2015 Teacher Tool Gift Exchange LiNkY!

Last weekend over 100 of the best teacher bloggers in the country joined me at the beautiful French Lick Resort for a weekend of inspiration and learning at the 

2^nd annual Spring Teacher Blogger Meet-Up! 

Friends, it was an AMAZING experience!  And we can’t wait to share it with you!  We will be doing a HUGE linky party next weekend about all of our meet-up events!   Trust me, you will NOT want to miss it!  {We have LOTS of incredible goodies to give away to our followers!}

But for this weekend, you will have to settle with just a sneak peek at one of our favorite activities!

Our Teacher Tool Swap Gift Exchange

During our luncheon meet-up on Saturday, one of the activities that I planned was a “Teacher Tool” gift exchange.  Because our group was so large this year, we broke up into grade level/subject groups to do the exchange.  Each group got into a large circle and held the wrapped teacher tool gifts that they brought.  

The amazing Amanda Pauley {Mrs. Pauley’s Kindergarten} wrote a fun “left-right” passing story that she read for everyone.  {Every time she said LEFT, we passed gifts to the left.  Every time she read RIGHT in the story, we all passed our gifts to the right.}  At the end of humorous teacher blogger story, each person took the gift he/she received and sat down in the circle.   We then went around and had each person open his/her gift, show the group and then the gift GIVER shared who she/he was and explained what the gift was and why she/he loved it.  It was AWESOME to see new tools that others had never discovered, tools that these creative teachers developed themselves, and to see a pattern of the same gifts given to see what is trendy and hot right now!

  

The Teacher Tool that I gave was…

When I started thinking about what “teacher tool” has been the MOST beneficial help to me in the classroom this year, the answer was clear!  The tool I had to give was this…

While it may not be the type of tool that first came to your mind because it’s not a stapler or desk accessory, let me assure you… it is a TOOL that will undoubtedly change you as a teacher!  {I have personally have two copies of this book in print, one at school and one at home… AND I have the book on tape in my car!!  #truestory    If you are looking to re-energize your teaching and take your instruction from drab to FAB… this book is your answer!  I’ve seriously read/listened to it 5 times in it’s entirely…and it never gets old.  It’s changed my instruction…and as I’ve shared it with co-workers…it is changing my school, people.  I mean it.  It is changing what my students will experience as “school”…and it will undoubtedly change their lives too.  #enoughsaid?  #readthebook  #getitnow  #changeyourlife

The Teacher Tool that I received was…

Eeks!  Look at this little bag of goodness! The gift I received included a teacher journal (which I’m using to record my blogging and TPT “to do” ideas), an epic set of X-Grip Zebra Comfort Grip Pens, and something I’d never seen before…. My favorite type of staple remover  WITH A LETTER OPENER on the end! Say what?!  Oh, yeah. It’s for realz! 

Bonus  Goodies that my generous blogging friends gifted to me…

People, the goodness did not stop there!  Un-be-knownest to me, all of the teacher bloggers who attended the meet-up conspired in a secret to mission of generosity!  Uh-huh!  You know it.   Teachers are just “good people!”  I’m not sure who the mastermind was, but a collection was taken and during the meet-up I was presented with these awesome group gifts from the attendees as a thank you for planning the meet-up.

I know, right?!  The generosity was overwhelming! Brendy Frady (Primary Inspired) one of my fav teacher bloggers who is also an Orgami Owl rep, designed this BEAUTIFUL necklace just for me!  I mean…Folks, it’s perfect!  And as if that was not already too much… They gifted me a VERY GENEROUS Target gift card too!

Am I done yet, you may ask.  The answer is NO. I am not!   When I say I was overcome and humbled.  I mean it.

My sweet friend, Dana Lester {Common to the core}, worked her design magic and created these monogram bags for Brittany Banister {Mrs. Banister's Kindergaraten}, my co-planner, and me!  Aren't they epic?!  

Emily Peden {A Neighborhood Kindergarten}, You are the sweetest and I will enjoy using these in my classroom with my kiddos!  THANK YOU!

To the All Y’all Need Girls, could you be any bubbly and giving?!   I LOVE these photo booth props!!  

  

Kinder Glitter Girls, what a pleasure to get to know you!!! This t-shirt is ROCKIN’!  You are too generous!

