Back to School Ideas

     One of my favorite things that I used for my kindergarten and first grade classrooms was a wooden divider panel.  The wooden panel I bought from Home Depot, and I asked them to cut into the sizes I needed.  Each panel is 46 inches wide and 34 inches tall. Once they are finished cutting, I had 4 panels and two smaller panels that I used for my literacy centers and play centers chart.  I placed the panels in between two tables like the pictures shown or two individual desks on each side.   The bendable wooden panel was one big sheet from Home Depot before cutting into the sizes I needed.

     One of the greatest things about the panel is that it really cuts down on the noise level in the classroom.  The students tend to talk to the students next to them instead of in front of them.  Also, the panels are a great tool for centers.  On each side of the board I laminated the longer sheets of construction paper and taped them on each board.  Then I took one strip of the alphabet border and taped it on top.  I made some center labels and taped them to the board too.  Each side of the board is a different color.  For example, in the picture I have purple and pink, green and blue, orange and yellow, and brown and red.

     The students looked at the Literacy Centers Board to see what center or color they were going to for centers.  Each group went to three different centers a day.  By the end of the week, the students went to every center.

     Another perk is that I use the board color for table points.  At the end of the week, the table color with the most points got a extra treasure box prize.

     These panels are very durable.  I've had these for the last 9 years.  Over time, the construction paper does need to be changed due to students writing on it or fading.  To keep the color looking new, I did wipe off pencil and crayon marks every single year. 

Pictures of my kindergarten and first grade classrooms over the years.

 In this picture, you can see the Literacy Center Board in the background.  Half of the board is cut off in the picture by the cart in front of it.   Unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of the Literacy Board.

Incentive Charts in the Classroom

    One item that was a must have in my kindergarten and first grade classroom was incentive charts.  Now being a librarian, I also included a way to incorporate incentive charts into my library.

     In my kindergarten or first grade classroom, each student had a behavior incentive chart with their name on it.   Each day when the student was good, I placed a sticker on their incentive chart.  Once the student reached 5 stickers, no matter how long it took them, the student took a trip to the treasure box.  The majority of students went to the treasure box on Friday.  Some students took 6 days, some two weeks, and one or two took a month to go to the treasure box.  Once the student, filled up 4 weeks of stickers, I gave the student the completed incentive chart and replaced it with a new one.

     This year, I'm planning on using my incentive charts in the library.  Some classes have a problem following directions in the library.   Basically, the same rules apply.  Once a class behaves, for a total of 5 weeks, then the class gets to go to the treasure box or picks some other library incentive. 
 
   The incentive charts are a great way for students, teachers, staff, and parents to keep track of their behavior in the classroom or somewhere else.

     If you like the idea above, please check out my TPT store, where I have a variety of different incentive charts a teacher can use in their classroom.

     If you have any ideas on how to use the incentive charts in the classroom, please post below.

Teachers Pay Teachers Conference 2015

  

     I just recently got back from a two day conference in Vegas.  I had such a great time!  I'm also linking up with The Elementary Entourage to share my experience.
     The Teachers Pay Teachers Conference took place on July 9th and 10th.   I was a little reluctant to go due to the conference fee, flight, and hotel costs, but I'm really glad I did.  I learned so much from my 4 day trip to Vegas.  I'm a very independent person, but I have to admit it was a little weird to go somewhere by myself.  Luckily, I wasn't by myself very long.

Cool Kids Meet and Greet in Vegas
     Before the conference even started, there were two meet-ups that were scheduled a day before the conference along with a few more that I didn't go to.  The first one I went to was the Cool Kids Meet and Greet.  The meet and greet was at the B&B Burger and Beer restaurant at the Venetian and hosted by Kayse and Literary Sherri.
     Luckily, I was one of the first 30 people there, so I got to pick where I was sitting.  There was around 100 people that went.  It was the perfect amount of people because you really got a chance to talk to people at your table and walk around to introduce yourself to other sellers.

Teacher/Blogger Meet-Up 
     As soon as the Cool Kids Meet and Greet was finished, it was time to go to the Teacher/Blogger Meet-Up.  The Meet-Up was held at the Venetian with 1100 teachers/bloggers in attendance.  Being a shy person, I have to say it was a bit overwhelming, and I was glad to have a group of friends that I met beforehand going with me.  The evening was very informal with drinks and a place to make friends.  I have to say the organizers did a great job with organizing this event with over 50,000 dollars worth of prizes that they gave away.  Even though I didn't win one of the bigger prizes, I still got some swag.  Each person got a bag full of goodies, and each person that didn't win, received a bulletin board set for their classroom.

