Wow...Long time no see

It has been forever AND a day since I last posted. Sorry for the extended hiatus. My school as you may remember was selected by our county to be the technology pilot school. We are 1:1 in grades 3-5. Every student and I mean every in 3rd-5th have an ipad to use every day at school. It has been an amazing learning experience. Through this initiative students have been able to learn to work collaboratively, think critically and have fun at the same time. My pins on pinterest have changed slightly in order to reflect the need to incorporate our iPads on a daily basis. Take a look at my top pins I have recently found.

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: swampfrogfirstgraders.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: cuentoexpress.wordpress.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: flapjackeducationalresources.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Im crafty and I know it... Haha, not really

As you know I love pinterest!!! I have pinned many fabulous ideas over the summer in hopes to transform my classroom. Well here is my latest pinterest adventure: crate seats. Hop over to my pinterest board for the link to the step by step directions I used.

Check out how mine turned out. Hey are not perfect but pretty close.

Here is the finished product

Hey friends! I posted earlier that I was working on my classroom using some of my inspiration from pinterest. Well, take a peak at what I have come up with.

Let me know what you think!!!

Pinterest Makeover Part 1

Hey guys!

I have been rather slack this summer on my blog. That is about to change. I am officially back in school mode. I know my husband will be happy to know that my days of schedules, work etc. are returning.

The last month has been filled with iPad workshops (more on that soon), common core sessions and working on my room. Here are some of the projects I am currently working on courtesy of Pinterest. My room is not finished yet so I am giving you a small preview via Pinterest. I will post my room pics tomorrow!

Source: theteachersdesk.tumblr.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: scholastic.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: blasclass.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

I am so excited to show you the finished product tomorrow! I am going to bed, this girl is exhausted!!!

Back on Land

Hello blog buds

I have been MIA the last 10 days or so...this has been my home

For 7, yes 7 glorious days the hubs and I explored the Western Caribbean. It was amazing to get away and not worry about email, twitter, facebook, phone calls etc. We ziplined and did a rope course in Cozumel. In Belize the hubs and I hiked through the rain forrest on our way to cave tube. Our last two stops were Mahogany Bay and Grand Cayman. We decided to relax on the beach.

Here are some more of our travels!

I cannot wait to share all of my experiences with my kiddos come August. Once I have a grip on laundry I will blog more about my back to school prep.

Classroom Makeover Wish List

Every year I seem to be "switching" rooms so I am really excited to be in the same room this coming school year.

Here are some of the ideas I have found that I plan to use in making over my room. What do you think? Also, what are you doing in your room to make it organized?

Source: theteachersdesk.tumblr.com via Kristin on Pinterest

I love this organization. I have already purchased a lot of the crates, binders etc. needed for each group. I still need to purchase the book shelves.

Source: sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

What a beauty. I have longed for ways to make "take our your math journal"--simple. This is easy and I cannot wait to see how it goes this year.

Source: clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Love how there is a designated place for all anchor charts. Why didn't I think of this?

Source: adayinthelifeofmisskranz.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Wow! Such a clean and organized look

Source: littlestlearners.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Great way for those early finisher's

More to come blog friends!

Can't wait to take pictures.

Happy Tuesday!!!

My TRWPDI Friends and I have been working hard on our project, which we are presenting this afternoon. Since we are finished I figured I would update you on what we have been up to.

We were to update an existing unit we teach and include technology. Simple enough. My team chose our Underground Railroad Unit. Here is a link to our lesson

I am discussing how to use Glogster in our classrooms for my group

Here is my glog!

#TRWPDI12

Hey y'all Click here is what I was up to today at the Tar River Writing Project Technology Workshop...http://screencast.com/t/a2EhQNnE Enjoy!

I am from

Here is what I have been up to at the TRWPDI12 Workshop

Monday: Where I'm From

We used voice thread to create a digital version of our poem



Tuesday: Word Mapping



Wednesday:Prezi

I am from on Prezi

Thursday:Historian Report

My day to be historian...check out my report! I created a prezi first and then used Jing to screen cast the enter report.

Friday

Check out my tweet of the day...Writing Map. This is a fabulous activity to see what kids writing processes are. I plan to do this at the beginning of the school year and at the end to see how they grow and evolve as writers.

Can't wait to write about next week at TRWPDI12!

Top Pins

I love Pinterest...I absolutely LOVE pinterest. I love even more when my workshop requires...wait...yes, requires me to get on Pinterest. Here are my top 5 pins.

1.

Source: cherylsclassroomtips.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Great way for my "tickets out the door"

2.

Source: eberopolis.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Love this self assessment...fabulous to end a lesson or activity

3.

Source: blogs.scholastic.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Why didn't I think of this?!?!?

