Friday, March 30, 2012

Friday Freebie!

It's friday freebie time!

Yesterday I did an awesome science experiment with my after-school kids.  Did you know you can light a regular light bulb in a microwave?!  Don't believe it, watch Steve Spangler's video about it below!



Isn't that AMAZING?! I couldn't believe it and wanted to share this cool experiment with my kids! So here is a freebie of this experiment! The worksheet follows the scientific method steps.  Your kids will be amazed with the results! Surprisingly, none of my students guessed that the light bulb would light up.  Many of them said it would explode or the bulb will be forever broken.  One even thought that the water would change colors!
I asked a volunteer to take a pic of the experiment.  You can see the bulb glowing.  Throughout the 45 seconds, the light bulb was blinking on and off.  
Caution: The glass and light bulb get very hot! So I leave it in the microwave and finish the worksheet with the students before I take it out with the oven mitt.

Check out my freebie at my TpT or TN store!! (or click on the pictures)


BTW, check out Sarah @ Kindergarten Korner's 300 follower giveaway!!! There are a lot of neat units you can win!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a cheerful Friday and weekend!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A Giveaway Winner!


Over St. Patrick's Day weekend I was celebrating over 50 followers with a giveaway.  So this is the result of my first giveaway:




Congratulations to Jennifer from Rowdy in First Grade! You should be getting an email from me soon! If you didn't get it yet, email me so you can get your prize!  

Thank you everyone that participated!  It was exciting for me to be on the other side of a giveaway.  :)

Passing an award and another Expo!

If you haven't already, enter my giveaway for a $25 Target gift card!!!  My giveaway closes tonight at midnight and I will announce the winner tomorrow!

On my last post, I received the Top 10 Blog award from Sparkles, Smiles, and Student Teaching and I haven't passed the award to anyone yet!  So here are the bloggers I am passing this award to!!

Becky @ Teaching, Learning & Loving 


Mrs. J @ 5th Grade Chalk Talk


I wish I could spend more time finding new blogs that haven't had this award yet!!  But I already spent about an hour searching! So make sure to check these ladies out and follow their blogs as well if you haven't done so already! :)


There's a new virtual expo coming up on April 21, 2012!!  You guys definitely need to check it out!!  Also, advice for new teachers/teachers looking for jobs:  Attend as many professional development workshops as possible!  This will look good on your resumes!! (I'm hoping all of these virtual workshops will help me land a job!) The 4 presenters/speakers are fabulous!!  Click on the above pictures for more info on the expo.

If you want to get a free ticket, enter Cara' giveaway! She is one of the speakers of the event!!  She is giving away 3 tickets on her blog!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

How-To add "Scroll To Top" button, An Award and Giveaway

Hi guys!  I hope you had a jolly St. Patrick's Day weekend!  Do you spend countless hours on Pinterest?! Don't you think the "scroll to top" button on the bottom right corner is a lifesaver when Pinteresting around?! I do!  So I added a "scroll to top" button on my blog for easy peasy blog reading for you guys!  This gives your fingers a rest when trying to scroll up and down for hours.


This is what mine looks like if you haven't checked it out yet!







Do you want to add one to your blog?
Here's my tutorial on how to add it!!
1. Go to your blogger dashboard, then Dashboard, then Edit HTML















