Staying STRESS FREE in a Testing Grade

Testing. Is. Here. YAY.

There's so much to look forward to during testing season....

The kids love it, too....

During this time, it can be a challenge for teachers AND students to stay stress free. So I'm linking up with the wonderful Fancy Free in Fourth and the fantastic Ramona Recommends  and am sharing a couple things I do for my kiddos and for myself so we don't go CRAZY!

TIPS FOR TEACHERS
1) EXERCISE! Original, right? Seriously though, I am the LAZIEST person on the planet. I work, work, work all week and then CRASH on Fridays. My friends know to not call me, because "Friday Coma" starts at about 7 on Friday night. You can find me in my comfy bed, dozing in and out of conciseness while watching Shark Tank. ANYWAY, I've been making time to exercise M-W and am loving it. Mondays and Wednesdays, I dance off my stress at Zumba. Tuesdays, I get my yoga on. Turns out.... I'm not that lazy! I actually love my exercise days!!
2) CHOCOLATE. I keep some sort of chocolate with in reach at all times during the school day. It's ok guys, I work it off at Zumba. :)
3) SMILE! LAUGH! Remember that this test DOES NOT DEFINE YOU AS A TEACHER! It's one day. One [stupid] test. YOU ARE FANTASTIC. What happen will happen. So, to quote Elsa, "LET IT GO!"

TIPS FOR STUDENTS 
1) PUMP THEM UP AND HAVE FUN! All last week, my students kept learning and reviewing but in a FUN way. Here's a break down of the FUN and EDUCATIONAL week we had!

Monday: iUseStrategies iPad
On Monday, we reviewed all our strategies we've learned throughout the year. Be sure to download this in my TPT store!

Tuesday: STAAR Jeopardy Game
Tuesday we reviewed with a fabulous Jeopardy Game made by Stephanie McConnell. The students had a BLAST. It's actually made with 3rd grade standards (I teach 4th) BUT I loved that the kids were confident with EVERY question they answered. This goes back to PUMP THEM UP part of staying stress free!

Wednesday: Problem Solving Detectives 
Teaching With a Mountain View made these FANTASTIC math detective cards. I paired them with my Identifying and Correcting Math Errors set, put them in a file folder, and had my little detectives solve math problems and figure out which detective to hire (right answer) and which detective to fire (incorrect answer). AND they gave me a reason to fire the detective. THEY LOVED THIS!

Thursday: Wrestle the STAAR! 
If you ask my kids, this was the BEST. DAY. EVER. 4 teams, 30 questions, 26 masks, and 26 bandanas = PUMPED UP FOURTH GRADE WRESTLERS THAT ROCKED THESE QUESTIONS! So many smiles this day while learning. LOVE! Another fabulous product from Stephanie McConnell!

Friday: Tour of Knowledge
We ended the week with a Tour of Knowledge. I taped 8 posters around the room with titles of math skills the kids have learned throughout the year. Then, I broke the kids into groups of 2-3, and had them write EVERYTHING they know about the topic (strategies, examples of problems, etc). The challenging part was as the kids circled the posters, they were NOT allowed to write anything someone before them had written! Great activity!

One last tip, ENTER THIS FABULOUS GIVEAWAY because you deserve it! The prized are fabulous, and seriously, SHOPPING is another fabulous stress relief!

I hope your testing season is a smooth one! It will all be over SOON! YAY!!!!!
xoxoxo 

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