Friday, May 24, 2013

It's My Birthday and I have a freebie and sale for you!

I'm SO SO happy it's Friday because it is the start of my BIRTHDAY weekend (and Memorial weekend for most of you)!!!

My birthday is tomorrow (May 25) and since I LOVE getting (and giving) presents, I wanted to give Y'ALL a freebie!!!  Also, I wanted to mention, I am have a Birthday Sale: 20% off of ALL MY ITEMS on TN and TpT!!!! The sale will end on Monday.

As you may know from my old posts or browsing through my TN and TpT stores, I love to do science experiments!  So here is a new one about forces in motion.

This is a fun and easy science experiment for all ages! I have tried it from little preschoolers up to middle schoolers.  All you need are glass jars (I find using a wine glass is the easiest, but pickle jars work too) and a marble.  The prediction (hypothesis) is if you can get the marble to go up in the glass jar without touching it with your hands.

Here's a video demo to show you what you want the kids to be able to do at the end of the experiment.

The science experiment cover centripetal forces and centrifugal forces.  This freebie comes with a worksheet, lesson plan and answer key for teacher, and vocabulary cards to introduce the new words.  Hope you will enjoy this freebie!  I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the product!
Every comment is like a little present I get to read. :)

Click on the Stores below you can download the freebie from!
Freebie Fridays

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Student Teacher & Teacher Mentor Gift Ideas

It's been a crazy last few weeks for me and I wish I spent more of my time blogging and blog reading.  But instead I've been slaying away on the computer trying to complete countless of job applications.  I've always had a bittersweet feeling around this time of year because of the school year ending and knowing there are schools hiring teachers.  I'm also anxious and stressed all of the time because of job hunting.  So in the last couple days I've been interviewing with different schools.  (I'm hoping and praying that finally this is the year someone will give me the chance to start my teaching career!)

Hopefully by the summer I can get back into gear and start blogging more!

Anyways today I wanted to briefly blog about gift ideas for student teachers and teacher mentors.  Many of the student teachers at my school have already left for the year and it reminded me how I wanted to share what I received and gave when I student taught.

For Student Teachers
I know for many teachers, they want to give their student teachers something to start their teaching careers.  Here is one of the pictures of what my student teacher gave me.  I wish I had a picture of everything when I received it!


Inside the cute little woven basket, my teacher mentor put in lotion, nail file, scissors, a small stapler, glue sticks, Papermate pens (she knew I was obsessed with them), a flower pen she made, a grading chart, and a tuning stick (not sure of the proper name but it's an attention grabber tool).

Here is what the "tuning stick" looks like.  My teacher mentor said she ordered from one of the classroom catalogs.  I saw one of the kindergarten classrooms at my student teacher school using this in their classroom and I thought it was amazing!  Both the teacher and students like to use it as an attention grabber and listening tool.  When you hit it against anything, it makes a neat ringing sound.
Other things I also received as a gift from my student teaching class was a hand written note from each student and a book with everyone's names signed in the inside cover.  
What have you given your student teachers in the past?

For Teacher Mentor
Now I really wished I took a picture of my awesome gift to my teacher mentor.  For some reason in our First Grade classroom, our pencil sharpeners always broke.  It was a hassle to always sharpen pencils because it won't work correctly, so for my gift I bought a new one.  Always try and think of things to give that your teacher may want in her classroom but doesn't really have the time or money to go out and buy.

My teacher mentor's daughter was in another 1st grade classroom, so I would always see her before and after school.  Another gift I gave both of them was a T-shirt from my college (my teacher mentor also happened to attend the same college as me).  Additionally, I ordered a notepad with her name on it from  Vistaprint.

What have you given your teacher mentors or co-workers?

Lastly, I wanted to share with you that I donated one of my products, Summer Olympics Mini Unit to the Teacher's Notebook Moore, OK relief bundle.  Click below to donate and receive over $1,000 worth of products!  My thoughts and prayers go out to the families in OK over the recent tragedy from the tornadoes.



Click on the picture to review this product in TN or here for TpT.

BTW, this weekend is my birthday weekend so come back to my blog for a freebie that I've been working on!!! It's another fun science experiment that I can't wait to share!  And maybe (if I have time to plan) I'll do a giveaway of one of my products!

Friday, May 10, 2013

My Teacher Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  Did you feel loved from both students and parents? I know I did! All the flowers, candies, chocolate and cards sure brighten up my days!

I wanted to share with you what my school did this week to thank our teachers and staff.  My school's PTA had a picnic theme this year.  I loved how they decorated the teacher's lounge.
The banner says: Thank You Bower Teachers & Staff For Making Learning A Picnic!

They also hung colorful pennants with each staff's name on it.  It definitely cheered up our hallway.  I wish they could keep this up all year long!

On Monday morning, the PTA set up a continental breakfast for us.  It was a great way to start the week with wonderful muffins, bagels, fruits, yogurt, and LOTS of HOT HOT HOT Coffee!

To go along with the picnic theme, our PTA planned a wonderful luncheon today.  It included a lot of picnic-y foods like pulled pork sandwiches, fried chicken, salads, watermelon, corn bread, and yummy desserts.  I wish I had taken a picture before I ate my plate because it was TO DIE FOR!

On top of the delicious luncheon, the PTA set up a raffle table on things we could win.  We had 6 tickets to put into bags with a label on what you could possibly win.  Some of the raffle prizes were gift cards to Starbucks, Target, nail salons, hair salons, Whole Foods, bakeries, iTunes, and local restaurants (ranging from $20-$50).

Then as each staffer left the teacher's lounge, we were each personally thanked by a parent who gave us a huge Smart Water bottle and a $5 gift card of our choice (Target, Subway, Chipotle, Walgreens, and Starbucks).  Obviously, I had to get my hands on the Target card!

Isn't this the cutest little tag?!
How did you get appreciated this week?  What did your school do this week to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week?  I would love to hear your stories!