Hello! My name is Nancy and I am a blog-a-holic, font-a-holic, resource-hunting-a-olic, and a share-a-holic! This is my first blog entry and it is likely to pretty long! I've had so many thoughts bouncing around in my head to share! I have been collecting blog addresses for several weeks now. My orginal thought was to create a table with the blog name, url, and what grade the teacher taught, and then give it to my fellow teachers...well...the more I found, the more I had the desire to do the same. So, here it is!
My former teammate Marcie Evans has inspired me so very much through the years! She is the one who first introduced me to 'blogs'. This is her former classroom blog. http://www.hopintoroom14.blogspot.com/ I hope you take a look at it! She had a frog theme and I couldn't come up with a 'theme' for my room. Then I realized I had a lot of apple stuff that was in my garage since the room it had been in became my husband's office. I took it all to school and the 'apple basket' was born! Then I created a classroom blog with her help. This year I haven't updated it at all; we just use it when we go to the computer lab and the students go to the links I instruct them to go to. Here it is http://www.room15theapplebasket.blogspot.com/ I plan to update it when I get through with all of this!
The first resource I want to share is http://www.proteacher.net/ It is wonderful. When I first looked at the site I was overwhelmed and left it quickly then Marcie let me in on how to use it...go to your grade level board and that's it! I have found sooooo many useful resources and ideas there!!!!! I'm finally a Jr. member although I've been a member since August 2007. For the first several years I just read and downloaded resources that others had posted. (look for the paperclip it indicates an attachment..worksheet, game, poster, organizational tool etc.) I finally started posting comments and questions and now I can post attachments too. Check it out!
The next resource I need to share is Kim Sutton's Creative Mathematics. She is a true guru in elementary mathematics! If you ever get a chance to hear her speak or go to one of her conferences don't pass it up! I have had the opportunity to hear her about a dozen times, at math conferences or going to one of her trainings and EVERY time I have ever hear her I have learned something new. One of the things she says motivates children are 4 4-letter words: dice (she uses double dice & others!) race, game, and food (just naming something after a food can spark interest!). Check out her site http://www.creativemathematics.com/
Kim Sutton asked Ron Brown many years ago to put some math concepts to music, he did, and as they say the rest is history! He not only has math music, but other concepts as well! The kids absolutely LOVE his stuff and it teaches the concepts so well! Check out his website http://www.intelli-tunes.com/index.php
Whole Brain Teaching is AWESOME! If you have never checked them out I strongly encourage you to do so! In December I went to a one day training and it has changed the way I teach! You can see their videos on teacher tube if your school district blocks youtube. They used to be referred to as Power Teaching, but change their name to represent what they are sharing more accurately. The idea is that the more areas of the brain that we actively engage the more learning occurs. Their techniques also help with classroom management and discipline. This Saturday, April 9, they are having a live TV broadcast on the web! It's completely free and you can text in questions to the founder, Chris Biffle. It is at 9 a.m. PST and here's the link http://www.livestream.com/wholebrainteaching1 Their website has tons of great info and free downloadable ebooks, all they ask is to spread the word!. I have begun using their 'power pix'
If you have never checked out Beth Newingham's website; it is a MUST VISIT for elementary teachers! I have no idea how she does it all! She has many resources avalible on her site. Check it out!
hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3
Lettering Delights is my go to spot for all of the above! Not only do they have great fonts, they also have 'alphabets'. Alphabets are the colorful lettering you see throughout this post. They can be used for bulletin board headings, in worksheets, letters, and forms. The great thing about Lettering Delights is that you can access your library (everything you've bought or got as a freebie) from any computer that has access to the internet. This is really helpful when you're working on stuff and home and at school! You simply choose the alphabet you want to use click the 'try me now' button, type what you want to, save it, and insert it as a picture into word or other programs. Right now it's Dollar Days where just about everything is just $1! If you sign up with them you get $40 value of free stuff! I also like Scrapn'fonts, they also will have freebies and $1 days too. For free fonts
Now I said some of these teachers have contests, these are some that are happening right now:
She has a really cute vacation countdown wall hanger!
She's giving away a Pirate's Gold unit she created!
She's giving away a Fairy Tale Unit written by Brooke at Primary Perspective!
A special GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Kristen at Ladybug Resources for the technical help I needed to get this out there!!! :)
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and what you thought!
Thanks for Visiting
