Tried It Tuesday (NTR?)

This is sort of related to teaching...

I'm not one for cooking... much! I hate the discipline involved: planning what to eat, collecting supplies, following a recipe, watching the time, taking care to stir, etc. AND the last thing that I want to do after teaching all day is cook! I have fallen into the bad habit of surfing through a drive-through on my way home, tsk, tsk, tsk! So for me to be posting about cooking and sharing a recipe- YIKES, check to see if the trumpet for judgement day has sounded!

However, I found the PERFECT recipe for busy teachers like me and I TRIED IT so I'm sharing it on TUESDAY for Holly's monthly linky over at Fourth Grade Flipper...

You may have seen this recipe on Pinterest. I did and pinned it a LONG time ago (remember what I said about me and cooking).

I was intrigued by the "mini"ness of the pot pie, the few ingredients, and the fact that it only took a half hour from prep to table. However, remember, I am not a cook! I promptly forgot the pin until this weekend when two things happened. First a former student of mine posted on his Facebook page a photo of a delicious, quick and easy dish that he had cooked after coming home late from work, and ...

I was rummaging around through the library on my Kindle (there are over 1200 books in my library) and I found this. This recipe was in there.

It's FREE on Kindle. Just click HERE.

This was the impetus I needed! I happened to have a tube of Grands biscuits in the refrigerator, a can of cream of chicken soup in the cupboard, some left-over chicken, and a half bag of frozen veggies in the freezer- all the ingredients that I needed. It was a good thing, too, since there was no way I was heading to the store in sub zero temps and snowfall rates of an inch an hour. I skipped the cheese since I didn't have any.

It took all of 5 minutes to prepare. Simply line a muffin tin with a biscuit and spoon in a mixture of soup, veggies, and chicken that I had folded together in a bowl. Furthermore, it was finished baking in just 22 minutes. It looked great, and...

... tasted even better! The best part was that I had more than one meal out of a single prep/bake. The mini pot pies reheat beautifully in the oven and tasted even better since the flavors had time to mesh well. Now that's my kind of recipe. If you like recipes that are quick, easy, and bother free, give this dish a try. Don't wait like me!

Tried It Tuesday: Multi Lens Camera

I hadn't planned on this particular post; it's a spur of the moment thing, but it is something that I HAD TO SHARE so I'm linking it up with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper for...

Check out these cool photo collages of some projects my kiddos are working on (The projects are from two items that I purchased during the recent TpT Cyber Sale). Aren't they cool?

Santa's Sleigh of Synonyms by Fancy Free in 4th

There's A Minion Reasons by Fancy Free in 4th

The collages were made using an app on my Smartphone called Multi Lens Camera. I found it in the Google Play Store shortly after getting my phone last spring, downloaded it, and then promptly forgot about it until today.

For whatever reason today I clicked on the app just as I was ready to capture a few shots of student projects. Here's how easy I found the app to use.

Selecting START brought me here.

I had to decide how many frames I wanted in the photo collage.

Selecting four brought me to a screen like this. I simply started snapping shots until I had all four spaces filled.

The arrow in the lower right of the screen started to pulse once all four pics were completed, so I clicked it.

I saved my photo by simply clicking the save button on the next screen. VOILA! Easy, peasy instant photo collage... No more fooling around with power point, pic collage, or loupe.com to make photo collages. I've found a MUCH easier way.

I still want to explore the app a little further since I noticed there was an EDIT button on the final screen above. I did click it out of curiosity to discover some color, cropping, and size features. I decided to wait for this portion of the app for another day. Right now I'm happy with the simple collages.

Tried It Tuesday: Spotlight on Text Evidence

I can not believe it's been more than four months since I've joined Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for...

I saw these goofy little finger flashlights on Amazon several months ago. It was one of those "customers who purchased this item also purchased these items" ads that appear near the bottom of your order page...

