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Showing posts with label Link Ups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Link Ups. Show all posts

End of the Year Ideas and Activities for Elementary Classrooms

Hi Friends!

As the end of the school year is wrapping up, its time to think about how the end of the year will be wrapping up!

End of the Year activities for Elementary Classrooms and Teachers

Keep reading for more ideas and activities!
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Currently May!

Hello Friends! Time to dust off this blog and get back to sharing information that can help teachers in their classrooms.

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Currently October: Lovin' Life

Hi Teacher Friends!
So glad it's October! The nip in the air, changing color of the leaves, and of course, ME! because it's my birthday month :)

Today, I am linking up with Oh Boy Farley!


1. I am listening and loving, loving, loving Spotify. My favorite playlist is Lush Atmospheric. I am so incredibly productive when listening to this playlist, my favorite song being "In Time" by FKA Twigs. I absolutely love that song! Twice a day at least on repeat lol.


2. I am also loving surrounding myself with positivity! I have been reading, meditating, and praying about my purpose in life and my place within this world. I have already seen some AMAZING results from being positive in both my work, my relationships, and my business. I am being tremendously blessed and I must attribute this to my focus on gratitude, belief in abundance, and a plan that is bigger than myself.


3. I am thinking as a result of my positivity and belief in abundance that I must treat and take care of myself better. I work really hard and often neglect to make myself #1. I often forgo doing nice things for myself and that ends immediately. I have set up a schedule to get my hair and nails done regularly and a regular clothing budget that I MUST spend every month. Last week, I got my nails done (Pedicure was perfect but the gel nails came off three fingers FOUR days later! URGHHH!) (I took a deep breath and had to shrug it off, After, all it could have been all of them lol) and today, I got my hair did. Yes, did. See the BOO-tiful section for evidence lol. 

4. I am also wanting to see the Avengers Age of Ultron movie. A little fact about me is that I will always wait to see a movie or show. I will not watch a show for the whole season, just so I can binge watch it all at once. I mean, I have work to do. I cannot be addicted to my TV and a watching schedule. Anyhoo, I have been watching Captain America: Winter Soldier on REPEAT on Encore in the mean time. My husband hates it but I love action movies. I think I have seen it 50 times. He sees it on, sighs, shakes his head, and heads downstairs to watch more football lol. He will probbaly feel the same way once I get the Avengers movie from Redbox. 24 Hours of the Avengers lol. I will owe him big. 

5. I am thinking what I want for my birthday, It's the big 29 and last year in my 20s. Hubs keeps asking me to write a list of things I want so he can then choose and "surprise" me with them. I really only NEED perfume. I have really been blessed in the past couple of months from my family, the wedding, raises at work, growth in Knowledge Mobile, and creating my consulting business. I really just want to continue to be thankful and grateful for those blessings and all that is in store for us. 

6. BOO-tiful......Me!


I have been wanting to dye my hair burgundy for the longest time and I finally took the plunge today. It's a violet red that is different colors in different lights. I love, love, love it. I feel like it is fitting big girl hair lol. 
See! Much less red here! 
Hubs loves it :). 
At least that's what I made him say after asking him a hundred times lol. 

I hope you have a wonderfully happy, healthy, and harmonious October!


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You Oughta Know: Classroom Library Cards


Hi Teacher Friends! So glad you are stopping by on this fabulous blog hop hosted by the wonderful Jasmine McClain from Buzzin with Mrs. McClain. This month, I thought you oughta know about setting up a classroom library.
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Weekly Summer Link Up 5/24: My Goals for the Summer

Happy Monday!
 I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day and you spent it with people you care about. We spent ours driving back from Gatlinburg from our first family vacation. Traveling is definitely different with a nine month old.

So happy to link up with Miss Monica at I Heart 3rd Grade for this amazing linky party. As this year wrapped up, I had been wondering what I would blog about now that everyone was on break and then this amazing opportunity presented itself! So wonderful! 
The topic for this week is setting goals for the summer. It's always great to set goals in the beginning of an endeavor. It will be even more interesting to look at this list at the end of the summer to see what was accomplished.

