Five for Friday

I woke up yesterday thinking it was Friday.  I even went so far as to pull out the jeans.  Not even joking. 

Today is Friday and for that I'm very, very thankful!  The week was long with assessments and meetings.  Holy moly...I just dropped everything and left at the end of the day.  Didn't even look back.  Piles everywhere.  I hate to say it, but I'll be headed in on Sunday to try and catch up...which is laughable because when am I ever "caught up"?  Please tell me I'm not the only one who can't stay on top of things enough to never go in on a weekend?

The thought of being random on my blog and reading other people's randomness and looking at pictures from their week just perks me right up.  So, I'm joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday!

Here are some thoughts from my week...

If you call that time when they come back from lunch or recess all in a twit and a tither a "brain break",  they do a pretty good job of calming down.  If it has a name - they do it {usually}.  In the past I've just told them they need to be quiet and I battled it and worked so hard to get their little bodies to calm down.  Now, they walk in, put their heads down or get drinks, the lights are off, soft music playing...it's pretty magical, if I do say so myself!  I can't promise anything, but if you have a hard time reigning in the troops give it a try.  Sometimes we take a "brain break" in the middle of a lesson that has gone haywire...

It just puts a smile on my face when new people join the ranks of blogging and TpT'ing.  A teacher at my school, who blogs over at Third Grade Doodles created these gems {8 mathematical practices in kid language}...love 'em!  If you are doing the CCSS you might want to pic them up!

Why do I always get my kiddos all hyped about that darn leprechaun?  Today they made these little leprechauns, left them on their desks, came back from their special and they were scattered around the room in random places and in random poses.  You don't have to dig too deep to imagine what my room sounded like after those shenanigans!

But...I have my Magic Word.  Each day somebody chooses a different magic word.  It does work pretty darn good.  Today's word was "oogie boogie" {more like two nonwords...but we'll go with it}...I say it and they listen...right away {pretty much}....because these words are just THAT MAGICAL...

And this picture is just because.  I just love this area.  It's my favorite!

Have an awesome weekend - hope you have something fun {or relaxing} planned.  Are you going into your classroom at all this weekend like me?