The Magical Product Swap Link Up!

Time to link up with Mrs. Jessica Stanford from Mrs. Stanford's Class for her Magical Product Swap!

I was paired with the ultra fantastic Jen Sykes from Hello Mrs. Sykes!

Now, first of all - if you are NOT following Jen, you are missing out like no other. First things first, go follow NOW. You will not not not regret it, I promise!
She's full of great ideas like her post that I continuously read about what you can do with google.. FOR FREE. Since I am getting my Master's in Classroom Technology, I love love love reading about technology and well, Mrs. Sykes is full of some great ideas.
I also really enjoyed her post about classroom management, specifically using music in the classroom. While this is an old post, it's still a goodie! She talks about a variety of uses for music and how to integrate them into different academic areas throughout the day. I love using music in my classroom, so I'm really glad she wrote a post all about this! 
Of course, these two posts are not the ONLY two that I love. She's full of kindness, great ideas, activities, and great freebies! Love love love her & her blog.
Anyways... Jen allowed me the opportunity to review one product of my choice from her TPT store and I chose to review her "Context Clues - Task Cards, Scoot, Assessment" since I had never played the game Scoot before!

Now, if that is not one of the CUTEST covers... I don't know what is. I love love love the animals on the front.. especially that elephant! If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with elephants ;)

In the pack, Jen includes the directions of how to use the set. She first talks about ways to use this activity as a differentiated task throughout the classroom. It can be used for early finishers, those who may need extra practice, a review for standardized testing, or even the game, Scoot! As I said above, I'd never heard of the game Scoot! before, so I wanted to learn more about it.

For people like me, Jen includes the directions for Scoot! below the basic description of the 24 task cards. I enjoy the fact that she provided a Scoot! answer sheet so that you, as the teacher, can collect this sheet if you so choose to gain a basic understanding of where your students might be before you begin a unit, where they are during the unit, or where they are after. This gives you an idea of if you need to review or if you can continue on to the next subject - love it!

After the direction page are 12 pages worth of task cards. I love, I mean LOVE, that she made the task cards large enough for students to be able to write on or do whatever they needed to with them rather than make them smaller like I do. This gives students space to work things out, cross things off, write things, etc.

Now, in a typical classroom, I would laminate these cards for durability. Since I am not in the classroom, I have not laminated them yet. But, the reasoning behind this is that I could have my students use dry erase markers and then have my new group of students use the SAME cards the next year with dry erase markers again, all without having to print out new cards or do any extra cutting.

By the way, the cutting for these cards was SUPER SUPER easy - 5 quick cuts per page with my paper cutter and I was done. I loved it.

Anyways... the cards are so simple to read, fun with the animals on the sides, but educational - of course!

If you read through them, you'll see that one of the words on each card is bold and underlined. This is the word that students are to choose the word (or words) from A, B, C or D that would BEST replace the word that is underlined and bolded using context clues.

I know my 2nd graders during my internship last year constantly had a hard time trying to figure out what words meant because they didn't understand what context clues were, so I designed several lessons to work around this. My students would have benefited GREATLY from this activity, as it is, again, fun AND educational!

Again, Jen provides a Scoot! answer sheet should you want to play Scoot! in the classroom, which is as cute as ever with the animals at the top. After this is an answer key for you, as the teacher, or for a volunteer or for even the students to self-check themselves once they have answered all questions.

At the end, Jen includes this mini, but ultra-powerful, assessment for you as the teacher to gain an understanding of where your students are in terms of understanding and utilizing context clues. I really like this assessment because students can complete this in a short time, but it's a good tool for you as a teacher to see which students need a little extra time spent with context clues while others may be able to move on to the next topic.

Finally, we've got Jen's credit page! 

I am so, so impressed with Jen's work and always have been and I hope that you are, too! I wish that I truly had a classroom to be able to use this product in, but I do know that when I do get my classroom, this will be one product that will be utilized like CRAZY!!
If you want to check out any of Jen's other products, click the links below to be taken to her Teachers Pay Teachers Store or her Teacher's Notebook Store.
Hello Mrs. Sykes' Teachers Pay Teachers Store
Hello Mrs. Sykes' Teacher's Notebook Store
And again... make sure to follower her! You will NOT NOT NOT regret it!!
Also, check out her blog to see what product of mine she chose to review! :) WAIT!!!!  To wrap this review up... Jen came up with the AMAZING idea to give ONE person the chance to win ANY item of their choosing from both of our stores - that's two items to ONE winner!! How cool, huh!? Enter away below! :) a Rafflecopter giveaway
Click the button at the top of this post to be taken to Jessica's blog to check out all the other great products that were swapped!

Have a good day, y'all!

Tried It Tuesday (On a Wednesday)

Dang it! I'm late to linking up with Holly AGAIN. I promise you all that I absolutely WILL get it right and WILL link up on a Tuesday.

Anyways... time for Tried it Tuesday with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper!
My Tried It Tuesday is absolutely NOTHING teaching related. Instead, it's crafting related.

I decided to try some kind of organizational system for my Project Life cards since I have just about every set there is that you can buy currently.

You don't know what Project Life is? Well... click here to read all about it. I have decided that I am literally going to get rid of EVERY SINGLE OTHER CRAFT item I have that I intended to use for scrapbooking and focus on and utilize only this method of scrapbooking - you only need the cards, pictures, a binder, and photo pocket pages, and a pen - then you're done. Easy, simple, and no embellishments or extra long amounts of time spent crafting needed.

The thing about PL is that you do a layout a week - so, you'd do a layout for April 8-15 this week... document on cards what has happened and print out pictures (as few or as many as you'd like) and insert them into your pocket pages. Then, onto the next week.

