Staying Active During the School Year

I do a fairly good job every summer of working out consistently. Then school starts and I am entirely too exhausted to do anything when I get home and then I lose my momentum from summer and... I could list all the excuses I have for not being active, but I am not letting myself use those excuses this year.

My goal this year is to work out 3 times a week and to be active any day that I don't work out-either a walk or playing outside with my kids.

Usually my goal for working out is to lose weight. While that would be a nice side effect, it is not my main goal. Any one else feel the effects of aging? I feel like I am still young at 32, but...I am so tired at the end of the day and I wake up with sore muscles. I realize that taking care of myself now is important for my health in the long run. I also want to set an example for my children.

Here is how I will stay active this school year.

1. Remember my WHY? (See above)
2. Make a plan for the week. Look at my and my husband's schedules and plan which will be work out days. 
3. Change into my workout clothes as soon as I get home. 
4. Do something that I don't hate doing. (See below)
5. Repeat

Now, sometimes I really hate working out so if I force myself to do something I hate, it won't last long. I don't have a gym membership and I have two small children at home. I also hate running.  I also cannot wake up early in the morning. I have found a few things that work for me.

• Blogilates
• Cassey puts out a new short work out video every week and she has a huge library on her YouTube Channel. She has a lot of other resources that I haven't used yet. What I like most is the song challenges. These are 3-4 minute videos (the length of a song) where she focuses on one exercise. I can convince myself to do 4-5 videos. I always say I'll just do 3, but then what's one more?
• These are some of my favorite ones. Shape of your Thighs, Sore-y Not Sorry Abs, Inner Thighs Workout, Ab Climber. 
• She also has workout plans for the month. I love that she puts a video out every week because it is usually what convinced me to work out on Mondays. 
• Jillian Michaels (Amazon Affiliates Links Used Here)
• I had some old work out DVDs that I found while I was decluttering this summer. I like the Shed and Shred and Ripped in 30,  and Killer Buns and Thighs. These workouts are hard, but she has modified version of some of the moves and I always feel like I did a good workout afterwards. You may need weights for this; I only have 5 pound weights. 
• Yoga
• This is something I just started. This will be for the days when I can fee like I am too exhausted to get a workout in, but I still want to try something. I am not good at yoga yet and I am not flexible. I downloaded a few apps on my phone that go through a program. Daily Yoga, and Yoga Studio. 
• I did this on the first day of school last week. I had spent the day running around the school and I was exhausted. Also, my kids expected dinner! So I was laying on the couch and decided my body needed something. I downloaded the Daily Yoga App and did 15 minutes of the Stiff Joint routine. 

There it is. My workout plan. Next thing I need to get down is eating better. I will not do supplements or any multilevel marketing thing. My problem is eating too much, but that's for another day.

How do you stay active during the school year?

Change in Science TEKS and Metamorphosis Foldable

The science TEKS have been streamlined this year. Our district has done a lot of work to make sure that teachers are aware of the changes and not teach old lessons without making sure they fit the streamlined TEKS.

If you haven't used the resources on Lead4ward and you teach in Texas, you should. I am constantly on this website for various resources, the one I am sharing with you today takes the old TEKS and compares them with the streamlined TEKS. To find it, go here and click on the appropriate side-by-side for your grade level.

One thing that 5th grade does not have a TEKS for anymore is complete and incomplete metamorphosis. However, if you look at this document it states "Impact: the term metamorphosis has been removed from the K-12 TEKS (implied it will be addressed in standards pertaining to life cycles of living organisms that undergo metamorphosis)". There is still a 3rd grade TEKS that discusses life cycles that can still be tested on the 5th grade STAAR. So...will it not be on the STAAR test? I think it is possible.

So, here is a science notebook foldable that goes with metamorphosis, available for free on my TPT store.

Science and Science Tools

I changed positions last year and became a science instructional coach. I am now starting my second year in the position and almost feel like I got my stuff together. At least this week. 

I have wanted to be an instructional coach for a several years--every since I learned that was a thing in education. I enjoy working with other teachers and collaborating on lessons and strategies. I like learning about new things in education and sharing it and helping others make it work for their classroom. 

So, I have a year down and I am excited to start my second year. I've moved from math to science to math and now back to science. I am sure I'll move to math again someday. You'll see a mix of math and science good stuff on this blog still. 

In honor of my new (year old) position, here is a free science tools brochure. You can download it here Science Tools Brochure .

Dividing Whole Numbers BINGO--FREE

Are there concepts in math that you just don't like practicing? I have two: long division and adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. They are just not fun for me. But I love solving equations and proportions, which I am sure someone else despises.

I know I am not alone in hating long division. I don't think I have met a students who begs me for more long division problems. It is the process where I see the most mistakes because there are so many steps to remember and they may make computation errors. Although most of our students may wish it, division isn't going anywhere.

I don't like doing countless pages of practice to combat mistakes in long division. Why? Because its boring. If someone handed me a page of long division problems to do by hand...I can already feel my anxiety rising just thinking about it.

Practice is still needed, but not in the form of a worksheet.

When I need lots of practice for a concept, there are two things I do: scavenger hunt around the room or BINGO.

Today, I am sharing a dividing whole numbers BINGO. To set this up,  you need to print BINGO page for every student, the BINGO cards, and every student needs a dry erase marker.

If you are doing this in whole group, have students randomly place the numbers (which are the answers) in the BINGO board. Have them cross off answers as they place them in the boxes.

Randomly pull problem cards and display them for students to see. Students will work the problems with the dry erase marker either directly on their desk (my favorite way) or on dry erase boards. As they work, they should be able to talk to each other and work through their mistakes. You should also walk around the room looking for any issues. Even if all students are not finished with a problem, I display 2-3 problems at a time for students who work more quickly.

If the students don't have their answer on the card, they know they made a mistake somewhere.

Are there any concepts that you just dread teaching or practicing?


Dividing Whole Numbers BINGO