Maja Austin {KookyKinders}… YUM! YUM! YUM!  These personalized cookies were not only BEAUTIFUL…but they were delicious!   {Confession: It took me almost a week to eat them, because they were just too pretty to eat! But, in a moment of weakness and sugar deprivation, I dug right in! LOL}

And I was THRILLED to receive this special teacher tool that has been on my wish list for a year!!   A Scentos chunky marker holder! My dear friend, Deanna Jump {Mrs. Jump's Class} brought me this.  It was made and designed by another sweet friend's hubby (Katie Mense of Little Warriors)!   I'm so excited to fill it and place in my writing center!  The kiddos will go nuts!

Now at this point, I was literally thinking.... How can my incredible blogging friends be any more generous?!

And then THIS happens!  Yep...a full hour of Swedish massage!   #loveyoudeanna

I just need to shout out a ginormous...

THANK YOU

to all of my teacher blogging friends.   

You are a true blessing in my life!

God has blessed me with so many life long friendships through this adventure!

Want to see what all of the other teacher bloggers received in the swap?

Check out the links below!

You might find a TOOL that you never knew you needed!

An InLinkz Link-up

A BIG shout out to Miss DeCarbo for 

setting up this epic linky party!   

Go and check her out HERE right now!

 

Book Study: Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites -- Chapters 1 & 2

I'm linking up with Elizabeth from Kickin' It In Kindergarten for our book study on the book Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites.  I just LOVE this book!  

For one thing, it’s completely research based.  This is SO important!   In these days of the “social media explosion,” we are bombarded with pictures, posts and videos posted by teachers across the world.  In many ways, this global ability to “share” is a blessing…but in my opinion, it can sometimes be a curse as well.  Folks, there are all kinds of videos, posts and promotions out there that more than likely are posted by teachers with good intentions but are NOT “best practices” according to research.  Beware, my fellow teachers!  Just because teachers make videos of their teaching and post them…THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM“BEST PRACTICE.”   I worry sometimes when I see dozens of teachers post glowing comments about posted instructional videos or activity ideas that do not promote best practices.   I wonder, are we losing sight of what quality instruction is?   Is social media turning education into a reality TV program? Perhaps due to my educational and professional background, I’m over-thinking this issue…but maybe I’m ok with that.   I mean, if we are not striving as educators to check ourselves and keep ourselves updated with the most current educational research practices….are we truly serving our children to the best of our abilities?

Secondly, I love this book because it is truly an easy read.  The author has a way of very simply defining each strategy, then shares the research that supports the strategy, followed by instructional strategies that tell you “how” to implement the strategy in your classroom.  There is even a reflection/application review activity in each chapter.  You can complete a chapter in about 30 minutes!  Love it!

So, have I convinced you to go get the book and join us in this book study yet?  

Just do it!

Run to the library and grab it!

Download it on your Kindle!

Join us, people!!!

This book study isn’t about proclaiming our perfection as teachers…it’s about being real.  We need to both celebrate our strengths…AND identify our weaknesses, so that we can improve our instruction! Let’s open our eyes to what research shows us is best practice…and let’s change the world!  #intentionalteaching

So…let’s get on with the reading and reflection, shall we?

Chapter 1 was all about Brainstorming and Discussion.  The chapter discusses how brainstorming and discussion are natural processes of the brain.  When people open their mouths to speak, they send more oxygen to the brain…and oxygen is essential to healthy brain development!  Children need to brainstorm and discuss ideas, people! Talking in the classroom is a good thing!

To be more specific, teachers should be intentionally challenging students by asking both knowledge or short-answer questions, as well as those that enable students to use their reasoning, critical-thinking, and creative-thinking skills.  An EXCELLENT way to do this is by using Bloom’s Taxonomy of multi-level questioning. Now, if you are a teacher…you know all about that.  {Ok. If we are being real, we at least remember that we learned about that in college!  LOL} 

Ask different kinds of questions?  Yeah. Yeah.  We can do that.  But DO WE??   I know that personally, I knew that according to Bloom’s we should be using six different levels of questioning with our students.   But to be honest…off the top of my head (while I was trying to lead instruction) I didn’t know if I was actually hitting ALL SIX types of questioning!!! I mean, really...was that an analysis question I just asked?  Or was that a synthesis level?   Oh!  I don’t think I’ve asked an application-level question yet.  Crud!  What is that kind of question again?   I mean…am I right??

