FREEBIE

I don't know about you, but every time I open my laptop, I find another amazing website or tool that I want to use with my kids (thanks to my wonderful PLN)! Buuuut, by the time I get around to using that tool, I have forgotten my username or password or BOTH! Sometimes I write in on a sticky note, but let's be honest...those things are great, but they can pile up and soon my computer is buried under hundreds of them. Plus, everyone can see them! And don't get me wrong...I love online bookmarking, but that doesn't really help me with the login stuff and I like something I can feel and touch. Soooo I came up with a solution! I created a Web 2.0 Address Book!

The 24 pages include spaces for the Web Tool name, URL, username, password, and a description of how to use it! I also created the margins so that it can easily be printed front to back and fits into a 3 ring binder! My favorite part is that it matches the colors and decor in my room this year...as well as my Planning Binder (which I'll post pics of soon!)

I thought you might like one of your own! So, I'm sharing it with YOU for FREE! Make sure to print it front to back!

Click on the image to get a free copy for yourself!

New Year, New Lab, New Me!

I am so exciting about this upcoming school year! I have new furniture in my computer lab, after 20 years! Yes, people, the old furniture was there since 1993....I was in 3rd grade and actually worked on that furniture. So, needless to say, my new, beautiful furniture was greatly welcomed! With my pretty new furniture, I've created a whole new "theme" in my room, with all new colors, and Pinterest creations. (Yes, I'm addicted!) So, what better than to start out the new school year, than by linking up with Amanda Madden over at Teaching Maddeness for a little New Year's Resolution Linky Party?
So, here it goes!
Resolution #1-Organize and stay that way: I am probably the most unorganized wannabe organized person EVER! I drool over the beautiful classrooms where everything has a place and everything is IN it's place. That will be my computer lab this year! No more stacks of papers that go here, there, and everywhere!
Resolution #2-Get my teachers more Techie minded: I work with some AWESOME teachers who I push and annoy and bother, am always giving techie advice to. They are so kind to really try to use technology in their classrooms and not shut the door in my face! I want to show them new tools and make tech fun and easy to fit into their crazy busy schedule!
Resolution #3-GRADUATE! I am currently working on my BS in Elementary Education and I CANNOT wait to be done...only to start working on my Masters in Instructional Technology! I'm gonna push myself and get it done!
Resolution #4-Get to work on time every day! I am NOT a morning person! Thank God my momma works at the same school and gives me a sweet little wake up call when I need it! No wake up calls this year! I'm going to be on time and ready to start the day!
Resolution #5-Bring my lunch EVERY day! Have ya'll seen those school lunches? Enough said.
What do you want to do this school year? Link up with Amanda and let us know!
PS...What do you think of the new theme? Matches my lab!! Yay!

Breaking a Rule and Monday Made It

Ok, so first off, I know I'm breaking the rule of blogging twice in one day, but hey, I'm on a roll and I like it!

I've been googlie eyeing all of the AMAZING Monday Made It's that everyone has been doing with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics. I mean these teachers are some of the most creative and cutsie people I have ever seen! Between that and Pinteresting (yes it is a verb) I've gotten some super cool ideas for my new computer lab this year. Ok, so it's the same lab I've had for the past 5 years, but I got all new furniture that is to die for and I wanted to really do it up this year. Thus the crafting began! So instead of just one item, I'm going to post all of the "made it's" that I, my wonderful, craft, can do ANYTHING mom, and my new sister-in-law, have been consumed with all summer!

The first thing that HAD to have a face lift was this ugly, dirty, gross, nasty stool that has been in my lab since I was a student there, but I couldn't get rid of it. Sorry I don't have a before picture, but it would probably make you leave my blog anyways. Just take my word for it. Anywhoo, after a couple layers of paint, and some cute fabric from Hobby Lobby, and an adorable bow, and VIOALA...an super cute stool for my lab!

Isn't it soooo cute! And, yes, the ribbon is sparkly!

The top

So, next came some super cute frames and printables to fill my lovely shelves in my room. I pulled the pink and green from my stool fabric to tie it all together. I found some old frames of my moms that she let me paint...and then because I STINK at painting, she painted them over! Love her!

