DIY Dry Erase - Super Simple!!

I have seen the dry erase boards made with glass photo frames and scrapbook paper, and I have been wanting to make them.  Finally, I did, and they turned out sooooo cute.  
I found some cheap glass frames from Big Lots (2 for $5), but they didn't have any cute scrapbook paper, so I waited until I found some paper that I liked.  On a random trip to Walmart, I found the perfect paper.  I got 2 sheets of 12X12 peach colored glitter paper for 97 cents!  I traced the paper from inside the frame on the back of the glitter paper.  I cut the glitter paper and put it in the frame.  DONE.  Now that is the kind of DIY project I like!

They cost me a total of $6.00 and I love them.  I was a little concerned that the dry erase marker might not come off that well, but it comes off very easily! 

I am planning on hanging them near my writing station with some circular, light blue dry erase peel and stick wall clings that I also got from Big Lots.  I am hoping to let students use these boards to share some of their creative writing ideas.  

Homemade Granola

After reading this recipe on Hungrygirl.com, I was inspired to make my own homemade granola.  To my surprise, it came out awesome!  I am always searching for healthier and lower calorie foods, but my fiance always prefers the full-fat and less healthy options.  However, I made this granola, and before I could eat more than a handful, my fiance had demolished the whole batch!  I think that says a lot for the recipe!!!


I did not follow the recipe exactly as it is written on Hungrygirl.com.  I could not find any puffed rice cereal, so I used only puffed wheat cereal (and it was sweetened).  I used the Great Value brand called Honey Crunch puffed wheat cereal.  I also used quick oats since it wasn't specified in the recipe (I don't think it really matters).  Anyway, here is the recipe that I created.


Ingredients:
1 cup quick oats
1 cup puffed wheat cereal
5 tablespoons sugar free syrup
raisins (as much as you like)
1 apple (I used a Granny Smith)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup water
Cinnamon 
Sugar (or sweetener like Splenda or Truvia)


Directions:


Basic Granola
1.  Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. 
2.  Combine the first three ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and then transfer the oats/cereal mixture onto the pan.  Spread the mixture out in a thin layer.
4.  Cook the granola for 35 minutes.
5.  Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let the granola cool on the pan.


Dried Apples
6.  Adjust the oven temperature to 250 degrees.
7.  Meanwhile, combine the water and the lemon juice in a bowl.
8.  Cut the apple into thin slices.  The thinner, the better.  If you want, you can core them.  I left the cores in the apple and just removed the seeds.  As you slice them, place the slices in the lemon juice and water.  
9.  Let the apples soak in the water for about 8 minutes. 
10.  Remove and lay them out onto a cookie sheet.
11.  Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small dish and sprinkle (to your liking) on the apple slices.
12.  Place the apples into the oven for about an hour or until they are fairly dry and brown.
13.  Remove the apples and lift each one so that they won't stick as they cool.


Finish the Granola
14.  Transfer the basic granola into a bowl.
15.  Add the raisins and dried apples.
16.  Mix and enjoy!

Tabata Rounds - 2 Cardio, 1 Core Strength, 2 Cardio, 1 Core Strength

I tried a new workout at home this morning.  It got my heart rate up pretty well and worked my core!  I got the workout from Lindsay at theleangreenbean.com.  She called it  Rev and Recover Tabata Workout, which I thought was pretty appropriate.  The hardest thing was that there are no rests in between, so it was difficult to keep the timer right.


Round 1 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Burpees
Scissor Jumps



Round 2 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Reverse Lunges
Squat Jumps



Round 3 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Russian Twists
Leg Lifts



Round 4 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Mountain Climbers
Push Ups with Donkey Kicks



Round 5 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Line Jumps
Side to Side Shuffles


Round 6 (20 seconds on/10 seconds rest of each x 4)
Reverse Crunch with lift
Bicycle Crunches (Lindsay has toe touches here, but I wasn't sure what she meant by that so I just did bicycle crunches)


This took about 24 minutes altogether.  It got my heart rate up to about 160 - 180 during the tabata rounds.  Not too bad.  :)


I finished with some lunges with light weight, bicep curls, tricep extensions, light weight dead lifts, and calf lifts.  Decent full body workout for a short amount of time and completed at home.  

1, 2, 3 Magic

1, 2, 3 Magic is a procedure for classroom discipline.  It was recommended to me by a fellow teacher who had seen great results from it in a fourth grade classroom.  The basic ideas behind it is very much common sense, and I think that is why it works. It emphasizes no arguing, discussing, or "adult tantruming" with children when they are exhibiting disruptive behavior.  The kids get three chances before taking a "timeout" for 5 minutes.  I really like the idea of them getting three chances (in the form of one word warnings), but the idea of a timeout makes me very nervous.  With my background in Applied Behavior Analysis, I know that many behaviors are maintained by escape.  The students don't want to do the work so they act out and escape or delay the task.  That is the last thing that I want to do, so if I am going to use 1, 2, 3 Magic, I am going to have to come up with a timeout that is less desirable than the tasks at hand.  I am thinking about having them fill out a "poor choice form" during this time.  Hopefully, filling out one of these would be less fun than whatever activity we are doing in the "time-in" situation.  Click here to get the poor choice form I made for free.


I am also wondering if it is possible to use the 1, 2, 3 Magic program with a clip chart?  I love the idea of letting kids clip up as well as clip down.  Has anyone out there used both together?  If you have and would like to give me some ideas/advice, that would be great!  I gladly welcome any ideas!!!


