Use the Loom Platform to Make Your Virtual Life Easier!
I’m so glad someone told me about Loom! This virtual platform for video recording has helped my virtual workflow so much! Making videos once took so many more steps than when I began using Loom. Here are some reasons I love Loom!
- It’s FREE!
- It gives me a place to store all of my videos.
- I can do screen recordings OR camera recordings.
- I can do screen recordings AND camera recordings at the same time.
- It gives me a countdown clock before it starts recording.
- I can password protect all of my work and share my password with students and families.
- I can easily copy the link to share
- There are no ads.
Check out Loom here.
Subtraction Flash Cards Like You Have Never Used Them…
I remember teaching subtraction before I learned the strategies to teach with. I used to tell kids to “learn all your 1’s, then learn all your 2’s, and then your 3’s etc., but it really seemed that many of the kids stayed on the same subtraction facts for a long time and never learned them. As a result, I made this packet of flashcards but with strategies attached so that children could have a pattern to which to attach their learning. If our minds can find a pattern then it is much easier to learn something and remember it. These also have printable backs to make your life easier!
There are suggestions for how to use them and place them so that patterns are easier to learn. For example, see below…
Here is the tried and true think addition strategy that everyone knows…
How about subtracting 9…what a doozy for many kids! This strategy helps you think of using 10 as a helper in subtraction to get the answers for subtracting 9.
I have included a chart with 16 different ways to group subtraction facts for teaching patterns. All of your students may not need all 16 ways and many of the strategies repeat facts so that students have multiple ways to think of getting the answer if they need them.
Take a moment to stop by TPT and view the preview.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Prize: $100 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card
Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)
Co-hosts: An Apple for the Teacher, Kindergarten Is Crazy, Pint Size Learners, Mickey’s Place, Ms. K, 180 Days of Reading, Teacherof20, Star Kids, Mrs Wenning’s Classroom, Peas in A Pod, The Literacy Garden, Chocolate 4 Teachers, Jackie Crews, A Plus Kids, The Craft of Teaching, Kamp Kindergarten, Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell, Globe Trottin’ Kids, Resource Room Relevance, Teach Me T, TheBeezyTeacher, and The Monkey Market.
Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 1/13/20 and is open worldwide.
Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media? Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!
a Rafflecopter giveawayHanitizer That Doesn’t Dry Out Your Hands?
Hanitizer is affectionately called so for students’ simple naming convention. A few years ago I tried out this hand sanitizer I’m about to tell you about and absolutely loved it. Now, of course, I have used all of the different types of hand sanitizer…Germ-X, the Kroger Brand, the deliciously wonderfully smelling Bath and Body Works brands, but they all left my hands feeling dry and cracked especially in the winter since they have alcohol in them…Well, enter the best hand sanitizer ever which fixed that problem. Thieves hand sanitizer made by Young Living. I have small ones for my purse and a large one at school.
After you use the hand sanitizer, it keeps your hands feeling soft and pleasantly scented. When I buy the large one, I use it to fill up my small bottles for my purse so that it is more cost effective. Pictured above is a small purse sized one. Also, even better is that it only takes a very small amount–smaller than a dime size to sanitize your whole hands. This sanitizer is made with essential oils, which is what naturally kills all the yucky germs, and it doesn’t have any harmful chemicals in it like normal hand sanitizers. Give it a try! You will LOVE it!
To get this hand sanitizer, just go here to YoungLiving.com and order. My sponsor and enroller number are 2600343.
Best, Cheap, Color Pens Ever! {Giveaway}
I have been on a quest for good colored pens and didn’t want to spend a gazillion dollars on them. I searched at Office Depot and deliberated over several pens. Then I finally bought some Paper Mate ball point colored pens. There were about four in the package for five bucks. I liked them okay, but they weren’t quite what I was looking for in the way they wrote. 
Well, I gladly remembered I had a gift card to Target, so a few days later I spent some time in Target and bought a pack of cheap Bic pens. I got 12 pens in the package. They were multicolored and had a pen stroke of 1.6 mm. I tend to like a heavier pen stroke. At only $2.44 for a package of 12 pens, what did I have to lose? I bought them and took them home. Pen love ensued. In the package you get 6 colors with two of each color…black, red, light blue, pink, lime green, green, and my personal favorite purple. Look how nicely they write! They would even be wonderful for grading papers with the bright colors.
Try this New Free Math Website!
Earlier, I showed you a video about how to set up an account with iKnowit.com. iKnowIt is a fabulous new math website that gives students a variety of practice problems to solve through a fun and interactive new platform. Now, I am going to show you what a student sees when they experience iKnowIt. Remember iKnowIt is absolutely FREE until August 2018. Give it a try! Happy Viewing!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZBC2yQew48[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyO1yO1Ncpw[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qmy6Tko8rA[/embedyt]
Did I mention I love the chipmunks! (wink, wink)
How to Set Up an IKnowIt Account (free)!
