Did you miss me?...Tried it Tuesday

Did you miss me?

Well...did you?

I didn't intend to fall off my blog...

I blame it on real-life gettin' in the way of my

awesome Spring Break.

I had to do grown-up things like get new tires,

shop for new outfits for out of town excursions,  pack, etc.

You know...stuff I loathe.
I'm slowly makin' a dent in readin' blogs...
I haven't deserted you...it will just
take me a bit to get back on track with my normal routine.

I couldn't miss Tried it Tuesday though with one of
my BBB's Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper.

Tried it Awesomeness #1:  A weddin'...

Jerm's cousin got married in the quaint lil' town of 

Brunswick, Georgia

this past weekend.  

It was about a six hour trip for us, 

but so worth the drive.

The reception was in an old courtroom.

It seriously was the neatest location ever.

Jerm baked his very first and probably last...weddin' cake.

Their grandmother used to bake weddin' cakes

for people at her church before she passed away.

Jerm used to bake with her.

I thought it was so sweet and special that his 

baby cousin asked him to do this for her day

since her grandmother was not there.

We transported the layers of this bad boy 

across state lines.
 
She wanted a cubed, textured and rustic cake
with her favorites: red-velvet and chocolate.

I think he did a pretty amazin' job for his first time.
It was ginormous!
I helped make the place cards since 

everyone knows I don't bake or cook!

Of course I did the most awesomest job bein' bossy

while directin' the bakin'.
Jerm and I actually clean up well.
I even brushed my hair for the occasion.

Tried it Awesomeness #2: Send Home Science! 

Amazing Kits to Extend Science Learning at Home

by Teach-A-Roo

I purchased this way back when...when?...

I don't remember.

I have been holdin' on to it to send home with 

my kids right before we do our state science test.

Yesterday was the day it finally went home.

I robbed sent out an email to all of my school friends

askin' for supplies I didn't already have.

I also sent the kids to our Science Lab to scavenge

for some of the items.

This is somethin' fun they can do with their families

and they were happy to get the kits.

Tried it Awesomeness #3: Group Test Prep

8 days left after today...8 days until I can stop
wantin' to rip my hair out...8 days unless you are one of my 

ten kids goin' to Junior Olympics on Friday all day.
Why didn't I get invited to vacate school for the day?

I have mentioned before that our county

switched to CCSS math books, yet we are bein'

tested on our current state standards this year.

It has been interestin' tryin' to do a blended curriculum.

We just finished 39 crosswalk math lessons in a 

two week time period.
My poor babies.
Even my brain hurts from so much math.

The crosswalk has 4 different assessments to accompany 

the end of the lessons. 

I don't want to grade 4 assessments,
 the kids don't want to DO 4 assessments

 and we are already over it before 

we have even started.

So...what did we do to make it go easier?

Day 1: Whole group 25 questions on the SMARTboard

with everyone holdin' up their white board answers.

This took a loooooong time and it gets BORIN'!
I had to do somethin' different...

Day 2: We split up in groups, each group got a paper,

worked on a sheet of problems together,

got a different set of problems, completed them

and tried to beat the other groups at finishin' 

all 25 questions.

The group that finished first and quietest got to

get a treat from the treat bucket.

It's always better when you have some
help from your friends.

We knocked out TWO assessments in the 

time it took to do ONE whole group yesterday.

Of course me bein' the MEAN teacher that I am...

told them we would do a THIRD assessment

that had 50 problems.

April Fool's on them!

Before I go...did you check out my
Tried it Tuesday last week
about Elvis and the Underdogs?
If so...be sure to check out Jennifer's review
also over at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings.
She thought the book was just as hilarious as I did.
I always love hearin' what others think!

Happy Tuesday, friends!