meomeoim

Whenever I'm in the middle of a project, it drives me bonkers when it opens up to the first page.  Okay... maybe it doesn't drive me bonkers, but it does make it a little frustrated to have to scroll all the way down, particularly in a long document! If this happens to you as well, you'll love this tip for PowerPoint/Word!  

Someone on Twitter asked me why I don't talk about what I'm reading much. There are a couple reasons for it. One is because when I'm reading, I'm not on Twitter. When I watch TV, I am on Twitter, hence the amount of tweets about what I'm watching. Writing, sleeping, reading - no twitter. Watching TV, waiting in line, researching - lots of twitter. The other reason is that I feel weird about talking about the books I read, especially the YA ones. I can't explain it, but I'm always afraid that me saying, "Hey, I like this book" will suddenly downgrade the book and make people less likely to buy it or want to read it. True story. I guess what I just said that is that I think everyone thinks I suck, and by me saying I like it, they will also think it sucks. This doesn't hold true for TV or movies, becuase I don't write them. If I did write for television or movies, I probably would never recommend them either. I'm basically saying that I th...

My kids can always put a smile on my face! <div align="center"><a href="http://aturntolearn.blogspot.com/" title="What Did They Say!?"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIhmtxluCS0/ULwEfazkl1I/AAAAAAAADpM/MMMzxm23B0Y/s320/What+Did+They+Say+Wednesday.png" alt="What Did They Say!?" style="border:none;" /></a></div> This week's story just goes to show that sometimes we take what we say for granted! The other day, I made some comment about "dismissal." One of the brightest kids responded with "When are we going to meet this Miss Missal lady anyway?" After 95 days of school, I assumed they knew dismissal meant packing up and going home!!!  I really need to check to see what else I think they understand! Now... it's time to share your cute kids story from this week! Rules for the Linky Party: Share a story that one of your kids said on your blog!  If you don't have a bl...

This Tuesday, I'll be doing another tutorial for bloggers... how to host a linky party! For those of you keeping track, here is the poll! This tutorial uses the following website.  Click the link below to head over there and follow along with the steps!  You can download this tutorial as a PDF by clicking this picture! Note: This tutorial is hosted on Google Docs.  To save it from there, just open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer! As for next week's poll, I'm going to add how to find and install cute fonts!

The Valentine's Day Giveaways (both of them) have finished, and the winners have been chosen. They are being notified by email, so keep an eye out on your email today. The winners' first name and the first initial of their last name are displayed on the Rafflecopter entry on the Valentine's Day blog, so you can check there too . Please reply to the email within 72 hours, so I can get the prizes out to you next week. Thanks to everyone who entered, and it was really great seeing all of your comments. This time, you also voted on what were your favorite songs from the Tidal soundtrack , your favorite cover for the Watersong novels, and your favorite characters in the books. You also suggested songs you'd like to see on the soundtrack , and I picked my top picks of your picks (let's say picks a few more times, just for fun). So here are the winners: Favorite Cover: Tidal - featuring Daniel and Penn - won by a landslide. It got three times as many votes as either of ...

This trick is so simple but so handy!  If you're working on a document in Word or PowerPoint and you want to jump back to the very first page in your document, this is going to help you do it so quickly!

Even when life is throwing lots of curve balls, the kids can always find a way to make me smile! <div align="center"><a href="http://aturntolearn.blogspot.com/" title="What Did They Say!?"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIhmtxluCS0/ULwEfazkl1I/AAAAAAAADpM/MMMzxm23B0Y/s320/What+Did+They+Say+Wednesday.png" alt="What Did They Say!?" style="border:none;" /></a></div> This week's story is proof that kids will support their teacher no matter what! One of my students told me that she spoke Spanish.  I asked her “Como se llama?” She looked at me blankly. I said “Me llamo Ms. Jessica.” Again, a blank stare.  So I ask, “What words do you know in Spanish?” Her spunky response... “Como esta?” and “Capische!?”  Gotta love it! Now... it's time to share your cute kids story from this week! Rules for the Linky Party: Share a story that one of your kids said on your blog!  If you don't have a blog...

Before I write up today's technology Tuesday post, I want to take a moment to reflect on life in general.  As many of you know, I lost my Grandma Vicky less than two weeks ago.  I spent a lot of time reflecting on our time together and I can truly say that I was fortunate to have such a loving grandmother who was and is such an important part of my life.  I truly miss her more than words can say. A week after finding out that my Grandma passed, I found out that my ex-boyfriend had passed as well.  He was only 25.  Though he and I grew apart and haven't spoken for years, I truly wished only the best for him.  He was my first "love" and he has always had a special place in my heart.  As much as I was left speechless by my Grandma's death, I am having just as hard of a time finding the words to express my deepest sympathies and regrets for his death as well.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, but I can never find or explain the re...

