Summer Giveaway

I am so excited about this giveaway!!! 

First of all, I reached 400 followers recently and it keeps climbing daily. 

Secondly, my  blogiversary was this month. 

So, it is time to celebrate!!!! 

I was approached by Teacher T-Shirts and asked if I would like to have a giveaway or my readers. 

You know I jumped on that!!! 

Check out the great shirt I got. 

I have wanted this for a while. Seriously, as a math teacher, I say this ALL THE TIME!!! 

Pick out which one you would choose here. 

And since it's my blogiversary, I want to make the giveaway a  little bigger. 

This past January, I won a pencil sharpener in a giveaway and I love it. 

I am now giving you the chance to win your very own pencil sharpener!!! 

Classroom Friendly Supplies has graciously agreed to give a winner a FREE pencil sharpener! 

The bonus for this as well, you can receive a 5% discount now through Oct 1st on a pencil sharpener. 

Please use the code: HRZWU

Be sure to check out their site and Facebook page. 

ONE winner will be chosen on August 4th! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Diane over at Fifth in the Middle is having a HUGE giveaway. be sure to visit her for some great teacher pampering prizes!!!!!

Five for Friday- CAMT 2014

I spent this week in Ft Worth at CAMT

It was awesome! 

Sunday night after checking in, we went to the Stockyards, 

ate some yummy food and saw some local sites. 

We headed back to the hotel and checked out all the sessions we had to choose from. 

 These are some of the fun ladies from my department. This picture says it all, 

WE HAD A BLAST! 

This was us walking to dinner on Monday. 

Day 1 of  CAMT: I met my favorite bloggers!!!  

Jennifer and Jaime from 4mula Fun and Miss Math Dork

Seriously, I cannot express how much I admire both of these ladies. Their blogs are awesome and 

I have used so much of their products with my students. 

Meeting them just felt right. 

Plus, I was actually the short one. That never happens when you are 5'10!! 

The same with Danielle from Live. Love. Math. 

I own her entire store, I use everything, it's amazing!!! 

She even helped my 8th grade teachers after their scores came back low. She offered, on her own, to give them resources. This is what I love about this blogging world. 

When we met, we both said, I feel like I already know you, 

She's a shorty though! HA! What I am used to!! 

I even got to attend my last session with her and actually have time to chat. It was awesome! 

I could have gone home at this moment and it would have felt completely worth while! 

I know there were more awesome bloggers there  that I missed. I wish I could have met everyone. This definitely made me want to do the next TpT conference and meet more of you wonderful bloggers! 

The one thing about CAMT is sessions are first come, first serve. This means that sometimes you do not get into a session. You learn really quickly to get there early and wait, especially if it's someone you really want to hear. 

This was the line to see Dinah Zike, day 2, an hour and a half BEFORE her session. Craziness I tell you. 

I have seen her multiple times, so I passed. 

I actually got into all but one of the sessions I wanted to go to. 

I will be blogging about the wonderful, and not so wonderful sessions I attended later in the week. 

When I wasn't in a session, I wandered the exhibits. DANGEROUS!!! 

I had a budget, but I blew it! Typical. It's a good thing my husband does NOT read this blog. 

I immediately bought the special the Math Teachers of TpT were having. 

10 AWESOME teachers on this CD!!! Can't wait to delve into it. 

I treated myself to some teacher shirts and earrings. 

Miss Math Dork made these earrings. They are soooo cute!!! 

I bought this super cute word wall cards. What a talented artist, Catnip's Word Walls.

At the last minute I bought this number line. This is not the one I bought. I bought mine for 6-8 obviously. It's still in the box though. I could have waited and let my school buy it, but I was in a shopping mood! 

These were just fun buys. I love QUIET dice and that is ALL I use in my room. 

I am excited about the self checking operation games for my students, but also my own children. I have one that starts multiplication this year. 

And that pen. I bought each of my little boys one and the great thing about little ones and they thought I brought back something magical. Best $2 spent all week! 

Yep, I went nuts and I loved it! 

I did rush home Wednesday to spend with this sweetheart. It was our wedding anniversary. I hated to be gone for a second of it, but the trip was well worth it. 

We went to dinner, with kids, to celebrate. No way were my kids letting me go out without them, they missed me too. 

I have so much to share with you about the actual conference, so I'd better get busy on that. Plus, now I am finally excited about getting prepared for this school year. It's about time, summer is ending soon!!! 

HAPPY FRIDAY ALL! 

Looking Forward to CAMT 2014

I am heading out for CAMT tomorrow. 

