Time Travel Tuesday

Time Travel Tuesday is a fun linky, of old school photos, hosted by I Heart Recess. The rules are simple share a photo of yourself around the same age as your students. 

I could not find my 6th grade school picture, but I was able to find a 5th grade picture. When I taught 5th grade I always shared this photo. Since moving to 6th I haven't, but I'm thinking about it thanks to this linky. 

Grade: 5th 

Year: 1987-1988

School: Meservey Elementary 

Teacher: Ms. Ames 

Favorites: Nintendo-Super Mario Brothers 

Memories: My teacher was really mean (later in life I realized I learned the most that year), being bussed to a different school part of the year (ours was being remodeled), our field-trip to Exchange City where I had my very first job; bank teller:), reward cinnamon rolls (they were HUGE) 

Your turn. Dust off those old photos and link up with I heart recess. 

Monday Made It

Happy Monday, and happy first day back to work for many of you! This is my final week of summer vacation:(and it's been great! I hate to see it come to an end, but all good things must end... ok enough of that. Last week, I lucked up on some deals at Office Depot. The store I frequent is downsizing, so you know what that means...SALE!!! I walked into an 80% off sale and walked out a happy teacher:) Some of the deals were the inspiration for my Monday Made it project.

.59¢ borders-Yes, I snatched up all that was left. 

.93¢- only 3 left so I grab them all. If you follow my blog then, you know I'm going with a Dr. Seuss themed room this year, so I was super excited to find these pencils. Inside each box are pencils, but more importantly is this little card...

Not sure that my 6th graders will like the cards very much, so I decided to make something we could use all year long.

First, I cut out the books and glued them to clothes pins. Not sure how I want to use the cat yet.

Then I hot glued the clothes pin to border (3 per strip). I plan to have students hang various book projects.  Pretty simple compared to some of the other Made it Monday projects.  Stop by 4th Grade Frolics to check them out. 

Instagram

 I'm taking the time to write a quick post. I have falling into the Instagram madness. I told myself that I was not going to do it, but guess what...it is my new addiction! Follow me @ rolandteach and I will follow you back. If you have not been bitten by the Instagram bug more power to you, but it is awesome! 

Apps A-Z: OverDrive

With a few weeks left of summer how many of you have gone into overdrive? I know I have! Don't you wish there was an app for that?  Today's  app in my Apps: A-Z series just happens to be  titled  OverDrive, and if you like to relax with a good book then, this may just be the app that helps you kick the overdrive feeling that tends to take over many of us teachers during this time of year. 

OverDrive is a digital lending library that allows you to check out e-books from your public library. I've been using it for about two years now and love it! It is so convenient. I can check books out with my library card, read them and return them all with the click of a mouse. If I forget to return it, no worries it will be automatically turned in for me. Overdrive does need to be the management system for e-books your library uses. However, if your public library doesn't use OverDrive or the book collection is not appealing to you, you may want to look into becoming a non-resident member of another library. OverDrive also manages libraries for schools. Our school district does not use OverDrive. Have you used OverDrive? Does your school use OverDrive? 

Earlier this summer I had the chance to hop aboard the Digital Bookmobile powered by Overdrive! The bookmobile travels the US helping people learn to use their digital library no matter what device they may have. I was amazed at all of the different devices; some I hadn't heard of! Visitors were encouraged to bring their own device or use one of the many devices on the truck. Click here to see if this Digital Bookmobile will be in your area any time soon. You can also search for libraries using OverDrive in your area. 

When the Back-to-School overdrive feeling begins to takeover turn to "Digital Overdrive" for some R & R:) Have a great day!  

Saturday Snapshots with Apps A-Z: Morfo

What a great week I've had! I'm just days away from returning to work:) But until then I'm savoring every moment of summer I have left. It's Saturday, and time to link up with Miss Nelson's Saturday Snapshots. 

Here are my pics from the week...

We've had some beautiful weather! 

I honored National Ice Cream day (7/21) with ice cream nachos for dinner. 

I took my son to his first MLB. We had a great time! At each game KC Crew members select kiddos out of the crowd to receive a special gift...and my son was selected by one of the crew members. He received a towel, mini foam finger, and I was able to snap this picture of him and the KC Crew member that selected him. 

I enjoyed a hot fudge sundae while at the game.  I had to honor National Hot Fudge Sundae Day (7/25) somehow:)

We WON!!! Kansas City Royals 7 - Baltimore  Orioles 1 

I hoped you enjoyed my snap shots! Be sure to head over to Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera to share your snap shots or view others. 

Apps A-Z: Morfo 

Next, I want to talk about the next app in my Apps A-Z series. Today's app is titled Morfo. This app allows you to bring your photos to life, take a look. 

