Teaching with FOOTBALL

For the past 3 years I've followed the Houston Texans' wins and losses with my class and tracked them with fractions. It's been a great way to get familiar with fractions and has lead to meaningful discussions about numerator and denominators, why they change and what they mean. It's also been a great way to give my students real-world practice with fractions! 

I've had such fraction success with this simple program that I've decided to make it available to all NFL teaching fans!! No matter what NFL team you like (GO TEXANS), there's a set for you!


Here's what YOUR board could look like! 

Each set comes with your team's name, a "Games Won" and "Games Lost" goal post, and a Numerator/ Denominator mini-poster. Just find your team below, click the link, and start tracking!! 

WINNER, WINNER!

We have a winner, folks! Congrats to MaryAnne - be sure to check your email!

 Thanks to all who entered my Back to School giveaway!!

GIVEAWAY!

I have SERIOUSLY been negelecting my blog.
I just can't find the motivation to update. Type, upload pics, link, type, blah blah blah. Instagram is so much easier!!
I love sharing ideas/descriptions/instructions though, and that's impossible on IG.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get re-blog-inspired so I thought I'd kick things off with a fun, BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIVEAWAY!

What am I giving away?

A TWENTY DOLLAR TPT gift card!
A PERSONLIZED PENCIL DOOR SIGN!*
A SET OF FRIXION ERASABLE PENS!
To sum it up, I'm giving away AWESOMNESS!!

Want to win? 
- Follow my blog! (5 points)
- Post about my giveaway on YOUR blog (use pic above)! (10 points)
- Follow me on Instagram (if you're not already) and re-grame giveaway pic! (5 points and you can do this ONCE EACH DAY!) 
- Like my page on Facebook (5 points ~ mandatory to enter giveaway)

Givewaway ends August 10th, so get to entering! GOOD LUCK!
*Door sign will be painted as seen in pic, but ribbon, name & body color of pencil may be customized (solid colors only).



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posters!!

I've already started thinking about my decor for next year...
YES. I know the current school year is not over.
YES. I know summer has not even begun.
But once my brain starts, it won't quit. So I've already started planning, buying and MAKING!

I've made some adorable classorom posters for my room next year... I can't tell you WHERE or WHY the idea came about (that will have to wait), but I can give a small hint... Basically, I'm going to turn old, worn out aspects of my classroom (my school is kinda dated) into ADORABLE.

Remember what I did to my ugly cabinets last year? It's along those same lines... I'm seriously stoked about the end result. So STAY TUNED!

Last year I took my old, ugly mismatched cabinets and covered them with contact paper. From LAME to FAB! 

Anyway. Back to my classroom posters.
I love them so much I decided to make them a $1 download on my TPT. I've made them with clipart frames and without (both option is in each pack) so you can either print, cut and hang 'em right away OR print, cut and buy an adorable frame to put them in.

Here are the posters I've made thus far... If you like one, just click the pic to be taken to my TPT store, "Katie Texas"!

5"7"s

 

4"6"s

Want a free one? Just pin a pic of your favorite & blog about it and I'll hook you up! Just comment with the link below. (Limit 2 per person and only open to the first 5 people who leave a comment)

Have a cute saying you'd like made into a poster? Comment below and if I decide to make it, I'll give you a free one! YAY! 

~xo~

Have you heard??

Have you heard of SLANT (Sending Love Across the Nation to Teachers) Box? Jameson over at Lessons With Coffee (love the name, btw) has come up with the best-est idea ever... Link up with two teachers somewhere in the world, get to know them, and SEND and RECEIVE presents! LOVE IT!

This will be my first month participating and I'm STOKED.

Click the pic and go sign up!

Mabye we'll get paired up! WOOT!

xo

TESTING FREEBIE!!

The STAAR Math and Reading test are next week...
Tuesday the 22nd my babies (students) will show everything they know and ROCK that test...

In preparation, we reviewed skills and strategies this week. On Monday, we did a rotating review. There were 1-3 questions at each desk (depending on difficulty) and students rotated around answering each.  My kiddos ROCKED OUT and answered over 40 questions withing a 1 hour and 45 minute time period... And it was so fun they didn't even REALIZE or COMPLAIN! Teacher win!!

On Tuesday, I told my kids I wanted to give them a present for their hard work... iPADS! Of course they were stoked, until I handed them out PAPER instead of an ELECTRONIC.... There was laughing/ "Awwww man"s and "you tricked us", but once they saw they were making their OWN iPads they started to dig the activity. I picked out 20 KEY math strategies that I thought the kiddos needed to review OR strategies that applied to a large majority of the test. We looked at the breakdown of Readiness/ Supporting standards (TEXAS STAAR) and how many questions they would probably have on each skill (my awesome math partner made the breakdown - love her).

Reviewing these standards and practicing our strategies accomplished SO many things:
- I was able to check that my kids had their strategies down
- The kids saw how many questions came from each skill
- The kids were able to see that the test is NOT that scary
- IT WAS FUN!
- They had an awesome reference we used all week

I even had the kids help make a large iUseStrategies board display so while the the kids were refering to their iPads, I could refer to mine.

Basically, the iUseStrategies iPad ROCKED my classroom. And I want it to do the same for yours. So I've made it a freebie in my TPT store! GO GET YOURS NOW!

~xo~

NEW TPT GOODIES! And FREEBIES!

I've think I've said it before but... I LOVE TEACHING GEOMETRY. Do you? I think it's so visual and can be so hands on. I really dig it. I try to excite my kids about it too, because you know what I don't love? 10TH GRADE Geometry... I remember it like it was yesterday... However, the only thing I remember about it is that it was awful and I sat by my best friend. That's how I survivedPlease don't ask what I learned...

