Tea Light Classroom Delight... Among Other Things

Hello Friends who I haven't seen for a while. Life goes along at a pace that does not always leave room for blogging, I'm afraid. But I am still alive and well, and have an idea or five that I hope you'll find useful, so let's get crackin'. Thanks to Kasey at Five for Friday! What would we do without this linky??

1.  The winter months are dull and dreary here in Michigan where Old Man Winter rolls a gray blanket across the sky and leaves it in place from January through March. One little way I bring darkness into the classroom in playful ways is by adding little LED tea lights to the play areas. Great fun can be had for cheap as multipacks can be found at the dollar store. The kids like to use them in the dollhouse, small world, blocks and drama... anywhere really.

An added bonus is that it seems to bring a certain hush to the play as the kiddos make up imaginary scenarios using the "flames." A pack or two will last all season.

2.  And while on the topic of lights, don't forget Flashlight Fridays. My kids LOVE coming in to class on Fridays for DEAR time, which is how we start each day. They put away their things, grab a book, grab a partner, grab a flashlight and sit ANYwhere in the room they choose to read together. I found inexpensive yet hardy flashlights at Menards. I have done this for many years and it is a much loved weekly literacy activity.

Under the table with a book and a partner for Flashlight Fridays!

3.  We had early snow here in the southeast corner of Michigan. A full foot gave us a snow day in early December, while December snow days are rather rare. When we got back to school the kids so wanted to play in it, but the temps on many days that week were too cold to allow outside play. So I went out and filled buckets with snow to bring inside. One day, mitten handed, we simply played with it. Another day I added watercolors, and another day I packed it rather hard and brought out the watercolors again. Loose snow and packed snow provide very different painting experiences. Bringing snow in to play with and painting snow are hardly new ideas to teachers, but this year's kiddos still loved it as much as any kids have over the years.

4.  I have already made my ice berg discovery blocks to bring to school when we go back. You take a plastic bowl of water, drop in a plastic figure or two– dinosaurs work well, though any item will do– and let the water freeze solid. Then you put the chunk of ice on the sensory table with eyedroppers of water. As the kiddos drip water drop by drop, the ice slowly melts and the figure comes free. It is amazing how long the kidpeople will stay with this activity. And think of all that great fine muscle strengthening as they use the eyedroppers. Sorry I don't have photos for this one, but I'm sure you get the idea.

5.  I LOVE Donors Choose. I got two complete Osmo sets funded, and then I bought one of my own. With three iPads going at once, and working in pairs, six kids can participate at once. It makes for a fine center.

Language use is high as they work together, which is good for all young students, but my ELL kids especially.  The kiddos don't know it yet, but I've kept some of the games aside to pull out when we get back, and it makes my teacher heart sing knowing I've got highly engaging, new additions to our technology that are really going to help us spice up January.

Give Donors Choose a try if you haven't. It's a little bit of work to write up and complete, but the materials cost you nothing and sure are helpful to learning in the classroom. I've done three different projects over the years– rekenreks, wobble seats, and the Osmos. You can have new materials in your classroom within a month or two.

Bonus 6.  I share this one just for teachers who are looking for something new to read in the early dark evenings. I received lovely bookstore gift cards this Christmas. I love nothing more than a date night with the husband at a bookstore. We go our separate ways and meet in the cafe later, each with a stack of books to peruse and choose from. I do a lot of online shopping, but nothing beats a real brick and mortar store.

I have been keeping an eye to the end of year must-read lists and quite frankly, finding them quite depressing. There seems to be nothing happy or uplifting on any list I can find... perhaps an indication of where some of us are as 2016 comes to a close. But that doesn't mean I want my reading to be a downer, too.

I went to the Barnes and Noble site before we went shopping to sort of get in a book mood, and as I clicked around a "Chat" window came up that suggested I "talk" to someone for book suggestions. It wouldn't have occurred to me to ask for help in browsing, but it turned out to be quite helpful, actually, once we narrowed down the genres a bit.

Another helpful discovery was the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" list at the bottom of each book's page. Of course, I've noticed this in the past, and in shopping on Amazon found it quite useful when shopping for things. It never occurred to me to go specifically to the page of a book I have already read and loved, just to read the list of similar books that appears at the bottom. I found all sorts of treasures, both current titles and oldies, and have a new stack of books at my bedside.

Most of last year's reading for pleasure was spent in the eight part Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Oh, how I mourned coming to the end of the last book! I'm sure I'm not the only fan that hopes for just. one. more. When I bought the series– a huge stack on the counter– a young woman passed by, took a look, and said, "Ah, lucky you! I wish I was reading them all again for the first time."

