Day 90 Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Here is a great techy blogger, Katie King, to go hand in hand with Betsy Weigle from yesterday's blog.  Katie's blog Queen of the First Grade Jungle is a great learning place for those of you new to iPad's in the classroom.  She says that we need to train and teach our students skills for jobs that haven't been invented yet.  That is so very true!

After reading THIS POST I am now on a mission to get iPads for our primary classrooms!  Holy cow this is sooooo cool! We are a bit behind the times in North Idaho.  Heck, when it snows a lot or rains a lot or if the wind blows just the right way...it messes up our internet connection! lol  We are moving forward toward technology...it just may not be at the pace of other parts of the country :)

Katie also has a TpT Store that is full of great units.  Most of them are larger packets or Mega packs as some creators call them.  But she has a series of Busy Teacher packets that are full of great 1st grade leveled stuff!  And when I say stuff...I say it because it is full of just about anything you might need to teach writing, reading, language skills, math and more.  Each month has specific themes to go with the holidays and events that happen within that month.  It's worth spending a bit to get these great activities.  Just check them out and you will see what I mean!

Day 89 Classroom Caboodle Blog

What a fun find today on TpT...a neighbor teacher.  Yes, we aren't in the same state, but Spokane is just across the border from where I live in North Idaho.  They have Trader Joe's...we have moose.  They have hockey and baseball teams...we have little league.  They have big concerts like Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood...and we have Scout-o-Rama and the rodeo at our fair grounds :)  Good thing they are our neighbors! (But the gas at our Costco is about 20 cents less a gallon than theirs so we can afford to drive over the border more often :)

Betsy has a lot of resources for teachers.  She has a blog a website and a TpT store!   She has done just about everything but fix the kitchen sink in her school district.  But I wouldn't put that down as not being a possibility too!  Her resources are mostly for grades 3rd and up...but much of what she does and says can be brought down to the level you need it.

I love, love, love this lesson she has posted about teaching your class to line up!  I thought this was just a 1st grade problem, but apparently it's something that doesn't stick with the kids and has to be retaught each school year!  Her lesson is called: Teaching your students to Master the Art of lining up.  I just have to chuckle...because next year I plan to try a whole new attitude and approach to this simple task...but one that tends to hold us all up from leaving the classroom at least a couple times a week.

If you are looking for ways to incorporate technology into your classroom...then Betsy is your gal for that too!  She has just gotten a set of iPads for her class!  That is so cool!  I would love to just have a center full of them for all of our primary classrooms.  Betsy has an awesome series of posts about using the iPad and the apps to try with your students.  Click {HERE} to go to the posts.  She is posting more as she is working the kinks out with her students.  It's a great resource to get you started!

And then if you can't find enough treasures in her blog...she also has an actual website and a store on TpT.
Although most of her resources are for beyond the primary years....I found a treasure that I have added to my TpT Wishlist.  Betsy has a lot of math and science in her store.  And this cool lesson, Stacking Heart Challenge, now turned Valentine's Day and conversation hearts into a science project, not just a math project!!

Love it, Love it, Love it!  Can't wait to use it next February!  One of the things I love, even after 18 years of teaching, is discovering a new way to use something old!  Cuz when I'm excited, my students get excited...and when they are excited...they learn more!  Thanks Betsy!!

Today I didn't have to hop far...where shall I hop next?

Day 74 Happy Birthday to ME! A sale, plus one more blog!

Happy birthday to me!  Yup, tomorrow is another birthday.  Ides of March...the 15th.  Plus this week my youngest daughter also turned 15.  There is something special to that number this year.  So I decided to make it even more special...I'm going to give 15% off the creations in my store! Please stop by and see if something tickles your fancy and enjoy 15 % off at the same time!

Thanks!

For my birthday...here is a wonderful gift.  This blog is so full of ideas it's going to burst at the seams!  The name says it all...Teaching Blog Addict...it's what we bloggers tend to be...addicts to the cause.  As they say, they are "a fun resource community for educators."  If you are looking for some inspiration or a freebie or two or just tomorrow's lesson plan or art project, then this is a blog that should be on your bookmark bar!

