No April Foolin' Freebie

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. So sorry!


What a day to get back on track...it's my brother-in-law's birthday. He told me today that when he tells folks that it's his birthday, they say, "Good April Fools' joke! I've got a gift for you too, let me just go get it...April Fools! Aww! :( I felt so bad for him, but he can laugh it off and appreciate it for what it is. 


Hopefully you all can appreciate this little freebie for what it is. Recently, I found a game where you roll a die to draw different parts of a turkey and one for snowman parts. I can't remember where I found those two files. If you created one, please let me know so I can give you credit. 


Anyway, I used both of those files, and created a few myself for my kiddos. They really love it, and it's a good way to help them practice those spelling words that keep tricking them on tests. They write down all of the words they missed (up to 10) from the last few spelling tests. They use these words as their spelling game words. They partner up with a friend, use a die, and the paper below. If their neighbor calls out a word from his partner's list, and the partner gets it right, he draws a part of the flower, and vice versa. 


So enjoy this little freebie on a beautiful April day! Click on the pic to download.

Have a great week...4 and 1/2 days til my spring break! Vegas, Baby!!!

My Teacher Techie Party

Oh my...it's been a while. In the last post, I said I would comment on my teacher-techie party. I also said I would include lots of pics. Guess what....I did not take one.single.picture! I was so busy at our "party" that I didn't even have time to take a picture. 


That is not to say that the party was not a success. It was a huge success! I had about 15 teachers show up, but the most important thing is that they all learned at least a little something that they could take with them right at that moment and use in their personal lives and/or classrooms. 

I started off showing them Pinterest! I explained the opening log-in page and how to sign up for an account. I assured them it was very easy to get started. I proceeded to go on to my "Boards" page. I showed them the Education page because I had been pinning grade and subject-specific pins for them the weeks before the techie party. I showed them how to click on the pictures and go to the original websites. They really liked it. 


Then I went through a little packet I created for them with a few websites I thought they could use. I don't have a copy of the packet here at home (where I'm writing this post), but I'll post it next week.


I included some interview questions for them. I would like to profile a few of them on my blog. I called it my "Teacher Feature" page. The questions centered around favorite classroom management strategies, favorite lesson plans, advice for future teachers, etc. 


If you were going to interview teachers at your school for your blog in a "Teacher Feature," what would YOU ask them?


My "Teacher Features" coming soon!...

Not Much, But a FREEBIE!!!...

Well, fellow bloggy friends, I have not been on in almost a week! I apologize. It's been crazy around here. And even still, I don't have much to add tonight. I'm getting ready for my teacher techie party tomorrow at school, so that's consuming a bit of my time. However, I wanted to post a St. Patrick's Day FREEBIE! I've looked at a ton of awesome creations from all of you out there in Blogland, and don't worry, I will be purchasing a few of them (I LOVE all things green and St. Patrick's Day!!!), but I had to create something for my kiddos based on our current spelling/language arts unit. And, I wanted something Irish-y. :) So click on the picture below to get your FREEBIE! 

Enjoy, and I'll be back tomorrow with pictures and news of how my techie party went! I'm excited!!! TGMO - Thank God Monday's Over! :)

We LOVE Legos!!!

Not only do I teach technology classes at my school, but I'm also the technology club instructor as well. I wanted to try something different this week for tech club, and we have a contact with a company called Bricks 4 Kidz. 

It is a company that works with school systems (and I assume individual families) to provide play, challenge, and critical thinking activities using legos. I have to send out a little praise to Sharon Dodson, our local Bricks 4 Kidz representative/teacher. She did an awesome job with our kids yesterday!!! They got to make a windmill that actually worked. Some of the legos were typical ones, and others were technic bricks, which hooked up to a motor with a battery pack. I have not seen my technology club kids so quiet, interested, involved, and focused on something in so long. I am posting a few pictures and a video of one of the windmills. Hopefully the video will work. Please leave me a comment and let me know if it doesn't work for you. You can click on the Bricks 4 Kidz picture or link above to go to the website. You'll have to check your area of the country to see if there are places or representatives that you can take advantage of for your kids. It is well worth the LITTLE amount of money that it costs, and trust me, your kids will LOVE it!!! (I apologize for the video - I took it with my iphone and I can't figure out how to turn it upright. It's a sideways video! :( )

Here's the video (hopefully):

Have a great rest of your night...it's almost Hump Day!

You Like Me, You Really Like Me!

