Five For Friday!

My name is Mindy, and I just survived my sixth year of teaching.  LOL!  Just joking.  But seriously, I am OUT of school for summer and I am SO ready to relax, recharge, and hang out with my family - including a new addition!  (More on that in a moment).
Well, it is FRIDAY again which means I'm linking up with Kacey over at Doodlebugs for my Five for Friday.  Ready?

 Our last day of school with students was this past Friday, but we had a half-day to make up on Monday thanks to that crazy ice storm a lot of country 'enjoyed' earlier this year.  After the kids left, a few teacher friends and myself decided to unwind and get our dork on.  Please enjoy this little ditty we threw together…

Wednesday, a couple of other teachers and I presented a course called Math Guided Practice with Games at our school district's Summer Curriculum Conference.  It was a fun professional development course because we shared lots of fun games to use in math centers and had some giveaways.  I donated a few of my products and we also gave everyone a game called Snap It Up!  This game is fun and very versatile!  If you haven't heard of it, click the picture below to check it out. (I am in no way associated with this company).

Our curriculum coordinator also found a wonderful resource from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.  Their research shows that playing games in math allows for meaningful practice. Appropriate mathematical activities are essential building blocks to develop mathematically proficient students who demonstrate computational fluency (Van de Walle & Lovin, Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics Grades K-3, pg. 94).
Click the picture below for a document that has TONS of games for 2nd grade math. (These are also available in other grade levels - you can Google them).

Last week my sweet baby had her first dance recital.  

Our beautiful, tiny dancer.

She's serious about her tap dancing.  She KILLS me!!

Here's the world's proudest, twin brother.  He cheered her on in the aisle and wanted to give her the flowers by himself.

My happy little family!

My twins are also turning 4 on Monday - which I seriously can't believe.  So, we had their birthday party over the weekend.  They are SUPER into Despicable Me right now, so we had a minion party.

Ben and Emily with their minion piñata. (Funny story - we had that minion for a couple of weeks before the party.  We had to keep it up on top of our dresser, and every morning they'd come tell it good morning, and if we were leaving, we had to tell it goodbye).

Ben spent a GOOD chunk of time at the drink dispenser.  He thought it was great fun.  My aunt later told me every time he got a drink, he got a new cup - no wonder we went through them so fast!

Emily with her new minion, Bob.  

And last - about our new addition to the family.  We are NOT having another baby, but we DID get a puppy!!  We rescued her from a shelter and totally lucked out in the way of puppies!  She's such a sweet girl!  She's so gentle with my babies and has been such a good girl!  We named her Ellie.

And THAT, my friends, is my Five for Friday!  I hope your summer has begun and that you all have a wonderful break!