If you have no patience or no craftiness (even though you think you might like I think I do... hahahaha), Project Life might be the way to go!

By the way... if you share my obsession... you jumped on the train and bought the two kits that were debuted on the HSN specials on like March 30th or something along those lines - the Jade and the Blush kits. The following pictures are of cards from the JADE kit (just so you know so in case you want to purchase... you know which kit they are from).

Anyways... I needed some kind of way to store my PL cards rather than in bulky boxes or simply in photo boxes where I can't see what each card looks like.

So, tada! Let's store them in the binders, inside the photo pages, each card design in it's OWN POCKET so I can see what cards I have and how many I have of each card left. That way, I can use one of this card and one of that card and another of that one and this one... instead of using ALL the same designs and realizing this AFTER I finish journaling.

{JADE KIT - STOCK PHOTO FROM HSN}

Here's the binder that everything fits into. It's a typical 2 inch D-Ring binder.

First page has the beginning and ending filer cards in the middle. Each kit comes with 8. These are just cards that make your beginning and end look beautiful :) On the top and bottom row are just 3x4 cards that come with the kit. Each 3x4 card set is in a 4x6 pocket, making a total of 10 3x4 cards fit in a single pocket (5 cards side by side).

This is continued throughout the book. I didn't want to stretch out the true 3x4 pockets so I stuck them in the 4x6 pockets and they fit FANTASTICALLY. Hi, Socks!

What I do like about this method is that what you see above on the RIGHT is what you see below on the LEFT. I like this method of storing because I can see both the fronts and backs of the cards without having to take them out of photo boxes and mix them all up and flip them over and blah blah blah. Save myself some sanity!

Then, the bi-fold cards & the 4x6 cards fit perfectly in the 4x6 slots as you can see in the picture above and below.

Finally, because the pack came with so many pages, I was able to just stick them into my binder and I'm able to fill them as I go, ALONG with keeping the kit in the binder, too. What a cool way to keep everything all in one place?

SO, I tried it. How do I feel about it?

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this organizational system... even though it does take up my pocket pages. But, who is to say I cannot buy more? I think it gives me a clear view of the cards I have and don't have... the designs and layouts that go together and that do not go together, and if a friend needs or wants some cards, I can grab a stack and go.

Also, since ALL the cards for ONE kit are in ONE binder, I can grab this single binder and go - to a crop, to a meeting, to my craft room desk, wherever. I don't have to carry a photo box, the binder, pocket pages, pens, paper, embellishments, etc. I just grab the binder, pictures, and a pen and I am SET.

How do YOU organize your crafty things? What have you tried that succeeded? What have you tried that did not succeed?

Link up with Holly's Tried It Tuesday!

Have a good day, y'all! :)

Tried It Tuesday Linky!

Hey y'all!

Who doesn't like linky parties? They allow you to meet new people, get to know one another better, and potentially find out new ideas!

So today's linky is Holly's linky, Tried It Tuesday! I was supposed to link up last Tuesday with her linky but TOTALLY let it slip my mind.. so, I'm linking up this week!


The goal of Holly's linky is to share something that you have TRIED. It could be a recipe, a new technology tool, a website, personal interest or hobby, teaching product, instructional strategy... whatever you tried, write about it! Also describe what worked and what did not work.

BUT, keep it simple - one topic per week.

So, my Tried It Tuesday is going to surround the topic of the Web 2.0 website, ReadWriteThink. Specifically, the comic creator. I chose to make a video about the way to use comic creator so that others could follow a tutorial in a sort of way. I intend to be able to use this in my future classroom or future PD sessions, as well.

Pardon the coughing... my throat got a little scratchy and I couldn't hold the cough in anymore! LOL

The functionality and possibilities that come from ReadWriteThink are ASTOUNDING. There's tons and tons and tons of activities that students are able to interact with in regards to literacy. Not only can you work with literacy, but you can integrate other subjects into these activities, as well. Want to work on science and composting, but want to somehow incorporate writing? Use the newsletter or newspaper activity and have students write about composting and it's benefits, or it's disadvantages to the world. 

So, for my Tried It Tuesday, I explored the website, ReadWriteThink. What have YOU tried? What worked, what didn't work? Share away by linking up with Holly's blog, Fourth Grade Flipper, and her linky, Tried It Tuesday.

See y'all later!

April Currently!

April Currently time!

This is one linky you will ALWAYS find me linking up with... gives me time and space to reflect! :)

Listening: Going through my normal morning routine... Today Show, followed by Price is Right, then Kelly & Michael... nothing... then The Talk, Let's Make a Deal, and Ellen. This is my DAILY routine :)

Loving: We have had AMAZING weather recently... warm and sunny. Last night, it rained a bit so today is colder, but the high is still 77!!

Thinking: My house is so dirty... it's because I have so much CRAP but nowhere to put it!! So, my Project Life stuff is in the living room... our folding chairs for soccer games are by the front door, there's boxes all over by the fireplace... GAH. I guess I should clean it on my "spring break" this week!

Wanting: Rain. It rained last night but for only about 20 minutes... I want rain for days and days.

Needing: I've started selling some of my craft things and I've made pretty good money for it! So, I need to get the rest of the orders out today :) I also want to create soooooo many new TPT products... I've got the ideas, just need the time!

Advice: Be friendly. If you are friendly to others, they'll be friendly to you. Hold discussions and fix things that are wrong - someone at work said yesterday... kill them with kindness and they'll be nice to you :)

Your turn - go link up!!

Have a good day y'all!