Enjoy your Friday...my birthday will be a memorable one as we are riding a school bus 10 hours to Boise for our State Cheer Competition...yeah...

happy birthday to me...

stiff back it will be....

25 teenagers on a bus....

wouldn't you love to go with us?

sorry...too much Seuss this week--I broke into rhyme!

Day 72 The Creative Chalkboard

Oh my goodness...I find blogs that wow me all the time.  I wish I had as much time as some of these amazing teachers I find online seem to have.  Maybe I just get too distracted by all the "shiny objects" I find made by others...but I just don't feel like I produce as much as I think about in my head.

But thank heavens for those who do seem to have the time or the energy to get it all done and share it with others!  Today's bloggers is one of those that really made me say wow and to fire up the printer and to load up my wish list on TpT.

Krista has the blog The Creative Chalkboard and she has a wonderful store on TpT.  I found her through the TpT newsletter last month.  She does clip art...(I am a clip art hoarder...just to know...they haven't made a tv show about that yet though--guess Honey Boo Boo is more interesting...lol)  and Krista creates things to use with your class as well.

You can get a good freebie taste of it in her TpT store.  I love her writing templates.  They are so darn creative while still being usable.  Sometimes teachers make great stuff, but they don't have enough room for 1st grade writers to write anything on them.  Or they are so full of clip art that there may only be a few math problems actually on the page.

Krista has a nice balance to her creations.  And if you want more free fonts...she has those too.  Very cute, easy to read ones for young kids.

I love this hamburger organizer.  It goes perfectly with the poster I have in my room!  My 1st graders love the analogy.

Now...if the TpT treasures aren't enough...go to Krista's blog.  Now I want to find time to redo my classroom!  Maybe if I sell enough on TpT myself I can find the money to spruce things up a bit.  I dug deeper and found the tour of her classroom from last September because I absolutely love how she displays some of the things in her room!  Click here for the link to the tour of her classroom from last September.  Very cool and organized! 

I want to know what she is using the pizza pans on the wall for...and those lovely large compare and contrast posters...and the fact poster...and...well I think I just need to go to her classroom! I think I need a trip to Delaware!!

And here is a treasure...shows me that I don't go to the Dollar Tree near enough!  She found these cool eyeballs for her readers to inspire them to track with their fingers!  Now I am on a mission to find these!  Monster fingers are cool...but these are cooler...or the coolest (that was our spelling pattern a couple weeks ago -er and -est endings)

I'm still hopping along...this was blog number 72.  I can't believe that the year is flying by so quickly!

Day 71 Fourth and Ten

Fourth and Ten is a creation of Lisa, a 4th grade teacher in Ohio.  If you are a 4th grade teacher...then her blog is where you should be!  She has lots of creative ideas she shares as well freebies, sales and giveaways on her blog.

Here is one of the cutest game sets I've seen in awhile:

I love the Leprechaun theme to this  Fry word game.  It's the 3rd, 4th and 5th hundred words...so it's not for primary...unless you have some pretty advanced students.  But it's another cool thing to laminate and have for a center for those of you in 2nd-5th grades.  Or a great one for a resource room activity.  I have found that it's always tough to get those kids to learn their high frequency words unless it's something fun!

Day 70 Teacher Bits & Bobs

Happy Monday!  March is my favorite month...perhaps it's because it's my birthday month or that spring break is soon to come or that the hint of warmth is in the air or that everything is green (my favorite color) because of St. Patrick's day or that my husband will be making corn beef and cabbage soon or better yet...I find freebies!!!

There are lots of fun finds to be had this month...Teacher bits & bobs is a creation of two Kindergarten teachers, Kerri and Lindsay.

Today's post has two fun freebies that they created and shared.  The first one is themed writing paper.  It's great for a poetry starter.  Or just for sentence writing.

The second freebie is a skittles graphing activity.  I downloaded the Skittles activity and it was a great center!  I just bought a huge bag of Skittles and then put a share of them into different baggies.  Worked perfect...I do suggest you save this for centers in the afternoon though...you don't want them sugared up in the morning! :)

Day 69 Fancy Free in Fourth

Fancy Free in Fourth is a great resource for those of you who teach those kids that are taller.  (I teach 1st grade).  Actually, reading through her site, there are some things that could easily be adapted to my 1st graders.  