My empty frames, except one with my lovely kitties, Hayes and Millie! They will be filled soon!

So proud of this one...I made my own Keep Calm poster that's techie!

Pinterest find...but, of course, had to make my own to match my colors!

I printed, laminated and bound my Web 2.0 Address Book! You can learn about it and download it for FREE here! This thing won't rotate! Grrr

The inside of my Address Book. Again won't rotate...what's the deal!?

Also created a new cover for my Planning Binder...more on that later!

 After that, we (mom, dad, sis-in-law, and I) made some A-Dorable crate seats, if I do say so myself! These are in a corner of my room for kids to use when using Netbooks or working in small groups! We move around in my lab!!

No, my floor is not yellow....dang lighting! Used same material as my stool! LOVE!

Annnnd, I, we, my mom painted my ugly tan filing cabinet to make it match my colors! She's a wiz with the spray can, lemme tell ya! Another Pinterest find, and made it my own!

Looks better in person! The future "Netbook Nook."

I got a "D" at Hobby Lobby and covered it in my fabric to be accompanied by a beautiful green and pink bow on my door.

Again, won't rotate, yes, it's upside down, but you get the idea!

So that's what I've been up to this summer! I've been in and out of the building all summer getting it all set up and I'm not even halfway there. I've still got a few more projects up my sleeve that I'll show a little later!

If you'd like any of the printables, just let me know! How's your classroom coming?

Edmodo

This past year I had my first encounter with an awesome FREE collaboration tool called Edmodo. Edmodo is a great, secure website, where teachers and students can create connections with their peers across the United States, or even within their very own building. There are two ways that I use Edmodo-as an educator, and as a teacher.

As an educator: For me, especially working in the technology field, a PLN (Personal Learning Network) is very important. It gives me the chance to connect with others who do what I do. It gives me a chance to see how others teach and incorporate technology in their classrooms, which I can, then, bring into my own lessons. Edmodo is a HUGE part of my PLN. You can join virtual communities focused on your forte and collaborate and discuss with other educators about it! The communities are a great way to get new ideas or go to for help when you are having an issue with something. Our district also recently joined Edmodo. Slowly but surely, all of our teachers across the county are joining and sharing with one another. I believe that this brings us closer together as a community. While we may not be able to drive across the county to get a copy or share something, we can always upload it to Edmodo!

As a teacher: My fifth graders were the first to try out Edmodo this year and they LOVED it! We worked with a group in Baltimore, Maryland. As a teacher on the site, you can place your students in groups. We created groups of about 8, 4 NC kids and 4 MD kids. By logging into the secure site and the kids were automatically connected with kids their age from another state! They started out by uploading All About Me PowerPoint slides to learn about one anther. From there...it was ON! They were constantly getting on Edmodo to start discussions of their own with their new buddies! As a teacher, whenever I or the teacher in Maryland, logged into the site, we could see each and every aspect of the discussions, so it was easily monitored. This is a great way to connect my kids to others around them. It can also be used as a communication tool in the classroom as well. Teachers can upload and assign assignments and then grade them right inside Edmodo! The can also create cool badges for the kids to collect when they complete a certain project or action! These badges are placed on their profile to show off to others! PS....Parents can create an account as well so they can keep up with what their students are talking about!

This year I feel much more comfortable with Edmodo and plan to use it with many more grade levels! Do you use this great web tool in your classroom?

Prezenting Prezi!

Ok, so don't get me wrong...PowerPoint is very cool. With all the animations and transitions and hyperlinks...yea. But have you ever wanted more? Last year I attended an awesome 2 day conference called NCTIES (North Carolina Technology In Education Society). It was my second time and wowza! I loved it! Being around people who speak my language...AWESOME! **Squirrel** So, back to the point...At that conference I learned about an wonderful online, free tool called Prezi. It is so much fun! With Prezi, you can create multimedias, similar to PowerPoint, but sooo much better! They zoom and twist, incorporate videos, photos and links! Instead of having slides, you have one space, kinda like a table top, where you can place everything and see it's relation to everything else. By incorporating frames and paths (which are what make it twist and turn and zoom) your Prezi moves on it's own. My students love it! They say it's like making their own movie! It can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it, so I haven't used it with any of my students younger than 2nd grade. But this year, I plan to do a simple Prezi with my first graders, who, last year in Kindergarten, created complete PowerPoints with transitions, photos, and sound. I think they're ready!
Now, there are 3 different licenses, 1 free and 2 that'll cost ya, but if you sign up with a valid school email, then you get the mid-grade for free. My kids don't have school emails, grrr, so I just let them  use my email address to sign in and just made a generic password. It's good because I can login and see all of their Prezi's on my profile and track their progress. What's really cool is your Prezi's can be downloaded to your computer and viewed offline at anytime! The creators of Prezi are always coming up with really cool advancements to the tool so there are always more neat things that you can do with them!

