep 'em from driving mom & dad crazy! I usually offer some sort of incentive, like 3 extra points on a spelling test, or a trip to the Prize Box, if they complete a certain number of squares.

You can find that freebie by clicking on the cover below!!

Like I said earlier in my post, we are expecting LOTS of snow in the next few days, so I've made a Blizzard BINGO freebie for you! :o)
Email it to your kids, use it as a homework for the week, or use it with your own little ones!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Click the picture to hop over to Susie's blog, The Panicked Teacher, next!! :o)

I'm linking up with Farley for her monthly Currently to kick my blogging year off on the right foot!

Listening - to the Winter Classic on TV. Capitals vs Blackhawks. I have no strong feelings towards it but I'm at my friend's house and she loves hockey.

Loving - I've had THE BEST break. The. Best. It was very necessary, and very well-deserved. There are pieces of school this year that are really trying for me, and this break has been exactly what I needed. Lots of time with the most incredible friends a girl could ask for, lots of great food, and lots of laughing.

I'm also SUPER DUPER pumped for my little overnight jaunt into NYC tomorrow to meet up with my college roommates! All four of us haven't been together since July of 2012! I'm so, so excited!!

Thinking - about my To-Do list for school. I shouldn't say I haven't touched it because I spent a day in my classroom, but it was all spent doing organizing things that fell by the wayside in December.

Wanting - for all my planning and prepping for next week to be done so I can enjoy the last few days of my break.

Needing - to be better about turning off my teacher brain more often. A huge thing I want to do in 2015 is find a balance between work and my life outside of work, and be better about turning off my teacher brain. I worry that I'll get too fried so early in my career, and I love my job so dearly I don't want that to happen!

YES - I WILL #bebetter2015. I came up with this as my resolution last year too. Be better. It's nothing against the person I am now, nothing negative, but there are many things that I need to do to work on myself and make myself the best person, blogger, TpTer, teacher, friend, daughter, etc., that I can be! I took some HUGE steps in 2014 to work on myself and I hope to continue that into this year, keep up my hard work, and make even bigger strides!

MAYBE - One of my best friends since childhood moved to New Orleans this past June. I miss her SO MUCH when she's gone (but she's home now for the Christmas break...literally laying on the floor near me as I type this) and I may go down to NOLA for the weekend before Mardi Gras!

A WISH - I just saw that SDE is doing an I Teach 2nd Conference this summer in Vegas...I'm DYING to go! And while I'm there, I may as well get myself to the TpT Conference too! :o) I don't know if it's in the cards for this year, but hey, you never know!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BLOGGY FRIENDS!!

Here's to a year of happiness, health, growth, love, and laughter!