Pancakes...Laundry and....Test Prep...oh my!

Yes, I lead such an exciting life, don't I?  Well, this week is Spring Break and since we are staying at home this week, I am catching up on things both work and home related.

This morning I actually got to make breakfast for my son...and made his favorite, pancakes. I was going to try these(since I have seen a bazillion people pinning them on Pinterest.

But who a I kidding...I am just not that fancy (or patient!) So he got the boxed kind...no not the frozen ones, the boxed MIX kind. He enjoyed them, and I enjoyed our brief chat at the kitchen table as he wolfed them down ...counting the minuted until he could return tot he couch and his video came. At this point, I take those moments and hold them dear, no matter how brief  because I know it won't be long and he will be heading off to college (okay, that's not for 6 years, but still....)

And then of course there is the laundry....I have put it off all week and I am out of gym clothes (yes, I am going to the gym today....can;t put that off any longer either, plus I need to work off those pancakes I ate this morning!!

And last but definitely not least, on my agenda today is to start writing some plans for test prep and review. Yes, we prep them all year long for THE TEST...but when we return next week to school we have exactly 20 schools days until State Testing begins. And we are not even finished with the last 2 Social Studies units. We are already reviewing ELA and getting ready to start our 5th grade research unit and project but 20 days is not a lot of time to get this all done. I am freaking out just a little. And I am not sure why, because A) state testing is going to happen whether I want t to or not (and whether my kiddos want it to or not) and 2)it happens every year, so why am I shocked, surprised, freaked out...?!?!?! and III)oh whatever...I just need to find an interesting an hopefully fun way to review with my kiddos because i am pretty certain they have forgotten the difference between an adverb and an adjective and what the causes of World War II were. Heck, most days, they forget to put their names on their papers, LOL!! And while you are scratching your heard and asking what about Science and Math don;t forget I team teach so I only do ELA- Reading and Social Studies.

So here is my real dilemma....do I kill a zillion trees (the Lorax is sitting on my shoulder as I type this) and print off the "Essential Facts for 5th Grade" for ELA and Social Studies and pretend my students are going to even look at them, or face the reality that those trees were sacrificed so they could shove them down in their bookbags and rifle through their desks looking for them when I ask them to pull them out to review?!?!?

Or do I take a new and unique approach to review this year, and if so, what is that new an unique approach. We have tons of technology in my classroom (brand new laptops, an iPad, Activotes)....somehow I need to tie in technology because they love it, they respond to it, and it just may cement some of these concepts int heir cute little 5th grade noggins!!!

HELP....suggestions appreciated. How do you review for the TEST...leave me a comment below. 

April Currently....and a game plan for this week!

Wow, I can not believe it is April already. Time is flying by so fast! But for now, I will continue to enjoy my spring break. I have managed to get lots of stuff done around my house, and finish my lesson plans for next week. However, I have done nothing else...well that is not entirely true...I have managed to eat my weight (or close to it) in Easter candy an since I have not been to the gym since Friday, I am a little terrified to step on the scale.

Last night I logged onto my blog and started going through my feed and saw lots of people posting this month's Currently. I have not participated in a few months so I was super excited to get back into this little morsel of linky goodness!!

So here is my April Currently.....love that Farley does this every month and that so many people participate. Here is a link to her blog if you want to participate (she has a blank one of these that you can edit in PicMonkey or any other editing program)

My son has a friend over today and I am going to try and pry them away form the TV long enough to get to the Y so I can workout while they swim.  I can't believe that Spring Break is finally here but it is flying by so fast. I keep thinking about my to do list of stuff I wanted to get done this week while we are out of school. I doubt I will be able to complete it but I am going to try, including reading 3 books I brought home in my teacher bag. And who was I kidding thinking I was going to touch any of that work I brought home, lol! 

Whatever I do, I need to stay away form the Easter candy and head to the gym. If I don't I will be sorry!!!

Last but not least, my advice for other bloggers and teacher sis about sharing. I have worked in teams that were great sharers, and also with people who hoard ideas like a fat kid hoards candy bars. The latter is toxic and nobody wants to work on teams like that. The beauty of our profession is that we are by nature sharers and it is after all, about the kids, so why would anyone not want to share. I appreciate those teacher/bloggers out there that share their ideas, projects, TPT stuff (I do pay for my share of stuff on TPT as well..but who doesn't love a freebie every once in a while.   

Well, that is it for today. I plan on checking in tomorrow to see what is happening out there in bloggy land....

and good luck to my TX teacher friends whose kiddos are taking the STAAR writing tests today and tomorrow!!!