I Would Like to Thank...

I was so happy this morning to look at my phone and see that I had a comment on my blog....comments make me excited! What made me even more happy was that it was presenting me with an award!!! YAY! Here it is...

WOOO HOOO! I received this from Alex over at The School Potato! How cute is the name??? Annnnd, her blog is even cuter! So go check it out!

Ok, so the rules of the award are to 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.

5. Present 15 other bloggers with the award by commenting on their blog.

6.When nominating, include a link to their site.

So here it goes...

1. Dancing is in my blood. I was a professional ballet dancer with a company. I can't get enough of it.

2. My favorite animals are penguins and giraffes.

3. I do not have any children...well 2 legged at least....I have a cocker spaniel, Brody, and 2 cats, Hayes and Millie.

4. I'm the biggest procrastinator IN. THE. WORLD. I'm talking if the paper was due at 7:30, I was beginning it at 7:00! :)

5. I'm addicted to polka dots, especially black and white...so classic.

6. I'm finishing up my teaching degree and hope to be a Technology Facilitator one day.

7. I do not eat lettuce...I know, it doesn't have a taste...I've heard...but it still makes me gag!

So that's me in a nutshell...I now have to nominate 15 other bloggers. I'm sure they have all received this award because they are all AWESOME!! But I'll give them another!

  Teaching from A to Z-ebraSo there's a few...I'll make sure to add more later! Congrats girls! And thanks again to Alex!

Helping Our Students Help Themselves

Have you ever had those students who want to search for something but just can't spell the keywords? Or when they do find a site they can't read the information? This makes research very frustrating for the students. We, as tech loving teachers, want to make researching FUN and SIMPLE for our students! Well here's how!
Google now has a voice search. By clicking on the microphone on the right hand side of the search box, students can vocalize what they want to search for.

Google then records the student's voice, types the correctly spelled word into the search box, and displays sites dealing with the keyword.

So now the kids can easily find sites focused on what they want to research. But how can they make sure that the sites are on their reading level? Google's got that under control also! Students can filter the sites by reading levels.

Basic **Best for Primary Grades

Intermediate

Advanced

To filter the results students can click on Show Search Tools on the left hand side of the screen.

Then scroll down and click on Reading Level.

Students can then choose what reading level suits them best. Basic is the best choice for most primary students.

Once they choose a level, websites links are displayed below and the researching can begin. 

Researching doesn't have to be a hassle for the students or the teachers! Google makes researching easy and fun for even the youngest student! By using the Voice Input and Reading Level tools, we can help students to become more independent workers!

What are some of your favorite ways to use Google?

Exciting News!

Hello beautiful bloggers! I'm excited and honored to announce that I am a new contributor over at an AWESOME blog named Technology Tailgate! If you haven't visited it, you definitely need to head on over there...NOW!
Ok, you can wait 'til you're done reading my post...but you better make sure you go there as soon as you're finished!
So, this great website is a "network of technology blogs" where some amazing teachers come together to collaborate and share ideas with one another on how to incorporate technology in the classroom while keeping with Common Core standards. I am so excited to get to get to work with some great people who inspire me both in the classroom and the bloggie world! So make sure you head on over and be inspired at the...

Hmmm...That's PIN-teresting!

