Thankful Thankful Thankful

This of course is a week that we all take time to recognize the things we have and the people we have that we are so very thankful for.  It is something I wish I took time for more often.  So, today I am linking up with my sweet bloggy friend, Elyse from A is for Apples, so write about 4 things I am thankful for!

 I am BEYOND lucky to have an amazing family.  I know so many people say that, but I really am.  I met my husband when I was 10 and we have been friends ever since. I love that I am truly married to my best friend - even if he does drive me bananas sometimes ;)
I also have the perfect little lady.  She will be 5 soon and while she may be my only one, I cannot thank God enough for her.  I may not have blessed with anymore kids at this point, but she is the best anyone could hope for!

 I am not the person who believes that more is better when it comes to friends.  I have a few close friends and I am more than loyal to them.  They make me happy and remind me to laugh and smile, even when I don't feel like it - For you all - and you know who you are - I am thankful!

 We bought our house, just days after returning from our honeymoon and threw every penny into our house.  Since then things haven't always been smooth sailing (my husband was out of work for a year - He was laid off when my daughter was only 7 weeks old).  But through it all we worked at making our house a home.  Now, with the help of TPT and my blog we are back working at our house - refinished floors were just completed and the bathrooms are next!

Sometimes change is hard, but sometimes it is exactly what you need.  My school got a new principal this year and she is WONDERFUL, AMAZING< MIRACULOUS...I could go on.  I have never met or even heard of such a hands-on administrator who has such respect for her teachers.  This year has been a breath of fresh air in my teaching life - Thanks Beth! 

I hope you all are having a nice time reflecting on what you are thankful for - let me know if the comments!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm so excited to announce that it's my sweet bloggy friend Melissa's Birthday Bash today through Tuesday evening!

You can find over 100 TpT products from some awesome  teachers which are only $1.00 for the bash!

An InLinkz Link-up

Free-For-All - TODAY AND TOMORROW

Hi Again!

Two posts in one day - can you say CRAZY??!!??

This one will be short, however!  I just wanted to remind my bloggy friends to hop over to FB, so you can check out some AMAZING freebies!

Start HERE at my FB page.  I have 2 freebies (one for second and one for Kinders) and from there you can click to see more at The Primary Gal's page.  There are TONS to choose from!

Happy freebie collecting!

You Oughta Know!

How have I been missing participating in Jasmine’s You Oughta Know blog hops!  The last two months have F-L-O-W-N by.  Getting the kiddos settled is always such a production, but some days I was feeling as though there was no time left for me!

In any event, I am back to share a new app that my classroom is using to publish their personal narrative stories…MY STORY!

My Story is a PAID app in iTunes ($3.99).  I believe my school system got a package deal because it paid for all K-2 classrooms to have the app on 5 iPads, but still $3.99 for what you get isn't so bad.  

Here is the first screen you see.  Since we have kids sharing the iPads this is a great way for kids to not get missed up in other's stories.  

You can even add a picture (so not a great pic of me, but what can you do...).

Next kids get to choose a title for their books and a color for the cover. 

I like the students to type their text (in this case they are copying from a book they have already handwritten and edited/revised) first, before working on the pictures.  

Here is the text on the page.

Now, I work on pictures.  There are lots of different styles on drawing tools.  My "big" fingers seemed to like the pencil size lines, but there are marker and paint tools, as well as stickers and photo options.  

Finally, there is the option of recording the stories!  These are my final slides.  Clearly I am NOT an artist, but I wanted to give you an idea of how the books are put together.  

This week I introduce the app to kids and 
gave them time to work on books with partners to check out the app.  Next week we start publishing and then I hope to have final stories done and uploaded for families by the end of next week!  I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Thanks for coming by again this month and I hope you got some new ideas to use in your room.  Leave a note in the comments to let me know if you have any ideas about how you may use My Story in your room!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tricks and Treats Blog Hop

Do you LOVE October as much as I do?  I LOVE decorating and getting ready!!  This year my decorating will be limited as we are moving EVERYTHING out of the first floor of our house to get our hardwood floors redone.  We will be living with my parents for the week of Halloween!  EEK – that may be a trick or treat week for us all!

Today my bloggy friends and I are bring you some early tricks and treats to help get you through the week!

Tricks:

How many of you use a word board/rotation board/station board?  We use one for math groups and reading groups.  I have a student who is just having a tough time following through the stations. 

Here is my whole class guided math board:

This is what I made for my special friend who needs it a little closer to him:

Here is my whole class literacy center board:

This is what I made for my special friend who needs it a little closer to him:

It’s a simple cardstock board laminated – with each center’s pictures velcroed on.  The table where each center will be located is written with dry erase marker. 

This helps my friend follow along with the routines in the classroom without getting lost moving throughout the room.  All of his answers about where he should be are right in front of him!

Treats:

As a treat for you all my store will have a BIG sale this weekend – 20% off of everything! AND….BOGO Buy one product and email me at ateachermom1@gmail.com and choose any other product in my store ($3 or less) and I will send it to you FREE!!  

Happy Hopping!!

An InLinkz Link-up