Five for Friday (Sunday)!! Math, Read Alouds, and Of Course Techie Stuff!!

Hi my teacher peeps! I'm finally getting around to linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 

FIVE RANDOM THINGS FROM THIS WEEK ... 

1) Read Alouds 
      I've recently came across Miss Smartie Pants Photo Challenge for February on Instagram.

Day 7 was to post your favorite read aloud.  I decided to share a few of my favorites here on my blog.  All of these books help with teaching a lesson, descriptive writing, narrative writing, or character traits.

Great book about the power of our words and not judging others!

Great book about being unique and proud of who you are! 

I remember my third grade teacher reading this book to me.  It's silly and quirky!
Great book for teaching descriptive writing.

Great book about helping and reaching out to others!

Who doesn't love Charlotte's Web?! Great book about friendship!

A touching book about friendship and imagination! This is a tear jerker.
I only read it if I have a mature group of students.

Great book about individualism and loving who you are!

Great book about being comfortable in your own skin
and being proud of who you are!

2) Math

     As my school district transitions into common core, I have been using math manipulatives MORE and MORE.  My students have been using them EVERYDAY!!  I decided to hang a math manipulative bag from each of my students' desks with a binder ring.  Whenever my students need to PROVE their answer, they can quickly grab what they need without getting out of their seats.  

3) More QR codes

     I'm slightly becoming obsessed with QR codes.  They are still pretty new to me .... but I love them!! My students love scanning them.  I included them on my morning must do list.  These link to a list of commonly used homophones to help my students with their morning work.  This is much faster than having my students search for it online .... and it's more fun than bookmarking it.

4) Morning Message

     Each morning, I have this displayed on my smart board.  My students read it as they are walking in.  Instead of coming up to me with A LOT of questions, they read the board.  It also lets them know what's going on.  I know I like to know what's going on ... similar to getting an agenda at my staff meeting.  

5) My New Phone Case

     I LOVE my new phone case.  So cute!  Thanks mom!

That's it! Five for Friday (really Sunday)! 

Happy Valentine's Day!! I'm ready to print these out and attach candy to them for my students.  

You can grab them with a Valentine's Day writing activity from my TPT store. 

Enjoy your week,

February Currently is Here!

Happy February friends!! That means I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly "Currently!" So here it is ....

* Listening -  

     I love Pandora! I listen to it all the time!! It's also pretty great for the classroom.  Some kid friendly stations are Tween, Kidz Bop Kids, Classical Music, Radio for Kids, and they have great seasonal/holiday stations.  

* Loving - 

    Dropbox is amazing! I mentioned it in my last blog post.  It's a great way to share PDF's or screenshots instantly on your student iPads. 

  

* Thinking - 

     Who will win?! I did a Superbowl Pool with my students this year.  Each of my students picked two squares.  They could earn more squares by making good choices in the classroom.  Great behavior incentive! 

     

* Wanting - 

     I'm SO close to finishing my newest TPT product with QR codes.  QR codes are AMAZING!  Students can scan them using a scanner app.  The QR code can be linked to a website, text (i.e. an answer to a question), or a PDF file.  I plan on blogging more about QR codes in the near future.  I'm excited to use them more with my students.  

* 2 Truths and a Fib

     

    Yes, I've been skydiving! It was amazing! Free like a bird!

    Yes, I'm addicted to The Bachelor! Oooh la la!  Juan Pablo!

FIB - As prepared as I usually am, sometimes I'm not 100% planned.  Oops! I'm sure my teacher friends can relate.  Thankfully, sometimes my best teaching happens when I "wing" it.

Happy Superbowl Weekend! My TPT store is 20% off to celebrate.  Enjoy!!!

Hut Hut Hike,

Five for Friday by a Techie Nerd

Happy Friday my teacher peeps! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for "Five for Friday"!!

I'm obsessed with techie stuff.  Yes, I admit that I'm a complete techie nerd!! Learning about technology makes me happy!

Most of my 5 random things have to do with techonology.  Geek squad here I come!

1) Dropbox 

     I've had a Dropbox account for awhile now, but I've used it mostly to share files between my work and home laptop or to share files with other teachers.  Thanks to one of my AMAZING coworkers I realized I can use dropbox for some very SUPER cool things.