Before I begin, I have A LOT going on. I know everybody is busy and they have lots on their plates, but I feel like I have 6 plates spinning at the same time, and 2 or 3 are looking a bit wobbly. 

  1. Get Married and survive the process
  2. Upload 60 total products (8 more by August 31)
  3. Get a full time job related to education
  4. Attend the TPT conference
  5. Plan my SIM (social innovation meeting) for Mid August
  6. Work Summer Institute June/July
  7. Attend the ASCD conference
  8. Keep up with blog schedule
  9.  Spend quality time with my sweetie and Papaya. 
  10. Enjoy the process :)
I would go through the whole list but that would be boring for you and anxiety inducing for me, so I'll just focus on the first 3. 

1. Get Married...And Survive....
It's a lot. But I keep telling myself to breathe and remember it's just one day and at the end of that day, I get cake. Lots of cake. The whole thing if I want it. That makes me feel a bit better about all the loose ends and deadlines. I have to tell myself to chill and remember I get cake. Hopefully, that will get me through. Hopefully...

2. Upload 60 Products
I had the goal of having 100 products in my store because 100 represents in my mind TPT sellers who are serious and focused on TPT as more than a hobby. Although I know others who are successful with less products, that is my personal goal. Instead of being focused on my 100 products, I got caught up in the world of social media and blogging versus the creation of products. I am going to reinstate my goal of having 100 quality products that teachers and classrooms need, but also take reality into account. With all the things I have going on, I cannot focus on the creation as much until after August. Then I will be better about my creation schedule. At least that is my goal.

3. Full time work
It's time to return to the land of adult and begin adulting once again. I was happy to leave the land of adult to return to grad school and  learn. I have had multiple jobs (almost all at the same time) but the were all part time to fix my flexible schedule. The job I have was great as I finished grad school and during my pregnancy with Papaya, but now it is time to focus on my professional career, I'm not sure what opportunity I will pursue, but the first step is to make a goal and pursue it. Oh, to adult successfully...what a wonder that would be lol. 


The rest of the list will serve as a check point for me to see where everything ended up by August 15th. At that point, I will be a Mrs., have a full time job, and be free to create to my heart's desire. 

I hope you follow the link and join this amazing party!

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You Oughta Know May!

 

You Oughta Know About Rotating TPT Banners!!!

Happy Saturday! This week, I am featuring rotating banners from Shelley Tomish from Pitch Clips! I hadn;t seen them before I viewed her store and I thought they were great and I hope you do too!

Two weeks ago, I came across a seller promoting her store Pitch Clips on the facebook group TPT Connections (click the link to join if you haven't already). I went over to check out her site and lo and behold! She had rotating banners. (Go ahead and look and come right back! I'll wait :) )It was the first time that I had come across that feature on a TPT store. As someone who JUST figured out how to place an image in my TPT banner, I was literally blown away.

 I reached back out to Shelley, the wonderful owner of Pitch Clips, telling her how great her rotating banners were. A few days later, she shared in the same post a tutorial for how to create your own rotating banners! It was so nice that she would share and add to the TPT community of knowledge.

Click below to follow her tutorial below and then come back to join the blog hop for even more tips for you!

http://www.pitchpublications.com/pitch-clips/tips-from-pitch-clips-rotating-tpt-header-banners


Her tutorial is so clear and concise! I can't wait to start planning to create my own next week!

Now, Hop on over to these other great blogs for things You Oughta Know!


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Sailing into Summer Blog Hop!

Happy Sunday! So happy to be linking up with Julie Faulkner and the Language Arts Classroom!


It is so crazy that there is only 10 days of school left! ESPECIALLY, when we lost all those days due to snow and the huge fear was the year going into June. But, fortunately for us, there are many suuny days ahead and summer approaches and our time as teachers to reflect and rejuvenate begins. I am happy to participate in this link up and share some final ideas for this school year and prepare  for the year ahead.

