Houston Blogger Meet Up

Are you from the Houston, Texas area?  

If so, we would love to have you join us at our second-ever, Houston Blogger Meet Up!

It will be hosted by myself and Megan at I Teach. What's Your Super Power?  The meeting will be held at Chuy's on Saturday, June 29th at 2:00.  Chuy's address is 18035 I-45 North Feeder, Shenandoah, TX  77385.       The address on their website is incorrectly listed as I-45 South. 

If you are coming from the north:  Traveling on I-45 South, take Exit 77 (Research Forest/Tamina Rd.).  After exiting you will be on the south-bound feeder.  Stay in far left lane and make a U-turn under I-45 at Research Forest intersection.  This will put you on the north-bound feeder.  Chuy's will be on your right no far past Sam's Club.

 If you are coming from the south:  Traveling on  I-45 North, take Exit 79A toward College Park Dr. (242).  After exiting, you will be on the north-bound feeder.  Chuy's will be on your right no far past Sam's Club.

Please RSVP on the Google Doc below.  We will be using this information to create a Houston Blogger directory.  If you can't make it, you can still fill it out so we can include you in the directory.  



Please help to promote our meet-up and include this link: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Phv5duaOy8rPvk4fd36BWEKzRa86J-qzMwi1-TFa04I/viewform)
to the Google Doc Form above. 

Last but not least, introducing...........

........the newly created FACEBOOK page for our Houston Teacher Blogger network.  You can find it here.  If you are a Houston Teacher Blogger, click "like" to join.  I believe it will be very useful to have one place for us to communicate with each other!  

Can't wait to see you all on June 29th!

Donation = Amazing Products!

I just bought this LOADED bundle from Teacher's Notebook.  It is only available one more day so get it while you can! The products are amazing. 100% of the proceeds will go to Moore, OK.  

Bitstrips and Me

I went into my sons room to put some laundry away and saw he was working on a comic strip.  "Whatcha doin'?" I asked.  "Oh, just working on a comic strip project I have to do for English," he says.  It looked like he was having fun.  "Watch this!" he grinned.  We cracked up as he easily created different emotions and scenes with his characters.  I had to try it!  Besides, I needed a laundry break!

So, off I went to Bitstrips.  I couldn't believe how easy it was and how you could create characters and their emotions so easily.  First, I made my "character" which is translated into many avatar choices (see above).  I was having so much fun, I had to make my own comic strip.  Here it is!

How cool is that?  My head is spinning with ideas for using this next year!  It's so easy, I know third graders will be able to use it.  
If you create one, upload your link below!  Happy Creating!

I'm so excited that Teaching with Moxie is featured in this weekend's Bagels and Blogs at Math Coach's Corner.  Donna featured my Free & Easy End-of-Year Activities Link Up.  Do you have an activity to share?  Link up here.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Link Up! Free & Easy End-of-Year Activities

As many of you know, my son is graduating from high school.  At this time of the year I'm usually planning an all-out, end-of-school extravaganza for my class.  Instead, graduation is on my mind.  So I've been looking for some end-of-the-year activities that are FREE and EASY (require very little planning or gathering of supplies).  

Here are a few I've found that fit the criteria. But, I know there's more!  Want to add yours?  Scroll down and link up!

Minute to Win It

Everyone loves this game!  Reagan at Tunstall Teaching Tidbits has adapted it for elementary students.  Read about it here!  Click here to get the freebie.

What Do You See Yourself Doing This Summer?

Visit Kids Artists for directions on creating these adorable sunglasses.  I am lovin' this idea! And SO easy!

Are They Getting Antsy?

Teach Train Love has a collection of 40 different Brain Break Clips on her blog.  My class has done most of them and they always beg for more.  I'm thinking I will wear them out with a Brain Break-a-thon!

Now it's your turn!  To link up, please make sure your activity is 
FREE & EASY!  

Lovin' Life Cycles

Third grade Science standards in Texas require that we teach the life cycles of frogs and lady bugs.  In the process of creating my lesson plans, I found the perfect videos to authentically show these life cycles.  

Frogs




My class LOVED this video!  The photography is amazing and the music is fun!  They begged me to watch it over and over again.  I got so tired of them asking me, that I put a link to it on my class website.  There was no doubt that they learned the frog life cycle after watching this!  

Ladybugs




Again, beautiful photography!  The video was created by a second grade teacher and it is perfect.  Many of the students had not seen an aphid, so I found this video that shows live aphids and talks about a ladybugs role in a garden ecosystem. 



