Testing and a freebie

We are 5 school days away from the FCAT (a standardized test we must take in Florida and our 3rd graders HAVE to pass in order to be promoted). As I'm sure you can imagine, tension is high right now. I haven't slept a full night's sleep in about a week, but I am determined to keep the spirits high in my classroom.


Last year I decorated my room in a football theme before our big test. The kids really enjoyed it. We called ourselves "Team V" and my kiddos banned together in true team spirit to support and encourage each other for the FCAT. 


This year I continued with tradition. We decorated team jerseys and hung them from our ceiling. Go Team V!

We also created football players to match our theme. These came out A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. I got the template from "A Cupcake for the Teacher" over at TN.

Check her stuff out...her items are fabulous! 

I put the team jersey in my TN shop for FREE. Click on the photo below to access the template. Enjoy! :) 

MY FIRST FREEBIE!

Hello there! Hope all is well. Notice anything new on the right sidebar of my blog? I finally created a TpT store and Teacher Notebook shop! *Gasps* I feel so up to date now. Granted both have hardly anything in them, but its a work in progress. 


I created two fold-able geometry books which I used with my students this week. We worked on plane shapes and polygons this week. Earlier in the week my kiddos were feeling overwhelmed. This group feels as though they need to conquer the material the SAME exact day I introduce it. I explained to them that geometry is complicated, especially the skills that require abstract thinking. Chapter 9 is LOADED with vocabulary. Introducing 4-8 new vocabulary words a lesson is A LOT for little minds! To add some fun and spice to our lessons later in the week (we made Thursday and Friday review days), we worked on these two books. 

Both of these PDFs are available at my Teachers Notebook shop and TpT store. Both books are 2 pages each and I will give away one book to 5 people! The 1st 5 people to comment with their email address and the name of which book they want will get MY VERY FIRST FREEBIE! *another gasp* 


My kids were so into them. I was thrilled. At the end of Friday one of my darlings said "Oh Ms. V I feel so much better about geometry now." (Happy teacher!) 


Personal update - last night I got an iPhone 4. I'm finally cool. :)