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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Teacher Tech Tuesday -ABC Sneak Peak

 

So I am still working on figuring out Google Reader, mainly if there is a way to use it and still have page views count since we want to support our fellow teacher bloggers :) 
I have been busy this week create things for my class and I mainly use My Memories Suites, a wonderful digital scrapbooking program I have used for years. Well today I got the email that the wonderful people at My Memories Suites are giving me a copy of Version 3 to review AND one to giveaway! I am so excited to share more about this great program with you all. For today I want to give you a peak at the ABC Word Wall set I am working on in My Memories Suites. I was able to finish 50 pages in a few hours :) 
 Come back this week for my review and giveaway of My Memories Suites Version 3 :)





Monday, July 30, 2012

Freebie Frenzy and CAFE Headers

I am so excited to be one of 21 teachers with freebies part of Jeanne's 1000 Follower giveaway! She really is giving over 20 fabulous freebies away so click on the picture below, then come back  :)


Ok now that you are back with a computer full of goodies I want to give you one more. This is a complete Tropical Dots CAFE Headers file with different letter headers from my freebie on Jeanne's blog PLUS menu headers for all 3 menus and strategy cards for your students to fill out. This is my first download on TeachersPayTeachers so I hope you will all leave feedback :)












Sunday, July 29, 2012

Kindergarten Surprise

I'm so excited to be a part of this surprise starting tomorrow :) Check back tomorrow for the link :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Quickly Add Blogs to Google Reader and a blogroll

a day late :)

I have been "meeting" so many wonderful teacher bloggers this summer my Google Reader has been a mess and I have been struggling with how to set up my blogroll. Well today I have found a simple solution to organizing blogs on Google Reader which helps set up blogrolls quickly. Today I'm going to share my Google Reader folder of Top Teacher Kindergarten teachers with you and how to use this folder to add many blogs to your Google Reader in seconds and Blogger blogroll in a few minutes.


Click on this link HERE
Click on Subscribe

Now you have 30 of the coolest kindergarten bloggers all organized into one folder on Goggle Reader, including this one :) Took maybe 5 seconds right? 

If you love Whole Brain Teaching click HERE and follow the same steps to add 15 awesome WBT Primary grade blogs to Google Reader. 

If you have a Blogger blog it gets even cooler! Follow the directions below to add either of these to your blogroll. 



I am super excited to have figured this out and hope you are too. I would love to know if this works for you and if you would like to find out how to create your own Google Reader folder and bundle next week so please leave a comment :)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Language Arts Pacing Guides

I'm off to Day 2 of TK training with the Bay Area Region 4 CPIN! Yesterday we talked about the Social Emotional strand of the Preschool Foundations and Transitions and got some awesome make and takes for the classroom. Today we get to talk about dialogic reading so I'm excited to see what they have for us.
Before I head out I wanted to share a pacing guide I'm working on based on the Kingsburg TK pacing guide. It is totally a work in progress but thought I would share what I have so far :)





I also have my district pacing guide for TK. I think I am going to use this pacing guide and move over the Instructional Focus and Complete Year Units info to a weekly lesson plan. Here is the PUSD TK Pacing Guide for Language Arts



And if you teach kindergarten and use Treasures the Traditional Kindergarten Pacing Guide :)

Please let me know what you think and I'll share tomorrow more about the trainings :) 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Guest Post at Teach Math

Today I'm over at Dr.Penny's great blog  
Teach the Math

Hop on over to read about the amazing TimezAttack 

Also click on the VistaPrint Ideas link here for a new VistaPrint code :)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Order my VistaPrint designs

I LOOOOOOOVE VistaPrint, especially when they are having a good sale, which is most of the time. I have create a page here to share my VistaPrint creations and some have asked how to order a few of the things. Below are links directly to order each item from VistaPrint. You can make changes to the text if the text was created in VistaPrint so they are not set in stone. The best thing to do is click on the link under the pic you want, log in to VistaPrint, make any edits you need to then save and log out of VistaPrint. There are deals all over for VistaPrint and I will try to post the current oneds on my VistaPrint page. I hope this is helpful and I would love your feedback and pins :)


Business Card Magnets



Magnets by Vistaprint


Business Cards


Premium Business Cards by Vistaprint


don't have this in my portfolio anymore but it is a ticket background from VistaPrint with the text typed in VistaPrint


Large Banner


I bought the large banner and then cut it in half to give me the Emerging CAFE menu and Traditional menu. Learn more about Daily 5 and CAFE at http://www.thedailycafe.com/
Top Emerging CAFE menu is a freebie from Miss Nguyen's Class and the Traditional CAFE is  from the yahoo group I run :) 

Oversized Postcard

Each student gets one to help them with their CAFE strategies. They are laminated so students can circle the area they are working on and write notes about the strategy in overhead pen or dry erase. I have also done little labels for the strategy that the student gets during conference time with me. Menu is a freebie from Miss Nguyen's Class