2. Hit Ctr+F (command and find) the following code in your template:  

</body>

3.  Under </body> copy and paste the following code:

<style type="text/css">
#w2b-StoTop {-moz-border-radius: 5px;-webkit-border-radius: 5px;border-radius: 5px; width:100px;background-color: #EEEEEE;background-color: rgba(238, 238, 238, 0.6);filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorStr='#99EEEEEE',EndColorStr='#99EEEEEE');text-align:center;padding:5px;position:fixed;bottom:10px;right:10px;cursor:pointer;color:#444;text-decoration:none;border:1px solid #C9C9C9;}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
    $(function() {
        $.fn.scrollToTop = function() {
            $(this).hide().removeAttr("href");
            if ($(window).scrollTop() != "0") {
                $(this).fadeIn("slow")
            }
            var scrollDiv = $(this);
            $(window).scroll(function() {
                if ($(window).scrollTop() == "0") {
                    $(scrollDiv).fadeOut("slow")
                } else {
                    $(scrollDiv).fadeIn("slow")
                }
            });
            $(this).click(function() {
                $("html, body").animate({
                    scrollTop: 0
                }, "slow")
            })
        }
    });
    $(function() {
        $("#w2b-StoTop").scrollToTop();
    });
</script>
<a href='#' id='w2b-StoTop' style='display:none;'>Scroll to Top </a>

4.  Save your template and enjoy your new Scroll To Top button! :)

Here's a link to the blog where I got instructions to add this wonderful tool!

On another note!  A couple days ago, Amber @ Sparkles, Smiles, and Student Teaching gave me a fantastic award!  She is a new blogger and teacher with great ideas to share! Make sure to check her out!
I will pass this award soon, but that means I need to go through my Google reader to find out who doesn't have this sweet award yet!  So stayed tuned...

If you haven't checked out my GIVEAWAY yet....DO IT NOW! I'm giving away a $25 gift card to Target!!!  There's 4 ways to enter it!  Hurry before it closes on Tuesday, March 20!

LAST THING: Check out Rebecca from Teaching First. She is celebrating 400 followers (That is amazing!) and is having this awesome Ultimate Linky Party.  This is her way of saying Thank You to everyone!  Check it out and see all the lovely bloggers freebies and giveaway!


Sorry for the LONG LONG LONG post!  There were so many things to share! (Also, this is a great excuse for you to use my "scroll to top" button! LOL)

Friday, March 16, 2012

50+ Followers Giveaway!

Howdy bloggers!  This weekend I'm celebrating my 50 53 (and counting!) new followers and blogging friends!  I want to give a BIG shout out to all the lovely bloggers who inspire me and encourage me to keep on blogging even though I don't have my own classroom.  You guys keep me positive, strong, and you each have helped me become a better teacher! :)  This is my first giveaway and I'm super duper excited!  

So to give a BIG THANK YOU, I will be giving away a (drum roll please....)
$25 gift card to Target!
Isn't this gift card beautiful?! And who wouldn't be happy to see this in their mailbox?!  I chose Target because it's one of my top favorite stores!  Do you guys stalk their $1 bins weekly? I do.  It's spring break season, so you can check out their awesome and cheap swim suit collections, or you can use it to buy lots of Easter candy!  Use it however you like!

So here's how to enter my Giveaway: 
1. Follow my blog (1 comment)
2. Tweet about my blog and leave a link so I can follow you too! (1 comment)
3. Blog about my giveaway and leave a link (1 comment)
4. Follow me on Pinterest, my link is on the sidebar! (1 comment)

Don't forget to leave your email address after every comment!

You have until Tuesday, March 20 at midnight to enter the giveaway!  I will announce the winner the next day on Wednesday.   

4 chances to win!! Good luck!!


Also, I recently got a sweet award from Amber @ Sparkles, Smiles, and Student Teaching.  I will formally thank her this weekend!!  :)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Magic Finger Science Experiment

Did you see this on Pinterest today?! WoW!
Happy Pi Day everyone!  Today is gorgeous outside in Ohio so we stayed outside longer and took out the colorful chalk!

Here's a fun science freebie that you can use!  It's the magic finger experiment!  This is where you sprinkle pepper in a bowl of water and you rub your finger with a soap bar.  Then you dip your finger to the surface of the water.  Watch what happens!  (The pepper moves away from the water)

Science behind this:
When you though your soapy finger to water, the surface tension of the water is lowered.  As the water flattens, the pepper that is flatting on top of the water repels to the outer edge of the bowl, like MAGIC! Click HERE or the picture for the free worksheet!
You can also do this experiment with milk and food coloring.  The food coloring will burst towards the outer edge as well when the soap touches the milk.  