Hey if you haven't checked out the Valentine's Day Giveaway, you ought to, because it ends soon, and I'm giving away ARCs of Tidal . So I'm trying to blog more, just for funsies, and keep you updated on all the excitement that is my life. Here's a tidbit of the excitement that is my life: I have to wear my glasses today, as opposed to my contacts because my eye is bugging me. Now the whole world looks slightly farther away that it normally does. I've been reading The Sandman , and the volume I finished the other day was about Midsummer Night's Dream , which makes me want to see it again. I enjoy the movie, and although it has Sam Rockwell, Christian Bale, and Kevin Kline - three of my all-time favorite actors - it's just not the same on film as it is in person. I told Eric that I want to start a theater company, and just put that play on every weekend, so I can watch it all the time, and Eric said that would probably lose a lot of money. This song has be...

My mom (sometimes referred to as Mama Lewie by myself and my friends) is into making things. She makes minatures and dolls and doll clothes and kids clothes. Recently she made me this owl pillow: Roswell Owlenton the Third and my cat Sophie  And she liked it so much, she decided to make more. She's started a store on Etsy , and she's selling some owls, and she's currently working on making more things, like potholders and tablet covers. She has many patterns and many ideas, and loads of fabric. My aunt is also making things, and she will be selling them there as well. (I think my aunt so far is mainly making clothes sized for American Girl Dolls but I'm not 100% sure). So if you like awesome things, like Roswell Owlenton the Third, then you should totes check out my mom's store at Etsy and buy things. Click here to check out here store: MommaLewieCrafts . This is an owl pillow currently for sale at my mom's Etsy store.

In 1986, John Hughes came out with the classic teen flick Pretty in Pink . I usually tell people that Breakfast Club is my favorite of his films because I think it sounds better, but the fact is, I love Pretty in Pink more. (If somehow you have not seen this amazing movie in the past 27 years it's been out, be forewarned that there will be many, many spoilers in this blog). The first time I saw it, I had to be maybe about 12-years-old, and I was whole-heartily Team Duckie (the best friend-pseudolove interest played by Jon Cryer). He was funny and devoted and ridiculoous, and I thought Andie (Molly Ringwald) would one day realize she loved him as much as he loved her too. I watched the film many times over throughout the years, and I noticed that somewhere around age 18-19, I switched to Team Blane. Andrew McCarthy is definitely foxier than Jon Cryer, but more than that, he was sweet and willing to defy social barriers to be with Andie. And I do think there was more chemistry betw...

I love Valentine's Day. Hearts, flowers, candy - it's all wonderful. People get bent all out of shape about being single or greeting card companies forcing it on us, but the truth is that another day that serves as a reminder to tell people you love them can't be all bad. Plus, I love sending flowers and getting flowers. Besides, book boyfriends are almost always better than a real thing, so it got me thinking about how much I've loved writing the Watersong series, and the boys that live in that Capri (especially Daniel, rawr). And since I love Valentine's Day and Watersong so much, I thought that I should combine the two and share the love with everyone by having not one but two separate giveaways. The first giveaway is a Valentine's Day & Watersong Beginners Package. It will include a signed hardcover of both Wake and Lullaby , along with several other Valentine's Day goodies, like bookmarks, a card with a personalized message, candy, and a couple ot...

This past Friday, my world was shattered.  My Grandma Vicky passed away at the age of 84.  I was her only grandchild and we truly had a special bond.  We went to lunch every time I had a break off from school.  It was beyond special.  I have so much to say about her, but those words will come at a later time. Just look at how much we loved each other: I will be extending the Technology Tuesday poll to next week.  I miss you so much, Grandma and I love you always.

If you read my last blog ( Underrated and Amazeballs ), you'll know that my plans to go away with friends for the weekend was thwarted by a sick dog, so I decided to have a movie marathon to cheer myself up. I didn't end up getting to all the movies (or really, most of them) but I did end up having a really good Saturday. Here's how it went: I spent the day with Elroy, the aforementioned sick dog, who is doing great and looking adorable.  Then I kicked off the day with this movie, Detention , which I love lots. I also learned that Josh Hutcherson was born after Nevermind came out, and I've never felt so old my entire life. I didn't feel like watching another movie, so I decided to re-read the first volume of The Sandman . It's been years since I read them, and I'm not sure I even completed the whole series (they were my step-dad's, so I just read what he had). It's as good as I remember it being, plus the Scarecrow cameo was fun.  My hair kept fallin...

