Friday, June 14, 2013

Feature Teacher Friday - {My Journey to 5th Grade & The Artistry of Education}

HOLY MOLY. Y'all, the response for Feature Teacher Friday was ASTOUNDING that we have to do TWO Feature Teachers throughout the summer each Friday. It was THAT amazing!!!
{I made my own button... whaaaat... oh yeah, look at that NOT skill - thank goodness I have the BEST blog designer that provided me with pretty frames and all I have to do is enter text - thanks Megan!! ;)}

Nonetheless, I cannot wait for y'all to meet these fantastic teachers that have signed up to be featured... they are all amazing in their own ways.

Each has their own reasons for becoming a teacher, their own interests, their own talents, and their own quirky things about them. BUT, that's what makes me love each and every one of them for who they are.

So, let's get started!!
First up, we have Julie from My Journey to 5th Grade.
My Journey to 5th Grade
I asked Julie a couple of questions to get to know her better... below are her responses.

So, you became a teacher. Why?
I honestly became a teacher because it is a great profession to be in and be a mom at the same time.  My mom was a teacher and that was also part of my inspiration to be a teacher. Now that I've been doing it for 19 years, my favorite part is instilling knowledge and watching the lightbulbs go on when my students get it.  The feeling I get when I know I am impacting the lives of little people can't be explained.  It is a tremendous joy to be a part of their lives for 9 months!!

You've been teaching for how long? What grade do you currently teach? Have taught? And which grade is your all time favorite?
Taught for 19 years. I currently teach 5th grade. This past year was my first ever elementary position.  Before this, I taught math and science to 7th and 8th graders.

Now the fun stuff...

Tell us some of your favorites - food, color, movie, TV show, thing(s) to do during your downtime, etc.
Food- pizza and tacos (not together of course)
Color- sky blue
TV show- Survivor
I love to read, blog and create products to use in my classroom.

How about types of books to read? What was the last book you read? What will you be reading next?
I love all types of books.  I have recently been reading ""unknown"" authors off of my Kindle.  My all time favorite books are the Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games series. I also love The Giver and The Outsiders.

What is your favorite indoor activity? Outdoor activity?
Indoor activity would have to be the computer.... I can get lost on it for hours!!! Outdoors??  I love the summer time, hanging on my deck and swimming in my pool.

If you could visit ONE place for vacation, money not being an object, where would that be?
I would love to visit the South Pacific Islands.

If you could learn to do anything, what would that be?
Create amazing clip art

If you won the lottery, what's the first thing you would do?
Take a vacation

What is your favorite quote?
Eat to live, don't live to eat (I think Ben Franklin said that!)  
I have always been obsessed with food and I am finally taking a healthier look at life, so this quote helps get me through some rough days.

To end this survey, choose ONE product from your TPT store that is your favorite. Provide us with the link so we can go shopping :)

Julie, thanks for being a FEATURED TEACHER this week! I am so glad to have had you!
Next up, we've got Mary from The Artistry of Education.
The Artistry of Education


So, I asked Mary the same questions...

So, you became a teacher. Why?
I am a teacher because I noticed I had a knack for it in college.  My parents and grandparents were educators so I knew a lot about the "family business" before I got started.

You've been teaching for how long? What grade do you currently teach? Have taught? And which grade is your all time favorite?
Taught for 22 years. I teach fourth grade currently, but I have taught K-6 over the years.

Now for the fun stuff...

Tell us some of your favorites - food, color, movie, TV show, thing(s) to do during your downtime, etc.
My three TV shows are Castle, NCIS, and Once Upon a Time.  I love Mexican food. 

How about types of books to read? What was the last book you read? What will be your next? 
I read Christian Women's Fiction, books about writing, and marketing books.  I also read and write book reviews about books I use in my classroom.

What is your favorite indoor activity? Outdoor activity?
I love to read.  I try to keep a garden, but it has gotten away from me this year.

If you were a crayon color, what color would you be?
Periwinkle

How about ice cream flavor... what would you be?
Chocolate

If you could visit ONE place for vacation, money not an object, where would that be? Why? Who would you bring along, if anyone?
I would want to visit the school where my grandparents taught in Ivory Coast.  They went there when I was in grade school and I was always curious about what teaching there would be like.  I would bring my husband and stepdaughter.

If you could learn to do anything, what would that be?
I always wanted piano lessons.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
Quit my job and volunteer at my school.

What is your favorite quote?
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." Anthony J. D'Angelo

To end this survey, choose ONE product from your TPT store that is your favorite. Provide us with the link so we can go shopping :)
Mary, thank you for also being a FEATURED TEACHER this week! I am so glad to have had you as well!

See y'all Sunday for a SUMMER READING SUNDAY post! :)

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Winner of Day 1 & Technology Thursday!

Day 1 of the Miss V's Busy Bees One Year Blogiversary Giveaway bash is done and I am so happy to announce...
Congrats, Shanon! An e-mail has been sent to Shanon so she's going to have LOADS of goodies being sent her way and I am so excited for her!

