Tama from Across the Pond - QR Codes (and a freebie!)

Hi y'all! Today I've got Tama from Across the Pond guest blogging for me about a topic I thoroughly enjoy... QR Codes! I hope y'all enjoy and visit Tama often after you've read this post! Make sure to leave her some love and let her know where you found her at!

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Hi Everyone! Salut from Across the Pond in Paris, France. This is my very first guest blog write up and I am super excited to blog for you on Miss Ventrella's Busy Bees.

I am eager to share with you all about QR Codes. Just exactly what are these mystery codes and what do they have to do with the classroom?? I would read so many posts about them, and just wave them away, thinking not for me. Well, I finally took a bit of time to read what they were, did some pinterest searches and I was sold!! .... and kicking myself for not embracing it sooner. These QR Codes which stand for  "Quick Response" are fabulous for engaging students and bringing a bit of technology into your classroom in an easy way.

These codes are super easy to create. Click here to take you to a link to create the codes. You can decide to do a code for a website, email, text, etc. Then upload the scanner app to your mobile device, IPad, tablette, and voilá! you have another engaging way to reach your students. I have two scanner apps on my phone, the Kaywa Reader and the QR Reader. They both work well. Sometimes the QRR Reader doesn't read the scan so I just switch to the other program. Here is the link to the Kaywa Reader App. Here is the link to the QRReader App. Both are free!!

Here is a link to a post of some ways teachers are using these QR Codes in their classrooms. The possibilities are endless - treasure hunts, parents evenings, sight words, shape activities, grammar treasure hunt. Even the students could create their own activities with the QR Code maker. There are some activities on pinterest but it remains to be seen how wide and far this could become.

I leave you with a number sequence activity that has QR codes for self-checking. Click here to get this freebie.

 I hope you enjoyed this post and you are invited to come over and check out my blog if you are interested. 

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Thanks, Tama, for the fantastic post about QR codes! I hope you enjoyed and can use the sequencing activity she provided in your own classrooms!

Have a good day, y'all!

A-Z Of Teacher Me!

Hi everybody! I'm linking up with Ash from The Polished Teacher for her first ever linky party titled "A-Z Of Teacher Me!"

Here's the rules for this linky:

1. Add the A-Z of Teacher Me image linking back to the post on Ash's blog.

2. Add her button linking back to her blog.

3. Follow Farley's rule of 3 to share the love (comment on 2 before, 1 after).

4. Share as little or as much as you want.

5. Have fun and meet friends!

So, here goes!

A: App

Instagram! Jumped on the bandwagon a little late but it's the perfect way to document day to day things via pictures. Love it.

B: Book Character

I love little Skippyjon. He's one funny character!

C: Clip Art

The following ladies are my go-to gals for clipart. Of course I have more that I use, but these are the main 5!

 

    

From top to bottom (and left to right)

Ashley, Nikki, Mel, Corinna, and Tanja

Five FANTASTIC artists.

D: Dollar Spot Find

OH golly... I go to that dollar spot TOO often. But, my fav dollar spot find is probably the stickers. I'm a sticker hoarder so that's my fav!

E: Essential to Start Day

My phone. It's not a normal day if I don't check my e-mails first thing in the morning - makes the day go smoother!

F: Font

Probably ABCTeacher, KG Skinny Latte, KG Call Me Maybe, and any Hello fonts!

G: Game

Tag or hide and seek. Can never get too old for any of those games!

H: Holiday

Christmas. It's my favorite time of the entire year. The decorations, the celebrations, the family gatherings, the food... I love it all!

I: Ice Cream

Cookie dough. With caramel. Extra caramel!!

J: Jewelry Piece

My promise ring and my sentiment ring that Cody has the other half to. And my two bracelets. You will never see me without these 4 pieces of jewelry on UNLESS I am doing the dishes or working out. Then you might see me without them! I also love my Pandora bracelet, but don't wear it as often!

K: Kid-ism

Oh man.. I don't have any! I love reading them though... :)

L: Location to Travel

New Jersey will always hold my heart. We went back before Jersey Shore became the show and the huge tourism came about. Love Wildwood! Those long beautiful beaches.. ahh so perfect!

M: Management Technique

Get something out, put it away! Not so much a HUGE management technique, but it gets the job done and keeps things organized!!

N: Nail Polish

Oh man... probably OPI or Essie.