For a few months, some friends and I have had plans to go away for this weekend. I'd been working really hard lately, and I was looking forward to the break away and spending time with pals. We were supposed to leave today (Friday). So on Thursday night, my best friend/roommate Eric ordered buffalo wings. He ate them, then he went to bed. I was in my office working, so my dog Elroy seized the opportunity to devour 8 remainders of buffalo wings, bones and all. If you're unfamiliar with dogs and chicken bones, they don't go together. Chicken bones have a propensity to splinter, and when they do, that can lead to obstructions, vomiting, internal bleeding, and even death. Elroy, the doggie garbage disposal I took Elroy to the vet's, and they told me that he seems okay (and he does), but that I should keep an eye on him for the next day or two, just in case. Because there's a good chance that nothing will happen, but there's also a chance that as he's trying to d...

I've designed a few wedding invitations for my friends and this tip definitely came in handy since I could use any font I wanted and make it look exactly the way I wanted! Unfortunately this tip doesn't work in PowerPoint, but it does work in Microsoft Word! (And if you want to put it into PowerPoint, you can copy/paste from work and it will keep the formatting.) I have no idea why it does work directly in PowerPoint though! I hope you can find some uses for this in your classroom projects... I'd love to hear from you if you do!

Here's a blog that everyone's dying to read: What are my favorite Batman villains? Note: There will be spoilers in this post if you have not seen any of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, so read at your own risk. But if you haven't seen them, I don't know how interesting this post will be to you anyway. I actually get asked this question kind of a lot. (After "when is [insert book title] coming out?" or "is there going to be a movie?" the Batman villain question is probably a close third). I usually don't answer because it's complicated and doesn't really fit in 140 characters. My overall favorite Batman villain, combining film, TV show, video games, cartoon, and comics would be: The Scarecrow. I know. That's why I don't usually say it. Because most people react with WTF? I get it. He's not always utilized the best. Most of the time, he's simply a periphery character helping the Joker or somebody along with a master p...

I live in a fantasy world where at some point in the future I will either not be working or recouping from working or involved in something else that is occupying time. It's in this time that I will complete very exciting activities, like finally putting together my Lego Death Star, re-reading all of The Dark Tower books from start to finish without interruption (other than for sleep and bathroom breaks), finally complete Arkham City (including getting all those damn Riddler trophies) and watch the original version of Blade Runner plus the various director's cuts to compare all the differences. Most of these things I have planned to do for sometime, but I still haven't done them. Admittedly, I've made time to catch up on TV shows and read other books and even put together other Legos. It's the largeness of these particular projects that I feel like I need to set aside time to work on them. And I never have a chunk of time that I feel good about saying, "I wil...

One of the best parts of being a teacher is getting to hear all of the cute and innocent things that kids say! <div align="center"><a href="http://aturntolearn.blogspot.com/" title="What Did They Say!?"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIhmtxluCS0/ULwEfazkl1I/AAAAAAAADpM/MMMzxm23B0Y/s320/What+Did+They+Say+Wednesday.png" alt="What Did They Say!?" style="border:none;" /></a></div> This week's story is proof that kids will support their teacher no matter what!     During prep, the teacher was handing out stickers after she taught them Social Studies.  I was joking around trying to get a sticker from her, saying, "I was here the whole time, can I get a sticker too?!"   My kids ALL backed me up and said "Yeah, she was here the whole time and she behaved, she should get a sticker!"  Meanwhile, I was barely in the classroom!  These kids are the best! Now... it's time to sha...

Every once in a while I'll post a tutorial that is so easy that I debate if it's even worth writing up steps for.  This is one of those tutorials!  Technically it's one step (step #2), so I added how to email the photo to yourself in case you need it on your computer for any reason! This one just barely won the poll!  You can download this tutorial as a PDF by clicking this picture! Note: This tutorial is hosted on Google Docs.  To save it from there, just open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer! For next week's poll I'm going to add something really nifty... how to show a document's reading level in Microsoft Word!

I do this fun lesson with my kids every year, and they just love it!  This year, I revamped the lesson with some tens-frames to really help students grasp basic coin value! I usually start the lesson reading a book about pennies and talking about how pennies are worth one cent.  Then of course I model how to count pennies into the tens frames.  I place a card at each students seat at the table, and have them go to their seats and count out that many pennies. Then, comes the fun part... the dancing!  I have the students dance around to room, usually to an instrumental of some popular song... last year it was Party Rock Anthem , this year it was Gangham Style !  When the music stops, they have to find a chair and count out that many pennies! They just love it... and it's the perfect way to introduce counting pennies to a kindergartener while reviewing numbers 11-20! You can grab this item, as well as all of my other items, for 28% off today only!!! The above butto...

I have been playing around more with making my own clipart and love how this set came out! Click the picture above to see the set on TPT.  If you want to grab the set for free, just be one of the first three people to comment on this post! If you're not one of the first people to comment, you can grab the set tomorrow on sale at my TPT store! The above button was made by Ashley Hughes , who makes adorable clipart!!!