Rack Card


Rack Cards by Vistaprint

I laminated these and students use these to track which Daily 5 choice they have done with dry erase pens. The back has our worshop time rules. Posters are freebies from KinderTastic http://kindertastic.blogspot.com/2011/08/multicultural-daily-5.html Not sure the font but the kids are from ScrapinDoodles


Note Pad


I can record who needs extra help on something, who was on what level and what I need for a lesson :)

Car Door Magnet


Car Door Magnets - Small by Vistaprint

Found the poem online and this is stuck on the outside of my door to the classroom :)

Small Poster


Small Posters by Vistaprint

Found the words to the poem online, typed them up in MyMemoriesSuite and saved as a jpeg to upload to VistaPrint so I could have rainbow colors. Clipart is all from Vista Print


Small Banner


Clip Chart based on Rick Morris' idea with the colors my school uses. Ended up using another one and not ordering so no link. 

T Shirts

              Kindergarten Walking Word Wall


FREE T-Shirts by Vistaprint

I Teach. What's your super power? from http://venspired.com/

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Daily 5 Book Study Catch Up

I have been enjoying this book study sooooooo much and have so many ideas spinning in my head but I'm not quite ready to answer all the questions for my self yet. My plan is to revisit these questions and post during the next few weeks before school. I know how I did things when I taught first grade but I don't think I did a good job with Daily 5 last year in kindergarten and I'm still planning out things for my new adventure with Transitional K. For now I wanted to share the questions so for and a few links.

Much of the information I have used for Daily 5 has come from the Daily 5 Yahoo Group I have been running for a while now. There are so many free files, links to many of the free things on the Sisters' site and wonderful threads about everything Daily 5 and CAFE. It has been a quiet summer but we would love to get some new conversations going so I hope you will join us :) We also have an extra file group here.
You can also assess most of the group files, also a Gig of goodies, from my DailyCAFE folder on Skydrive :) Most files are not my creations, I have simple gathered them all. I hope some of you find these links helpful.

Below are the questions from each chapter so far. Make sure to click on the picture for each chapter for each linky party. There is so much great information and many freebies :)


1. How do I teach new behaviors?

2. How do I teach expectations?

3. How do I monitor student behavior? whole group? small groups? Individual?

4. What do I do when a student is not exhibiting desired behavior?

5. Whose classroom is it?

6. Locus of control?

7. Where are supplies stored?



1. Do you trust your students? How do you build this trust? Are you able to trust them and allow them to be independent throughout all aspects of your day? Are you going to be able to stay out of their way?

2. How much choice do you give your students throughout the day? (would love for you to share some examples!) Do you go over your daily schedule with your students or is it just 'posted' in the room?

3. How are you going to create that sense of community where students will hold each other accountable?

4. Student ownership in learning? How do you instill this in every child?

  1. Stamina! How are you going to build stamina with reading? independent work? Will you use a timer? Will you set goals? … 





1. Establish a gathering place for brain and body breaks. 

2. Developing the concept of "good fit" books 

3. Create anchor charts with students.

4. Short, repeated intervals of independent practice and setting up book boxes
What will you use for book boxes? 
What are you going to put in those book boxes on the 1st day of school?

5. Calm Signals and check in procedures (Do you already have a signal? How will you handle check ins?)

6. Using the correct model/incorrect model approach for demonstrating appropriate behaviors.





1)  How far into the school year do you think kinders need to be to be able to begin the process of Read to Self?  What is realistic?  When do you plan to begin implementation?

2) How will you make sure that each child views him/herself as a reader (whether they are reading words or not)?

3) What are some ideas you have about "Launching Read to Self" in kindergarten?  How will you go about it and what are some ways to make sure it is "kinder friendly"?  

4) How will you/do you build the children's belief that this IS important?  What can we do to encourage the ones who do not value it and create disruptions for others?

5) How valuable is Checking In and Reviewing with kindergarteners?  How often will you do it?  When will you do it? What are some different ways to "check in"?

6)What are some problems that can occur during this problem (either that you anticipate with your kinders OR that you have experienced)?  How can we be proactive about these issues?


1. How will you instill the importance (or urgency) of 'listening to reading' in your students and especially those students who have had little 'lap time' or reading done for them in their own homes?

2. What devices or strategies are you going to use to conduct listen to reading? Will you use a community recording device with one cd and several earphones, individual cd players, tape recorders, ipod-type devices or computers? 

3. What expectations will you have for your students during 'listen to reading' and how will you keep them on task and independent instead of needing your assistance when they can't manage devices?

4. Do you have enough 'listening to reading' type materials? If not, what ideas do you have for securing these materials? Where will you store them? How will your students retrieve these items? Where will they be used (will there be a designated spot in your class for listening to reading or will it be their choice?

5. How do you feel about listening response sheets? What will they look like?

6. How can this station be differentiated to meet the various learning profiles, interests and/or readiness of your students?



