The Seven at 7 PM

*** spoiler alert - this post is not about school ***


   In our household, we hate "housework".  We move piles of paper but don't really go through them.  Clothes are washed on a regular basis, but getting them from a basket to their closet/drawer/shelf rarely happens.  Floors only get swept when the dog hair piles get high.  We invite friends over to motivate us to clean. Like I said, we HATE housework.

   But we live in a new-to-us house (9 months and counting) and we want to keep it cleaner. So my husband instituted "Seven at 7".  At 7 PM every night, when our grandfather clock dings, we have to stop whatever we are doing and do some sort of housework for 7 minutes (my hubby even sets a timer).





  Our options are:

  • loading/unloading the dishwasher
  • putting away laundry
  • unclutter the kitchen counter where we dump EVERYTHING
  • pick up toys
  • make school lunches for the next day
  • anything that makes the house more picked up (I reorganized the shoe rack yesterday)
The girls even have the option to read.  

   So far, this has been working out really well for us.  The house has been staying picked up and no job seems insurmountable anymore.  We get stickers on our weekly calendar, and if we get 5, then our family gets some sort of treat.  We went out to dinner the first week.  The second week's prize was a puzzle for the family to work on together.  As a family with 2 parents working outside the home, housework has been our struggle (okay, it was my struggle even when I was a SAHM), but I feel like this little system is really helping my family and my sanity.  

   Now how can I implement this into my classroom?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Math Icon Board

Image
In my job, I am always looking for new ideas to share, whether it is a new activity or a new twist on an established one. Recently I got an email from Matt Miller at Ditch That Textbook with this idea -   an icon board for visual thinking.  I really got me thinking about how it could be used... and what other icon boards could be created. Since I am a former math teacher, that is where my mind heads - to math.  I started looking at the icons in the Insert Icons for Slides add-on, and sure enough, I found plenty that apply to math. So I started adding them, and thus creating my Math Icon Board My goal was to add icons that could be utilized in a variety of math and science classes. Obviously I do not have everything, partly because I couldn't find it or it didn't come to mind during my creation. When students use this, my suggestion is that they copy the icon (either by right-clicking and choosing copy OR hitting ctrl and C keys at the same time) and then...
Read more
Image
Math is Real Life!  It is the first Wednesday of November, which means it is time for Math is Real Life! I actually had an recent experience in my house that I shared with my students how my husband and I used the skill they were learning to make waffles. On Saturday morning tradition is to have waffles or pancakes for breakfast. A couple weeks ago, my husband and youngest daughter decided to make waffles and to use what pancake mix was left in the box.   I was in another room, but when I heard my husband say " 2 times one and a half equals 3", I ran into the kitchen and said "What did you say?" He replied "The recipe calls for 2 cups of mix, but there is 3 cups, so I figured out that 2 times 1 1/2 equals 3, so I will multiply my other ingredient amounts by 1 1/2 to determine what I need".  Well, I was a giddy mess, because in my ACCEL class I was introducing Multiplication of Fractions on Monday.  This is a topic that the kids always question me wh...
Read more

Remote Learning Recommendations, part 1

Now that many of us are in the thick of remote learning, or for those of us in my district, where we are preparing for remote learning, I have come across some great resources that I wanted to share. I am sure that throughout all this that there will be more, so that is why this is part 1. First, I have to say, I love Slidesmania . Her templates are amazing and I am constantly recommending her site to everyone. Right now, her Weekly Planner template is a must for teachers teaching remotely. Check it out! Second, I have seen a lot about educational technology companies reaching out to teachers, schools, and districts with free offers of normally paid versions.  On one hand, that is really cool, but it can be really overwhelming to teachers to decide what new tools to try in their classes.  Edweek  even wrote a very good piece on it. Based on what I have seen, planning with teachers and instructional coaches for remote learning, my recommendation is for teachers to ge...
Read more