Hello, my name is Betsey and I am addicted to Pinterest. Ok, I said it. I have a problem...but I don't see it as much of a problem as an AMAZING OPPORTUNITY to better myself as an educator and my classroom! Stay with me here...I'm not just making excuses for myself!
Alright, so Pinterest, as we all know, is a very addictive website where users can create virtual pinboards, and pin anything that our heart desires (while abiding by copyright laws of course). You can have boards focused on recipes, books, clothing, exercises you will never do, good looking men....ok, maybe those are just my boards, but you get the idea! But have you ever thought about how Pinterest can be used in the classroom? What about a board focused only on educational math websites? Or one with links to educational reading sites? These boards could be accessed by students and their parents at school and home. I might even take it one step further and create a board for a certain subject we are covering...for example, landforms and ecosystems. My board would include, not only websites for researching, but links to documents and graphic organizers that I created for my students to explore. The possibilities are ENDLESS! Also, many teachers may not want their students having access to ALL of their boards, such as the board of all my future husbands. To make sure this doesn't happen, teachers can create a different Pinterest account where they only pin educational content for their classroom.
There is one catch to Pinterest, however. While it is FREE...you do have to be invited to join. BUT...of course there is a BUT...there is another site, similar to Pinterest, titled Pinspire, that you do not have to be invited to join. You can simply sign up. I haven't used this one very much, so you may want to research the legalities a little before using, but I would think they are the same as Pinterest.
So there ya go...I'm using my addiction in a positive way! Are you using Pinterest in your classroom? What are some of your boards?

Well hello there stranger! & Digital Storytelling

It has been entirely too long since I have last posted. I'm surprised they haven't booted me off blogger...well if they did that sort of thing. Life has just been so crazy hectic that I haven't had the time or energy to let you know about all of the AMAZING things that I have found! BUT, not to worry! I have a list began, begun, started of new cool tools that I will be posting. It is my resolution...no those aren't just for New Years, you can have one whenever you like!...to post once a day....ok, at least 3 times a week! Wish me luck!
Ok, now onto the GOOD STUFF! I was introduced to an awesome website called Storyjumper back when I attended the NCTIES Conference in Raleigh, NC in March. (That just so happens to be where I met the one, the only...Richard Byrne (pause for applause!)) So anywho, I just now got around to using it with a couple of my second grade groups and it is just as AMAZING as I thought it would be! This is a free website, of course. You create a teacher account and then create as many student accounts as you need under the main teacher acct. Because I work in the computer lab, I created 30 accounts, one for each computer. The children can log in at school and at home. They create a virtual hard cover book, complete with illustrations, a cover page and a dedication page. The website has a plethora of clip art, images, and scenes to use, but you can also upload your own images, which is super cool!
So how did I use this great resource you might ask? Well, my 2nd grade techies are studying insects and life cycles in science and they are working on adjectives in writing. So we read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. The students then got into partners and came up with their own story involving an insect, which they described with an adjective. Once they finished writing up a rough draft, they then logged into Storyjumper and the magic began. Because I only have them for an hour, we only got the first few pages typed, but they will come back in a week to finish typing, add illustrations, and complete their book.
The most AWESOME thing about it is, when the books are finished, the parents can go onto the site and actually buy the book for a very reasonable price of about $25-$30! Yes, they actually get a hard cover copy of the book their child created! How cool is that?! This is a great website for uploading pics of mom and writing a book for Mother's Day or the end of the year! The possibilities are endless! Click on the image below to learn more!

Co-llab-or-a-tion...

So today my first graders learned a new word....COLLABORATION! It was awesome, if I do say so myself! We sounded out the word and after lots of fun guessing about what it meant, we finally learned that it meant sharing ideas with others. We discussed how you can collaborate with people that are very close to you, like those in your classroom, and those who are far away...even in a different country! We talked about how they collaborated daily...One even said, "I never knew I could cobalorate so much!" Too cute! So we decided to collaborate today using Linoit, an awesome, very user friendly, and very FREE virtual board site where you can post virtual stickies, images, videos, and documents! (It's a lot like wallwisher, but in my opinion a little better!) So anyhoo, I posted a Blabber (we will discuss these in a later post) of a little leprechaun with instructions for the students, just to add a little more fun. They were to post a sticky with their idea of what they would do if they caught a leprechaun. Then the fun began. They all started posting their stickies and they were amazed at all of the little stickies that filled their wall. They could not only submit their idea, but they could read the ideas of other...thus COLLABORATION! It was so cool and they loved it! That same child from earlier even asked, "Can we cobalorate again tomorrow?" (HaHa! We're still working on the pronunciation!) If you get a chance check out Linoit and use it to cobalorate, I mean collaborate with your sweeties! Here's a link to our board below! How would you use it in your classroom?