1. Hold a morning meeting to talk about their fears and anxieties before they take the test.

With the huge test culture we have developed, students have a lot of fears and anxiety about tests and their performances on it. If you still have time before the test, let students have a space to talk about the test and for you to reinforce your belief in your students. Intentionally putting this time on the calendar will help you to hold this commitment to yourself and your students. For your students, they can write or talk out how they feel about the test or what areas they feel weak in. On your part, its an opportunity to reassure them, go over test content, planning review sessions, and most importantly, check your own mindsets about your students and their progress. I remember feeling frustrated at the end of my first year because I felt one group of students was not motivated and turned in mediocre work. It was until I had an impromptu group meeting that I learned that they did care, but they were overwhelmed and unsure in their abilities, so they checked out as a cover. Even if this isn't a problem in your classroom, it couldn't hurt to have more spaces for student voice in the classroom. 

2.Thing to do again: Daily activity countdown

One thing that I would do again would be to have a balloon count down for the last day of school. If you have multiple sections of classrooms, you could just have envelopes taped to the wall. 

In my classroom, I would intentionally plan 10 activities for students to engage in every day until the last day of school. I selected 10 activities I thought students would like and put a strip of paper in the balloon and blew it up. Every day, I would share the class goal/expectations as the condition of popping the balloon. If we completed the task, I would have a student pop a balloon. The activities were things like a water balloon fight during field day, making food (to teach following discussions), GoNoodle videos, etc. To improve for next year, I would talk more with students to get their feedback. 

3. Thing to improve for next year: Improve communications with parents

Next year, I want to include more parents dreams for their children into my classroom planning. I developed this template to your with some of the new teachers I worked with this summer and thought it was a way to keep them focus on the academic and social component of the work we do. 
The first page has a picture of the students because I think their faces help to remind you of who we are working for/with and how we can adapt our lessons for their interests in needs. 


Overall, the best way to sail into summer is to be reflective of your teaching over the past year and think of specific activities and experiences to engage your students. Opening discussion, injecting fun activities, and preparing to include parent/student dreams in your classroom are all ways to have smoother sailing towards the summer. I hope these tips were helpful for you! 

Click below to continue on in the blog hop!

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Thursday Tips for Teachers: Share about others

Hi all! Happy Thursday! Time for another Thursday Tips for Teachers!


This week I am focusing on how to grow yourself by sharing/featuring others. When you are a tiny, itty bitty baby blog it is easy to feel intimidated by the other blogs out there. You might feel that no one will read your blog or care about what you have to say.

First things first, don't let your fear get in the way of sharing your gift with the world. This desire to create was placed in your heart and you should follow it. I wasted A LOT of time hemming and hawing about whether I could or should start, and frankly, missed so many opportunities.

The second second tip is to be realistic about your page views and audience. In blogging and TPTing you are joining a huge community of teachers who are sharing what they know and sharing/selling items they believe in to help classrooms around the country. Some of the blog networks I belong to are all about the next viral blog you write for the Top 10 this or 5 can't live without that. As I have been blogging, I have found the posts that have gone the most viral or get the most shares, are when I feature other teachers. They really love and appreciate being featured and being recognized in some small way. I know I did when I had my first feature. I shared it with my mom, my dad, my cousins, my friends, my teachers, etc, etc. It was a major achievement in my development as a blogger and as a creator/member of this larger community. Now, when I work with the other bloggers, I find that they do the same thing :)

Quotable of the Day: 
If you are looking to increase you impact, start first by sharing the impact of others. 

Below are the two main blog posts I do every week to feature the work of other teachers on my blog.

Teacher Feature Tuesday:


Every Tuesday, I have been featuring a teacher blogger on my blog. They answer 3 questions, give any additional advice they have, and send me a picture to feature on the blog. I then go to their store and select an eye catching item that I think others would love too. Here is my most recent feature with Kovescence of the Mind.

They have all really said how much they appreciate the feature. I just love being able to brighten some one else's day by showing their great work. Teaching is hard. Teaching, blogging, and creating is even harder, so it is nice to be able to recognize others.

Product Swap Saturdays:


This is my newest sharing feature. I joined a swap group where you can trade materials and post about them. I first learn of the group after my recent Stop, Swap, and Roll by Jungle Learners where I was paired with any other teacher and showed the product in use. After that experience, I joined a TPT group called  "TPT Swap and Post", where other teachers routinely swap goods. I love this process. Not only do I get to collaborate and feature another teacher author's great work, I also get to use these amazing products for FREE to help my students. You can view the first feature with Cheryl Irick from KinderIrick here.

