Mi Vida Ocupada: My Busy Life!

Jigsaw Puzzles.....

I love puzzles, especially jigsaw puzzles.  Put this one together over my winter break. 

Problem solving answer...

Many of you have e-mailed me about the correct answer to the tricky horse problem!!!  This drove many people crazy!

The answer is $20, but there are a few different approaches you can take.  This one is the easiest:

He bought for $60 and $80  = $140  and sold   $70 and $90= $160.  $160-140=20.

I might have to throw a few more challenges out like this one in the future :)

If you thought the answer was that he broke even or came out $10 ahead, you weren't alone.  Only half the ADULTS I asked this to knew the correct answer.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?!

Just kidding!

*******************************************************************************

Another approach to look at:  pretend you started with $100.

$100

-$60 for buying the horse=

$40

+$70 for selling the horse=

$110

-$80 for buying the horse=

$30

+$90 for selling the horse=

$120 that you end up with

-$100 you started with=

$20 profit

Problem solving...

This is a problem I did with my 5th graders yesterday, but we seem to have found a few different answers.  I have asked other adults and they come up with different answers as well.

Give this problem a try and let me know what you came up with and any reasoning you have behind your strategy.

A man buys a horse for $60 then sells it for $70.  He buys it back for $80 and then sells it for $90.  How much does the man make or lose in the horse-trading business?

A little of this, a little of that

Sometimes I hate coming up with a title for each post!

Random weekly facts:

**Picked Bessie up at the shop on Monday night.  $1165.  Ouchhhhhhhhhh.  Thank God for Mastercard! LOL.  Oh how I wish I could afford a NEW car.  Or at least a newer car.  Hoping Bessie makes it through the winter if I don't sell her first.  This relationship is no good if she ends up taking my life or costing me an arm and a leg!!  IF I had a spare $40-50k, the two vehicles that I would choose between are the Cadillac SRX and the Infinity FX45.  Both sleek and stylish, smaller SUVs.

**Discovering that the students at my new school need some major behavior interventions.  Crikey! I have a class and a half of the most squirrely 2nd graders I have ever seen.  Lord, help me get through that 50 minutes a day!

**Went to a really great training for work Tuesday afternoon to learn about a fabulous internet-based program for gifted kids.  It is called Renzulli Learning and is based out of the University of Connecticut.  Here is a description of the program that I stole from the Renzulli website I referenced above.

"The Renzulli Learning System is an exciting new on-line program that matches students' interests and learning styles to many different opportunities designed to provide enriched, challenging learning. All of the activities and options in the Renzulli Learning System are based on The Enrichment Triad Model, which has been cited as the most widely used plan for enrichment and talent development in the world.

In the Renzulli Learning System, the Renzulli Profiler^TM generates an individual profile for each student. Click here to read a sample profile. Then an individualized Enrichment Differentiation collection of Internet and downloadable resources are made available that matches student interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression. "
Super cool! I hope to discover several cool websites to use with my students.  I might share a few here too....here is the first!

Has anybody ever heard of a droodle? Droodles are riddles within a picture.  The object is to look at a picture and guess what it might be. There is not necessarily a correct answer for each puzzle.  Different people may see different things!  For example:

Any guesses before I tell you the answers suggested on the Droodles website?

Left- Charlie Brown snorkeling  Right- A pig lookly closely at book titles

Two sites that offer these type of puzzles are Droodles.com and Archimedes' Lab.

**Did a search for "Mexican food blogs" and found the Burrito Blog.  This is my type of guy! His blog is devoted to writing reviews about the different burrito restaurants he eats!!!  Fabulous idea! Check it out ya'll.  There are also a couple of links to some yummy cupcake blogs in my right sidebar. Hmmmm, maybe I should start a food/restaurant review blog???  Could I save the receipts and write it all off, I wonder??? This idea sounds better and better!!

** Where has the time gone??  I cannot believe we are already half-way through September!!! That means less than 6 months to go before I turn the big 3-0!!!!!!  That number used to sound soooooo old.  Now it sounds young!!  I guess it is all relative :)