Days 2 through 6 are still going strong, so make sure to get your entires in!!

Time to gear up for...
I love technology. I would use it day in and day out (I already do... really), but I do believe it has a place in education. It shouldn't be ALL that is used throughout the day, all day, every day, but when it is used, it can be one mighty AND powerful tool!
VoiceThread is one of my FAVORITE technology tools to use in the classroom. The possibilities with it are endless... so many different areas of the curriculum can be integrated into presentation format, which is what VoiceThread essentially is!

So, what is it?

VoiceThreads are "conversations in the cloud." It's a collaborative video making service that is completely FREE. Yep, free (teachers LOVE free)!!! If you'd like, there are single educator licenses that can be purchased to where you can add up to 50 student accounts to your account but psh.. it's FREE!!!! And I like free... :)

Anyways... so when you're using VoiceThread, it's kind of like PowerPoint. You upload photos to some kind of program. But, with VoiceThread, you have a method of commenting over the photos. This commenting can be done by voice, by type (using your keyboard), or by phone. 

Then, during the presentation, others can make comments by text, too! Talk about collaboration.

But, you're probably wondering, how can I use this if I'm an elementary teacher?? 

Then, you may want your students to do a project using VoiceThread, but you're not sure how to have them complete a project... so, below are some examples! 

Compare/contrast. A teacher named Debbie and her class that wants to share the similarities and differences between first and second grade for incoming second graders. This would be a neat, end of year project! 
Inquiry projects - what students have learned - reflections in the form of voice overs on pictures.
Book reviews. This would be simple for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade students to complete in just a few slides:

This one was set to not be embeddable SO if you want to view it, click here.

Response to literature assignments. This can be done individually, in small groups, or large groups like this class did. What an awesome review activity!
This last one is goofy. It's ME!!

State study. I did this project for one of my undergrad projects and it had to be a project we would implement in the classroom. So I did mine on the study of the state of Ohio. I found out more about Ohio in this project than I knew about Ohio in my entire life... funny, huh?

So, as you can see, VoiceThread can be used in a multitude of ways in the classroom across a variety of grades! 

Where do you think YOU can use VoiceThread in your classroom? I'd love to hear some of your ideas!

Monday, June 10, 2013

One Year Blogiversary Giveaway - Day 6!

**TEACHER PRODUCT TUESDAY WILL RESUME NEXT TUESDAY**

We made it! We're at the LAST day of the ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY bash! What have y'all thought thus far? Amazing, huh? I have been SO jealous of all the fantastic files and I cannot wait to pick the winners!

So, here's to the last giveaway and good luck to all the entrants & here's to the winners!


DAY 6
The winner will receive:
Miss V's Busy Bees
EVERY product that I add to my store from here until December 31st, 2013 + what is currently in my TPT store/TN store. That's 47+ products!!
AND a $25 TPT Gift Certificate
AND a $25 Target Gift Card

Rikki's Shap-aholic A Unit on Shapes

The Teacher Wife
One product of choice (up to $5.00) from The Lamppost in 1st Grade Math's TPT Store

Photobucket
One product of choice from SOS Supply's TPT Store or TN Store & a surprise package of UK goodies!

Photobucket
One product of choice from 1st Grade Fireworks' TPT Store

The Traveling Classroom
One product of choice from The Traveling Classroom's TPT Store

Hippo Hooray for Second Grade!
One product of choice from Angela's TPT Store

Fashion Craze Learning Days' Compound Word Puzzles featuring Common Beginnings

One product of choice from Pitner's Potpourri's TPT Store

Tori's Teacher Tips' Back to School Activity Pack {games and icebreakers}
Mrs. VanMeter's The Alphabet Pack
And

One product of choice from Elementary School Garden's TPT Store

Sour Apple Studio
Kelley's Good Morning Work for September (Reading & Math)

$10.00 credit to April's TPT Store

4mulaFun Blog Fan
4MulaFun's SH, CH, TH Word Sort FlippablesSimple Sentences- Identifying Nouns and Verbs, and Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock... It's Time to Read the Clock (Hour and Half Hour)


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Lindsay's Glitz & Grammar Anchor Charts

One product of choice from Smiling in Second Grade's TPT Store

Shifting Teacher K-2
$10.00 credit to Shifting Teacher K-2's TPT Store

 The Craft of Teaching
A $10.00 Starbucks Gift Card AND The Craft of Teaching's Quadrilaterals: 2D Shape Sort w/ Shape Cards

HOLY GOODNESS, right? Yup, what a tie up to a week's worth of goodies and celebrations!! I hope y'all have enjoyed this week and are happy with the giveaways!

I know I am truly blessed with the support that I was given by my bloggy friends by the donation of their products and their time AND the support I've been given by all my NEW and OLD bloggy friends that have entered the giveaways this week, too. So, THANK YOU.

Y'all know the drill - this giveaway will be open for SEVEN days. Hurry, hurry and get your entries in!!

Ready? Set? GO!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See y'all Thursday for the first announcement of the winner from Day 1 and tomorrow for a Wild Card Wednesday!
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