NEWS FLASH!  I just visited Diana Gabaldon's website and she. is. writing. number nine!!!!!! We can't hold our breath because we don't know when it will be out, but it WILL! AND this June a compilation of side-stories of the outlander characters is coming out- featuring Monsieur Raymond, Roger's parents, and even a young Ian and Jamie, among others. Can hardly wait for them!!! So Outlander Fans take heart– the adventures continue!!! And of course the Outlander series season three lies ahead this summer. Yippee!!! If you don't know this series I highly recommend you check it out!!!

So glad you stopped by. I would promise to blog again soon, but you know how it goes. I hope because I don't post super regularly thru the school year, when my blog pops up on your feed you stop by to see what's up. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Now it's time to click on back to read more teacher stuff. Thanks, Kasey!

Personalized Pictures to Color- a Tutorial

Oh, I am so excited over a new app I found. You can make a coloring sheet from a photo! I link up with Monday Made It to share.

The app I'm happy to tell you about is iPiccy.  It is an online app so all your work is done online and there's nothing to download except your finished picture. Open an account using your email address. Once you confirm and log into the site, the screen will look like this.

Click on "Upload photo" and a drop down menu will pop up so you can select the photo you want to work on. I put all the photos I'm going to upload to an online site, like Walgreen's for photo printing, for example,  in a desktop folder I named "Photos for Upload." Click on the photo you want to use and it appear on the screen, looking like this... with your own photo, not one of my daughters. snort.

Now you want to go to the "magic wand" tool up at the top, the second one over, and click. Suffer through my rather crude arrows I use to point things out in this tutorial.

Now you have a new menu of effects on the left hand scroll bar. Scroll past "Basics" "Vintage" "Area" and "Color" all the way to "Artistic." Under Artistic you'll see "Pencil Sketch." Click on it.

OOooo! They became a drawing! You can adjust the line weight by sliding the bar, and then hit "Apply" to save.

At this point you can be all done, or you can give the picture a caption. To add words click on the "Layer" button along the top menu, highlighted by my arrow.

Then the screen gives you the choice of a text tool button, a "T" highlighted by my arrow. Click. 

Now your screen will look like this.  

This next part is a lot like using many other apps like PowerPoint, or even KidPix. You'll want to drag the text box to where you want it on the image. Choose from the fonts by scrolling on the left. Then type in whatever caption you want in the box on the left where it says "Your Text Here." I tried getting a cursor to go into the actual text box on the photo and it didn't work. You have to type in the box on the left side bar and your text will appear on the photo. 

Here is what I ended up with. I can hear the eyerolls now when my two see that caption... good thing they never read the blog. Hee. And yes, when my DD do eyerolls, you can hear it...

To save the photo you first need to click on the "disk" image and a pop-up window will appear like as in the image below. Click on "Combine layers"

Lastly, a final screen will appear allowing you to save the image wherever you like.

Just print and TA-DA! All ready for coloring!

NOW, teacher friends, just think of the ways you can use this! The kiddos will LOVE coloring pictures of themselves. It would make a great cover for a portfolio, or to designate their display space in the hall. Or how about a field trip book of photos that they color. Or pictures of their building projects... the list goes on and on. And of course, once you become familiar with this app you will discover all sorts of other ways to customize images! I hope you find ipiccy.com another good use of technology and as much fun as I do! I can hardly wait for the school year to begin... well, I guess I can wait just a bit more..

Click on their image to go to their home page.

If you are happy to find this, or you have used it and can think of other projects to do, add them below! I love to hear from anyone out there in the Internet Land.

Click on back and see what the rest of the teacher blogging world has been creating this week. See you next time. And Tara, thanks for the linky... it is a happy par-ty!

Pick 3 Pins for JUNE!

Hey! It's the third of the month and that means Pick 3 Pins... er, maybe four.... and a giveaway! Thanks to my bloggy buddies over at Pawsitively Learning, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner for their idea generating monthly linky party. Love this one.

With Father's Day right around the corner I've been looking for a cute gift idea for my kiddos to do. I like this one because the kids will have a neat experience drawing on the golf ball surface. And I'll come up with a sports themed card idea to go with it... you're a good sport, Dad. Or, you're better than a hole in one! Even Dad's who aren't golfers will enjoy their one of a kind art piece, I think. (Sorry, this PIN only went to advertising for t-shirts, but I still pinned to remember the idea. You just give the kids Sharpies to draw on the balls with. Easy-peasy!)

Whether you're still at school for a few more weeks, or already home with the kids, here's an easy fun outdoor activity. Found these little shooters that take basic materials. I think I'll knot and cut the balloons, then let the kids stretch them over the cut cups. I'll give each kid a marshmallow (chepaer than pompooms) and head outside. I might bring out some empty cups, too, so some kids can be the catchers, as well.  Find it on my outside board where more outdoor ideas for kids can be found.