SO…in the spirit of really taking this research review to heart in order to improve my instruction, I created this little gem! Perhaps it will help you improve your questioning and discussion-prompting, too! 

I designed it so that could use it during what I call my “GENIUS MOMENTS!”

   

What are “Genius Moments?”

In my classroom, I refer to the unexpected “extra moments” that I find within my schedule as Genius Moments! You know what I mean…the 3 minutes you have before recess time…or the 4 extra minutes you have because your kiddos finished their center rotations early.  If you are like me, you don’t want to waste one single minute of classroom instructional time.  Instead of just letting my kids waste those moments, I always have handy little brain-based learning activities ready-to-roll to fill these little unplanned gaps.  

The above Genius Moments: Brain Building Question Cards are one of those super-simple, yet very impactful tools!  Check them out HERE.  {And keep your eye open for me to post more of my Genius Moment products!  I just have to have time to get them up on TPT! They are all research-based!}

On to Chapter Two!   

This chapter was all about incorporating DRAWING and ARTWORK  into your lessons. Research has shown for more than 70 years that there is a positive relationship between thinking in art and thinking across the curriculum. Yet, we all know that when money gets tight, the arts programs are the first to be cut! This chapter challenges us to use the artistic creativity in students’ brains to our cross-curricular advantage, by intentionally asking students to illustrate their answers to problems and/or use illustrations to show details of understanding.

Here are a few pics of one of our latest illustration activities.  Student illustrations help to add additional details to student work, especially at the kindergarten level when writing words can be more difficult than expressing details in pictures.

{Shout out to Deanna Jump for this awesome penguin illustration idea!}

Check out her unit HERE.

Hop on over to Kickin it in Kindergarten to link up for our 

Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 posts!

Here is the rest of the schedule for our study!  

You can join in at any time!

Linky parties will take place on these different blogs each time. 

Here is the order so you can plan accordingly :)

Kickin it in Kindergarten

Mrs. Wills Kindergarten- Chapter 3 (March 7th)

Queen of the First Grade Jungle Chapter 4 (March 10th)

Fabulous in First Chapter 5 (March 14th)

One Extra Degree Chapter 6 (March 17th)

Mrs. Jump's Class Chapter 7 (March 28th)

The First Grade Parade Chapter 8 (March 31st)

In April, you will be visiting these girls for the remainder of the study:

Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Chapter 9 &10 (April 4th)

What The Teacher Wants Chapter 11 (April 7th)

First Grader At Last Chapter 12 (April 11th)

Erica's Ed Ventures Chapter 13 (April 14th)

KinderGals Chapter 14 &15 (April 18th)

A Rocky Top Teacher Chapter 16 (April 21st)

Mrs. Wills Kindergarten Chapter 17 (April 25th)

Little Warriors Chapter 18 (April 28th)

Falling Into First Chapter 19 (May 2nd)

Kickin' it in Kindergarten Chapter 20 (May 5th)

You can join in for whatever part you like! If you are not a blogger, that is OK! We will want you to join in on the fun. You can participate in the conversation in the comments. We want this to be a positive collaboration between teachers! The whole point is to encourage each other with inspiring ideas while still using research based best practice.

Join us for an epic professional book study!!

I don't know about you.... but the reason I started following blogs was because I needed the support and inspiration of other like-minded educators.  After being a "follower" for a while... I decided to create my own blog, not because I felt like I had an over-abundance of knowledge to impart on the teacher-world myself, but instead because I wanted to share the awesome resources I found in various other places with other educators who were looking to better themselves... and maybe share a few of my own ideas.  THIS is why I love blogging and my blogging friends.   I love sharing ideas, support, & encouragement with other teachers who are truly striving to be the best teachers they can be... FOR THE KIDS!   I love how my blogging friends challenge me.  I love how we are there for each other to ask the hard questions... to hold each other accountable for teaching using "best practices"...to help each other stay focused on our 

TRUE CALLING 

to SERVE CHILDREN to the 

BEST of our abilities.

So in that very spirit of collaboration, several of my blogging friends and I have decided to challenge ourselves to reflect upon our teaching methods, as we work through a new book study together in order to ensure that we are teaching according to "best practices." 

