Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Quick Giveaway!

Hello All!

I know it has been a while since I have been here.  So much has happened in three years!  I am in  need of a little help!  So I am having a quick giveaway.  It will end at midnight tonight. I need some teachers to complete a google form for a course I am taking this semester.  It should only take ten minutes of your time, and you could win a $5 Starbucks gift card!

 I am also looking into transferring my blog to a new address, so this will help me to decide on this move.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tried it Tuesday... creative use of business cards and printing services



So I have a chance to try out some Build A Sign services.  I took it and ran with it!  Yes I had a lot of fun!  The site is very user friendly.  The services are versatile.  I got exactly what I wanted, the way I wanted it!!



Aren't they cute?  I loved that I could use my clip art collection!!  The homework monster is a business card that I turned into a punch card for doing homework!  The pencil is a magnet that I am sending home for my students to hang their work on the fridge.  The first grade team is a magnet that lists our email addresses so that parents know who teaches what and how to contact us.  We are also color coordinated and I was able to change the font color to match our subject colors!



I love these!  The pencil is from my clip art collection.  Our students are scholars.  I love that my students will have a chance to show off work on their fridge.  


So I had to have a little fun too.  My family loves dragons, knights, castles, everything medieval so I got my boys a little something for their room.

They offer free shipping!  Their prices are reasonable.

You need to check out Build a Sign and have some fun too!!

BuildASign - Austin, TX
http://www.buildasign.com/

Crystal


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Act quick...giveaway

I know two posts in one day.  There is a giveaway ending in just a few hours, go check it out!!

The Littlest Superheroes

Math Websites...New discovery

I have mentioned over the last week or so that two of my groups are struggling with number bonds and decomposing numbers.  So I did a quick google search and came up with another math website and a decomposing number game.

Eric the elephant

The game that caught my attention was Save the whale 2


You can make the bond any number from 4 to 10.  When you get the right answer the whale swims to freedom.  I also like how the students see the pipe length we are shooting for.

I have also been working with my students on how to count on especially with their fingers.  I ran into this and thought it would be wonderful for demonstation.

You can click any of the fingers and put them down.  The number above the hand reflect the number of fingers still up.

Another demonstration program offered uses beads.

You get ten beads and three different colors to change the bead color.  I thought I would use it when we are making ten.  This would be give the students another visual.

There is so much on this website that I am still finding things as I explore it!

Come join me in finding some new things!  http://www.ictgames.com

Crystal

Friday, October 25, 2013

The Zoo... A wild five for Friday

Yesterday was our trip to the zoo!  So here is this week's five for Friday!

fiveforfriday2_thumb3

1.  The new dilemma with parents.  Our school is becoming more strict on who can volunteer and chaperone our students.  This is understandable considering today's world, but background checkson 30 parents is not in the cards.  I was not excited about supervising 20 students through the zoo.  It did work out that most of the children's own parents attended.  So I was left with four very active boys!

2.  The world my students live in.  Many of our students had never been to a place like this before.  So they did not understand the unspoken rules.  I spent part of my time letting them know that they had to stay on this side of the rail.  They could not climb on the rails.  They had to stay on the path.  They had to sit down on the tram.  They should not tap on the glass.  I was exhausted!  It also saddened me that my students had never had the chance to have this opportunity before.











3.  So the other issue with 4 boys is that they tend to concentrate on bodily functions.  Yes I heard a lot about certain animal behinds and what they were used for quite frequently.  On a side note, the giraffes were getting pretty intimate.  Yeah.  Thank goodness the children did not notice.  I saw a bit too much of one of the giraffes.


4.  Animals, animals, animals.  My little group did pretty good on the animal check list.  We missed a couple of habitats, but we got to see the most exciting ones.

5.  A trip without incident!  We had no parent complaints, no calls, and we arrived back on time!  I may have had a hard time, but it was well worth it!

Crystal

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Now the free stuff...Great Math websites part 3

I had previously subscribed to Greg Tang's website and loved it!  I was even happier last May when the announcement was made that it would now be free!!

Monitor

It is everything I had been paying for.  The only thing missing are the leader boards.  No big deal for my first graders and me.  Plus there are new games to play!!

Break ApartBreakapartLimboMath LimboNumskillNumskill
ExpressoExpressoNumskillMissingFunny NumbersFunny Numbers
Place ValueStandard AlgorithmsSatisFraction

Greg also includes digital versions of his books!!!

FablesFablesTooSeasons
MathterpiecesGrapesAppeal
PotatoesBestOfTimes

If that wasn't enough there are blacklines!  Go visit http://gregtangmath.com

Crystal

Monday, October 21, 2013

Flexin math muscles with reflex! Great math websites part 2

Last night I raved about one of my school's two purchased math programs.  Tonight I am raving about the other!

Reflex Logo

This is another program that my kids love especially when they get to me and tell me that they got a green light!

Reflex is another adaptive program.  It moves the students ahead at their own pace.  Last year I ended with four students on multiplication and division in 1st grade!!  One of them advanced to the higher multiplication and division facts.

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The students learn their facts in a game.

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This year students at all levels are progressing amazingly well.  I already have a few that are close to fluent.  We also celebrate our reflex achievements on Friday in math class.  It is important to me to connect what happens in our learning lab with what happens in math class.

You can try Reflex out for 14 days for yourself.   http://www.reflexmath.com

Crystal