... and I thought, "Why not?" I purchased a pack of 40 lights for under five dollars (they have since increased in price.) The box arrived and I examined them, thought they were cute, took them to school, and left them on the shelf... until last Friday.

I'm not sure what made me remember the little dazzlers, but I'm VERY glad that I did. 

My fifth grade language arts students are not the most motivated when it comes to close reading, returning to the text to locate specific details to support their responses to questions. They prefer to remember the answer... sigh! We have been learning how to operate in Literature Circles, a strategy that demands close reading and text engagement. My kiddos have been balking at returning to the text during their circle discussions. They needed some encouragement and more guided practice. 

TA DA... enter, stage right... Spotlight on Text Evidence!

I passed out the finger flashlights amid whispers, giggles, and funny looks. I explained how to use the little lights, turning them on and off and putting them correctly on a finger. Next I posed a "big idea" question to my fifth graders about the book we are currently reading in class and stated that they were to spotlight a piece of text that would support an answer to the question. Every student went in search of an answer in the text and not just from their memory! 

Sure wish I had thought of these little miracle lights sooner. Such a simple, yet very effective teaching aid. You can bet we will be using them again and again to spotlight text evidence!

Don't forget to stop by Fourth Grade Flipper to read more Tried It Tuesdays. There are always great and unique ideas shared by teacher bloggers found there.

Currently Tried It Tuesday Will Suit You to a "T" w/GIVEAWAY

Here it's time to link up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday already!

Where are the days going? Summer is passing by all too quickly. Before you know it, it'll be time for school again. Time for having to get dressed again! I have to admit it, I am one of those women who runs around in a housecoat and flip flops, not getting dressed unless I HAVE to leave the house. Scary thought, hunh? I think so. This prompted me to try something fun from Teacher T-Shirts in the way of clothing that suits me to a "T".

This arrived in the mail yesterday...

I couldn't wait to open it...

Once I saw how cute my new t-shirt was, I was even more excited to try it on. I shouldn't show this next pic since I threw it on over my housecoat.... I told you I was excited!

FIRST EVER Selfie. lol!

I liked my new t-shirt so much that I actually got dressed for the day; I wanted to show off my new t-shirt from Teacher T-shirts for you and do it justice. Selfies are certainly harder than everyone makes them appear!

I just love the colors. They match my new classroom color scheme. Brown is my fav, go-to color since I wear khakis a lot (I have them on in the picture even though you can't see them). Don't think my kiddos won't notice the matching colors either! They will go wild over this shirt. This group of sixers is fashion conscious, even the boys! I can't wait for them to see it. I'm torn between posting this pic on our classroom blog or waiting for the first day of school.

Wouldn't you LOVE to have a shirt like this also?

Go take a look at all the styles and colors available at the Teacher T-Shirt website. Leslie from Teacher T-Shirts has graciously offered to allow me to give away a Teacher T-Shirt on my blog. You can win your choice of a Teacher T-Shirt by entering the Rafflecopter below. The contest runs now through July 8th.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I almost forgot... I lost track of the date AGAIN! It's July 1st so you know what that means... It's CURRENTLY time... time to link up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade for that fun linky we wait for each month.

It's all pretty straight forward this month, needing no explanation... simple, just like me.

And before you leave, be sure to stop by Holly's blog to see what others have tried for this week! There are always great, fun ideas shared there. Also, don't forget that Throwback Thursday is only two days away. Get your PURR-fect Previous Posts ready to link-up here at The Teacher's Desk 6.

 

Two for and Tried It Tuesday

I'm linking up twice today. First with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper for...

and then with The Teaching Tribune for...

What I tried this week is not related to teaching. I tried something else with my nails... Jamberry Nails. If you haven't heard of them, they are all the rage. You can have super cute nails without a trip to the salon, doing them yourself. They are super easy and look GREAT!

I had several friends who were wearing Jamberries at school and I was intrigued so I explored the Jamberry site and fell in love with all the great designs. It wasn't too later that I was invited to a Jamberry party where I ordered my first set(s) online through a Facebook Jamberry party.