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of online reading. I am always finding articles that I want to have at my fingertips for reference– to either put into practice or share with a colleague later. The easiest way to remember and find it again, is to PIN it. So I started a "Pin Now to Find Again Later Board." Click to see what I think will be handy to have and reread again.

And last but not least, for those of you who haven't stopped by in a while, my kiddos and I put together two animated movies with the help of my HUE Animation Studio. YOU can win a HUE Animation Studio, that comes with the camera, too. I blogged all about it, and even put together a free downloadable tip sheet. Check it all out!

This was our first video

And this was our second:

I blogged about them here!

Get the free downloadable tip sheet by clicking on the image below.

And ta-da! The giveaway! Hurry and enter as there's only a couple days left!! Sorry it's only available to readers in the US. 

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :(  CAROL D. IS THE WINNER :)

Big thanks to HUE for the cameras and opportunities to learn new technology!

NOW, go find more stuff to PIN by clicking below on those wonderful pins! 

An InLinkz Link-up

And thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Five Fresh End of Year Tips for Teachers

Hey! It's Friday. Evening. Smile. The day is over and there are very few Fridays left this school year. For me, only five and a half. I'm not quite in End of Year (EOY) mode yet, but I know many of you are, so I share what I hope will be helpful to you in your last weeks.

Pin to find some new ideas about the end of school year!

I warn you that not all of my advice is typical, but it is all tried and true by me. I link with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching and thank her for her Five for Friday way of sharing.

1.  Student Gifts  I've seen lots of EOY student gift ideas, but I don't think I've seen this one done just this way. It has been my EOY gift of choice for quite a few years now. I love giving it to my kidpeople because it takes a bit of group effort, it is all about writing which is near and dear to my heart, and parents report that their children cherish it and use it not only over the summer, but carry it around with them so long it falls apart.

I buy the journals at the dollar store for a buck apiece. I take a group shot– I happen to love this pose with the kids all heaped on top of me. Then I print this sentiment out on the top of a cardstock sheet–

Once a kidperson, Always a kidperson!

This is for holding small moments and big memories!

I cut the sheet so it fits the journal cover and glue the photo to the sheet as seen above. Then I put a green, purple, blue, red, and usually orange marker on each table.

The big sign-off goes like this: I tell the kids we are doing a special end of year activity and they will get a little present in a few days. This sets a giggly mood and everyone is ready for whatever it is... and I tell them they are going to sign their name twenty-something times. They gafaw but they're still with me. I mean, I said the word "present." I then hand out the readied sheets and ask everyone to sign their name on theirs. I tell them to watch carefully, say rotate, and at one table help them rotate the papers by just one person around the table. The rest of the tables do the same thing, with a bit of help. Then I tell everyone to sign again. They rotate, sign, rotate, sign, etc, until the five sheets have been around the table to every student.

Then BEFORE the kids switch to the next table, I check to see if the number of signatures is correct on the sheets. For the first rotation, there should be just five, for the second, ten, etc. PLAN on somebody having missed doing a sheet– I don't know how it can happen when we are being so careful, but in kindergarten it does. If you check the sheets each time before the kids change tables, you'll catch any missed signatures and can correct it right then. The kids switch tables, taking their same marker, and sign all five sheets again. This process continues until each book cover has the correct number of signatures. If anyone is absent this day, they have a lot of signatures to do when they get back!

Once each sheet has been signed by the kids, I sign them all, too. Then I laminate and cut out. I attach the sheet to the cover with a wide swath of clear packing tape across the top and the bottom making sure to cover all four corners with tape. I write each student's name inside the book, and some years, if time allows, I write a little EOY sentiment to each student, highlighting some of our best memories. Ta-da!

2.  The Magical Send-Off  On the last day of school, in the very last minutes of kindergarten when the kids are all packed and lined up, I give them the MAGICAL SEND-OFF and tell them I am going to turn all of them into FIRST GRADERS!

Aren't these cute pens? Found them at Costco in a set of twelve.

Ahead of time I purchase silly pencils or pens, enough for each student, and put them in a bucket. With bucket in hand, starting at the back of the line, I take a pen and using it as a magic wand, tap each little person on the head as I say, "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo, a first grader now are YOU." Then I give them "a magic kiss" on the top of their head so they can't come back to kindergarten except to visit me, which they must do for the magic to work. The wand becomes theirs.

By the time I've made my way to the front of the line, doing magic with each child, tears are glistening, but each child and I got a few special seconds together. The kids are happy as they walk down the hall for the last time waving their magic pens. It is a grand way to start the summer.

After they are all off on busses or vans or feet, I come back to the classroom and ball my eyes out. Such is the job of teaching. I get over it though as I pack up, go home, and fall in a dead heap on the couch with a very happy smile on my face and the summer stretching ahead. Such is the job of teaching.