This would be a good app for teaching personification or point of view. Students could also use the app to create book talks. Last year, I used the app to get students interested in the next chapter of a book. Take a look below. 

Could you see yourself using this app in your classroom? If so how? 

Thanks for sticking around to hear about Morfo. Have a great week! 

Apps A-Z: Puppet Pals & Puppet Pals 2

I can't believe it's Friday already! Only one more Friday left of summer:(and I'm sure I will be spending it in my classroom:) I'm so excited to get into my room, so I can get my creative juices flowing. Right now I have about a million ideas, and I am having a hard time deciding on this and that. Hopefully that will all change once I step into my classroom.

Until then I'm going to try to wrap up my Apps A-Z series; something I wanted to complete before the summer was over. Today's app is Puppet Pals. Puppet Pals is a free app I like to use when teaching plot, retelling or summarizing. 

Below is a student's retell of the Paper Bag Princess. 

Have you used Puppet Pals in your classroom? I would love to hear your ideas for using this app, or perhaps you've used Puppet Pals 2. 

Puppet Pals 2 was released last year. I  personally have not used this app with my students, but I've observed them using it, and I have played with it myself. It is a lot of fun! I like that the characters in Puppet Pals 2 have move-able legs and arms. Both apps have in app purchases of characters and settings. Purchasing a feature in one app automatically transfers it to the other app, if available. These are definitely two apps worth checking out! 

Liebester Award

I was shocked and honored when I found out Cathy at Downeast Teach nominated me for the Liebster award. Thank you Cathy for the nomination, and reading my blog.  The Liebster award is given to up and coming blogs with fewer than 200 followers. To accept this award I must:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
3. Answer the questions posted for me by Cathy. 

4. Share 11 random facts about myself

5. Create 11 questions for my nominees.

6. Contact those I nominate and let them know I nominated them. 

I'm going to start by answering Cathy's questions. 

1. How long have you been teaching and what grade levels have you taught? This will be my 14th year of teaching. My first year was spent in 3rd grade. I then spent 2 years in 4th grade, before spending 7 wonderful years in  5th grade. I am currently teaching 6th grade. 
2. What is something on your bucket list? I would like to visit all 50 states. 
3. What is your favorite subject(s) to teach and why? I enjoy teaching Reading! I love books, and love getting (seeing) kids excited about books and reading. 
4. What is something new you would like to try in your classroom this year? This year I'm going to have my students blog using Kidblogs. I think I'm comfortable enough with blogging, and ready to introduce it to my students. 
5. What is a talent you are known for? Ummm...not sure 
6. Do you have a store at either Teachers Pay Teachers or Teacher's Notebook? If so, give the link! I do not have a TPT or TN 
7. If you use Pinterest, what is your user name? I love Pinterest! My user name is Monica Monique. 
8. How long have you been blogging, and why did you start? I've been blogging for a little over a year. I started my blog to share  how I use iPads in my classroom. 
9. What do you like to do to relax? To relax I like to listen music by candlelight. 
10. Other than being a teacher, what would your dream job be? My other dream jobs would be party planner or travel agent. 
11. What is a book you would recommend to other teachers? I know this sounds terrible, but the last few books I read for PD were terrible!!! I'm two chapters into  Flip Your Classroom:Reach Every Students in Every Class Every Day by Jonathan Bergmann. 

Now for 11 random facts about myself:

1.  I’m a Coke drinker. I used to be a Pepsi drinker, but then I began teaching! Most schools I subbed in during college only had Coke products in their vending machines. Then the first district I worked in had Coke vending machines as well. Even my current district had Coke products when I first started 10 years ago. They have since switched over to Pepsi, but I’m hooked on Coke!

2.  I love ice cream! Just about any flavor will do. 

3.  I enjoy playing word games. My favorites are Words With 
Friends and Wordfeud. I will have 20+ games going at one time. 

4.  I am not a morning person! Being at work by 7:30am is a struggle for me. That’s why I drink coffee during the school year! 

5.  I’m terribly afraid of dogs. Why? I have no idea. I’ve never been bitten by one they just frighten me.

6.  Summer is my favorite time of year. I enjoy the hot temperatures of summer. I also enjoy swimming, and best of all I get to celebrate another year of life on June 23. 

7.  I DO NOT like to cook! My least favorite thing to do is COOK. I would much rather eat out. Unhealthy I know.

8. My favorite color is green. 

9. I enjoy watching football. Kansas City Chiefs are my favorite team. They aren't very good I know, but one day they will be! 