With it being March...and needing a little luck of the Irish...here is a great freebie to add to your collection.

Click Here to download it.

I love Fancy's clear and simple creations.  They are easy to copy and use with students.  Be sure to visit her blog and TpT store!  

There are a lot of creative and organized teachers out there...Here is another great management tool to add to your bag of tricks.  I love putting the responsibility into the hands of the students whenever possible. Students who are involved are better behaved.  Fancy hands out all her graded work on Wednesdays and has the student fill out their own Week in Review.  So when their parents ask "how is school going?" they can't say they don't know...because they have filled out their own grades! Simply genius!

Day 68 Run Miss Nelson's Got the Camera

Miss Nelson has a love affair with her camera.  I can totally identify with that.  In our house it's "Run, Mom's got the camera!"  No, actually, my daughters have learned to appreciate my picture taking proclivity.  They are cheerleaders...and both on the same squad at their high school.  If I don't bring my camera to practice, they all complain :)

I found these colorful "behavior beads" in her TpT store.   Behavior Beads seem to be popping up all over TpT lately.  They are colorful, fun and cheap but are a big hit with my students. They will actually work hand in hand with the Self Manager reward system we have at our school.  I won't have to buy too many chains because they already get chains from either the p.e. teacher or the school counselor and earn wolf paws for displaying all the character traits and p.e. feet for participation.  I could easily add these behavior beads to my classroom incentive program!

Day 67 Mrs. Patton's Patch

I love technology.  I would love to have Ipads or tablets for my 1st graders.  I am trying to wrap my mind around all the ways that I can use them with my students.  I believe that technology doesn't and shouldn't replace what I do in my classroom, but in our ever evolving world, it would be like burying your head in the sand if you didn't at least try to mix technology in with what you do in class.

Mrs. Patton uses technology with her students...particularly Ipads and Macbooks.  Here is a post that lists some very useful as well as engaging apps to use with your students.  Some have free versions and some have fee versions....but they are all Ipod and Ipad apps....Check them out!  Those of us with PC schools...well I will just have to keep hunting.

Day 66 First Grade in Foxwell Forest

Mrs. Foxwell, Becca, teaches 1st grade.  You have got to read her post from March 5th.  If you aren't an educator of the littler learners...you will be overwhelmed after you read this post.  No, she didn't do it all in one day (ha ha), but you will see how much we put into our jobs!

All I can say after reading her post...is ditto my last two weeks too.  Well, minus the baby shower...but add in coaching a high school cheer squad getting ready to go to state!  Then I think we are even on the insanity and lack of sleep level.

So I was hopping around her blog and I was stopped in my tracks by this post:

 The Bravo Board

I do table points, but this Bravo Board just puts the bow onto what I already do.  I love the coupon idea.  I already let the table group with the most points have lunch with me in the classroom--and they think that is amazingly awesome--makes me feel almost like I'm Adam Levine or Taylor Swift--because they think it's the coolest thing short of a third recess!  I think mixing it up with her cool coupon ideas would make it even that much more worth winning!

I know it's March...and the groundhog came out over a month ago...but I am already finding new ideas for next year.  I downloaded this freebie graph and used it this year..

But somehow I missed her cute groundhog craft to go with my paragraph writing.  I am filing this one away for next year! Can't wait to change up the old one I've been using for the last 10 years!  She has it in her TpT store...and it's not free, but it is definitely worth a look and spending a few dollars on it!

Isn't this the cutest groundhog?!

Ok, there is a whole lot more to find in the Foxwell Forest. Be sure to go visit!

Day 65 Double Duty Tuesday

Here is a two-fer day...I was invited to a fun linky party hosted by 1-2-3 Teach With Me.  Do you have a Facebook page for your blog?  Do you want more "likes"?  Well, here is a great way to make new Facebook friends.  Head over there and join up with her Linky Party.

Here is a 3rd grade find...Although I teach 1st grade...I can never get enough of those organized ideas.  I can always improve how I run centers...and pretty much anything else in my classroom and perhaps my life too!

Stephanie teaches 3rd grade in Colorado...one of my favorite places on earth!  Well, second only to North Idaho that is.  Stephanie uses the Daily 5 in her classroom.  She also has a wonderful routine set up for Math Centers.  You have to check it out.