There are so many benefits to this process. I get to build my network, my community, and my friendships with other bloggers. I also get to review really great products that are actually helping the kids in my program. In also have seen my blog audience and sales grow as a direct result of interacting and sharing with others.

I feel like everyone wants the same thing I want, a little recognition and some sign that this (TPT/blogging) is all worth it. As chief Kool-aid drinker, I firmly believe my effectiveness as a coach, curriculum developer, and as a human, have increased as a result of this journey. I am so grateful for this community and for everyone that has helped me along the way. I hope this little tip was helpful to you and that you will begin the wonderful process of creating, caring, and sharing with others!


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Winner Wednesday: Fry Words Student Skill Sheets-Second 100

Thanks so much to Jennifer from A Dab of Glue Will Do! I honestly love her blog and I am so glad she developed this opportunity.


Jennifer first mentioned this idea in the TPT Seller's Forum and I thought it was fantastic. I am currently participating in a Teacher Appreciation Giveaway of two bundles of educational resources worth over $475 and the response has been incredible. The simple fact of the matter is that people like to win stuff and I hope you do too!

For the first inaugural Winner Wednesday, I am giving a copy of my Fry Words Unit -Second 100 away!  

This unit features 25 sets of DIFFERENT activities to introduce Fry Words. I designed it because my guided reading tutoring program heavily focuses on sight words and having our students interact with them. Because of the format, I thought this would be an activity that would increase students exposure to the words and that they have fun while doing it.


The first page has students work on Word Identification and Spelling Activities through two of the activities below: 
9 different activities: 
-Word Search
-Word Pyramids
-Graph Words
-Secret Code
-Color Shapes By Word
-Missing Letters, Scrambled Words
-Write The Words
-Write Words Alphabetically


The second page activities is the same for all the sets of materials and features Read and Write Activities. Students will:
Read Words, Read Sentences, Copy Sentences, and Create Sentences. 

Students have to read all of the words three times before they can move on. They like to race to finish reading or see who can read them all correctly in the allotted time. They then read sentences in the same fashion. Students then rewrite the given sentences for handwriting practice and then create their own unique sentences.

It has been super effective in my program. Students like the different activities they can do every day to learn more about the words and interact with them.

Students working on the Fry Word Student Skill Sheets. The one picture above is from the First 100 words. Those sheets stay the same to support them as they learn the first hundred words. 
Enter the Raffle below or click here to buy your own copy :)

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Teacher Appreciation: One dollar Deal! Even and Odd

Welcome to Day 2 of Teacher Appreciation Week!  If you missed out yesterday, you can check out some great teaching secrets for your classroom HERE.   Also, you don't want to miss out on the two giveaways we are hosting this week.  If you didn't enter yesterday, you can do so now.  Make sure you enter for both prize bundles so you have double the change to win!




Enter to Win Prize Bundle #2 Here


Enter to Win Prize Bundle #1 Here

Today, we are offering a collection of high quality classroom resources at a huge discount.  Below is a list of Best Selling Resources that have been discounted by 20%.  You can receive an additional 10% off at checkout by using the code THANKYOU.




An InLinkz Link-up

We have also put together a collection of $1.00 Deals to help stock up your classroom for the rest of the year and next year.  I know I have added several of these deals to my cart.  Don't forget to use the code THANKYOU at checkout for maximum savings!





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Swap Saturday with Cheryl Irick




Happy Saturday! I am excited to share my first Product Swap Saturday! It is intended to help our community of teachers collaborate and feature each others products in use. I love collaboration and sharing so starting to do this was right up my alley.

I am so happy to partner with Cheryl Irick from KinderIrick
Cheryl was so kind to share more about herself and her products! Read Below!
I teach kindergarten and am always looking for ways to get my kids reading. I play my I Have Who Has games in small groups. I give each child 5 or 6 cards and we see how quickly we can get through the game. I prefer to play these in small groups as it keeps the kids engaged.