Interactive Sites for Education

Well, the name says it all! I was browsing my weekly Discovery Educators Network newsletter and came across this AWESOME website called Interactive Sites for Education. First of all, the site is divided up into subjects. Then, when you click on a subject, it is divided into multiple categories! For example, let's say you clicked on math, then you would get to choose if you wanted fractions, angles, multiplication, etc. Once you click on your category, you then have tons of thumbnail images linked to interactive sites and games that you can use to have a little fun with your kids! These sites would be great for the Interactive White Board for whole group instruction or for personal computer use! Check out this awesome site below and let me know what you think!

New Currently

Time for Farley's linky linky party again! Ok, you guys know the drill so I'm not going to bore you! Here's my linky! OOOOOh and the bottom 3 words are 3 words that my students, friends and family (in that order) would use to describe me beginning with the first letter of my name! And no, I'm not being egotistical, I actually had a child call me brilliant, which made me feel preeeetty good. Love my job! :)

Spent My Day in the DEN!

I had an AWESOME day today with a couple of co-workers, including my *MOM*, and a bunch of fun Discovery Educators from around North Carolina! We had so much fun! We spent almost the entire day in Raleigh, at the Friday Institute of Technology (amazing facility) at NC State. The day was filled with 3 sessions led by none other than Lance Rougeux, Patty Duncan, Brad Fountain, and Dr. Lodge McCammon! If these names do not sound familiar to you, please click on their names and learn more! They are all amazing people who give so much to the world of education!

Lodge spoke about his FIZZ philosophy. He is such an entertaining, knowledgeable educator who is so passionate about what he does. 

Lance Rougeux gave a very inspirational and funny introduction to the day about engaging our students in the classroom.

Brad Fountain discussed ways to intertwine science AND literacy in the classroom with cool organizers and activities.

And last, but not least, Ms. Patty Duncan had a classroom full of centers focusing on interactive, collaborative  science centers including Science Techbook by Discovery.

All of the sessions were amazing and mom, Wendy, and I left so pumped up to teach our kids all the great things we learned!

Best of all, we got a free trial subscription to Discovery's Science Techbook.....AWESOME!! You guys should really check out this interactive text book filled with videos, lessons, printables, assessments and MORE! Here's the link: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/administrators/curricular-resources/science-techbook/

Oh, and you know I had to include some pics!

My mom, myself, Lance Rougeux, and Wendy

Us with Dr. Lodge McCammon **Check out the shirt!**

And of course we had to get a pic of the back!

Annnnnd I got to meet Judy Uhrig! (a member of the NC DEN Leadership Council with me!)

Oh and of course you have to check out the awesome video of Dr. Lodge McCammon's session!

https://sites.google.com/site/desciencefizz2012/5-model-lesson

So, as you can tell, today got me so pumped! I am so excited to get back to school and share with my colleagues and students all the awesome things we learned! Also, remember the NCTies Conference is this Thursday and Friday in Raleigh! YAY! See ya there!

For Review...

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program and am super excited about it! If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.I am definitely going to start my 6 week trial and share it with some of my students from all grade levels and see how it goes! They have a wonderful website that looks fun and inviting for parents, teachers, and students! Make sure to check back to see how my students and I like K-5 learning!

