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What an amazing idea for a Linky Party!  There are so many things I couldn't live without in my classroom, but I'll stick with the basics!  Binder Rings These are the best things ever!  I use them to keep tons of things in order... alphabet cards, sight words (in this fun and easy game), math story problems for my problem of the day ... I use these for just about everything!  They really help keep things organized! Magnetic Tape Best invention ever!  I used to have my word wall on a blackboard, so I put magnetic tape on the back of all of the words so I could hang them up easily.  My word wall isn't on a blackboard anymore, but I use magnetic tape to hang things on my easel and my teacher closet.  It's so helpful not to need to search for magnets mid-lesson! Magnetic Printer Paper It's kind of expensive ($2 a sheet), so I use it sparingly, but it's still amazing!   Cardstock Speaking of printer paper, I couldn't live without my cardstock!  Wa...

Here it is... the long awaited post... How to print on sentence strips!  I have to say, ever since I figured out how to do this, I have not written on a sentence strip since! Now I will forewarn you... this will be as easy or as difficult as you make it!  If you use the template as is (with the Comic Sans font), it will be relatively easy.  If you want to change the font, it will be a bit more difficult.  The poll was a landslide again... and a record 75 votes!  Thanks everyone! Now, without further delay, let's get started!  First things first, click the picture below to download the template! Note: This preview is hosted on Google Docs.  Be sure to open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer before starting the tutorial! Now... what if you have a favorite font that you want to use?  Let's talk about how to change the font.  Remember, this tutorial is as easy or as complicated as you want to make it... this is t...

I had a request to add some guided reading labels to my complete library set, and I loved the idea!  I finally got around to designing some cute Zebra-Print letters for the bins, and I've updated the set on TPT to include these! The set at TPT now has 252 different book bin labels plus 30 leveled labels!  The labels for the bins come in two different sizes and have individual labels for each of the books. Head over to TPT to grab the complete set with the update for only $10!

One of the coolest parts about blog hopping and blogging is seeing what others are interested in.  That's why I love my Technology Tuesday poll... it really helps me tune in my blog posts to what interests you! This product came in as a special request on TPT... an Uno game to correlate with the Wilson Language Training Program, Unit 2.1.  It's focused on real and nonsense words that end with -ng and -nk.  I created an Uno game for these words... click any of the pictures below to head to my TPT store to purchase it for $2.  And... if you have any product requests, feel free to let me know!

I have to say, my students just LOVE the phonics songs that are available on YouTube!  This year, I incorporated these songs into my daily teaching of sight words, and it has made a major difference!  Each time I introduce a new word, we watch the movie for the phonics songs that goes along with it and spend time seeing how the song applies to the word.  The students not only remember their current sight words better, but also use these rules to decode new words.  It's truly amazing every time I see one of my Kindergarten students sounding out words with super e, ee, ou, oo, ow, and aw!    It makes me so proud! Click the picture below to see my favorite phonics songs in a "Glog."   The phonics songs are all embedded into the page, so it's perfect for use in your classroom or for linking onto your class website! I'm linking this glog full of YouTube music videos up with Miss Nelson, Teaching Maddeness, Teaching with Z and Manic Monday!  ...

I had a blast last night making my newest TPT item: Page Borders/Frames for your TPT items!  Check them out in the picture below! Here's a close up so you can see all the colors it comes in: And, each dot in the border has this fun detail in each dot! As a thank you to all of my followers for all of your sweet comments, I decided to post some of these frames for free!  Click each of the pictures below to download the black frames for free!  These frames are free for your use (in your personal and commercial items) as long as you give credit to me for creating it!   You can see the details of the Term of Use on TPT .  To save the files, just click the image to get to the higher quality picture, then right click (or Mac: Ctrl + Click) to save the image onto your computer! I'm linking this post up with Manic Monday!

Hey everyone!  Here we are again with another new Prezi... the -un word family!  If you haven't checked out Prezi yet, you have to!  It's perfect for use on the smartboard, computers, or iPads!  This one I am particularly proud of one thing... the animation I made for the word bun!  My lovely neighbor was nice enough to teach me the basics of Adobe Flash and I finally did something really cool with it! Click the picture below to check out the new Prezi (and my animation for bun! hehe!) If you like this Prezi, be sure to check out all of my other Prezis by clicking the picture below!  Also, be sure to head over to TPT ... I have PDF files loaded there (for free, of course!) which direct you to the website for Prezi (so you can easily organize it in your files!)  The file for the -un Prezi is here ! On a total side note, I just figured out how to make my own borders... so expect to see a set of borders soon!

There's a game that Eric and I like to play called "Better If They Were Gay."* It all started one fateful night a few months back, when we were watching Frasier.**   I said (or Eric said, I can't remember which) that the show would be better if Niles and Frasier were a gay couple instead of brothers. And that's when Eric and I started talking about other shows that would be better if they were a gay couple. Also mentioned were: Sherlock & Watson, Drake & Josh, Lenny & Carl... I'm blanking right now. But feel free to add onto this list. It's not that I'm against women or romance. I enjoy both. I just don't like a lady being thrown in for no good reason. Often times, said lady is a 2-dimensional character with very little to offer the scene other than the fact that she is very pretty and is probably mothering/putting leading male in his place, and interfering with the chemistry between the two male leads. Sometimes I feel like they put la...

Here we are again... another week, another poll, another Technology Tuesday!  The winner this week was how to superimpose text over an image! Thank you so much for visiting my blog each week and voting!  First things first, download Gimpshop so you can practice along with the following directions!  Gimpshop is the same program we used to give a picture a transparent background and blur out faces/names in a picture , so you may have already downloaded it.  If not, be sure to download it for free! Now... let's put that text in place! 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! Thank you for visiting this Technology Tuesday Post!  Be sure to vote for what I should blog about next Tuesday!

There are so many fabulous linky parties out there right now!  I just came across this one: What a fabulous idea!  There are millions of moments I could choose from, but I'm going to stick with one that is near and dear to my heart, and one that I actually have on video tape!  I obviously can't post it, but it is ten times more amazing to hear the boy's voice while he said it! At centers, playing my sight words Uno game, one of the students who was sitting at my center group just looked up at me and said: Student: Are you good at everything?! Me: What!? Student: I asked, are you good at everything?! ~~~I obviously grabbed my camera and started recording at this point!~~~ Me: What did you just ask me? Student: You're good at everything! Me:  Thanks!  But what did you just ask me? Student: Are you a superhero or something?  Yeah, you must be a Superhero! Supergirl! Gotta love it!  I still look back at it and laugh to this day!