Guess what?! Have you heard about this great new math website?! There are math lessons set up for kindergarten through 5th grade. Students are given a score for problems they get right so that you could potentially use this for a quick grade. Winning! Right now you can set up an account for your class absolutely free–until August 2018 that is! In the following video, I show you how to set up your free account and how to assign lessons to your students.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBRhU2-Rnn0[/embedyt]
Help Your Strugglers with Fraction Number Sense!
Sad but true…Most kids start out struggling with fractions. In real life, we don’t count by fractions and fractions are smaller than our normal counting numbers. Sometimes students get the “top number” and “bottom number” confused. The computer makes fractions with a slash, and teachers tell students to write fractions with a straight line and not a slanted line. There is so much to stumble over as a student!
Could making fractions a part of your daily routine actually help students have a better conceptual understanding?! But of course, darling (with godfather accent)! I mean, after all, when teaching kids to count, we count over and over again EVERY DAY in kindergarten. Students count by 2’s, by 5’s, by 10’s etc. and that is how we teach them to develop number sense. We somehow lose this idea when it comes to fractions. What if we actually gave the same tenacity to counting with fractions?
I am going to show you the tool to use to be able to support your students through scaffolded understanding of counting with fractions. Behold! Fill in Fraction Number Charts! 😉
Students have the opportunity to count by ½, ⅓ , ¼, 1/5, 1/6, ⅛, 1/10, 1/12, and 1/100. There are a variety of number charts included so that students can start out finding patterns when counting by a unit fraction. Then there are three levels of charts when counting by each fraction. Each chart level gets increasingly more difficult as it scaffolds learning. This could also provide differentiated practice for your learners. When students become comfortable counting by unit fractions, they can then try the three levels of simplified charts if the unit fractions can be simplified. Then after daily practice, ta-daaaaaa, better fraction understanding!
Oh, my gosh! What a great idea for morning work! Great way to start the day!
I’ll be back in a few days to show you a special fraction freebie I have in store for you!
How Can You Help Your Students Focus During Instruction
I am going to share a little secret with you about something I have been using for myself and plan on using this year at school. I have started using essential oils in a diffuser when I am working at my home computer. I have found that using two drops of peppermint, two drops of lavender, and two drops of lemon in my ultra sonic bamboo diffuser with these oils helps me focus, helps me stay alert if I’m working late at night, and helps lift my spirits. In other words when I diffuse these three, I just feel happier :D. See my happy face!
I am planning on taking it to school this year to diffuse in my room. I have even been thinking of buying another one so I can have one at work and at home. Not only that, but I have a close friend who took hers to school last year and diffused lemon on a daily basis to help her students focus during instruction. Another great benefit of using a diffuser at school….if you use the Thieves blend of essential oils, it promotes cleaner air, which is especially needed during those winter months. As if, ALL teachers haven’t already spent a small fortune on using hand-sani! This would be another way to support the prevention of germy surfaces!
Here is my diffuser in action with my favorite three oils. As you can see it sits in my office in front of my gargantuan printer. This model is my favorite that Young Living sells because it has a one or four hour timer so you can choose how long to diffuse.
If you want to order an ultra sonic diffuser and oils like mine, the best value is to buy a starter kit here. If you decide to buy some be sure to use my enroller and sponsor number 2600343. I would really appreciate it! Happy calm school year!
Use These to Help Students Formulate Understanding of Decimals
What does a day out of school equal? A finished product for Teachers Pay Teachers! Here is a little something I have been working on that I was able to complete today since we got a surprising day off from work due to the icy weather.
Because decimals seem abstract to students–especially when the zeros fall off the ends, I created these decimal pocket chart number cards. The zeros are grayed out so that students begin to make the connection that the zeros don’t necessarily have to be on the end of a decimal number. The number cards are great for 4th graders just beginning to make the connection that the zeros have no value.
The cards come in 3 different color variations–red backgrounds with white numbers…
white backgrounds with red numbers….
and white backgrounds with black numbers. The black numbers offer a host of variations if printed on colored card stock. The pattern possibilities using colored card stock are endless.
The numbers also come in two different variations–without the whole number 1 and with the whole number 1. This will aid in giving students the understanding that decimal numbers may or may not have whole numbers in front of them.
Come by my store to check these out!
Wouldn’t This Make a Great Gift for a Teacher?!
This kind retired airforce veteran named Ray crafts beautiful handmade teacher name plaques, and he made one for me. He’s given them to many teachers in his hometown. I was thinking they would make great gifts for a new teacher during Christmas time, for birthdays, or if you are a mentor. I know when I have mentored teachers, I am always trying to think about a perfect gift! Nothing says I thought about you more than a personalized gift with your name. Take a visit to his Etsy storeif you would like to have one of these beautiful name plaques for your desk or for someone you know.