    I'm fortunate enough to have iPads in my classroom.  I finally put the Dropbox app on all my iPads.  Now I can share pictures, documents, PDF files, etc. with my students instantly.

AWESOME!

I put a screenshot of a snowboarder in my Dropbox folder.  Two seconds later, the picture was on all my student iPads.  Voila! Great to use for descriptive writing!

2)IBooks

    Through Dropbox, you can share a PDF file of any book!! That means you can have multiple copies of any book!

I read Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg with my class this week.  My coworker showed me how to put a copy in iBooks.  Hurray!

  * Scan pictures of each page or take screen shots (if you have ebook)
  * Save the pictures as a PDF file
  * Drag the PDF file into your Dropbox folder

  * Open the PDF file in iBooks

Bam! Here it is on my cute "bookshelf" for all my students to enjoy.  This is FABULOUS for reading groups.

3) Instagram

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! Photography + great ideas + new friends = one of my FAV addictions! I've had a personal Instagram account for awhile, but I recently set up an account for my "Trendy in Third" followers.  I love all the creativity, styles, pics, outfits, and ideas from all my Instagram teacher friends.

Check out my Instagram page!

4) Organize, organize, organize

    Organized iPads! Yes, please! I finally numbered my iPads.  This makes it easier for students to save their work on an iPad and be able to access it later .... AND it looks pretty! Anything cute ... I'll take it!

5) Little People Art

    I put these up at the beginning of each school year, but I thought it was fitting for the upcoming MLK holiday.

Happy T-H-R-E-E day weekend!!! Enjoy it!

Your techie nerd,

Professional Goals ... Linky Party!

2014!! Is anyone else excited that it's an even number year?! 2014 has a better ring to it than 2013! With that being said .... it's going to be a GREAT year!

PROFESSIONAL GOALS:

#1) Create a new GLAD unit

GLAD stands for Guided Language Acquisition Design.  It involves many teaching strategies that benefit ALL learners, but it is especially beneficial for English Language Learners.  The strategies make challenging content and vocabulary accessible to all students.  Here are some pictures from the Government Unit I did with my students throughout November. 

GLAD units also place an emphasis on students taking ownership over their own learning.  They help and teach each other.  It's amazing!  

As a teacher, it makes teaching fun! Any learning that can be done through visuals, movement, and chants ... I'm all for it.  When the teacher is having fun, the students are having fun!!! This leads to some POWERFUL learning time.

#2) Create more 
Common Core Resources

I know MOST  of my fellow bloggers have already transitioned to Common Core.  My school is in California.  We will be making the BIG switch next year.  I have been creating some resources with my fabulous third grade team, but it's a process.

I'm so thankful for TPT and my fellow blogging community for times like this.  I'm a VISUAL learner ... HANDS DOWN!! Without a visual, I'm lost.  TPT and ALL the amazing blogs out there are my GO TO when I need a starting place.  

Here's a FREEBIE of some questioning posters my team and I came up with for CCSS RL3.3.  This standard involves character traits and description.

My goal this year is to create more common core products on TPT.

3) More 
laughter & dancing

Ask anyone at my school, I love music and I love to dance with my students.  Maybe that's why I love the Ellen Show so much.  Dancing with her audience ... AWESOME!!!  

Usually if I'm having a stressful day, I turn on music.  It's amazing how music can change the mood of the class ....  ESPECIALLY ME! No joke! I need to do this more often.  When all else fails, take a breath and turn on some music.  

Enjoy the New Year with your students!!!




Fondly,

Happy 2014! January Currently!

Happy 2014!! Cheers to a new year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  

Here's my January Currently from the always fabulous Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.

* LOVING ~ My niece and nephew made awesome duct tape wallets for Christmas with handmade ID's. So adorable!

* MEMORIES ~ Here are some of my favorite highlights from 2013!!

My cousin got married in Japan last April.  It was amazing! We were there for the Cherry Blossoms.

Tokyo is a great city with delicious food and fantastic karaoke.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip!

Kumamoto Castle - This was the view from my cousin's reception. Wow!

In summer, I went to La Paz, Mexico.  La Paz means "peace" .... very fitting for this beautiful fishing town. 

In fall, I went to Napa with family.  Even though I'm a born and raised Californian, I have never been to Napa.  If you love wine as much as I do, you need to go.  It's beautiful! 

Fondly,