TpT Conference Thursday
     The day started with a networking opportunity.  Each attendee got to pick which networking room they wanted to join, by grade level or interest.  The options were pre-k and k, grades 1st-2nd, grades 3rd-5th, grades 6th-12th, and International, clip art, special education, foreign language, and homeschool.  Since most of my background is from k-2, I went to grades 1st-2nd.  What I liked about this networking opportunity is that this was an opportunity to make connections with teachers teaching similar grade levels.  I met numerous teachers from around the country and discussed different topics ranging from Teachers Pay Teachers, Common Core, teaching strategies, and etc.

TpT Welcome and Sessions
     Tpt started off the conference with introducing the attendees to all of the TpT staff.  As attendees, we learned more about the company and where the company is going in the next year.  The welcome was a short presentation leaving the main event for next morning.

     I attended the Fix Your Brand and Take Your Store to the Next Level, Blogging Panel, and Advanced Marketing Panel.  All the classes were very beneficial to helping my TpT store in the long run.  Not only did the classes cover TpT related material, but information on Blogger, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Secondary Meet and Greet
     After the conference on Thursday there was a meet-up for all secondary teachers, but it was open for all as well.  This meet up was held at one of the restaurants at the Venetian.  Again, it was very informal with teachers just networking with other teachers. 

TpT Conference Friday (Keynote and Sessions)
     TpT started the day with a free continental breakfast for everyone before the Keynote Presentation.  Once the breakfast was over, all 1100 of us went in for the Keynote Presentation.  We heard from the founder, CEO, Director of Seller Happiness, and Rachel Lynette.  Every speaker was amazing.  We heard how TpT got started and where they plan on going in the future, but the best speaker was Rachel Lynette.  She shared her amazing story on how she got started by answering an ad on Craigslist.   She needed extra income to help her two kids.  Almost 9 years later, she's one of the top sellers, and an inspiration to us all.

     On Friday, I attended Unlock the Code-Secrets of Seller Success, Did I REALLY Sell That? Improving Out Products With a Critical Eye, TpT Marketing: Do This, Not That, and From Teacher to Teacherpreneur.  I really enjoyed all of my sessions, and I learned a lot from each of them.  What I did learn from each of my sessions, is to be myself, be original with my products, and take time for yourself too.

     I was so lucky to be able to meet Deanna Jump, DeeDee Wills, and Rachel Lynette.  It's been a dream of mine to meet all of them, especially Deanna Jump.  I'm so thankful that they took the time to meet with all of their fans like me.

     I especailly loved From Teacher to Teacherpreneur presented by Erin Cobb from Lovin Lit.  She was too funny, and she had a lot of great advice.  I also loved the Seller Planner she gave to each attendee.

Closing Remarks
     I was really sad once the conference was over, but luckily, I had TpT Happy Hour and the Primary Meet and Greet left. 

     I had an amazing time in Vegas, with very little time to explore, which was a good thing.  If you are just starting out with TpT or have been selling for awhile, I would recommend that you should go to the conference in 2016.  If I'm free, I will be going for sure!

 Me, (The Traveling Educator) First Grade Roars, and  A Traveled Teacher

                   Evil Math Wizard, Me, (The Traveling Educator)
                  Little School the Range, and Making Meaning With Melissa




    

Whole Wide World 2 App

                         
     As I continue my search for apps to use in a classroom or in my library, I found Whole Wide World 2 App.  Whole Wide World 2 is a social studies app for elementary students.  The app can either be purchased for 4.99, or the app is free with additional purchases later.  I downloaded the free version.  With the free version, the student can explore up to 4 countries.  The countries are Australia, China, Egypt, and Iceland.  As you load the game, the student must pick a traveler to explore the countries with.
     The goal of the game is to collect passports for your scrapbook.  To obtain passports, the student needs to go to one of the free countries listed above, and play multiple games about that country.  Each country has different games.  For Egypt, the goal of the game is to find letters to match the word.  For example, one of the words is Nile.  Once the student finds the letters to make the word Nile, then your traveler explains the word Nile in regards to the country.  Once you collect enough information or postcards, the student plays one last game to collect the passport to that country.  The good thing about this app is once a student finishes all of the games for a particular country, it can be played again by a different student. 