I would love to try more centers in my classroom.  My schedule is just not the way I want it in my new school.  All my free time is the last hour of the day and by then the kids are whooped and not into hard thinking.  I am enjoying my class, but I am also looking forward to it not being my first year again!

So how do you fit in centers and reading groups?  It's hard.  Like I said, the end of the day just doesn't work for me.  I'm tired, the kids are tired...I don't feel like I am as effective as I was when I got to do my reading during the morning.  I am kind of thinking of changing things up a bit after Spring Break.

After 16 years, 3 school districts and 4 schools...I'm still trying to find the perfect routine.  Stephanie from 3rd Grade Thoughts has inspired me to try some new things.  Thanks!

Day 64 Made for 1st Grade

I chose Made in 1st Grade today because of this cool way to practice math facts.  It is an idea Diane and Kelly, two teachers from Wichita, Kansas created.  They have it posted on TpT.  They have 230 other items in their store for your use throughout the year.  Math facts are always a bear to master for many 1st graders and I am so excited to use this in my class next year.

Math next year is going to be even crazier than this year because of common core...so I can use all the help I can get.

Is anyone else a victim of having an adopted math curriculum that doesn't match the standards in the common core, yet their district isn't purchasing anything new so you have to work from scratch?  Yup, that's the boat we are in up here in North Idaho.  It's just that money is tight and it's not a year for adopting math...so we are hunting, creating, borrowing, sharing and praying for resources to help our students master the standards.

Actually part of me doesn't think that is all that bad...it helps re-invigorate our teaching and I love trying to find ways to help my 1st graders have their "a-ha" moments of understanding.  So when it is time to finally adopt a new math text, we will be sure of what we need and what we want and make a better informed decision!

If you have some great resources or links for 1st grade math...just leave a comment and let me know!  The best way to be awesome teachers is to share with each other!  That is exactly what got me started on this challenge of finding 365 teaching blogs to share!

Day 63 Apples and abc's

High energy kinder is what you get with Michelle's blog:  Apples and ABC's

I had to chuckle when I read Michelle's post about using feathers to write like George Washington.  It was one of those amazing ideas...that didn't quite go as planned.  I have to give anyone who posts about failures a lot of credit!  As teachers we know that our students learn equally from their successes as from their failures! And we as teachers, still have lots of learning to do too.  Especially those of us that think outside the box and love to supplement fun in with the adopted curriculum.

Michelle has created some great emergent reader books that she has for sale in her TpT store.
I like them because they are interactive.  The students can draw the pictures to go with the sentence which helps them plant the seeds of learning that much deeper!  Great job Michelle!

Visit her store on TpT...she has over 60 other ideas as well!

Can you believe it is already March?  We are into the third month of 2013...how the heck did we get here so fast!?!?

Do you have any fun units you do in March?  I know St. Patrick's Day and perhaps Spring take the forefront...but what else do you do?  Please share because I love trying new things!

Day 62 Adventure of a Third Grade Teacher

Amber is a third grade teacher from North Carolina. Her blog is called The Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher.  Yes, teaching is definitely an adventure just like her blog. She is an enthusiastic new teacher with lots of great ideas.  I love the mini-lesson ideas she posted.  I do many similar ones with my 1st graders.  I am sure our 3rd grade teachers will be happy once they get my 1st graders in two years :)

Here is one of my favorites that she posted.  Her Mini Lesson on Precise Language...those horrible boring, and dreaded words:  nice, kind, good, bad

We don't call it precise language in my 1st grade classroom...they are Delicious Words.  You know, like Fancy Nancy Delicious.  My kiddos have so much fun adding sticky notes to our chart.  I keep the sticky pads all over the room.  And it not only helps with their enthusiasm for reading, but for their enthusiasm for writing as well.

One of the things that our district wants us to focus on is problem solving and math strategies.  Yup, we never did that before until this year.  {is there a key on my laptop for heavy sarcasm? I would be pressing it about now.}   If you aren't already teaching strategies or you need some fresh ideas to keep the kiddos on top of their game, then you need to check out this cool idea that Amber uses with her third grades.  It could easily be adapted up or down.  If we can write, we can solve.