3.  Cherished Words  I involve the kiddos in packing up, too, but not until the last week, when it is okay for the room to look a bit naked. Helping pack up is truly more for them to get a sense of closure, than it is to help me– let's face it, five and six year olds are only so helpful with such a process. I let them clean the toys with wipes, put like toys together in boxes, and bag up the stuffies and book buddies.

One ritual that we do each year is taking down the Word Wall. I posted about this last year but I think it is worth posting again. In the last week I sit everybody down and with the help of my laser pointer, read the word wall one last time. We remember the poems that helped us learn particular words. We talk about the tricky words like said, was, they– why are these words so tricky, anyway? And then I tell them it is time to take the word wall down. That statement is met with a sad "Whyyyyyy?" I tell them that just like we built the word wall this year, next year's kidpeople will have to build their wall, too.

I ask if anyone would like to take some words home. Oh. my. gosh. You would think I just offered them candy, the resounding YESSSS is so loud. I take down each word and ask, who would like 'the' then 'and' then 'we,' and I make sure everyone gets some words they really want. I do it very ceremoniously, trying not to let my inner grin come out. They are joyous as they put their words in their backpack, and I am filled with joy because I teach little children who get so attached to their earliest known words. Life is good.


4.  The Last Day  The last day of school with my students always include three MUST DO activities. The magical send off, described above, happens in the last couple minutes of our last day, but there are two more must dos– the last day of school self-portrait, and the last letter to Mrs. Wright.

On the first day of school we draw ourselves and write our name as best we can. I put this up as the first writing of the year on our Writers' Wall. Our best work from each writing unit and mini-unit then goes up on the wall, all work for each student layered in their spot on the wall.

The last week of school, I take down all the work. I paste the first day portraits into the front cover of our portfolios and place the rest of the student work inside. The portfolio is simply a large piece of construction paper folded to make a folder– nothing fancy. On the last morning of school, I give out the paper to draw our Last Day of School Self Portrait. This is one of our first activities of the morning so when we go to recess I can paste the Last Day Self Portraits into the back covers. It makes a very nice packet to show off their best work throughout the year, and boy, can you see progress as you flip through. Terrific.

These are the sheets I use on the first and last days. They are very simple, as you can see, but if you would like to have them, click on the image. They are completely editable documents..

For Writers' Workshop on the last day I hand out stationery and tell the kids this. is. it. Their last chance to say to me what their kindergarten selves want me to know. They take this assignment very seriously each year. I put on our favorite writing music and they write their little hearts out. And yes, when I take them home and read them at the end of the day, I once again sob my eyes out... even DH Jonathan gets a little melancholy... when he is not cracking up at the kindergarten spelling. Those letters remain very precious to me. for. ever.

I'm betting you have lots of kindergarten letter writing stationery, but if you need some you can pick some up in my little... and I mean little... where more is free than for sale, TPT store. Click on picture below to go there.  It is one dollar.

5.  The Big Dump Okay, so this is a bit of a true confession, but I can honestly say I learned it from a colleague. You know how you pack, and haul, and stack, and shove to get your room packed up, and then you come to your desk, or some shelves, and there are just so MANY TINY THINGS like pens, and tape, and brads, and dice, and little plastic thingies that have been breeding all school year there in front of you when you weren't looking?? And which you dumped in a heap as you packed up the rest of the room??

Well, one year, my room was packed up EXCEPT for this last time consuming task of sorting and deciding what to keep, what to trash, and whether it was even worth putting the thing in a place where I might or might not ever be able to find it again. A fellow teacher (who shall remain nameless) stopped by on her way out. She took one look at me and the task at hand and asked if I still had a big empty bin? I did, in fact. She said, "Just dump all of it in there."

I looked agog. WHAT? There was no way this neatnik teacher did that herself! Did she think that I was such a slob that I should do THAT?? Granted, I had indeed somehow allowed this MESS to accumulate, but still, what kind of weird advice was she doling out.

Then she said, "That's what I do."

Again, agog. Yep, she went on, she spreads her arms out across the table and sweeps all the stuff into a big bin. Done. Gone. Out of sight. She said when she gets back in the fall it is somehow magically easier to decide what to keep and where to put it. She is able to throw away more and she knows where the things are, when she puts them away then instead of back in June. And you know what, I took her advice. I dumped it. When I got back that fall and straightened everything back into it's place, that big bin was indeed magically easier to sort through, just as she said it would be!

So if you find yourself in this particular situation and can relate at all to the feeling of just wanting to be DONE in that last hour in the building, then I suggest you, too, with my blessing,  JUST DUMP IT. It will be right where you can find it again when you get back in August!!

Thanks for stopping by. Hop on back to catch what is going on with others.

 See you next time!