Fostering 21st Century Learners

Here we are 12 years into the 21st Century. Our students are digital natives. They live and breathe technology without even thinking about it. Who are we to still give them paper and pencil? To lecture? 21st Century learners need to create. They need to do some critical thinking through collaboration. They need to inquire. Teachers are no longer lecturers and holders of all of the information...we are now facilitators. We are a resource for our students. I am really trying this year to let my students choose. No, I'm not letting them run wild and decide what they learn and don't learn. We still cover the curriculum and the objectives and the standards. But instead of giving them a summative assessment on paper, I allow them to choose what type of product they would like to create. For example, my fourth graders are doing a research project on an African American individual. I created a webquest where they learned about slavery, civil rights, etc. Then they chose who they would like to learn more about. I gave them a graphic organizer and some resources to use (i.e. factmonster.com, worldbookonline.org, ncwiseowl.com). Now they are in the process of creating their product. Some are doing Voicethreads while others are doing glogs, vokis or PowerPoint. It is so awesome to see them all in the same room working toward the same goal on all different kinds of projects. Their talents really do shine! Looking at them today, I said to myself "This is why I love my job!" I walked around and facilitated...helped them research and create. It was AWESOME! And they are having so much fun! Any teacher can do this! I really believe that...no matter how technology illiterate they see themselves. If they are willing to give it a try, 21st Century learning is a BLAST! I'll post some of the awesome projects when they are finished! Check out this awesome video I found on 21st Century learners below:

Let's Skype About It!

Checkout our newest Skype project started by our awesome art and music teachers!!! Comment if you would like to participate! The more the merrier!!!

Oh How I've Missed You

Hellllloooo to all my fellow bloggers! It feels like forever since we have spoken! I've been getting a little slack with my posts and need to get back into blogging mode!
Well while I've been away, I have fallen in love with Live Binders! If you are anything like me, meaning you are constantly searching for new sites, blogs, ideas, etc then this is the site for you!!! When I do a search for a new resource, I find so many and become overwhelmed and end up forgetting some of those amazing tools! Enter Live Binders (cue angels singing...ahhhhhhh)!
Live Binders is exactly what they are called. You can easily organize websites into binders by type, adding as many tabs as you like. It becomes especially easy when you add the LiveBinder button to your Bookmark Bar. Now, anytime I visit a website I can simply click on my LiveBinder button and add it to the correct Binder. I have a binder for all types of sites including, Troubleshooting, SmartBoard, Lesson Ideas, Great Blogs, Math Sites, Reading Sites, etc.
Live Binders is my newest favorite organizational tool! Best part of all is that they are free and you can share them with anyone! That's right...start a Live Binder for your grade level or school! The possibilities are endless! Click below to check it out!!!

A Day in the Life of a Techie!

So I am FINALLY getting around to this great linky party put together by Mrs. Klohn over at Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher! I am really excited! I teach technology as well as help serve as the troubleshooter for my school so my day's a little different from the normal teachers. So let's get it going!
5:30AM-My alarm goes off for the first time (Hit the snooze-well slide it on my android powered phone)
5:45am-My alarm goes off for the second time (Hit the snooze)
6:00am-My alarm goes off for the third time and IF it's a good day I finally get up.
6:10ish am-Shower and get ready (Depending on whether I straighten my hair or not this can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes)
6:45am-Heading out the door--in a rush of course
6:55-7:20am-Hang out with my mom in her room and put together the Good Morning Show and finally put my makeup on (because if you haven't already noticed I DEFINE the word procrastinate!)
7:25-7:50am-Breakfast Duty (Greet the lovelies as they enter in for a yummy  edible school breakfast)
7:55am-Play the Good Morning show over the airwaves of NMES and get the lab up and running
8:00-10:00am-Usually this is my planning/troubleshooting/webmastering/yearbooking/whatever my principal wants me to do time. (On Thursday's, however, I have 2 first grade classes that take up this time.)
10:00-11:30am-Guided Reading with my good friend Kristy Cozart (Love this!) (Except on Wednesday's, when I have 2 second grade classes)
11:30-12:00pm-Scarf down lunch while again planning/troubleshooting/webmastering/yearbooking/whatever my principal wants me to do time. (Except on Tuesday's when I have the Cross Cat class at 11:45)
12:00-2:20pm-Various classes on various days. (I have 1 hour a week with 4th and 5th grade and 1 hour every other week with K-3)
2:30-3:30pm-Troubleshooting and fixing any problems I didn't finish throughout the day, except on Wednesday's and Thursday's I meet with my wonderful technology club, the Techno Cats (32 4th and 5th graders).
3:30-Until I finally leave I try to get ready for the next day, but usually end up talking to other staff members and get nothing done.
After school I do various things throughout the week including Subway and Bojangles night for the school, choir practice at my church on Wednesday's and teaching dance from 6:45-9 on Thursdays. In between I am finishing up my Bachelors in Elementary Education online.
So there you have it! A day in the life of a techie! Nothing too special. Going through the day it doesn't seem as crazy as when I write type it.