1. Why should students be reading to someone?

2. How can your students EEKK?

3. How can your students read to someone and how will you need to model these ways with your students?

4. What is one thing you have done with partner reading that ensures the success of your students?



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Teacher Tech Tuesday-Webinars



Today I just have a quick reminder that today is the day for Whole Brain Teaching webcasts and tonight we will be having an open chat about grade level teams that are forming. The easiest way to chat is from http://www.livestream.com/wholebrainteaching1/

I'll be sharing more about Livestream next week and also I will be guest blogging about a great program, Timez Attack on Sunday so check back this week for the links :)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Blog Awards

Everyone loves awards and I am honored that my little blog has won these:




The usual rules for The Versatile Blogger are : 
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. 
2. Include a link to their site. 
3. Include the award image in your post
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself. 
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award. 
6. When nominating, include a link to their site. 
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.


 The usual rules for One Lovely Blog are:
1. Follow the person that gave you the award
2. Link back to the person that gave you the award
3. Pass the award on to 15  bloggers

While this blog is pretty young I have been blogging a long time at my WBT blog and my scrapbooking blog. These blog awards have been around a long time and I think it is time for some new rules so these feel less like a chain letter and are fun again :)


If you would like one of these awards from me you need to do the following:
1. Follow me
2. Comment here that you grabbed the award
3. Include the award and new rules in a blog post, Facebook update or tweet. 


Here are examples for the new posts:

I just got from http://literacyteachermomof3.blogspot.com/
If you would like this award from me just do the following:
1. Follow me
2. Comment here that you grabbed the award
3. Include the award and the new rules in a blog post, Facebook update or tweet


I just got thefrom Chelsey at http://www.misswestsclass.blogspot.com  If you would like this award from me just do the following:
1. Follow me
2. Comment here that you grabbed the award
3. Include the award and the new rules in a blog post, Facebook update or tweet


What do you think? I hope this makes these awards less work and more fun because I know you all have lovely blogs and are versatile bloggers :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Teacher Tech Tuesday-Confer

Please read the UPDATE TO THIS POST HERE





 In every grade I have taught I have always been amazed at how much differentiation is needed and how much growth is possible in one year. It is awesome when that struggling student becomes a top student. Today I wanted to share with you a tool that has helped me the last 2 years keep track of differentiation, the Confer app.

The Confer app has helped me so much in my planning, conferencing with students and meeting with parents because I can take notes quickly during Reading and Writing Workshop on individual students, small groups or even whole class lessons. I even track behavior with Confer. The Confer app is for iPods, iPhones and iPads and can be found at http://www.conferapp.com/. I have no affiliation with the app or its maker but love that he is a teacher sharing something that he created for his classroom.
Here's what you can do with Confer:
  • take notes on individual students and small groups
  • view your students by the "tag", "strength", "teaching point", or "next step" in your note
  • view your students by date, level, group or flag
  • search through student notes
  • create flexible small groups 
  • upload your data to your gmail account as a spreadsheet
  • export and import your data on any iOS device via email

I started with the free Lite version then upgraded to the paid after I saw what I could do with the app. With the Lite version you are limited to 2 subjects, 10 students per subject and 5 notes per student.  You can export data through email but not import so it really is just to see what the app can do. When I used the Lite version I found 2 ways to make it work since I had 20 students. The first way was to track 10 students in subject 1, the other 10 students with subject 2 and export the data each Friday. I would then copy and paste the data into a new excel sheet to look at all the data of all the students. This gave me the data with a few extra steps. The second way I used the Lite version was to track small groups and whole class lessons. 

After a few months cutting and pasting I decided to upgrade and it is much easier :) I have all my students and can take as many notes as I like. I use the CAFE approach to notes based on The Sisters' work you can find at http://www.thedailycafe.com/. My Tags are Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Vocab. For Strength I list what the student is doing well on and the Teaching Point is the CAFE Strategy the student is working on. I often fill out Next Step after conferencing with students as I sort the data. With the paid app I usually sort data during lunch or in the evening during commercials because all I need is my iPhone :) I can quickly see who needs to work on the same skill, who I haven't met with in a while, who is ready for a new skill, which groups are working, which groups need something new and what needs to be taught whole class again. It is also great during parent conference week because I can show parents the notes for their student.
If you want a visual of all that Confer can do here is the video about the app :)



I hope that some of you can see that Confer is an easy and fast way to track during and after Reading and Writing Workshop and give it a try. If you do decide to purchase the paid version read on.

Ok now that you are back and excited about Confer I have a goodie for you :) Click here for my Confer file with my Tags, Next Steps, ext based mostly on The CAFE by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  I also have included my Behavior file based on a clip chart system and Whole Brain Teaching rules. You can import this file on Confer Lite or Confer :) To import the file email it to yourself and open the email on your device, taps the attachment icon, and then select “Open in Confer.” This will automatically open up Confer and import the attached data, which contains all of the subjects on my device. 


Be sure to comment and let me know you downloaded the file and let me know what you think :)