     In addition to the four free countries, an adult can purchase up to 8 more countries.  Each country is an additional .99 cents and the multi-pack is 2.99. 

     If you are looking for a social students app for students to learn about different countries, then check out this app on iTunes.

Thanks for reading,

Laura



            

Quiver Vision- A 3D Coloring App

                                

     I don't normally get excited over a kids app, but I did for Quiver Vision.  This summer I'm researching apps that I can put on my two iPads for next school year.  A few months back I went to a librarian training, and the speaker mentioned this app.  I never had time to check it out until now.  Quiver Vision is an app you can use on your phone or iPad.  The app is free to download, but you do need a backward-facing camera on your phone or tablet.  In addition, you need a printer, paper, and colored pencils.   This app is great for all age types, and even adults will get a kick out of it. 

     The first step is to go to www.quivervision.com to download the app.  Once you have the app, you can scroll through the coloring pages they have online.  I always click on the free coloring pages.  Once you find a coloring page you like, color it.  Once finished, you open up the app, scan the coloring page, and the animation will come up.  For my coloring page, I picked the bird shown above.  I colored my page and added my last name on the bird to see what would happen.  Once scanned, the bird will walk around and eat a worm. 

It's really cool that something that you colored can come to life like it does.  Quiver Vision has many coloring pages to pick from including education coloring pages. 

Here you will find a few photos that I took of the animation and a video. 

Career Day Certificates

 

     I’m taking classes on the side to become certified as a school counselor.  Part of my program is to be a counselor intern.  One of my duties is to help organize Career Day.  We had to have about 70 volunteers this year and then organize a schedule.  As a thank you for coming in, we provided lunch and a Career Day Certificate to each volunteer.  I was in charge of making the certificates. 

     I went on Scrappin Doodles and purchased some clip art that had to do with community jobs.  I created a few different templates for the counselor to pick from.  I wanted it to be editable, so it can be easily changed for the following year.   I created some blank ones in case I ever had to change the certificate. My counselor had a color printer, so I was able to print it out in color.  I know that I may not always have access to a color printer, so I created black and white awards too.  I printed them on cardstock, but I didn’t laminate them. 

     Career Day turned out great!  The students and the volunteers had a great time!  The volunteers loved their certificates. 

     If you are looking for a way to thank your volunteers for coming in, check out my Career Day Presenter Thank You Certificates. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Career-Day-AwardsCertificates-editable-1525696

Here’s the link to the clip art I used in my product.

http://www.scrappindoodles.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5294

 

Thanks for reading my blog!

Laura

(Pictures of the product.  The Text boxes won't show when printing the product.

 

Where's the Librarian? Door Signs

    

     As a librarian, I often have to close the library for numerous reasons.  I can be in the library eating lunch with the doors closed and lights off and still students come in.  I could be out of the library and come back to find students in the library by themselves.  I needed something to inform students that the library is closed and for them to come back at a later time.  A few years back, I made door signs letting people know where my class was.  I thought I could do something similar for the library.
     I made two versions incase one didn't work.  The first version I made it so everyone can see the different options on where the librarian could be.  The only thing you move is the circle to identify where the librarian is.  The second version I have one sheet saying, The Librarian is, and every time the librarian leaves, he or she has to place the card on where they are going. 
     In my library, I'm using the 2nd version.  The second version is bigger for the students to see.  The only downside is that I have to always remember to bring the card to where ever I'm going.  As for the other version, it would be already up on the wall, for the librarian would just have to move, The Librarian is, card.  I used Velcro on all of the cards for easy use. 
     Since I'm finishing up my counseling program, I wanted to make one incase I ever move and switch jobs.  It's fairly similar to the librarian one except for it's geared to working with small groups. 

If this is something you could use in your library or counselors office, please check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can download it there.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Wheres-the-Librarian-Door-Signs-1833610

Update:  Since writing this blog, I've changed the version I use in my library.  I kept forgetting the cards, so I switch to version 1.  The only thing I have to remember to do is move the circle.

Thanks for reading,




Below are some of the pictures of the door signs.

Version 1

 

Version 2