And Now For an Annoucement...

Ok, so I don't really have an announcement, buuuuut this post is dealing with announcements and a very cool way to get information across to your parents and community! This year we were very blessed to get a wonderful new principal who is very technology minded!!! (I know, I know...she had me at hello!) So, we saw where other schools were posting their weekly/monthly announcements through podcast on their website so that people outside of the school walls would know what was going on. Well we just had to do it one better because, I'm not sure if you knew it or not, but Bobcats (that's our mascot) are the B.E.S.T.! So we decided to upload a monthly video of our principal speaking directly to the Bobcat community about what activities and events we have going on at our school each month. I place it on our homepage. That way, whenever someone views the New Market page, there is Mrs. Savage's smiling face to greet them!
I think this is a wonderful (technology packed) way to keep parents and the community involved in what is going on in your school or classroom! It also makes you more visible to parents! All you have to do is record the video, (we use FlipUltra cameras because they are so easy!), upload it to a safe site like Vimeo, and embed it directly into your school/class website for all to see! Here's a copy of our January video with a link to our homepage where it is located below! Enjoy! I hope it inspires you to create an announcement video of your own!

http://www.randolph.k12.nc.us/schools/newmark/Pages/Default.aspx

Currently....

Ok, so I had to get my link on with Farley's Currently again this month. For some reason chocolate came to my mind a lot! Alrightie...here it is!

WoooHooo for Winter!

Yay! You have no idea how excited I am about winter! Even though I think Miss Weather has forgotten that winter is supposed to be cold. We have been having 50-60 degree weather here in North Carolina! It's crazy! I mean HELLOOOO! What does a girl have to do to get a little snow around here?! So, if it's not going to snow from the sky I will make it snow from my computer! Ha!

I have a go to site that I love to share with the kids every winter called Make A Flake! On the site you get to fold a virtual piece of paper and cut it with your virtual scissors. Then you can unfold it and see your beautiful, one of a kind creation. There's even a gallery you can save it to and look at other's creations as well! The kids absolutely love it and have no idea that they are learning...muahahahaha (evil laugh)! This site is great for all ages because it teaches the little ones great mouse control and teaches the older ones symmetry!

Click on the picture below to visit this great site!

Do Ya Ever Wonder?

I found this great website called Wonderopolis! It reminds me of something like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or something Seuss came up with! I think the name just sparkles!

Ok, so back on track! This website has a different "Wonder" for each day. When you click on the wonder you can read more about it, watch videos, learn vocabulary, etc. I think that this is an amazing site to use with your kids as a story starter or just something fun to start the day off with. The cool thing is that the "wonders" aren't gender biased. For example, today's is Are Monster Trucks Scary? The kids can watch a cool video and read information about Monster Trucks. Then they have different conversation starters to get the kids thinking and collaborating. I have fallen in LOVE with this site and the kids absolutely love it. Best of all....it's free! 'Cause you know I'm a cheapskate! Because we all know teachers love free!!! Click below to let the wondering begin!

An Award for Meee?!?!

I am soooo super duper excited to accept the Liebster Award from Ms. Chrissy B over at Buzzing with Ms. B AND Christina over at Seabears Kindergarten!!! Thank you girls!!! Make sure you go check out their blogs! Lots of cool stuff going on over at both of them!

This award features up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. You can imagine how speechless I was to receive this from 2 such wonderful bloggers!
Ok, so the rules are:
1. Copy and Paste the award on your blog. 

2. Thank the giver(s) and link back to them.

3. Reveal your Top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.


Done, done and done!

And the winners are...

#1. Of course my first is Mrs. Kristy Cozart over at Cozart's Class! She's a wonderful 2nd grade teacher with really great ideas! (Ok, so I'm a little bias because we have a TPT store together and I work in her classroom daily, but she's an AMAZING teacher!)

#2. 2nd Grade Paradise





#3. First Impressions





#4. Monkeying Around with Technology

#5. Paper, Pencils, and Pizzazz

These blogs are filled with wonderful ideas to use in your classroom, as well as a little humor and fun! Make sure you check them out and become a follower!! :)