She has her students solve word problems in these cute little books.

 But the best part of these little books is that all the word problems are made by the students in her class.  She puts them together and then the students solve each others problems.  Wow...my students would absolutely love that! And I'm sure they would be much more creative than I could be!

Keep digging on her blog...Adventure of a Third Grade Teacher...there are lots of great treasures to find!

Day 61 Teaching Fourth

Kelly teaches 4th in Alabama.  In her About Me section of her blog she says she teaches Reading, Writing and Language Arts.  This is the second 4th grade teacher that I've come across this week that doesn't have to teach all the subjects. Just the other day I posted about Elizabeth and her blog Fun in Room 4B.  She teaches just math to the 4th graders in her school.

I think that's neat because you can get really good at something and you can work with more students.   Lesson planning would be so much easier.  The down side is that you would want that person to be an awesome teacher if they are going to teach ALL your 4th graders to read.  At the school I was at last year the 6th grade teachers tried that.  There were three of them.  Unfortunately, there was a weak link on the team, and the other teachers had to make up for the deficits from that room.  (this meant more work for them in the long run and lots of unhappy parents - never a good thing!)

But what I am finding is...for the most part...the quality of what teachers are blogging is amazing.  I'm not sure if it's the chicken or the egg.  Good teachers blog...or blogging makes teachers better teachers. Maybe it's a combination of both.  I know I learn so much from all the bloggers I find.  I am inspired and it gets my creative juices flowing to see what other teachers are doing and creating and what their students are producing and learning.  That's what collaboration is about!  {Don't get me started on district collaboration - but perhaps some time cruising the internet for strategies and ideas would be a better use of our time!}

Sorry Kelly, back to your blog...Teaching Fourth.  Kelly has some great freebies.  

One is her Pirate Homophone: Their, There, They're activity.

She also has a wonderful informational text graphic organizer packet for sale on her TpT store.  But she has a freebie for you to check out from it.

It's always hard to just pick out one of two things to share.  Kelly is so creative in so many ways that it makes it hard to choose.  This past week our principal showed us a video about school climates.  How to keep your school from looking institutional.  One of the things she showed a lot of was PAINT on the walls!  Something that wasn't that institutional beige or cream!  If only they would let us paint our rooms!  I should show them some of the work that Kelly has done to her room!  It's so warm and comforting...

even with those ancient desks!  Goodness...what century are they from?

Those owls are sooo stinkin' cute aren't they?

Kelly also has some cute bulletin board ideas too...

Makes the wheels turning for what I want to do this coming summer in my classroom!!

1st I'm purging...then I'm painting.

If they won't let me do the walls, at least I can do my bookshelves!

Thanks for hopping by my blog...hope you were inspired to do something wonderful!

Day 60 Criss Cross Applesauce in First Grade

Holly is a fellow first grade teacher.  I loved reading her blog.  She has a delightful sense of humor which comes through in her postings.   Her blog is called Crisscross Applesauce.  Now who hasn't used that term or at least heard it said before?

Between her fun take on teaching and life as a teacher and mom...she also seems to be amazingly creative with her fun theme units.  I want to sell more of my own so I have the money to buy more of hers! shhh...don't tell my hubby, because I think he has other plans for my earnings!

I learned something new today from her blog too!  If you put a frozen spoon under your pillow when you go to bed, it can bring about a snow day the next morning!  Bet you didn't know that one did you now?  lol....it may not work when you want to extend that 3 day weekend in May into a 4 day weekend...but maybe in January?!?!  I will have to give it a try next winter!

Be sure to visit her TpT store.  She has some fun freebies to give you a taste of her talent.  I found this amazing poster that I'm going to print up.  You know that saying..."

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

Well, Holly has a much better twist on it that I am going to start using with my 1st graders!

That is a much more positive message!!  I love it!

Here is the link to go directly to her TpT Store and download it for your class!

It will go hand in hand with the one I use every day....

If you're not Listening

You're not Learning

This is what I say whenever I start a lesson and I am trying to get them all to focus and listen to the very important directions I'm about to give.  I say the first part...they come back with the second part.  They love it and it works...plus it's a little moral message that is sinking into their brains as well!