Now I'm off to finish packing up two more rooms in the house!!  It's so sad to see my room and the whole house so BARE.  It's crazy to think I won't be living in my house (it's been12 years since we've moved) or even the state anymore!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Pi Day and Teacher's Notebook

Hi Bloggy friends!  So Pi day is just around the corner! Do you do anything special for Pi day aka March 14?!  Well I'm teaming up with Middle School Survival Guide's Happy Pi Day Linky Party!
What I like to do is make Pi Day bracelets with the kids.  Basically, you assign a bead color to a number and the kids recreate the number Pi into an awesome bracelet.  Here's my example...


The black bead represents the decimal point of 3.14 :)  I also created a simpler worksheet for the lower grades, which they use 2 colored beads to odd and even numbers.  They string the beads depending if the number is odd or even.  Here's what that looks like using white and pink.

Let me know what you think of my Pi Day activity! Also, if you have a Pi Day activity you do with your class, make sure to join the Linky Party!  AND GOOD NEWS, I just started my Teacher's Notebook shop.  So please click on the button on the sidebar to check it out! It's still pretty bare since I'm still playing with it.  But this awesome Pi Day freebie is HERE! 

**Update: I also added my link to my TpT store, so you can click on the pictures below to get the freebie! :)

Please leave me a comment about my first free item on Teacher's Notebook if you download it. :)

Quick question to all of the veteran Teacher's Notebook people, am I suppose to sign up for the business paypal account in order to receive money for paid items?  Do you guys use a personal or business account for your Teacher's Notebook account?  There is so much to learn-- such as I can't seem to make my banner any wider? Haha, hopefully I can spend more time this weekend to fix all of the little things.

Another thing, I just noticed that I'm VERY close to reaching 50 followers! That is just amazing to me!  So hopefully I can start a giveaway soon!  Any advice on doing those?!  I definitely want to jump in the bandwagon on promoting one for all the great bloggers out there!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Bullies Be Gone!

I had a rough/sad day yesterday. I just found out that I didn't get that awesome teaching position overseas (they said I was the principal's second choice). However, on the bright side, the HR lady did refer me to other schools looking for teachers and gave me their contact info. I just want to say that this is the first time a HR person spent the time let me know about other schools. Honestly, this was by far the "best" rejection letter I've received.

On another note, don't you hate it when you see bullying in school or outside of school? It breaks my heart to see a child get hurt by a mean remark. Well this happened to one of my little guys at my after school program. We meet at one of the local community recreation centers and one of the older local boys (I'm pretty sure he was a 5th grader), bullied and pushed around my little guy at the pool table. He said things like, "The pool table is only for big kids who know how to play!" I remember I had to confront the big 5th grader and remind him that the pool table was for all ages. I think I scared him a little since he left 5 minutes after the confrontation.

So the bullying topic has been on my mind a lot because I know it happens right under our noses. As teachers, it is difficult to catch all of the bullying especially in the lunch room or at recess! Another bully situation I recall from student teaching last year was with one of my Indian-American girls. Her mom emailed my teacher mentor saying that the other girls at her lunch table make fun of the food she brings and that it stinks. This was so heartbreaking to me! I remember watching my teacher bring the two girls outside the hallway to talk about the situation the next day. She said, "Sally* (the bully), would you like it if someone made fun of your lunch that your mom packed for you? Lucy's* mom home cooked Lucy's* lunch out of love and you are hurting her and her mom's feelings by saying mean things." That was a memorable day for me because they don't teach you how to comfort and confront students on situations like these in college!! 

