i'm.so.tired.

so, i know i'm supposed to use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence, but when i type, i've always preferred not to. (shhhh, don't tell my students!) although i usually give in to convention, today i am so.dang.tired. that i can't even muster up the effort it takes to press the shift key to give you all the courtesy of capital letters. at least i'm still using apostrophes, commas, and periods. you're welcome.

this week has totally wiped me out. i think (and hope) my kids have enjoyed the the camping themed review, since it has meant we have had fun treats and two pop up tents in our classroom, but i am so exhausted from getting everything together that i can barely even think straight. yesterday there was a PTA meeting at 6:30, and because i don't live super close to my school, going home before the meeting and coming back wasn't an option. at 7:30, i looked at the agenda and realized we weren't even half way through the meeting, so i had to leave - i hadn't eaten since my lunch time at 12:30, so i'm sure they were glad i left, as my stomach was making some pretty loud and obnoxious noises. then today, we had a staff meeting 'til 4, i worked out, and then i got to get started on prepping for tomorrow...only i didn't really get to because i had so many papers/piles/messes to sort through/clean up. but, now i can see the top of my guided reading table, so at least the table is prepped for tomorrow...

anyway, the real reason i wanted to post today was to see if any of y'all would be interested in seeing/using the DIY math homework my kids have been using these past few weeks. in preparation for our STAAR test, i wanted to be sure my kiddos were still reviewing/practicing the skills they've learned this year, but i wanted to avoid giving them too much "to the test" type work because (a) it's boring, and (b) i didn't want them to become so tired of seeing/doing that kind of work that come test day, they are burnt out. so, in an effort to make things a little more fun and engaging BUT still meaningful, i came up with the idea of having my kids write their own math problems. each week, they must come up with 4 questions, but they have to follow a specific set of instructions as to how to create/write each problem (i.e., what numbers/operations to include, pictures to draw, etc.). they also have to come up with 4 answer choices. then, on fridays, instead of me grading their work for them, they have to get with a partner and trade homework, and they answer each others' questions! i do, obviously, still grade their work, but the conversations i overhear when my kids are answering each others' questions is SO worth not having a one size fits all, easy to grade with an answer key type of assignment. i also love that these assignments are totally self-paced - the kids who feel comfortable playing around with bigger, more complex numbers do, and at the same time, those who feel more confident sticking with smaller, easier numbers are able to do so without being penalized.

so, if you think you'd be interested in seeing and/or using these homework assignments, please let me know by leaving me a comment. i know some of you might want and/or need to tweak things to make the questions correlate with your grade level/state standards, so let me know if you're interested and i'll email you the files!

have a great rest of your week, y'all!