Five for Frunday {It's Spring; Twitter; GoNoodle Plus; Mentor Sentences; Library Redo}

In the past I had used Twitter to follow some celebrities {most of whom I have unfollowed now} & I rarely if ever 'tweeted'...since going to the Google Conference I am looking at Twitter differently & seeing all kinds of links & resources...Do you use Twitter?...Do you just follow or do you tweet?...Who do you follow?...Here are some that I am following...

      Some of my favorite teachers/bloggers/TpTers:

            Kristin from Ladybug's Teacher Files

                 @LadybugBlogger

             Kelly Malloy from An Apple for the Teacher

                  @Kellys3ps

             Erin Klein from Kleinspiration

                  @KleinErin

            Blair Turner from One Lesson at a Time

                  @blairkturner

             Shannon from Technology. Rocks. Seriously

                   @sweetblessshan

             Deanna Jump from Mrs. Jumps Classroom

                   @MrsJumpsClass

             Rachel Lynette from Minds in Bloom

                    @RachelLynette

            Michelle from The 3 AM Teacher

                    @3AMTeacher

            Amanda Nickerson from One Extra Degree

                    @OneExtraDegree

             Jen Jones from Hello Literacy

                     @hellojenjones

              Richard Bryne from Free Tech 4                                      Teachers

                      @rmbryne  

  Other Ed groups/companies/entities

              Class Dojo {loving them!!!}

                      @classdojo

               GoNoodle 

                      @gonoodle

                Dave Burgess author of Teach Like a                                     Pirate

                      @burgessdave

                Teachers pay Teachers

                       @TpTdotcom

                 Edutopia

                        @edutopia

So...my name on twitter is @thankfulndw

Let me know what you think of Twitter...has it made you a better teacher?...opened doors?...inspired you?...I'd LOVE to hear what you think!!

{BTW  :-( Twitter is BLOCKED by our district}

                     

My trial to GoNoodle Plus was too short!!!  I LOVED it & so did my students!!!  They have spelling that you can type in your list & the kids spell the words with their bodies...vocabulary that is grade appropriate...but I think their favorite was Montana James & the Palace of Peril...the class is in two teams & you {teacher} decide the skills that will be in the questions...we had been working on adverbs & adjectives so we used those...it has the team that is 'up' swipe off snakes, or smack of beetles, or stomp on scorpions, with movements that the kids don't even see as exercise, just a game...well,  I can't afford the $99 yearly fee so I got permission from my principal to ask if parents would like to donate $1-$5 dollars so we can purchase it for the class...I will let you know how that goes!!!

 From the beginning of my teaching career I have been kind of the odd ball teacher in one way {okay, maybe more than one way ;-) but this is the one I am addressing here}...I have always marked what is correct/right on the students work with a C never marking what is incorrect/wrong {usually at the beginning it is in green too...symbol of growth}...so I was really drawn to Jessica's {from Ideas by Jivey} Mentor Sentences...it focuses on what is RIGHT about sentences, not correcting what is wrong...

I purchased her Mentor Sentences: First 10 Weeks 3-5  & the first sentence comes from First Day Jitters, which we read at the beginning of the year...I went over how we will work with the sentence she choose for the week...then...oops...the second story is Enemy Pie...I have a HUGE library {see #5} but I don't own this...neither did our school library...I wrote on the white board in the lounge...none of my fellow teachers own it!!!...I was at my wit's end when I found it on Storytime Online!!! It is read by Camryn Manheim...so tomorrow we will move forward with Mentor sentences!!!

I am in my 27th year teaching 3rd grade, and so happy to have this career!!  I LOVE children's literature & through the years I have purchased A LOT of books!!! Four years ago I did an Extreme Library Makeover~you can read/see more about it here ...this is what my library has looked like for the last several years...the books have been leveled using Book Wizard from Scholastic...

This year our school purchased AR {Accelerated Reader} & I started pulling books from my library & adding the AR level to the back...

This was across the room from my library & just not enough books...so...over 600 books have now been looked up, labeled, & organized!!!!{I still have a couple hundred more to go!}

I will be adding to my AR Management Product & changing it to be a Library labeling as well...it will include all levels of book tags & basket/bin labels...a quick shout out...the first time I did a library makeover I was thankful for Kristin of Ladybug's Teacher File...they were her alphabet labels I used...well she gets a great big 'Thank you!' once again...if it hadn't been for her tips to change pictures {the different apple colors for me} I would still be working on the labels for the next few weeks!!! 

Off to bed...testing begins tomorrow!!!

5 for Frunday! {Google Conference; Tyler Update; Battle Bunny; Pi Day; Fonts!}

I learned quite a bit at the conference...here are 3 things that I learned...the first thing is the transformation of my Bookmark bar...I have 'favorited' so many sites over the last several years in Google Chrome...now the sites I go to the most simply have the icon for the site...others are now grouped in folder...

I also started doing a bit of Tweeting...and following others in education...my Twitter name is @thankfulndw...

Our school just got some Chromebooks & those of us that went to the conference were able to bring one along with us {I LOVED it!!}...I was in a session & they told us to right click...I raised my hand and asked how on a Chromebook...you tap with 2 fingers...a little thing, but big when you don't know it!!

I am thankful for all of the prayers for my son Tyler.  He had a heart catheter 2 weeks ago, & this last Monday he had a liver biopsy & a 24 hour heart monitor...we will probably have a followup in May...please keep him in your prayers...his son is due in less than two weeks...the picture above was the haircut he chose to get Wednesday...I must admit I love the new look!