 Also, I think that situation hit home for me since I experienced relatively similar experiences-- I was typically the only Chinese-American in my classes, and kids always asked me the silliest questions!  One of my personal favorites (aka most annoying): 
Student: What's your name?
Me: Andrea
Student: No, I mean what's your REAL name?
Me: Andrea. That's the name my parents gave me! 
Student: I mean like your REAL name in Chinese!  Isn't like 'Ching Chong'...
Me: Um you can check my birth certificate, it says 'Andrea'.
(FYI, I still got these questions in college once in a while...obviously all kinds of bullying happens with adults as well)

Do you have any bullying stories you'd like to share? Also, I would love to get more advice and tips on how to deal with bullying of all kinds, whether it is cultural, gender, age, physical, mental, etc. Let's try and stop the bullying!

Here's a movie that will come out soon about bullies in schools across America. It will come out on March 30 in select theaters across the U.S. This is a definite MUST SEE on my movie list.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

A lovely weekend and a lovely blog award!

Happy Sunday everyone!! Wow, is it just me or did the weekend fly by FAST?!  I spent the majority of it cleaning and packing my parents house!  I forgot how much I hate packing things!  I didn't realize there is SO MUCH to do before you sell a house.  Instead of packing my life away, I wish I did spend more time applying for teaching jobs (my To-do list is getting longer and longer).  Hopefully, I can catch up this week.  This job hunting seems like a never ending roller coaster ride for me.

Yesterday, I went to see Seussical the Musical at the Palace Theater in Columbus, OH with two of my besties.  If you haven't seen it yet, you definitely need to check it out! It fuses all of the Dr. Seuss classic stories into one awesome musical.  Also, it was a charity event so all of the proceeds went to Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Over the weekend I was awarded the the Lovely Blog Award (twice) by 2 lovely bloggy friends:
KaleighKaleigh's Klassroom
Miss T @ Journey of a Substitute Teacher
They are both sweet ladies with great ideas on each of their blogs! Definitely worth checking out!


The rules:
1. Link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Pass the award onto 15 other lovely bloggers.
3. Follow the person who sent it to you.

The lovely bloggers I'm passing the award to:
1. First With Franklin
2. Teaching with a smile
3. A Rainbow of Teaching
4. Circus of learning
5.Charmed in Third Grade
6. Hopkin's Hoppin' Happenings
7. Pocketful of Acorns

Ahh, so I could only find a couple blogs that didn't have this award so I am stopping at 7 new blogs I found and I am following! Anyways check out these 7 blogs and be their newest follower! :)

Friday, March 2, 2012

A SEUSS-tasic day and a Craftivity

First, I want to thank everyone who gave me great feedback on how to create those awesome 50+ unit pages!!  I've been playing around with it a couple times this week and hopefully I can share my new creations soon (maybe a giveaway too)!  

"Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You." 
--Dr. Seuss
I hope everyone had a wonderful Dr. Seuss day/week!!  I wish I had a sub job today but instead I got my haircut.  So no fun pictures of Dr. Seuss activities I saw this year. :( But here's a picture of my boyfriend and I at Universal Florida 2 winters ago at the Grinchmas exhibit.  I'm so sad my Cat in the Hat 'hat' fell backwards!

The fun craft that my students at my after-school program did were so cute!  We took picture frames that I bought from Michael's and used small square tissue papers to decorate it.  These frames would be a great gift for parents for them to display on their fridges.

<---This is what mine looked like.  I forgot to attach a picture to it!

The kids took little square pieces of tissue paper and crumpled them up and glued them onto the frame.  Then I let them use markers to write their name or whatever they want.  Next, we put 2 strips of magnetic tape on the back so then they could hang these frames on the fridge.  Some kids made cool designs with the tissue paper like flowers and stars.  I wish I took pictures of their frames but I couldn't find my iPhone at the time.

Supplies:
-paper frames (From Michael's, they came in packs of 12)
-lots of small cut tissue paper
-elmer's glue (you can dilute the glue with water and use Q-tips to spread the glue)
-markers to decorate
-magnetic tape (cut into 2 strips per frame)

Also, I got a sweet blog reward from Kaleigh from Kaleigh's Klassroom that I will write about later this weekend!!  Have a SEUSS-tasic day bloggy friends!