O: Open House Idea

I haven't had an open house yet, so I don't have very many ideas! But, I would love to put little apples on the door for parents to take to help our classroom out - supplies we might need, ideas for holiday parties, etc!

P: Pinterest Find

HAHA if you know me, you know I'm a Pinterest addict. If they had AA for Pinterest, I'd be in it... you can find all my pins here, but my all time FAVORITE pins are probably the ones on my funny board... see below:

Q: Quote

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important." - Abilene from The Help

R: Read-Aloud

Love Miss Madeline! I grew up on her and I love reading her to my kiddos!

S: School Supply

Sharpies!!! Post-it Notes!!! Paperclips!! School supply hoarder right here!

T: TPT/TN Product

Impossible. I love TPT sooo much that my wish list is up to 400 products and my sellers followed is up to 744!! Wild child, I am!

U: Un-official Hobby

Scrapbooking, stamping, and making wreaths. Love my craft time - hence my need for my craft room! I also pin on Pinterest... that's a hobby, right?

V: Video Brain Break

Ohh man... there's too many, but probably the Penguin Dance by Jack Hartmann!

W: Way to Spend a Day

Lounging around watching TV, crafting, and blogging! 

X: X-tra Special Blogs

I honestly cannot list this... there are SOOO many bloggers out there that I love that I will not be able to list, but rather say that I love y'all! :)

Y: Yummy Dessert

Brownies or cookie cake! Ahhh sooo delicious and making me crave right now!

Z: Zoo Animal

Elephant, hands down!

Widdle baby elephant <3

Head on over to Ash's blog by clicking the button below or the picture at the top to link up, too!

Have a good night, y'all!

February Currently & A Sale!

Holy cannoli! It's already February 1st!! Where the heck did January go?! I guess time flies by when you're having fun... :)

Anyways, time to link up with Farley over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade for Currently! Here goes nothin'!

Listening: self explanatory!

Loving: we live in Mobile, Alabama - the weather has been GORGEOUS. Just the right temperature to keep the windows open!

Thinking: I had some cookie cake after dinner for a treat and I'm really craving some more... bad sweet tooth, bad!!

Wanting: I cannot WAIT to have the craft room complete. Of course, pictures will follow :)

Needing: I'm falling behind on classwork this semester.. it's not as fun as last semester! I also signed up for a V-day card swap so I need to get on that :) cannot wait to see the finished products!

Pet Peeves: I hate HATE hate when people lie - why not tell the truth and have me mad at you for that rather than tell a lie and have me be mad at you for lying AND for what you did??? GRR. I hate when people promise things and then break it - like I promise to call you, and then don't. Or, I promise to hang out today, but they don't. That leads into bailing on plans - don't agree to do something if you're not going to or you don't want to - just say no!! Simple as that. RANT over. :)

What are you CURRENTLY listening, loving, thinking, wanting, needing, and pet peeving!? Link up with Farley so I can find out!

Oh ya... there's going to be a big ol' sale on Sunday that many TPT stores will be participating in! Some are doing the sale for the BIG Super Sunday only and others are doing it for Sunday and Monday. TPT themselves are only hosting the sale for a day - SUNDAY!

I'm going to be participating for BOTH days - Sunday only, you will receive up to 28% off your purchases (with promo code SUPER). On Monday, I'll still have my entire store on sale for 20% off. Don't miss out on this sale!!

To be taken to my store, click on the picture below. 

Credit to Ashley Hughes (The School Supply Addict) for the cute button! If you're in the market for some clipart, you've gotta check her out here!

That's all I've got for ya!!

Have a good night & weekend, y'all!

Oh My Goodness...

Holy cannoli - it's been QUITE some time since I've posted something with real content! I appreciate you all sticking along for the ride with me.

Since our move, I've just been focusing on school and getting this house put together. I have more things than I know what to do with - and more things than I do storage. It's just CRAZY!

  

  

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be loading up my TPT store with new products, writing posts about these new products and how you can use them in the classroom, sharing what my craft room (or corner) looks like as it's developed, discuss some book recommendations for various subject areas, and share some crafty ideas with you all once my table gets put up and I can have a place to work!

It's been a long journey trying to get our house to where we want it, but it's slowly, and surely, coming together!

Oh, and for holding on for SO long... I'll show you some pictures of our soon-to-be-baby boy, Tucker! :) He's a bulldog and we are SO excited to be getting him soon!

  

Isn't he freakin' adorable?!

And that crazy other son of ours, Socks...

Be back soon, y'all!