Won't you join us???

Under the great blogging leadership of Elizabeth Hall of www.kickinitinkindergarten.com, we will be starting February 28th!  We are going to be hosting a linky party each Tuesday and Saturday with chapters from this book: 

{I found a copy at my local library!  It is also available on Kindle for a few bucks less that the print version!}

Linky parties will take place on these different blogs each time. 

Here is the order so you can plan accordingly

Kickin it in Kindergarten- Chapters 1 & 2 (February 28th)

Mrs. Wills Kindergarten- Chapter 3 (March 7th)

Queen of the First Grade Jungle Chapter 4 (March 10th)

Fabulous in First  Chapter 5 (March 14th)

One Extra Degree Chapter 6 (March 17th)

Mrs. Jump’s Class Chapter 7 (March 28th)

The First Grade Parade  Chapter 8 (March 31st)

In April, you will be visiting these girls for the remainder of the study:

Mrs. Ehle’s Kindergarten Chapter 9 &10 (April 4th)

What The Teacher Wants Chapter 11 (April 7th)

First Grader At Last Chapter 12 (April 11th)

Erica’s Ed Ventures  Chapter 13 (April 14th)

KinderGals Chapter 14 &15 (April 18th)

A Rocky Top Teacher Chapter 16 (April 21st)

Mrs. Wills Kindergarten Chapter 17 (April 25th)

Little Warriors Chapter 18 (April 28th)

Falling Into First Chapter 19 (May 2nd)

Kickin’ it in Kindergarten Chapter 20 (May 5th)

You can join in for whatever part you like! If you are not a blogger, that is OK! We will want you to join in on the fun. You can participate in the conversation in the comments. We want this to be a positive collaboration between teachers! The whole point is to encourage each other with inspiring ideas while still using research based best practice.

We hope you will join! Here is a YouTube video where you can hear a little more about what the book is about.

Celebrating Presidents' Day!

Hello friends!  Hope you all had a GREAT Valentine’s Day!!!   I’m off with my family enjoying a little getaway

{Follow me on Instagram to see what we are up to!}… 

but I thought I’d post a “throwback” post about what I do on Presidents’ Day!  Enjoy!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Celebrating Presidents' Day!

If you haven't figured it out already...you certainly will come to the realization after this post that sometimes things can get a bit crazy in our kinder-classroom!  Today's "Fun-Friday" theme was Presidents' Day....so what better way to "celebrate" (a.k.a. secretly TEACH) than to invite George Washington and Abe Lincoln themselves into the classroom!

(My educational "partner in crime," Mrs. Kidd, and I LOVE to dress up in character costumes to bring learning to life! Look at Abe's serious face!)  

 

We began our "Fun Friday" afternoon activities by having our awesome Friday "Mom" volunteer read Celebrating Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell.  After the reading, the students were suprised by a knock at the door....

And the entrance of George and Abe themselves!  After a bit of small talk, George and Abe broke into an awesome Presidents' Day rap song and dance! (Shout out to HarryKindergarten on YouTube for the great President's Day song and video!) 

Click below to see us in action!  It's good for a few laughs at the very least!!!
NOTE:  This was a video we recorded the FIRST year we did this!  UGH!  We have improved a bit in our rapping and choreography since then! 
It's a little RoUgH! LOL

HERE is a link to the music video WITHOUT me in it!  LOL

  

Next, George shared some facts about his life...his accomplishments, jobs, life stories (yes.. I included the "cherry tree incident")...and even threw in a "plug" for dental health month by sharing the secret fact that he didn't take care of his teeth as a child and how he ended up with hippopotamus false teeth!  (The kiddos will NEVER "forget" to brush their teeth again! Ha!)  George was sure to point out SEVERAL reasons why many people refer to him as the "greatest president ever!"

Next came Abe, serious and stoic... sharing facts of his life and the things he did as our president.   (I think the kids actually understood the Emancipation Proclamation by the time "he" was done!?) Abe argued why HE is often seen as the "greatest president ever!"

Finally... after a classroom debate, it was decided that BOTH George AND Abe were great presidents!

Next came George and Abe art! 

(I just created some basic shape templates for this project. Most pieces were pre-cut.  The project was a nice, basic follow-the-directions step-by-stepper!  If you would like the shape templates, post a comment and I will send them to you!)