I have I Have Who Has games for all different things from language arts to math concepts. They make a great parent volunteer activity and the kids will choose them during center time to play with their friends.  


I was so fortunate to partner with her! I had a hard time choosing an activity, but I finally chose
I have, Who has? Farm Animal Edition because I felt like the students would love to make the animal sounds. Becuase I work with a tutoring program, I had one specific groups of kindergarterners in mind. This group is very active and can get off task easily so I wanted an activity that would engross them.

 I loved how colorful it was! She begins the pack clearly indicating what is the first card and what is the last card, which I loved. I printed the pages fit to page to maximize the ink coverage.

I followed the directions from the instructions and laminated the cards,. 



 Aren't they beautiful!

Cards in action!
As you can see, the kids were clearly into the game. The tutor I tutor I tried this with loved it and plans to use it again for her students. She said that they really wanted to get the right answers and checked all of their cards. I love when motivation and cuteness come together. 
In the version of the game shown here, I love the way she changed the directions for them to flip over the cards once they were done so they could focus. 

Be sure to enter the raffle below for a set of these cards for your very own! Your kids will love them. Promise!

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Currently May!


Listening:
I'm currently loving Piano Ballads playlist from Spotify. I listen all day at work and it is the perfect mix of current music, soothing, and focus music to get my tasks done.
Loving:
I love, love, love my new Tarteist eyeliner. It was expensive at $24 dollars but I love it. It comes with a tiny brush that lets you make lines as thin or as thick as you want it. The product comes in a tube with a blending stage to help you blend the product as thick or as thin as you want. I really love the ease of use. Before, it would take me 10 minutes of drawing and redrawing my lines. This morning, it only took me 3 minutes for the whole shebang and the lines are literally perfect.
Thinking:
So I was SUPPOSED to meet my car pool at 8:30 am this morning, but I got caught up filling out the graphic for currently :(. Instead, I had to drive myself where I then had to wait for the library to open up.
Wanting:
Speaking of those long days, between the Justice Journey and all of the KM work I have to do, I would love to have a nap. A long nap, lounging on the couch, like a cat. That would be tremendous. Justice Journeys was designed to help our staff deeply engage with issues of race, gender, ethnicity. I am excited for the process, having led it before, but the days are looooong. All weekend until 8:00pm so no down time for me. No rest for the weary.
 Needing:
 I have two potential job offers that I have been debating vigorously with my fiancé and mother.  I just need to make a decision as to which one 
Summer:
As far as my summer plans, I have a wedding to plan, a conference in Vegas to attend (go TPT!!!), and working summer institute for the entire summer, I have a lot of balls in the air. I  think I will be the happiest come August 15th, when I am installed in whatever job I chose, done with the wedding, and I  have the time to focus on my business and chill with my family.
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Five for Friday: Success and Success Principles



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Papaya in her fancy dress for the play. She did great by the way. Everyone was so surprised but I know my baby. Even at 8 months old, she is super alert and observant. She liked all of the lights and started dancing whenever there was music. The play was excellent too, just like my Papaya :)


Finished our staff incentive for the month! I just made the little tags and used double sided tape to adhere. So cute :)




Loving my new focus on fitness. 6 am workouts, drinking as much water as I can hold, sleep, portion control, and this handy pedometer have me feeling fit. Yay!

This weekend I am going on a Justice Journey! It is an in-depth opportunity to explore your race, ethnicity, gender, and privilege and who you are as a person and how that effects you, your students, and the work you do in education. I first went through this experience last year during our first summer institute and went through it with 20 new teachers. We were able to engage in deep discussions about bias, privilege, inequity, and inequality within education. 

One of the things we do is pick a social movement that has special significance for us. Last year, I picked the Civil Rights Movement, but this year, in light of all my reading and learning, I am thinking of picking Oprah, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Covey, Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield, in what I call the success movement, just to add variety to the conversation in terms of people who want to develop  and empower others.

Speaking of Jack Canfield, I just got his Success Principles book and I am loving it. I am loving this new synergy in my life of wellness, positivity, intentionalism, and focus on my goals. It has really streamlined this week and hopefully my life going forward. 

Hope you had a great week!!!



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