We then made a Venn diagram in our ISN's to compare the life cycles of the frog and the lady bug.  I have taught my students how to draw one as we use it frequently.  It saves lots of time, rather that cutting and gluing one in the ISN.  Here is a picture of the notes on our Venn diagram:

To transition, we finish by watching this telling of "The Grouchy Ladybug".  I love how the kids join in with the storyteller during the repetitive parts of the story.  This is another video they will want to watch again and again.  



The students were assigned a mission to look for ladybugs around their home.  The only one I've found so far is the one who hitch-hiked on my windshield when I drove home!  What a coincidence!

Teaching the Old Dog New Tricks

Today, I did something I rarely do........I took the day off.   It's a Teacher Appreciation gift to myself!  I got up, gave my son a ride to school, had a cup of coffee, did a little laundry, got sleepy and took a nap.  I so needed this change of pace.

Our school's Teacher Appreciation Week was so awesome.  Our school is blessed with a PTO extraordinaire.  We had a week full of praise and pampering. The best part is all the handmade cards and letters from the kids.  To me, that's what it is all about.   It was a wonderful week and I surely do feel appreciated. 

To change the subject, "change" is coming my way.  Over the past five years, every year has brought some sort of change and next year will be no different.  My beloved teaching partner is moving on (boo hoo!).  As a result, I will be teaching a self-contained third grade classroom next year.  I currently teach math, science, and social studies.  Language arts will be new to me, but I work on a terrific team that will support me through it. 

Have you ever taught in a self-contained classroom?  I would appreciate anything you can share with me that will help me get started on the right foot.  

It's time to teach the old dog new tricks! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Teacher Appreciation Week Deals!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Don't you LOVE when something is FREE?  Then you are going to love this!

During Teacher Appreciation Week, many businesses are offering awesome deals for teachers.  Also, some premium websites are offering free trials to give teacher's the opportunity to explore their resources without paying a subscription fee.  I'm sure this list isn't all inclusive, but there are some awesome deals out there to check out!

Teachers Pay Teachers

It's time to move your wish list to your shopping cart!  TPT is having a Teacher Appreciation Sale on May 7th and 8th.  Be sure to use the Promo Code TAD13.  

Teachers Notebook

Who wouldn't want to win a $100 Gift card from Oriental Trading?  You can enter by clicking the picture below!  Teachers Notebook is also offering an additional 10% off all sale purchases this week. Time to go shopping!

Vocabulary/Spelling City

This website has a lot of free features, but the premium features offer student progress tracking, vocabulary development activities,  premium games (more fun in learning!), the ability to differentiate instruction by creating student and list grouping features, and ad-free student access from home. 

They even have vocabulary activities for Math, Science, Social Studies, and Geography!  

Really Good Stuff

This contest runs from May 5 to May 10.  They have some "really good stuff" to win.  Hee hee!


Learning A-Z

Learning A-Z is a learning company which has several super products.  

Reading A-Z                    Raz-Kids
Reading-Tutors               Vocabulary A-Z
Writing A-Z                     Science A-Z

I have a Science A-Z subscription and love it.  Our Science textbooks are old and don't always support our curriculum.  They offer 60 different science units.  My favorite feature is that they offer leveled-readers for the same content and the readers are projectable.  .  This has been very useful when my classes include children with special education IEP's.   

Our school also uses Reading A-Z and Raz-kids and the resources have been invaluable.  This is a great opportunity to explore what they have to offer!

Staples  

Have you see this funny going around? 

This is so true!  If you can relate to this, then Staple's Teacher Appreciation - 1-Cent School Supplies sale is for you!

With your Teacher Rewards card and a $5 purchase, you can get the products pictures above for a penny each.  The limit is 5, so for 25 cents, you can get 25 items.  That is a no brainer!  The Offer is good until May 11th

Chipotle

If you bring your school I.D. to any Chipotle on Tues., May 7th, from 4 pm until closing, you'll get a buy one, get one free burritos, bowls, sales, or orders of tacos.  Limit one per teacher, US locations only.

NY & C

Chick-fil-A

Many Chick-fil-A franchises are offering free food for teachers on May 7th.  Check your local Chick-fil-A website to see what goodies they have in store for you.  This coupon is for the Chick-fil-A's near my home. 

I'm sure there are many more out there!  If you knowof one I haven't included, leave a comment and I'll edit it in!