4.

Source: littlestlearners.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Fabulous new way to post objectives

5.

Source: the-creative-apple.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

I love Guided Math!!

Happy Pinning Blog Buds Can't wait to post my historian report for class tomorrow!

Digital Literacy

Hey guys! I am back from my long hiatus...boy, have I missed blogging. With everything the end of the year brings my poor blog had to take a back seat.

The past two days I have been in a Digital Literacy workshop and it has been amazing! When I originally found out I was accepted into this workshop and it was 2 weeks long I was a little skeptical. However, on day one I was floored by its awesomeness.

We began our day by reading Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon. We recorded our thoughts on Evernote. Evernote is an amazing way students can electronically record their thoughts, feelings, notes etc. My school is going to be a technology pilot school (HOLLA) so I was immediately engaged.

After we read the article and recorded we then listened to the poet read the poem. This two step process really helped turn my prospective on what the poet meant for certain stanzas. The workshop leaders then challenged us to write our own version using Evernote. To take it a step further we then had to record our poems using pictures and words using Voice Thread.. After playing around with Voice Thread I was amazed by all the lesson possibilities that could incorporate this technology.

Anways...times to start day 3! Will post more Digital Literacy resources later in the week.

Here is my voice thread

Whats I've been up to:

Say What?!?

Hello Sweet Blog Buds! Today was the dreaded back to school after spring break....well, it was an AWESOME Day! My kiddos were ON it, ALL day! I couldn't believe it. I kid you not, they were making connections between what we were learning in guided reading and our read aloud. I really almost hit the floor! It was just one of those days... How do you assign jobs in your classroom? Well, in mine I have job application. At the beginning of the year I model the various classroom jobs and explain the importance of having a job. Students are then allowed to apply for their top 3 jobs. For the most part students keep their jobs throughout the year. This seems to really work well with my students. Just like the real world students have a possibility of being "fired" from their job. Harsh, I know but this seems to motivate them in their behavior. I say all that to finally come to my "Say What" moment of the day. We were in Cheetah Academy (after school tutoring) and one of my students requested to head to the cafeteria to grab the trash bag for our snack. I told him to wait until we all went to the cafeteria that way we knocked out getting snack and the trash bag at the same time. He agreed. Well, we went to the cafeteria, traveled back down the hall and outside to have our snack (since it was a BEAUTIFUL day). I did not see the coveted trash bag anywhere outside so I pulled the student aside. To which he told me since he was not getting paid he did not get the bag. Needless to say after picking my mouth off the ground, rolling on the picnic table laughing moment I sent him running back to the cafeteria. I am going to assume his "forgetfulness" was a result of being off for Spring Break. Anyways it made for a funny and unforgettable moment.

Dazzling Decimals

Hello blog buddies! I hope you are having an outstanding week. My week has been amazing, so far! I am on Spring Break this week and am enjoying every minute of it. I have filled my days with coffee, the Today Show, naps, and good times. ANNNND its only Tuesday! Man, this makes me long for summer break.

As much as I have enjoyed my free time, I decided to work on my decimals unit today. My plan was to start on my unit, well I ended up finished it. It includes lots of uses for thinking maps and hands on/real world applications. Let me know your ideas for teaching decimals. I would love any advice you can give.

To view the unit visit Mrs. J's docs

Let me know what you think!

Eggcelent Day!

It's finally spring break!!!! Let me pause to take in the excitement....

Ok, what a busy week we had in 4th grade! I was determined that we WOULD finish fractions this week and test. I did not want to carry over this topic and test after the break. We pushed through the unit and the kids had a lot of fun! Today we worked in centers before our awards ceremony. We needed a little extra work on adding and subtracting fractions so I had 3 math groups and 1 reading. Here is our day in pictures.

My kiddos love when I check out the iPads! They were so careful and quite while working. Unfortunately I was right beside them and kept distracting them by throwing chocolate eggs....

It truly was an EGGcelent day, especially when you use jelly beans for fractions! I quickly made this activity yesterday prior to leaving school. It assessed comparing, adding and subtracting. Email me if you would like a copy :)

We have been working on comparing fiction and nonfiction text this week. In this groups students were comparing a chapter of a fiction Magic Tree House book with a nonfiction one. I included two pictures that way you could see their thinking maps at work.

Finally...this was my guided math group. I use a lot of daily quick checks to monitor students level of mastery. I look at the data and determine my math groups. This group was working on Adding and Subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.

So, who is on Spring Break? What are you going to do with your week? I am looking forward to coffee, the Today show, and Sleeping in. I am sure that I will work on school stuff lots but its nice to know that I can take my time and relax. In honor of Spring Break I am joining Farley's link party (she is AMAZING!!!!). Enjoy :)