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Happy Friday! It's the last day to link up with Brigid from Bits of First Grade and don't forget about her giveaway!
Today is Freebie Friday and who doesn't love that?!
This is my favorite freebie from My Store- my Apples Apples Emergent Reader
It's the perfect emergent reader for Fall. Has a predictable pattern "Apples can be..." and dots under each word to help teach concept of word. My students always love it and I hope you do too!
Another freebie that I love is Dunk It Dominoes by The Happy Teacher!
Such a fun domino addition game! Students add the two sides of the domino and then "dunk it" into the correct basket. There's a great recording sheet to go along with it too.
Have you seen this Addition Hands-On Strategies Flip Book by All Students Can Shine??
I used it this past year to send home to parents to give them some strategies for helping their children. I plan on doing that again this year but also using it in the classroom to talk about as we learn each strategy. It's fabulous!
I could go ON and ON about freebies that I love, but I'll stop at these 3. Hope you found something useful. And don't forget to head back to Bits of First Grade for more freebies and her giveaway! Happy Summer!
Happy Thursday! I'm linking up with Brigid from Bits of First Grade for some non-Vegas fun!
Thursday is all about Technology:
We are very lucky to have a lot of technology available in the classroom to use on a regular basis. Here's how I use a few:
Computers/iPads: We use computers and iPads every day at one of our literacy centers. Our school invested in Lexia Core 5 which is a great literacy program that tailors work to students' individual levels. As students progress they also progress to harder levels. It alerts teachers to all sorts of things and even provides teachers with intervention lessons.
Smartboard: We are lucky that most of the classrooms in our school have smartboards- yay!! We use our smartboard for Go Noodling, watching Planet Earth, and random math lesson throughout the year. In fact, I got into make math lesson on SmartNotebook a couple years ago so maybe next year I'll do that again to add in more interactiveness. (i don't think that's a word...)
Class Dojo: I never thought I would use class dojo. It sounded cool, but I never really took an interest. But my class this past year REALLY needed some extrinsic motiviation and Class Dojo saved me!! It was harder to use after one of my students dropped my iPad and it broke (sadenss. It's OK though- the school owned it, not me. ha!) but it still worked out great.
Blogging: One of my coworkers had her students blogging for a technology project 2 years ago. It was pretty cool. I'm thinking of doing that this year, which my high students at least. I'll update yall if I ever get to it.
Prezi: I created a Prezi about the 3 states of water for grad school and I have used it every year since. The kids love how it bounces from screen to screen and I love how I can put in pictures and videos. You can check it out here if you're interested.
UMMMM, that's all I can think about right now. Now head over to Bits of First Grade- Brigid's got some technology I've never heard of but want to look into. Happy Summer!
Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with the always sweet Brigid from Bits of First Grade this week for some fun since we aren't in Vegas!
Day 3 is all about sharing some blogs and products that we LOVE! And I love this idea because I love people sharing new ideas and products that really work.
Brigid's post inspired me to create a Teaching Blogs board on Pinterest. I've only pinned 4 so far, but will certainly be adding to it! So, I decided to add Bits of First Grade. I haven't explored Brigid's blog a super lot because I just found her but based on her number of followers I'm in for a good ride! I also added Differentiated Kindergarten. If you don't know about Marsha, you need to! She is so skilled at differentiation and I have transformed my classroom just by reading her blog. Oh- if only I was in Vegas learning from her... Lastly, I pinned Mrs. Will's Kindergarten. Deedee is fabulous! I was lucky enough to meet her in Vegas a couple years ago and shortly after blogging she actually gave me a call to help me out with something- WHAT?! I was a little star struck. She has wonderful ideas for running centers and writer's workshop and I love seeing what she is doing in her classroom. You can check out my board here.
On to some TPT products! How I love TPT. If my husband only knew how much money I've spent... hehehe. So here are 4 of my favorites:
Ball Words!! Oh ball words! This is an amazing sight word system by Marsha McGuire that keeps students interested and entertained as they work their way through letter recognition and 12 sight words lists. It's awesome watching kids work so hard to learn their sight words so they can get their name on the wall. I pinned it, but you can find it here.
These reading response pages by Deanna Jump make it so easy to have students respond and practice the skills we are working on for both fiction and nonfiction! Love! I pinned it, but you can find it here.
I started a writing center this year at literacy centers and this bad boy by Lori Rosenberg gave my students LOTS of activities to complete while there! I pinned it, but you can check it out here.
This product just happens to be mine! (I'm shameless) Spell It is a spelling game that requires the students to actually read the CVC or CCVC/CVCC word to their classmates, not just look at a picture. My students LOVE playing it and get really intense during it. Hope yours do too! I pinned it, but you can find it here, and make sure to check out the other themes I have for it- christmas, winter, st patricks day, etc.
Whew! Hope you found a new blog or product to check out. Don't forget to head back over to Bits of First Grade for more. Happy summer!
Happy Tuesday! I'm linking up with Brigid from Bits of First Grade for some fun since we're not in Vegas!
Tuesday is Tip day on the linky and I am looking forward to sharing mine and getting some too!
TPT: My biggest tip for TPT is to give it a try! I was SUPER nervous to start a store, but it has been great. Now, I'm certainly not going to be reaching any milestones anytime soon (or ever...) but every time I do make a sale it feels really good. I use all the products I've made and just need to figure out what else I want to make. I don't think I added a single product this year (it was a rough year) but it's still nice to have a store.
