Friday, June 28, 2013

Say "Goodbye" to Google Reader and "Hello" to Bloglovin'!

I'm sure you've seen the post, tweets, message in your news feed about the end of Google Reader. Many people use Google Reader to follower their favorite blogs but on July 1(Today) Google Reader will be no more. I don't want any of you to miss a post, from any of your favorite bloggers, so I'm here to tell you how you can make sure that doesn't happen! It's easy, just keep reading.

First, head on over to bloglovin' and create an account. It literally takes less than 5 minutes! During the process it will ask you if you would like to transfer all of the blogs you read on Google Reader over to bloglovin', just click yes and you'll be on your way to reading all of your favorite blogs!

Here's what my homepage looked like when I logged on. 

That's all!! How simple is that? I will tell you this, if you're still not sure if you should make the switch, I love bloglovin'. The layout is so nice, it's easy to navigate, it's easy to "claim" your blog on their site, and it's super simple to find new blogs that you will love follow.

If you have any questions, ask and I'll see what I can do to help answer them for you. If I can't answer it I'm sure you can find your answer on the Help page.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Tune into Technology Linky {Reading}



iTeach 1:1 and Learning to the Core are hosting a weekly technology linky on Thursdays for the rest of the summer.  This week's theme is integrating technology into reading.

How great is this? I was super excited when I read about this linky! As a Title I Reading teacher, I don't know that there could be a more perfect linky for me to join. 


It's very pretty tricky finding ways to incorporate technology into my classroom. I have no student computers, no SmartBoard, no iPads/Tablets, nothing! The only thing I have is my personal work laptop and I can't even use that all the time; I'm at the back of the building and I'm not joking when I say that my internet didn't work about 20% of the time. No need to fret though, I'm always up for a challenge, let me introduce you to the websites that I've found that work great in a 1 computer classroom!  

WeGiveBooks.org is one of my favorite places to go for technology in my classroom! I discovered this website during my student teaching experience while trying to find an online version of a children's book; I've been using it ever since. My favorite thing about We Give Books is that they donate a book each and every time you read a book on their website. Yes, you read that right; they donate a book every time you read! To date they have donated over 2 million books to children. 

During the winter holiday season, I introduced this website to my 5th Grade reading group. I didn't tell them about the donation until the end. When I pulled up the website and they were all able to sit at their desk and read the book they were all excited. When we reached the end I told them that they just made a donation to a child who doesn't have access to books. I made the donation in their homeroom teacher's name. At this point, we only had a few minutes left in class and each and everyone of my students was begging me to read another books so they could help another child! Seeing these students, who refuse to read, beg me to read more and more makes me know for a fact that this website is something that I couldn't live without. 



BrainPOP and BrainPOP jr. are two other websites that I use in my classroom all of the time. My students just love Moby; you know, the little robot in the videos. Both of these sites are great for my students. Since I would with the students who are below grade level and very reluctant readers, these sites offer great resources that are very engaging. BrainPOP is best for students in grades 3-6 and BrainPOP jr. is best for K-3. I love using the videos and then having the students break into teams to compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly afterwards. They also offer teacher guides, vocabulary work, and other activities to go along with each video. 

You can cover so many skills with these sites. Some of the skills covered are: phonics, comprehension, study skills, story elements, and even information about famous authors and books. Both sites make a great resource to use as an introduction to a topic, a quick review of a skill, or to use as a remediation tool. 


Last, but not least, my little ladibug document camera! I just love having this little gadget handy in my classroom. When I didn't have enough books for each student to have a copy or when I didn't want to run a ton of copies of a printout I could just turn on my little ladibug and my projector and BAM everyone can see what I'm trying to teach! This little guy has so much to offer: 14"X11" capturing size, video recording, picture storage, and much more. 

Well, I think that's all for today. Do you use any of these forms of technology in your classroom for reading? What do you use and how do you use it? 





Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Congratulations to Katie Orr for Reaching 100 Followers on TpT!




I can't wait for the day that I get on my blog,TpT, Facebook, etc. and see the big 100 that every blogger dreams about but thinks will never come! The other day, Katie Orr, from Mind Sparks, reached 100 followers at her TpT store! To celebrate she is having a great giveaway!



I've donated a set of my Polka Dot Classroom Coupons for the grades 3-5 giveaway! You can check them out on TpT or Teacher's Notebook.




To head over and get entered in the giveaway, for a chance to win these cute coupons and other really amazing prizes, click the image above! The contest runs from July 25-28. Good luck everyone! 




Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Follow me on Bloglovin'

So I'm making the switch to Bloglovin'! I hope you will all follower me there too so that you will not miss out on a single blog post! Click the link below to follow me =D Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Sunday, June 9, 2013

A Tale of Two K Teachers Giveaway!

Earlier this week I gave you all a little sneak peek at a giveaway that a wonderful Blogger is having. I've teamed up with A Tale of Two K Teachers and over 40+ other wonderful bloggers to help support Christina's wonderful giveaway. It's very simple to enter, just head over the their blog and enter 1 give away or all 4 giveaways.

Click on any of the pictures below to go straight to the giveaway!





I never realized that you can't read my blog name on my button!!! It's the 2nd from the left on the bottom of the last slide. I guess I know what I'm doing today...making a new blog and TpT button! Good luck everyone, come back and let me know if you are one of the winners. 


Thursday, June 6, 2013

June Currently and Some Exciting News About an Upcoming Giveaway!




WOW! Is it really June 6th? I can't believe I keep getting behind on my monthly currently. Before it's to late I'll go ahead and get one started! Make sure you read the entire post, as I will have some fun news for you you about an exciting opportunity that will be fun for you all too!


Now, onto the fun, super awesome, surprise that I'm sure you've been waiting for.... 
I've teamed up with Christina Mauro, over at A Tale of Two K Teachers, and many other wonderful bloggers to celebrate Christina's 200 TpT Follower Giveaway! She'll be holding a super fun giveaway in just a few short days (I'll post a direct link the day of) that will have 48 wonderful products for you to win! I've donated my new Robot Behavior Clip Chart and I know that there are some other really great products being offered to you! Here's a little sneak peek for you

Click on the picture above to go to A Tale of Two K Teachers

Click on the picture above to view this product on TpT


 know I'm very excited to see everyone who gets involved and I'm so pleased to have the opportunity to participate in such a fun giveaway and I can't wait to have everyone participate in the giveaway! 



Monday, June 3, 2013

Teacher's Notebook Giveaway and 15% off sale!

Happy Monday everyone! I had a long, relaxing, fun filled weekend with my amazing fiance and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our weekend. Since he will be working all week, I've decided to keep making some products and blogging. I kept trying to think up something fun that I could do for my followers and then if finally hit me....have a giveaway!

Since I don't yet know how to do a giveaway right here on the blog, I created a giveaway over at Teacher's Notebook. 1 lucky winner will get a copy of all 5 of my new Sight Word Splat! Board games and my new Dolch Noun Splat! board game. The giveaway will last from today until June 09, 2013 at 11:59pm.

Hurry over and check it out by clicking on the picture below.



If you just can't wait to own these games you can head over to my store and grab a copy at 15% off!  I can't wait to find out how the winner will be! Good luck everyone. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful week.