10. I have two kids. Briana & Braylan 

11. I'm addicted to my iPhone and iPad. 

Here are the blogs that I am nominating:

1. Glitter and Gradebooks 

2. Mrs. Z and Company 

3. The Creative Classroom 

4. Adventures in Room 204
5. If You Give a Teacher a Blog...

Questions for my nominees: 

1. What has been the best part of your summer? 

2. When do you return to work?

3. Describe your classroom in one word. 

4. Do you have a class theme? If so what is it? 

5. Where did you go to college? 

6. Who inspires you?  

7. How long have you been blogging? 

8. How did you come up with your blog name? 

9. Would you rather eat out or cook your own meal? 

10. Which social media are you most hooked on? 

11. What is your favorite day of the week? Why? 

Thank you again Cathy again for the nomination. You can visit Cathy at Downeast Teach.

Saturday Snapshots

It's Saturday and time to link up with Run, Miss Nelson's Got the Camera for Saturday Snapshots! This is a linky that has made it into my weekly blogging routine. I didn't capture many good snapshots this week, so I've decided to place some not so good pictures together using one of my favorite picture apps PhotoTangler. 

It's been HOT the last couple of days, so we've kept cool with some ice play. Both photos were created using the PhotoTangler app. The top photo is a combination 5 photos, and the bottom is a combination of 4. I used A+ Signature, an app I shared last week, for the text. You can add text in Photo Tangler, but I prefer A+ Signature. 

Here are a few of the actual pictures before I tangled them. 

Have a great week, and I'll see you next Saturday. Don't forget to link up! 

Repost: Back-to School Bargains (Dollar Days)

You may be thinking why the repost, well I want to link it up with A Teacher without a Class Dollar Days Linky party since all of my bargains were just $1.00 each!

This week I found these small pencil sharpeners for twenty-five cents at Office Depot.

 The wall sharpener in my class doesn't work very well, and I don't allow students to sharpen colored pencils in the electric sharpener, so these small sharpeners will come in handy. 

Repost From Last Wednesday: Back-to-School Bargains
  
Back-to-School is in the air! The stores are setting up their back to school shops and with good reason; 25 official days of summer vacation left before I return to work, which means a little over 30 days before the students return. WOW!!! This does make the perfect time to shop for bargains. I found the perfect bargain at Target yesterday, which sparked the idea for this linky party; Back-to-School Bargains.

Here's how it works: 

1. Shop. 

2. Find a good deal.

3. Brag...I mean blog about it. 

4. Grab my button and link up.

Now for my bargain...Yesterday, I stopped by Target, and in the Dollar Spot, I found all sorts of Dr. Seuss items. Perfect for my Dr. Seuss themed classroom this year! Plus, I love Dr. Seuss! 

Pencils and erasers will make great rewards. 

Bulletin Board decorations

Bags that I'm going to use for guided reading supplies. These will look so much nicer than my current zip-lock bags. 

 I couldn't leave my son out. Flash cards, dinner set...oh the socks are mine:) 

There were also bookmarks, I have many Dr. Seuss bookmarks already, and stickers that I didn't pick up. Not to mention all the other back-to school dollar items that were not Dr. Seuss. Hurry, check out Target Dollar Spot before they're gone. Remember to link up with your Back-to-School Bargains or Dollar Deals.

Apps A-Z: QR Codes with RedLaser (Made it Monday)

Happy Monday! Today, I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Made it Monday. I made some fun, inspiring, QR coded posters for my classroom. I saw the original idea on Pinterest. QR codes cover a portion of the quote, and students use their QR reader to scan the code and reveal the missing portion. I'm going with a Dr. Seuss theme this year, so all of the quotes are from Dr. Seuss. I used these  wonderfully wacky backgrounds and frames by Tracee Orman on TPT; they match my Dr. Seuss theme perfectly.

Hopefully, having these posters up will  inspire my students. 

Scanning and Creating QR Codes: 

There are several free and paid QR code reader apps; I use RedLaser. It is a free app that allows you to scan and create QR codes. 

Creating a QR code in RedLaser: 

After opening the app click on the more button. (bottom right)

Click QR code creator. 

You now have several options for creating QR codes. Let's share text. 

You are given 458 characters to type your text. Once you're done select generate. (upper right)

Your code is now complete and you are ready to share it. Click on the share arrow. (Top right) 

You have two options for sharing. I like to save to my camera roll. I am then able to place it in other documents were I can resize it.

How do you choose to make QR codes? 

For more ideas on using QR codes in the classroom visit my Pinterest board, and don't forget to stop by 4th Grade Frolics to see other Made it Monday Projects. 

Have you discovered any Back-to-School Bargains? If so, link up with my Back-to-School Bargains linky party.