CAMT stands for the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching. It's yearly conference held in Texas, and like everything else in Texas, it is BIG! I have been and even presented before, but this will be my first trip in a LONG time and my first as a secondary teacher. 

I am the "mother" for this trip, so I have the keys to the suburban, hotel check and of course, my ticket!!! 

Right now I am most excited about sleeping in my own bed for three nights. I know, pathetic, but with little ones, it's reality people! I can't act too excited though, not just yet. My husband really hates when I am gone so if he thinks I am "looking forward" to it, it could make for a bad day. We even have a date tonight, which I truly am excited about. I should be packing, but I wouldn't miss an opportunity to date my hubby!!! 

I am also excited to meet some great blogging friends and of course get some good info for the upcoming school year. 

I have done absolutely nothing this summer for school. I am hoping this gets me fired up!!! 

There are about 750 session opportunities and featured speakers as well. Not to mention the exhibits!!! I have already scoped out the online catalog and have an ideas of the sessions I want to attend. You gotta have a game plan for these things! 

Stay posted, I am sure I will have lots to share when I return! 

Throwback Thursday- Fractions, Decimals and Percents Game

I'm linking with Angela over at The Teacher's Desk 6 for Throwback Thursday. 

I went back to a center I created with water bottle lids. I love it and my kids loved it too. Its easy to make and its easy to replace lost pieces as well.

originally posted 7/24/2012

Many months ago, I saw this on Pinterest.

activitymom.blogspot.com

At the time I was thinking of ways to help my own son who was in Kindergarten learn his sight words. So, I started saving bottle caps.

I needed a way to save a lot and as luck would have it, my school was doing some testing and we gave our kids water bottles. I sent a mass email and asked the teachers to have their students save their lids for me and I ended up with hundreds of them.

 I didn't need that many, but being the teacher that I am, I can't throw them away. I am sure they will come in handy at some point. 

I did write my son's sight words on some and he played with them a few times. It was helpful.

So, here I am just sitting and surfing the web, stalking blogs and game sites and it hits me. I can use those for a matching game.

So, here's what I came up with: 

Put a Lid on It!

Students will match the fraction, decimal and percent

My plan is to use this as a center. This is a big goal for me this year in Middle School, more hands on centers/stations.

Download the activity here.

ENJOY!

Throwback Thursday- Classroom Clocks

Today, I am linking with Anglea over at The Teacher's Desk 6 for Throwback Thursday! 

I am going way back, almost 2 years, to my 5th post ever.

I haven't participated in a Made for Monday yet this summer. What is wrong with me? Anyway, this was my first for that as well.

Two years later, I still love my clock and have seen others that I would love to include in my classroom.

Originally posted July 23, 2012

I have waited all week for this link party with 4th Grade Frolic! So excited...

I saw these clocks on Pinterest in May.

http://homedelicious.blogspot.com/2011/05/teachers-end-of-year-gift-personalized.html

So, I made these for presents at the end of the school year.

Then, I saw this clock at Target. Perfect for my middle school math classroom.

It wasn't crazy $$, I think $24.99, but I just knew I could make it for less.

So, I did!

The clock cost me $3.97. I had the chalkboard paint (this cost $7.99, but I use it for lots of projects!) and chalk (bought mine for $1) from another DIY project and we always have batteries around here with four boys and their toys.

Take the clock apart carefully. Spray paint it with chalkboard paint. I followed he wait time on the can, 24 hours.
Write numbers and or equations for the numbers. Since my clock was smaller, I had to adjust my numbers. I still love it though!

I heart chalkboard paint very much! 

And now, I have a great MATH clock for my classroom this year. The glare made it hard to take a picture, sorry.

The cost was $13 if I never use the chalkboard paint again. Oh wait, too late, I already have... maybe I can share that on another Monday Made  it day!

Green with Envy- Not in Las Vegas

I am NOT in Vegas and I am GREEN with envy of all those teachers who are. 

I wish I had made a better attempt at going for the TpT Conference. 

I LOVE Vegas, we go every year, sometimes we go twice a year! My hubby and I were there in February. We planned to go back this summer, but my son's medical expenses changed those plans. I didn't teach summer school this year, now of course I am kicking myself for not. 

I keep seeing all the posts about Vegas and I am stalking all the fun on instagram! As jealous as I am, I am glad to see all that is going on. 

#tptvegas2014 if you want to stalk look too! 

There's even giveaways going on, even for those of us at home. 

Check this one out, for an Erin Condren Planner. Holly has some great photos of it on her post. 

Good luck!