Hey, College Kid!

Hi y'all! I know it's literally been FOREVER since I've written. I'm struggling with my blog, while balancing everything else. This move has definitely taken a toll on my "fun" - decorating, settling in, and now I've started my second semester of grad school for my Master's program!

If you're like me, you have close to $500.00 in college textbooks each SEMESTER. I'm not kidding... that number kills me. My first quarter (I started school when we had quarters, not semesters!), I spent $750.00 in BUYING books... want to know how many times I looked at those books after I bought them? ZERO.

I am not kidding you... I didn't open the books and they just sat in my room. Why? Selling back was going to give me $15.00 ... from the $750.00 I spent. Yes, yes, I know $15.00 is better than nothing, but I wasn't going to waste my time and just gave them to incoming freshman the next year that were taking the same classes...

But, multiply those textbook costs by 3 (for the 3 quarters) and you're already at $2,250. NO, I wasn't going to do that... no way, José!

So, the next semester I began renting my textbooks. Yeah, renting! Books that would cost me hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, I began saving anywhere from 40% to 90% off the sticker price. YES, I'm not kidding... that much. It was unbelievable and I knew something was up...

Nope, nothing was up.

CampusBookRentals.com gives students this amazing deal to rent textbooks (flexibly) instead of buying... should you need your books for another quarter - easy peasy. Just extend your rental period - for still LESS than you would pay to BUY the book.

The other perk is that, while you're not picking this book up at your local bookstore and instead, you're getting it shipped... shipping is FREE. Yes, free! BOTH WAYS. Whaaaat?! You get it shipped to you for no cost, and once you're done, shipping back is free! Cool, huh?

Oh - how many of you highlight in your books? Raise of hands - me! I have to.. it keeps me in line. Welp, with CBR, you can highlight, underline & take notes in any book - similar to what would happen if you BOUGHT the books. Only, you're not paying the same price!!

Beyond that... how many of y'all like to donate to different charities? Ever heard of Operation Smile? Well, it's a children's charity for cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries. How amazing is that?

Well, CampusBookRentals.com donates to Operation Smile with every single textbook rental. Now, if that's not a reason to use CampusBookRentals.com alone, I dunno what is!

Anyways... now that you know all about CBR, you should probably know about another program they run - RentBack.com. Those books that you've bought and don't want to sell back for next to nothing... well, they can go to RentBack.com and be rented to other students - just like you! For as long as the book is in demand, YOU get paid each time someone rents your textbook you "sold" back to RentBack.com.

Now, if you're still not sure what's up with all this and are a little uneasy about renting - why the heck should you rent versus buy?! - watch theis video below.




Now, how many of y'all are going to start renting?? I love renting and am SOOO happy I found out about the process before it was too late (and I was too in debt).

I hope that this post helps some of YOU save money in the long run. As college students, we all know about that "M" word.... or lack thereof ;)

Have a good night, y'all!

Tuesday 10 - Ten New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2013 - this is going to be the best year by far :)

I'm linking up with Lauren & Tiffany for the FIRST Tuesday Topics of 2013 - starting with Ten New Year Resolutions.

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1. Lose weight and STAY at that weight. I want to lose 10 pounds and tighten up around my abs and thighs!

2. Read 52 books, one for each week. I've got sooo many I want to read!

3. Graduate with my Masters program by December. I've gotta get this degree under my belt and knock it out!

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4. Learn how to sew. I want to make quilts!

5. Create a total of 52 products for my TeachersPayTeachers store - one for each week.

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6. Create a craft per week. I love crafting and have so many ideas... just never do them!

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7. Come up with 182 meal ideas for our meal board - this will help us to NOT go out to eat and give us variety for our meals! 

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8. Blog at least 3 times a week about MEANINGFUL things. Not just posts that are about nothing... maybe about some goals I have, my family, what I'm doing currently, and so forth.

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9. Take care of ME. This includes taking vitamins, drinking 64 ounces of water DAILY, and just eating better. I get headaches daily, stomachaches daily, and some days, really nauseous. SO, taking better care of me is a definite.

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10. Travel to at least 3 places. This year I want to take as many trips as we can... even if it's to not so far away places. We're 2 hours from New Orleans... now how cool would it be to just visit? Same with Florida. We've got the time, why not do it now!?

Welp, that's it! Those are my 10 resolutions this year. Some of them are obviously very cliché, but I WILL accomplish each goal.

Have a great year, y'all!