Wow, that sounded really conceited! I just had to channel my inner Sally Field for a minute. I'm so excited because my blog got an award! It's from Staci at Let's Teach Something. Thank you so much, Staci! It's exciting to get an award when you only have 5 followers!!! I think I'm writing all these posts for myself sometimes! (Woe is me, ... j/k) Seriously, I really appreciate anyone who reads my little blog. Go check out Staci's blog by clicking on the link above. I met Staci at the Tri-state Blogger meet-up. It was so much fun. I tell you what, those ladies were the ones to push me and inspire me to start this blog. So really, I should be giving them all the awards...which I think I will do...

Here's to 
Cathy at Sunshine and Happiness in First Grade - so funny! She had me cracking up. She has a "presh" blog! I was one of her first followers!!!! Exciting!!


Chelsea Rose at Blooming into First. This is a new blog I've been following since the meet-up. Plus, I love that she worked at Red Lobster during college. My BEST friend in the world worked at Red Lobster in college, and bless her heart, she still does!!!


Erica from Rausch's Readers - she mostly posts for her students and parents, but she has a really cute blog and lots of pictures!!!!


Shannon at Langston's Learners - her blog is also mostly for parents and students, but it's really cute. She's almost up to 200 followers...go follow her now.....go, go, go!!!


Claire from Special Speckled Eggs - I remember her talking about her blog's name at the meet-up. I could only hear parts of what she was saying about it, and it sounded like she was downplaying it. It's a VERY CUTE name! I love it! :)


Go check out these blogs and follow all of these amazing ladies!!! Give them a chance, and thanks again to Staci for giving me a chance and supporting my wee little blog! :)

OU/OW Word Work Freebie

I'm sorry I don't have a lot to post today. It's been a rough week. I had a parent "complain" to me and then to my boss over something that I had MINIMAL control over. I'm not in trouble or anything, but the complaint was completely ridiculous. PLUS, I am a problem-solver, a doer. I don't mind taking complaints, suggestions, constructive criticisms, etc. I take them pretty well actually. I LIKE to improve what it is I'm doing. If people don't complain every once in a while, you never know what to change. yada, yada, yada, I'm rambling.

Anyway, inspired by the *GREAT* Abby at The Inspired Apple, I created a document for my kids this week. We're working on ou and ow words (the "rough toughies" for those who teach Sitton spelling). I made a "Highlight a Word" page b/c I've used a page of Abby's in the past, and my kids loved it. She said that her kids loved using a highlighter. I teach sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, and they STILL love to use highlighters! Anyway, you can click on the picture below to get your FREE copy of the page!

Happy Valentine's Day ~ I hope everyone survived today, and I hope you're not in a sugar coma tonight!

Techie Tip that Saved my Life!

I follow a blog by a lady named Jacqui Murray all about technology in the classroom. She is amazing. You can check out her blog, Ask a Tech Teacher, by clicking on her name or here. I get weekly emails from her, including one that suggested having a startup/homepage with all the links you use with your kiddos. I was nervous about starting one because I have SO many websites that I use with my kids, because I teach technology. Anyway, she suggested using protopage.com to get this homepage. 

Well, I finally broke down and tried it. I AM SO GLAD I DID! I had to because I have some kids who don't even know their letters, so getting them to type in a website address was near impossible, or at least it took up way too much time. 


Anyway, it is now my homepage in my technology room, and all of my kids learned how to use it VERY quickly. They know to go right to our homepage wiki (I love that I could teach them this vocabulary word and it's not scary for them to learn a new "tech" word). You set up your links and click right on them and it takes you to the website. It's similar to blogging, and the only downfall that I saw from it was having to put each website one.at.a.time that I wanted to save. Once you put in a few, it gets faster, and if you just start out with a few, it's even easier. If you use websites with your kids for any subject, for centers, extra activities, free time, etc., I highly suggest you look at it and try it. Make yourself a page at your house - try it out. 
It is so easy to change the page(s) for your needs. 


Click here to see my tech class's homepage (via protopage)! You'll notice that I use the BOOKMARKS page, and not the home page, but you could change it up to fit your needs. I'm currently working on adding grade-level pages for the teachers to save as their math or literacy homepages.


I hope everyone's having a great weekend. I slept until 1:30 today. Clearly, I needed the rest. Have a great one!!!
And, if you have any questions about protopage, or my example of one, feel free to email me or comment! :)