Transitioning

Today I was reminded and am thankful for the ways that the Lord continues to provide and the determination he has given me. I mean

1. 3 1/2 months ago I got a job. I didn't have a place to live for a month so my Aunt and Uncle let me live with them and I am so glad at the beginning of my transitioning I was not alone.  When living out of a suitcase (literally) and only having two pairs of shoe I had a roof over my head and a place to sleep.

2. Next I got an apartment in which I had hardly anything but mom and dad came up bringing me stuff and some friends from church gave me plates, bowls, and can openers when all I had was silverware. A Tv and DVD player, and a couch I mean really such grace gifts!

3. I am also so thankful for my church group. They pray for me, love on me and accept me as quirky as I am and are quirky too.

4. I am thankful for family close by, especially my dates with my cousins who let me hang out with them and their kiddos so that I could have something else to do other than school!

5.I am thankful for my co-workers who let me stay with them when my first few days in my apartment the air goes out and almost burned the room down. God's way of teaching me that I can't always stay late nights at school.

6. I am thankful for pants to keep me warm, even if I am not skinny enough to fit into most of them right now. Somehow when my stuff got moved I only had 2 pairs! I was a little freaked! Now I have several. Read the next number.

7. I am thankful for breaks to rummage through hidden things at home and bring back to Tulsa so they don't end up in a storage unit :)

8. I am thankful for friends all around the world who encourage me in struggles, praise my successes and help me to pick up the pieces when I fall apart or simply can't put the puzzle together.

9. Lastly, I never realized moving an hour and a half away would be so much like moving across the world in many ways. THere are so many other stepping stones - changing state teaching licenses, having to register my car and countless other things but I am thankful that God has given me the strength to do these and continues to give me strength to accomplish upcoming tasks!

I-pads and Marsha

So somehow at the beginning of the year I was put in the system as Marsha making it difficult to access all the student data I need. I finally got access to two programs but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that reports will soon show up!

In other news yesterday I got an IPad. In 3 hours I filled the whole thing with educational apps. I am still having to go back and delete some of the apps I compartmentalized into categories. However, I did download one just for fun! It is called fingerpaint and its totally free so check it out!

Egg crates and 10 frames

So I used to abhor math as a child and then when I taught overseas I began to realize it wasn't that bad. Then last year I did my action research on number sense and now I love trying to find different ways to help students connect to this abstract thing, like it's own language, called math.  Egg crates are just one of the things that make a cheap but good manipulative for  10 frame. You are moving from the concrete to abstract. Right now I am low on manipulatives being a first year teacher we resort to beans. I am writing a grant to get some so that each child can have their own set when adding(at least 10 counters and unifix cubes per child would be enough). I'm tired of them fighting to share! Anyways, cut off the last two egg holders with an exact-o knife and voila you have 10 frames!

Math and Beyond

Okay so I'm trying to figure out how to do this http://themetapicture.com/japanese-math/ with smaller numbers. Here are my own step by step examples. Not going to say they're right but I need to figure out where I am going wrong before I teach it if I am. Can it not be done with single digits without having to count every intersection? There has to be some sort of short cut? These are what I have so far. I'm trying to appeal to those struggling learners. You gotta get creative as a teacher!

Example 1:

 Example 2:

 

Connect the 5 and 3 circles to get 8 on the last one

Any suggestions?