Hall Pass/ Snow Day!!

We were suppose to have parent teacher conferences tonight, but there is a snow storm a brewin' (though not as fast as predicted) so the next two days we are off without conferences or inservices!! {Going to sleep tonight with no alarms in the mornings, an amazing thought!} Even though conferences are pushed to next week, I'm looking forward to this mini break. Besides, we live in Kansas. We have four wheel drive vehicles. We know how to enjoy a lot of snow.  :)

While I'm all cozy on the couch this evening {delaying productivity until the morning} I stumbled upon this fun linky from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and I had to link up! It's all about taking a little break from the classroom...which fits into my current place of mind perfectly!

A fun acronym of questions.. what a fun theme!

 P- Product: The product I'm enjoy the most right now are my "Going on a Camp Out" centers {check them out at TPT or TN}. Several of my students are very into Cub Scouts and one just transitioned into Boy Scouts, many of the girls are in Girl Scouts as well {as you can tell from my few boxes hoarding of thin mints and caramel delights}. These centers review several concepts we've been working on and covering: addition/subtraction with and without borrowing and regrouping, comparing decimals, 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication, rounding, and analyzing basic multiplication products.

A-Area: My student's favorite area {and a few students from down the hall} enjoy reading in my room. Since I'm a resource teacher, there aren't all the student desks so my room is very open. I have a love for children's literature so it makes my heart happy to be able to share my books and have students want to stop by just to read.

Poor picture....but over a 1,000 books in my room... and I love it!

S-Signal: I vary the signals used in my room. A combination of theme songs {ba-da-da-da-da... I'm lovin' it...thank you McDonald} and chants. One that worked really well, was to say "Hey fourth grade!" They would reply, "Hey, what?" Repeat. They would have the time of the chant to stop and give me their full attention. It's usually spirited, a little sing-songy, and the kids respond to it well.

S-Sanity: Most days I'm sane, but then there are those days. If days are going rough (all of the core classes are taught in the morning) by noon, I will eat my lunch in my room, with the lights off, just listening to the church bells across the road, or Pandora. I look forward to plan time everyday. Our principal is great...and has made sure we have a long plan time during elements... and hour a day! With the ability to work with our grade level team during that hour. This hour reprieve is great to get paper work, grading, and IEPs done. My teaching partner also helps keep me sane. She's a veteran teacher with a fun personality and a listening ear. She gives me advice, laughs, and gentle reminders that "this too shall pass."

So that is my "Hall Pass." Please join in with the linky, I'll need something to read up on {besides my grad school class work} over my long weekend!


Happy Wednesday/Snow Day!!