I received the cutest book in my book order Friday...Battle Bunny...it looks like a child, Alex, received a book from his grandmother {inscription is on the cover page} called The Birthday Bunny & Alex 'modifies' the book!  I can totally picture a little boy rewriting & changing the pictures in his book.  I am excited to share this with my students this coming week!

I would love for you to drop by my Linky about Fonts...if you have ever posted tips about fonts I would love you to link that post up...I did just update my original post with a screencastify tutorial for using NexusFont...click on the button below.

A TRIPLE Linky Post~ {5 for Frunday; Currently; Fontastic Linky}

This is a TRIPLE Linky Post~Five for Frunday, Currently, & my own Fontastic Linky!!

Today I registered for the 2nd Annual TpT Conference!!! I am super excited!  These are the sessions I signed up for:

Last year I went to the conference & didn't bring business cards...NOT a smart move...so today I designed some new ones...with some good advice from my sister...this is what they will look like:...{thought it wise not to display my phone number here!!}

I am requesting prayer from all of those of you who do pray.  My 18 year old stepson {he lived with us full time from age 6 to 15~so I raised him} was born with a congenital heart defect.  He went to Loma Linda about a week and a half ago & it was NOT good.  Tomorrow morning we need to be at Loma Linda at 6:00 AM...it is about an hour & a half away...they will be doing a heart catheter...it is similar to how they do an angiogram...they run a camera in through the artery at the groin area...they will be checking both the 'electrical' & 'plumbing' of his heart...next Monday we will go back for a liver biopsy & a 24 heart monitor...we do not know how soon a follow up appointment will be...my son is anxious & scared...& he is having an extra hard time with this because he will become a father {whoa..went to write NEXT month, but it IS March now!!} THIS month...prayers are SOOOO appreciated!{update:catheter went well...pressures in the heart are better than the doctor expected...now praying the liver biopsy goes well so a heart transplant will NOT be in his near future...probably will be in his future though}

CURRENTLY...It should say "late nights" in Spring Break Plans...but I am not going to go back & remake this...sorry for the typo!

I have LOVED fonts for a VERY long time...I started this blog in 2011 & if you look at the top I describe myself as a Font-a-holic...I am not sure when the obsession hoarding collecting began, but the love has has only grown stronger with time!

I want to begin with Sources of great fonts:

The first place I can remember discovering & purchasing fonts from is still up and running it is ScrapNFonts...as I looked at my order history from them, I saw that my 1st purchase was in the summer of 2005!!  They have great fonts & frequently have $1 sales~they do have a $1 category all of the time...through them I discovered one of my other obsessions loves...Lettering Delights...it is their sister site...for a long time I only purchased fonts...I didn't understand their Alphabets {once I did I was HOOKED...GREAT for the classroom!!!}...LD has commercial licenses available for about $13 & fonts do go on sale multiple times a year for only $1 {non commercial}

When I began blogging I discovered Kevin & Amanda's AMAZING free fonts!!!  They may be used commercially too...

as a matter of fact the 1st 2 things I put in my TpT store...on July 6, 2011...were samples of how each of their fonts look...they have 2 different collections...Scrapbook fonts...&...Fonts for Peas...my samples combined have be downloaded almost 7,000 times!!!...they are free & I don't want to remove them from my store, but here's a little secret for you...I have a much better way now...keep reading! ;-)...

If you have read my blog a all, you know that I adore Mel Lloyd from both Frog Spot & Graphics From the Pond...I have purchased her set of Fonts {which she keep adding to...3 more were added this week!!}...these may be used commercially...she also has some free fonts as well look on her sidebar of her Graphics from the Pond blog...

Now there are several AMAZING font designer who offer their fonts for free for PERSONAL USE ONLY...each of them have licenses you may purchase for single fonts or a lifetime all inclusive license for commercial use...so far I have only been able to afford 6 from my latest obsession love...Kimberly Geswein Fonts..{Look at #1...I get to hear her talk in July!!! :-D}...here are links to 4 great designers fonts...{REMEMBER TO CHECK TOUs WHEN YOU ARE CREATING GOODIES WITH THEM!!}  click on their images to get their fonts.

 {I DO NOT own the commercial license...yet ;-)...it was just the only image I could find to send to you her site}

 A bonus about Darcy is that you can purchase a font of your handwriting...{NOT something I am interesting in...I don't like mine, which is probably part of the reason I am font obsessed love fonts!}

Now that I have shared where to find a bunch of AMAZING fonts...what to do with them??  This is where I hope this Linky kicks in...I would love to hear your Tips for...here are links to font pairings...first from Mel...

Kimberly Geswein is currently doing a series about font pairings...so far you can check here, here, & here for her great advice with examples....also take some time to go through the archives to find more great tips...

Now...for Management of fonts...I used to have literally THOUSANDS of fonts installed on my computer {NOT good for the functioning of your computer}  & then Kimberly Geswein shared about NexusFont & it has changed things for me DRAMATICALLY & I wanted to share a little of the ins & outs of NexusFont with you...as I made sure I had each font in the designer's folder I DELETED it from my computer's system folder~go to control panel~appearance & personalization~then fonts...

I made a couple of short tutorials just to show you how you set up a group & populate it...also how to add tags...then to show you how it is in powerpoint...apparently our computer doesn't have a built in speaker so there is no sound, but hopefully watching it will help you! {I am VERY disappointed in how these tutorials turned out!! :( no time now to try a different option...I will update later!}  

{working on updating this now}

My NexusFont Tutorial Can Be Viewed HERE or by clicking on the picture above!

If you have any great sources of fonts, tips for using fonts, or suggestions for management of fonts PLEASE link up...I can't wait to learn from you!

Thanks!