Alphabet Songs

 I have been introduced to these Alphabet songs by Have Fun Teaching recently. They are very interactive and catchy. These video songs help students learn letter names, sounds, words and practice letter formation. Many teachers have not been able to use this wonderful resource because school districts block the use of You Tube videos in the classroom.

 I was excited to come across Little Miss Kindergarten's blog post this week. You can win the entire set of the alphabet videos by simply blogging about it. This giveaway ends on May 31st, 2012. After you blog about it, they will send you the videos as a download. This will make it very easy to store on a USB to use in your classroom. That is exactly what Little Miss Kindergarten plans to do and you can too.

 Click here to get the details and get your free videos before this giveaway ends:)

So it's been awhile...

As I have been reading and downloading and starting school and getting my girls finished with summer and ready to start school on Wednesday I realized that between vacation, going back to school and basically starting everything again... it's been awhile since I posted anything. (and even then it was just giveaway posts) Wow can you feel the *and*s in there... So we are 10 days in and it's been a whirlwind. I have implemented a couple of things I found over the summer, but am really feeling like I have tons of stuff that needs to be filed somewhere on the computer and then do something with all of it. I've got the new clip system in place, GO Books in place, calendar books begun Sept 1 and neglected Sept 2 (oh well, we'll make it up on Tuesday) It's all about the basic routines over and over again... am I blue yet? I love that one cute little girl gave herself yellow instead of green and made her mom so anxious about it she sent me an email to ask how she could encourage better behavior... lesson learned do not let them have anything that looks like yellow green or green yellow to do behavior charts. Back to school was in a different format this year and that threw off some of the info the parents "should" have gotten. I did use a couple of things that found over the summer, but it's lonely trying to share about all the wonderful blogs and bloggers out there when all of my colleagues just stare at me blankly. They do like that I have lots of new resources, but expect me to share and explain it all... can't they start blog stalking like everyone else??? Of course I didn't print everything out as I found it this summer... let's just say "wrong choice"! So there are no math stations or literacy stations or even just "centers" yet. I still haven't figured out how to do the required curriculum and implement stations. Do some of you not have district mandated curriculum that you must use? It sure seems as though you are just free to do your own thing. Then there are all the things "we've always done" that I'm feeling pressured to use - "why can't we all just keep doing them?" I know that eventually I will get more things into place, but I'm a little disappointed when I read how well stations are going in other classrooms. It would have been so nice to have every single idea that I found ready and in place to start off the year. I know, I know that's a little unrealistic... it would make my perfection-istic tendencies so happy. It would also require another "me" or a friend who also had all the same good ideas floating around in her head that would make half the stuff so we could share in the work... I am a dreamer... And then there is the need to lesson plan fully, but that would require that there would be a few minutes at some point to sit down and try to think through how this will all work in conjunction with one another. Ahhh... but the three day weekend was enjoyed. We had 50 people over at the house this afternoon. So glad it was fun for children and grown-ups too! Do we really have to go back tomorrow? I think they really learned everything they needed to in those 10 days :) I really, really like summer... Is it June yet?

Primary Connections TpT giveaway

Primary Connections is having a giveaway for reaching 200 followers :) A $20 gift certificate to TpT would come in handy for the upcoming sale so go visit her site to enter.



Here's the link if you missed her button - Primary Connections

Fun in First Giveaway

Fun in First is having a fabulous giveaway with 11 bloggers participating by giving away some pretty amazing resources. You must go visit her site to join in the fun! Here's the link Fun in First

Effective Teaching Articles Giveaway and FREE printables

Are you ready to PARty? You are invited to attend Effective Teaching Articles

BACK TO SCHOOL BLOG PARTY

When: Everyday, August 1st-5th, 2011

Where: Effective Teaching Articles

Starting on Monday, August 1st, there will be a post about a new giveaway each day throughout the week. There will be a different prize each day. Winners will be chosen randomly using random.org.

But wait! That's not all! There will also be a post about a brand new, original FREE printable each day for back to school!

Prizes up for grabs include gift cards, shopping sprees, handcrafted jewelry, and back to school goodies. Pop in each day to enter the drawings and download your free teaching resource.

Here's the link to join in the fun! Effective Teaching Articles

Oh the Places You'll Go Giveaway!

Yay! I'm super excited to have over 400+ followers! I would like to thank each & every one of you for hanging on & following my blog. Between pinning on Pinterest & blogging I don't know how I am going to go back to school. I think I need a 12 step program to get me through the withdrawl! Thank goodness for my iphone & my google reader app & pinterest app...I will be scrolling through blogs & pinning on my lunch hour that is for sure!
Now it's time to learn about this giveaway. I am very crafty & make tons of stuff for my classroom. If you are a bucket filler or plan to be one this year then you'll want to enter this giveaway!

Go visit her blog to find all the ways you can enter too!
Oh the Places You'll Go

HUGE Scrap*tacular Giveaway

What a fantastic giveaway. You simply must go visit Oh' Boy 4th Grade at this link to see just what exactly "HUGE" means. Oh' Boy 4th Grade link