BLOG: Starting this blog has been one of the funnest things I've done! I love it! My tips are: start off by linking up to some linky parties, don't obsess over followers- my meager numbers still make me feel good, and keep up with it! Now, I severely neglected it this year and need to do a better job next year. It was just so rough I couldn't blog on top of it. If that happens to you, don't give up! Just get back to it when you can.
CLASSROOM: Do what you do! Everyone reading this is a teacher I'm sure (except my mom- HI MOM!!) and you all know what is best for your students. So I repeat- do what you do! And be an advocate for not only them, but yourself as well. And if you're not sure what to do, as happened to me this past year, then seek the guidance from the wonderful teachers and support staff around you. You are all there to help the kids and it's amazing how people can band together to make amazing things happen!
SOCIAL MEDIA: The only form of social media The Land of I Can participates in is Instagram. I still don't really understand Twitter and haven't had time to look into Facebook (although looking forward to any tips from others linking up!) but I'm becoming really good at Instagram. So my tips: post pics of what your students are doing! And if they are working with a product someone else made- tag that teacher! A shoutout is always nice.
That's what I've got friends! Now head back over to Bits of First Grade for more tips! #letshavefunlinky Happy summer!
Hey friends! Sadly I couldn't go to Vegas this year :-( Or last year... But I did go the year before that!! And it was amazing. But since we're home we might as well have some fun too, right?! I'm linking up with Brigid from Bits of First Grade for a Vegas themed linky!
And let's keep Monday easy of course (I mean, I did start teaching summer school today after all)
So we're linking up to have some fun too! Don't forget to visit back each day for some tips, freebies, and more. And don't forget to head over to Bits of First Grade to enter Brigid's Giveaway!! Happy summer!
Woh! It's been far too long since I did a Currently. But now I'm back and linking up with Farley for Currently July:
Listening
My AC is on and it makes one of our vents rattle... Super nice when you're watching tv... I tried to fix it once and it lasted for a month but then started again. Time to get the tools back out!
Loving
I just started watching Entourage and am loving it! I'm in season 2. It's so ridiculous sometimes, but awesome. It's my summer guilty pleasure.
Thinking
I'm so excited about next year. This past year was ROUGH because both the kids and the principal BUT they just announced our new principal today and I am so excited! It's going to be a great year and we can start rebuilding our school family.
Wanting
Ice cream. All the time. I pretty much always want ice cream. I have an ice cream maker and I have started making it more often in the last 2 months. I'm a rockstar at vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip. DELICIOUS!
Needing
The humidity here in DC is OUT OF CONTROL. It's terrible! I need it to calm down. My hair needs it to calm down. ugh
All Star
I feel like I'm a great math teacher. It was always my favorite subject and I love teaching it. I'm teaching math for summer school. I also cowrote the summer school math curriculum for our kinders. :-) (it feels weird talking about myself like that)
Thanks for stopping by! Head back over to Oh Boy Fourth Grade for more Currently fun!
Hello friends! I've been on break for just over a week now and I am officially feeling relaxed and refreshed and very much interested in showing some love to my lonely ignored little blog. It was a rough year so I didn't blog much, BUT it's over and time to move on. So to celebrate I am FINALLY going to share my very first Stitch Fix box that I got back in May for my 30th birthday :-)
There was so much to love inside! And it's so pretty to open up! I just love how they package everything.
So the first thing hiding in there was a pair of Theresa Pave Open Shape Drop Earrings by Marlyn Schiff ($28.00)
They are pretty, but not really my style. I'm a silver or white gold kind of girl and I really only wear my diamond studs or a pair with pearls from the hubs. I keep it simple. So, pretty, but return.
Then there was this gorgeous Marin White Denim Jacket by Liverpool ($88.00)!
I loved the detail on the buttons! I paired it with some jeans and a top that I already own:
I thought it was a cute, slick little outfit. But I really don't think I would wear it that much to be honest... Not in white at least... So, return.
Next up was the Lex Textured Floral Knit Fit & Flare Dress by Brixon Ivy ($74.00).
I was so excited about this because yellow is SO my color!
It fit PERFECTLY!!! Hugged me wonderfully on top and has a nice flare in just the right spot so I can do some serious eating in this thing and it won't show! YES!! The pictures look identical BUT I dressed it up on top with some nude colored heels (the highest I wear...) and did a more casual look with a pair of flip flops. And decided this was a KEEPER!!! I've worn it a few times since then and get compliment every time.
On to the next item- Jakobe Chevron Print Maxi Dress by Pixley ($78.00).
I specifically asked for a maxi dress because I have been looking for one for a year and haven't found one that I like, until now!!! Love the colors and the print but I was so sure I would hate the material...
But I was so wrong. The material is perfect for the hot and sticky DC summer! KEEPER! I even wore it at my birthday party (but didn't manage to take a single picture... hmmmm).
Last was a Rebekah Contrast Denim Blazer by Kensie ($88.00). I apologize for the terrible pictures ahead of time...
I love the polka dots on the inside- adds a bit of fun to the blazer and had me excited to try it on.
Loved the look with a pair of jeans and a top underneath. And gotta have the sleeves rolled a little bit to show off the polka dots!!
Also loved the look with a dress that I already have. KEEPER!
All in all I kept 3/5 looks and was extremely happy! Have you been thinking about Stitch Fix?? Visit their website for more info and give a try at least once- it's so fun! I won't be getting another fix until August, but I'll also have a gift card giveaway then to celebrate the beginning of the school year. Wait, what!? School year??? Let's just enjoy summer for now... Happy relaxing!
