Living and Non Living with the LION KING!!

leslie October 6, 2011 3 Comments
One of the life science TEKS I have to teach is abiotic and biotic factors, which are just fancy names for living and non living things in an ecosystem.  But more importantly, I have to teach the interdependence biotic factors have on abiotic items and vice versa. There is no better way to teach this than through the first 4 minutes of Lion King.  Here is what we did:Defined and...

Clipboards and Post-its

leslie October 5, 2011 6 Comments
I think it is a requirement of teachers to... Love clipboards... and have about 1 million.... you never know when you need one.Have a near obsession over post-its.  Cant they be used for just about anything!?!? Math... yes.... Science... yes... Reading... always.... Love them!So what's a better way than incorporating the two into a great gift for my Secret Pal at school.  She's a...

Light Bulb Moments are NOT just for Kids…

leslie September 29, 2011 2 Comments
I have them too!!! As I am sure you do as well!  And when that bulb goes off you automatically go.... DUH!!!! Why didn't I think of that earlier!?!?!The old saying comes to mind.... Work SMARTER... Not HARDER.Well that's the kinda day I had, and it will roll on like that for the rest of this week!  Here is what I did:We have been covering factors, common factors, and GCF (greatest...

GAME Time!!!

leslie September 21, 2011 1 Comment
But instead of watching the "game" on TV, I am talking about having games in the classroom.   Not just any classroom... the MIDDLE SCHOOL classroom. Da-Da-Da-Da..... however you spell that scary sound.... Anyway... ADD moment.... Games.  Yes Games.  I am only going to focus on the one we are playing in class now, which we started last week.  I am reviewing factoring and...

Another Award?! I feel so BLESSED!!

leslie September 16, 2011 6 Comments
 Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss J fromand Tara fromfor awarding me the Versatile Bogger Award! I didnt know about this one and yall totally made my day! Thank you!So if you too would like to give out this award, here is what you need to do:The Rules after accepting the Versatile Blogger Award are:Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.Share 7 things...

Brought to you by… HOBBY LOBBY!!

leslie September 12, 2011 2 Comments
Today (in less that an hour) I made a fall wreath.  I have never made one of these, but my friend made this beautiful table arrangement and posted it to facebook: She said all the stuff she got was at Hobby Lobby, so I headed there yesterday morning and bought all this:Which was all 50% off!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!   Expect the grapevine wreath... it was $5.99, but I also had...

When the World Stopped Turning….

leslie September 12, 2011 1 Comment
Do you know that Alan Jackson song.... Where were you when the world stopped turning???  I am sure you have heard it, but if you haven't it's a beautiful song about September 11th and what came from it.I was 19 at the time... a sophomore at college, and on that Tuesday I had a 9:15 flag football class (easy athletic credit and fun too), but I always had to walk to class, so I left my house...

A Special Honor and My Top 10

leslie September 4, 2011 5 Comments
I have been outta town this weekend and finally got on the internet tonight.  I was so surprised and honored to find out that.....  Thanks soooooo much Jen at Rundle's Room and Pam at Vintage Teacher for nominating me :)  Yall really made my day!!!!So in honor of getting this awesome award, I too am making my top 10 list.In the beginning, one of the first blogs I followed...

Line Graphs….How to Make them CONCRETE!!! What, What?!

leslie August 31, 2011 7 Comments
My 6th graders are having a hard time with line graphs.  It's hard for them to plot ordered pairs, connect the dots and understand what they are looking at.  As I was sitting on the couch looking through some books, I came across an awesome idea....AND I LOVE IT!!!!The book is called Hands-On Math!  Ready to Use Games and Activities for Grades 4-8.  (Long title... I know......

Mission Organization: Tables

leslie August 30, 2011 1 Comment
This year I have tables.  The past 2 years I have had desks that worked beautifully; however, bigger kids need bigger spaces.  Don't get me wrong....I LOVE my tables compared to the normal "junior high desks".  You know the one with the basket at the bottom that you have to slide into with the arm on one side.  How can you do Science experiments with those?!?  If you are...