I am really big into positive reinforcement, but I do understand the need for consequences as well (why I like the 1, 2, 3 Magic procedure).  I want the biggest part of my discipline procedures to be positive reinforcement, so I am debating on exactly how to use the 1, 2, 3 Magic program in my room.  I was thinking about a classroom economy (I used one with my kindergarteners last year, and it worked really well), but I am wondering if it will be too complicated for my first year in fourth grade.  I have also seen some great ideas on Pinterest, like the idea of Sparklers from Mrs. McHaffie's blog.  I just can't make up my mind yet!  I better be figuring things out quickly...I only have a few weeks until school starts!  Wahoo!  :)

Tabata Rounds

Today I wanted to try another workout.  After searching around on the internet, and not finding anything I could wanted to do at home (felt kinda lazy about driving to the gym).  I wanted something that would get my heart rate up fast but not use a lot of weight or moves that I am not 100% sure how to do.  Some of the exercises seemed too complicated while others seemed like I would just get hurt doing them.  So....I decided to combine some different Tabata workouts for a quick, heart-pumping workout.  Here it is:




Warm Up:  10 minutes running


Tabata (20 seconds on and 10 seconds rest for each exercise)


Set 1:
High Knees (or Stationary Run)
Mountain Climbers


Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 minutes.


Rest for 1 minute.



Set 2:
Seal Jacks
Plank Jacks


Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 minutes.


Rest for 1 minute.



Set 3:
Skater Jumps
Plank to Push-up


Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 minutes.


Rest for 1 minute.



Set 4:
Burpees
Mountain Climbers


Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 minutes.


Rest for 1 minute.


Cool down:  5 minute Run/Walk/Jog 


My inspiration for this workout came from ThePostGame.  Check out this site for a video and great explanations for most of these workouts.  This workout left me feeling pretty tired and my heart rate was way up.  It was an effective 35 minute workout.

Fractured Fairy Tales

The best thing about going back to an older grade is being able to do a fractured fairy tale  unit.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fairy tales, and I love fractured fairy tales even more.  They are so creative and inspire kids to use their imaginations and have fun with writing.  I personally enjoy doing fractured Cinderella stories.  There are so many GOOD examples of fractured Cinderella stories.  Bigfood Cinderrrrella, Cinder-Edna, Bubba the Cowboy Prince, and Dinorella are a few of my favorites.  To assist with the writing process, I have created a graphic organizer that highlights all the important elements of a Cinderella fractured fairy tale.  This is great for prewriting.  I also have a PowerPoint that I used as I had my second graders (when I did this two years ago) complete the organizer.  Using both of these tools and reading a lot of great examples (as mentioned before), my kids wrote AMAZINGLY creative, detailed fractured Cinderella stories.  

To see either of this products, check out my TpT store.  

If you are interested in either of these, head on over to my TpT store and download a copy of either, or both!  


I also really like to connect EVERYTHING to fairy tales when I do my unit.  Below you will see some images of math related materials that I created when I taught second grade.  

Fairy Godmother Glyph

Fairy Tale - Plot the Points 

Map of Far Away Land

These are just a few of the fairy tale downloads at my TpT store.  I hope you find them helpful!  

Daily 5

I did a project on Daily 5 for my master's program last semester and fell in love.  It was too late in the year to go all out with my kindergarteners by the time I had a good grasp on it, but I did incorporate some elements.  This year, I will be moving to fourth grade and will be implementing a full Daily 5 model.  I am super pumped and I can't wait to see how it goes, but I am still a little nervous.  I'm changing grades, changing schools, and changing my teaching model.  Whew!  Anyway, to start, I have created a recording sheet to help my kids track where they have been each day.  If you are interested, head on over to my teacherspayteachers store and get a FREE copy.  Watch out for other Daily 5 materials that I hope to create as we get closer to the start of school.  Enjoy!  (Oh, and feel free to leave comments or suggestions for things you do with the Daily 5 that perhaps a first time user should know!!)

HIIT Run

I am really beginning to enjoy HIIT workouts.  I decided to do a HIIT run that I made up using this infographic as a guide.

This infographic is awesome.  It really sums up a lot of information about these workouts that are so new to me.  I used the section on the Little Method to come up with this workout.

Time (in minutes)                     Speed (in mph)

0 - 3                                            6

3:00 - 4:00                                  9.5

4:00 - 4:15                                  6

4:15 - 5:15                                  9.5

5:15 - 6:30                                  6

6:30 - 7:30                                  9.5

7:30 - 8:45                                  5.5

8:45 - 9:45                                  9.5

9:45 - 11:00                                5.5

11:00 - 12:00                              9.8

12:00 - 13:15                              5.5

13:15 - 14:15                              9.5
14:15 - 15:30                              5.5
15:30 - 16:30                              9.8
16:30 - 17:45                              5.5
17:45 - 18:45                              9.0
18:45 - 20:15                              5.5
20:15 - 21:15                              9.8
21:15 - 22:30                              5.5
22:30 - 23:30                              9.8
23:30 - 24:45                              5.0
24:45 - 25:45                              9.5
25:45 - 27:00                              5.0
27:00 - 28:00                              9.8
28:00 - 29:15                              5.5
29:15 - 30:00                              5.0


The intervals may seem a little sporadic, and that's because they are!  I wanted to push myself during the high intensity intervals, so I sort of changed it as I went along.  Sometimes I even went up to 10 mph, but it was never for the whole minute, so I just left that out.  For this interval training, I decided I was going to go over 9 mph during my high interval sections (depending on how I felt) and between 5.0 and 6.0 mph for the moderate intensity.  I felt like this was a pretty good workout and I think I ran about 3 3/4 miles.  It definitely kept me from getting bored!!!!