Followed by a reading of Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire! by Diana DeGroat . 

We concluded the day with a "gift" from Abe ... a Presidents' Day book to add to students' familiar reading book boxes.  (Abe had shared his deep LOVE of reading with the kiddos earlier and that one of the "greatest gifts" one could receive is a book!)

    

(Click on the pics above to go to Lil' Country Kindergarten's TPT store and find the book!)

How do you celebrate Presidents' Day? 

Share with us!

Love is in the "AIR!"

It's that time of year...almost Valentine's Day!

Time to think about Valentine cards, heart-shaped chocolates... 

and iPads!

 

WHAT??!!    You may ask.

Well...love is in the "AIR," right??  You know, as in the iPad AIR!

I mean, really people.   Chocolates are nice...but an iPad Air...
that would really make my heart go pitter-patter!

Well, a few of my blogging friends and I have come together to make you swoon!

That's right, my friend!  We are giving away an iPad Air...
and YOU could be the big winner!

Simply enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below, and this Valentine's Day might be a little SWEETER than you anticipated!!!

And SURPRISE!!! That's not where the blogging LOVE  ends!

Each blogger is also giving away another techie prize of her own!  Follow the link-up at the bottom of this post and hop around to my blogging buddies' posts to see what they are giving away!

I'm giddy with excitement at my techie giveaway!  AAAAAHH!

I'm giving away a…

HUE AnimationStudio Package!

The kit includes a HUE HD document camera, a complete stop motion animation kit, software and a 60 page resource book!

  

I have one of these in my own classroom, folks, and my kinder-kiddos LOVE it!  

{My own children can't get enough of it at home, either! LOL}   

Just imagine...you could use this awesome techie-tool this spring when you hatch chicks in your classroom!  Or perhaps you could record daily snippets of the butterfly cycle, as your caterpillars transform into butterflies, like I do! Simply pop it into "timelapse mode," and film the daily changes that occur and WA-LA!  Instant, AWESOME science mini-movie! #impressyourprincipal

Or how about using this little kit to make a digital story-telling unit spring to life?! 

Let me tell you just a little bit about this techie tool...

HUE Animation Studio contains everything that you need to create your own stop motion animation videos. For use at home or for school projects, this is a creative and educational pastime that can be enjoyed by the whole family. This perfect gift for kids encourages creativity and imagination. Whether you are making a LEGO® brick film; animating in claymation or capturing a flower bloom using time-lapse photography, you can bring anything to life in minutes with the easy-to-use software.

The kit includes:

– The HUE HD camera, a flexible plug and play USB camera with built-in microphone. HUE’s innovative design is perfect for animation. {This doc cam is so slick!  You HAVE to get have one for yourself!  It's super easy to use, ultra portable...and just plain CUTE!}

– The fully-featured HUE Animation software (formally SAM Animation) designed for children by teachers.

– The HUE Book of Animation (formally Klutz Book) has step-by-step instructions for creating 20 hilarious stop motion videos and ideas for even more.

Here's one kiddo-created example:

You can view more kid-created videos here.

 

HUE Animation Software Features:

– Play your movie back

– Record or import music and sounds

– Add text and special effects

– Copy, edit, move and delete animation frames

– Share movies on YouTube

– Onion skinning

– Timelapse

– Green screening (Chroma Key)

HUE HD Camera Features:

– Easy to install and use

– Integrated microphone

– Flexible gooseneck for easy positioning

– Manual focus

– Available in a choice of colors (blue, red, or blue)

System Requirements:

– PC: Windows 8, 7 or XP and a 1.4GHz processor

– Mac: OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or higher and an Intel processor

– 512MB RAM (1GB recommended)

– 350MB hard disk space

Package Contents:

– HUE Animation software (single license)

– HUE HD camera with base and USB cable

– The HUE Book of Animation (formerly The Klutz Book of Animation)

CLICK HERE to visit one of my previous posts about how I've used the HUE doc cam in my class!

So, my blogging SWEETIES...

                                DON'T DELAY!

Register below to make your Valentine's Day a little 

SWEETER!

Be sure to enter both Rafflecopter give-aways below...and don't forget to join in the link-up fun and hop to my fellow blogging friends' posts to sign up to share in more "blogging love" giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up