I'm positive the reason I love teaching math so much is because I struggled in math. I want to make things FUN for my kids, help them LEARN and LOVE math. Not hate it like I do... I mean DID! :)

Back to Geometry.

I've put together all the fantastic activities I do in my classroom to teach Transformations to my students into one pack.

The pack includes note taking with hands-on examples, a hands-on activity using FOOD (yum), a song to get your kids up and moving, AND a game! They will be TRANSORMATION experts when you're done with this pack!! 

Want a copy? Just click this link ---> KATIE TEXAS <--- to be taken to my Teachers-Pay-Teachers store! 

**WANT A FREE COPY??? (You know you do!!) Here's how you can get one: 

- Pin this activity pack to pinterest (put the link in the comments below)

- Become a new follower (if you aren't one already) 

- PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE blog about this pack and include a link to my blog and pack! (If you do this one, I'll throw in my MATH JOURNALS BASIC-SET up for free as well! YAY!)

**THIS IS ONLY OPEN TO THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE**

Here are two more FREEBIES in my TPT store that you can get with no-strings attached :)

These Classroom Schedule Headers are FREE for you to enjoy!! I've made a set for Early Childhood-Elementary (that includes pictures) and a set for Secondary-Highschool (that includes subject headers and 1st-10th period). Both sets comes have clocks on each header so you can let students know what and when things are happening. ENJOY!  

Happy Teaching!

It's already April??

Can't believe it's already April!! Time, as usual, as flown by. And I have done everything but BLOG!! I'm much better about posting to INSTAGRAM and pinning my life away on PINTEREST. 

Please follow me! I'm "Katie Texas"on both. Or just click the links above to find me. I post/pin tons of teaching stuff because it's my PASSION and I LOVE IT! 

Anyway, here's a quick picture post recap of the last 3 months....

Here's a little bit of Februrary... 

On Valentine's Day, my students had a BLAST using Miss Britnee's Heart-y Estimations worksheet!

And a little bit of March... 

My students learned about 3-D shapes and their attributes as well as a TON of other geometry concepts.

I went to the Rodeo and ACTUALLY WORE COWBOY BOOTS! (me on the left, my sister on the right)

And our district paid for a FABULOUS and FUN Writing Review with Erik Cork! 

And finally, April! 

We review Geometry by having FUN!!!

I won my first GRANT! 

My oldest son turned 14!

And Saturday STAAR Camp was a blast! Especially when you pair learning with a RELAY and you move everything out into the hall. Gotta keep things fresh and fun! 

My students have been working their TAILS off, and I am so impressed by how much they know. I gave last year's released STAAR test to my kids and was so happy to see how well they all did. I'm so proud of my ROCKSTARS! 

I have to give credit where credit is due - God has blessed me so much!! HE inspires me with teaching ideas, HE guides me and HE blesses me with patience each day! Thank you, Lord!! 

Fractions... Decimals... Number Lines... Snow Day?

Today is a "Snow Day" for my district... I'm in a coastal town in Southern Texas... We don't get snow. So today is a WASTE OF A TEACHING DAY!

I know, I know, I should be thankful for a paid day off in the middle of the week... But I LOVE to teach. I LOVE my students. I LOVE my school.... So I WANT TO BE TEACHING! Not to mention, because of district benchmarks, holidays and a random late-start weather day last week, I haven't been able to get in a full week of teaching since before Christmas! Ugh!

Since I'm home today, I've looked at Benchmark data (lame to some but so interesting to me), worked on RTI ideas and paperwork and most importantly, made a new TPT product - Rockin' Number Lines!!

I'm super excited about this product... I decided to make it because I have a handful of students still not understanding numberlines. The majority of my classes get it, so I want a quick, fun way to review with them. Have you ever heard of Quiz-Quiz-Trade? It's a Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategy that ROCKS.

Here's how it works:
- Each student gets a card and holds it in their hand all sneaky like (since the answers are on the back)
- Students find a partner and take turns quizing each other, then they trade cards and find a new partner to quiz
- For this set of cards, the students will need to see the number line and identify the point as a decimal or fraction (the set contains halves, thirds, fourths and fifths)

What's awesome about this is the students are constantly getting new questions to answer AND ask... So if you use this as a 5-10 minute activity, they've been exposed to numerous questions and answers AND they've had the opportunity to teach their classmates AND if they miss a "quiz", that card becomes theres to ask so they're exposed to the question again AND, AND, AND... the list could go on and on. But to sum it up, Quiz-Quiz-Trade is a fabulous activity and KAGAN is genius.

ADDED BONUS: Once you're done using the task cards, throw them in a center. If you purchase my set of DVD Games for Centers or Stations, there's always a math game ready for the kiddos to play - grab some task cards, grab a DVD case and BAM! Instant game time. My students LOOOOVE these.

Hope you can get some use out of these Task Cards! Stay warm peeps!

1 for ME Linky Party

Today I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for a "1 for Me" resolution of sorts.

Last New Year, I decided I'd eat better. 

Eh-hem. 

Didn't happen. 

This year, I'm deciding to WORK ON MY STRESS LEVEL. I have all sorts of awesome aches and issues because of stress.... I have neck, shoulder and back issues. I've seen doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists. I grind my teeth at night, which also led to jaw issues. I don't really think my body knows how to "relax"because I'm constantly tense. To sum it u, I'm a giant ball of STRESS MESS. So this year, I'm going to find ways to relieve stress. I'm going to start with yoga. I LOVE YOGA. A few years ago when I actually did exercise, yoga was my favorite activity. I remember how my body would hum after a yoga sessions - every muscle was used, stretched and relaxed. I need that back in my life! So my "1 for me" is RELAXATION through YOGA! Yay!  

Happy 2014 my friends! Don't forget about my fantastic TPT sale that starts today and runs through Jan. 4! Just click HERE to go to my store! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!