Winner!

I was a lucky winner of an AWESOME Math-Literacy Centers packet from I Love First Grade.  Check it out on her TpT store here.

Elf on the Shelf

I bought "The Elf on the Shelf" today and my six year old was excited.  After I read the book to him and he understood what the elf does, he started to cry and told me to take it back to Target.  (He doesn't want Santa to know how his behavior is at times.)

Jaxon decided to give the elf a try and he named our elf, Friendly!  Tonight the cartoon was on at 8 pm on CBS.  Jaxon and I  loved the cartoon!  It goes on sale tomorrow! 

After Jaxon went to bed, I googled "The Elf on the Shelf"  and found a neat website with printables. 

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/printable/magic-elf

I printed off the passport and now Friendly is holding it for Jaxon to see in the morning. 

I am going to buy another book/elf tomorrow (maybe buy the little skirt to make the elf a girl) for my classroom.  I know my first graders will love this activity too! 

Back to School Cookies

As I was grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, I found these back to school cookies.  I plan on baking these for my son who starts kindergarten this year.  

Information Overload... in a good way!

Here was my week in a nutshell.  Monday I had training for my Smartboard.  Tuesday and Wednesday consisted of training for Garage Band, Keynote, iMovie, iDVD, and Photo Booth.  Thursday's training was about web design and Powerpoint, and today was technology with primary grades.  Jenn Long from http://pirateslifeforus.blogspot.com/ and Megen Kania from http://kaniaskorner.blogspot.com/ did our training.  All I can say is WOW!  These ladies were fantastic and gave the teachers at my school a lot of great resources and ideas for our classroom.  The big hit was Pinterest.   Thanks again for everything!!

Below is an idea I saw off of Pinterest today.  I did it quickly just to see how it would turn out... not too bad in just 10 minutes.  I don't like the two colors together, but those were the only colors my son had left.  I did the handprints of my family, but I could see this being an art project in school.  I thought the art teacher could trace handprints of students starting in kindergarten up through sixth grade (if your building goes to 6th) and in sixth grade, create this.  If a student moves in, the teacher could just start with the handprints from when that student enters the school district.  It would be a neat visual to see how your child has grown in elementary school.  I am going to do this for my son who starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks.

I make test folders up for my students every year.  My mentor teacher showed me this 8 years ago, and I have done it ever since.  I use an expandable folder with Velcro.  On the front of the folder, I put a label with a note to the parents explaining what the folder is for, a label for the students name, and a Non-Discrimination statement label (required by my school district).  Each week, tests go home for parents to look at and review with their child. Then the tests and folders come back the next day signed.  It is not shown in the picture, but I place an address label below the flap each week with the date and the word signature for parents to know to sign on the label.  When the folders are turned in, I can do a quick check to see if the folder was signed, then look in the folder for any notes later when I file the tests.   Parents love this folder and I have never had a parent ask, "Why did my child get a ___ on her progress report or report card?"  I then have all  the tests filed away and easily ready for a parent meeting. 

The note reads,

What a week!

It's been a crazy week so far.  I have had professional development on technology on  Monday, Tuesday, and today.  I have more Thursday and Friday. I am enjoying it.  I am learning so much that I can use in the classroom.

 I have some classroom ideas I want to share, so hopefully this weekend I can get caught up on here.

I wanted to thank Cathy Irwin from http://mrsisclass.blogspot.com/ for letting me know that I can add "gadgets" that allow different options for people to follow me.  I still need to learn more about Blogger!

Shake A ________

Using empty, clean egg cartons, you can make lots of educational games. I saw this in a book called, The complete book of activities, games, stories, props, recipes, and dances ...  By Pamela Byrne Schiller, Jackie Silberg for numbers and animal sounds. 

First, decide what topic you want your students to practice.  I have made some for short vowel words (-ell, -ack, -op) and  kindergarten sight words as a review.  Simply write the math fact, letter, or word on the bottom of each egg whole.  Then, using something small (penny, button, bead) place it in the carton, close, and shake.  Students open up the carton, see where the small object landed, and they either have to solve the math fact, read the word, make up a word that rhymes, give the letter sound,etc...  I created a recording sheet for my Shake a Word game. It is saved at school, so I cannot upload it now.

The picture below shows a Shake a Sight Word game.  The words are kindergarten review words.  When students read the sight word, they also say the word in a sentence. 


The way my family goes through eggs, I hope to expand my egg carton games for math.  My students in the past have loved to play these games during centers. 

I love clearance items!

I was perusing around at the local Wal-Mart today and came across an aisle full of clearance items that the workers were just stocking!  I found Lego sets originally $3.97 a piece for one dollar!  I gobbled up 12 packs for my 5 year old son.  He has a slight obsession with Legos.  I don't mind because he is so creative with them!   I also found Finger Bowling sets for 50 cents each.  I grabbed 22 packs.  On A Pirate's Life For Us blog, Jenn thought about making up an addition/subtraction game for her students.  I am debating on whether to create a math game, put them in my prize box, or add it as part of a Christmas gift for each student.

I also bought 22 boxes of Cra-Z-Art crayons (24 count) for 19 cents a piece. 

Great deals today!

I plan on posting some activities I have created for school on here soon.  I hope to get more followers who may be able to use some of my creations!

Ohio Adventure

Yesterday my WONDERFUL husband asked me if I would like to go to Rogers, Ohio to a big flea market. (My husband does not like yard sales, flea markets, or thrift shops but he went for me!)   I only found one school treasure there today.  It is a set of hot air balloon lights.  I have so many bulletin board ideas I could use with these balloons. 

I then wanted to stop at a Dollar Tree on our way back home.  The GPS showed the closest store was in Warren, OH.   I found so many school treasures there!

I found crayon banks.  My husband is going to drill little holes in each one and add hooks so I can hang them up in my classroom.

I also found little cones with the following sayings:  Great Job!, Superstar!, Good Work!, and Way To Go!    I may use them to place on desks of students who are on task and quiet.

I bought a wooden "Magic Wand" (which has so many possibilities), and 4 Clifford C.D.'s with music and coloring pages to print off. 

And lastly, I bought some window clings (top) and bulletin board sets (bottom).  All in all, it was a great day!

Newbie

Ok, so here I go!  I have been following some blogs and decided to try it out for myself!  I cannot wait to be able to share my ideas with all the great teachers out there! 

The first blog I started following was Mrs. Tabb's.  You can see her blog here.  She has some great ideas including a shoe unit for back to school.  It looks amazing. 

I have a lot of exploring/learning to do here, so I will post this and get busy!