A few days after the party my nail wraps arrived in the mail in an envelope... much smaller than I expected. I opened the envelope and saw...

In the envelope were my wraps, ready to peal, cut, and stick. I decided to try the peacock design first.

Once I had them on, I was hooked. I personally enjoy a combination of polish and wraps, a little edgier look, so I combined my Julep Maven polish with my Jamberry wraps for this funky, fun look...

Don't forget to visit Fourth Grade Flipper for more Tried It Tuesday items! 

And stay tuned for more about this Jamberry Tried It. On the evening of July 17th I will be hosting a Facebook Jamberry Party and all of you, my bloggy friends, followers, and visitors will be invited to attend. There will be more information later this week about the event. I wanted to give you a little advance notice so you can mark your calendars and keep the night free.

Each Tuesday The Teaching Tribune hosts a linky where all the participants link up two of their teaching products that they are offering for sale at a 50% discount. Today I am offering these two items, each a bundle of FIVE literacy centers for the upper grades. Normally each center sells for one dollar each. I offer the bundles for three dollars each; that's a savings of two dollars per bundle. For today only, I am offering each bundle for only $1.50. If you purchase both bundles, it's like you are getting SEVEN literacy centers FREE, and we all LOVE free!

These centers are no mess, no fuss, easy on the ink, products. Just print, cut, and use. Click on the pics to read more about the centers or to purchase them from my TpT Store. ENJOY!

Don't forget that in two days it will be time for...

Locate a past PURR-fect post, pin, or pic to share with your bloggy friends and followers. It's easy, peasy, one, two, three, requiring little prep... PURR-fect for a lazy, summer day.

Come along and join in the throwback fun this every Thursday!

Two for Tried It Tuesday: QR Code Task Cards

I really enjoy my summer break! It gives me the opportunity to blog a bit more and to join my bloggy friends's linky parties. Today I'm linking up with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper for her Tried It Tuesday and with The Teaching Tribune for their Two for Tuesday party.

First Tried It! I recently joined the Smartphone crowd... I swore I never would. However, my phone carrier decided to merge with a mega-company and I did not like the phone, package, whole idea plan so I joined my nieces and nephews on a Framily plan through a more local carrier. It was a deal that I could not pass up.

LOVE it!

Second Tried It! I've been adding apps to my new phone like crazy, everything from games to utilities. One that I installed almost immediately was a Bar Code Scanner.

Third Tried It! I really, really wanted to try adding QR Codes to my SCOOT activities, making them more useful as a literacy center tool. They could become self-checking. Nearly all my sixers have their own cell phone, tablet, or ipod. I had already experimented with the codes last summer using a piece of software called Quick Mark. However, I didn't have my own QR Code reader to use in the classroom. I couldn't (wouldn't) introduce activities into my classroom that I wasn't able to personally monitor. This past weekend, thanks to my new Smartphone, I succeeded.

Meet my newest TpT Product: Warming-up to Predicate Adjectives, smartly dressed with QR Codes. I am such a kid. I keep playing with the cards, checking and rechecking the QR Codes. I actually made the codes with Quick Mark and inserted them onto each card after resizing them to fit. I really like how this SCOOT pack turned out. If you do also, you can download your own set HERE or by clicking on the pic below.

As part of The Teaching Tribune's Two for Tuesday linky, this product as well as the next: iCan Identify Direct Objects SCOOT, a complement to the first (ELA teacher joke) are 50% off in my TpT Store for just today, Tuesday! So grab them while you can.

Be sure to stop by The Teaching Tribune for more great bargains on terrific teaching products. But hurry... the deep discounts only apply to today- Tuesday!

Remember to get those PURR-fect Previous Posts ready for Throwback Thursday. This week's post holds a mystery and a giveaway! Be sure to come back and link-up!

Tried It Tuesday: Julep, Calling All Nail Mavens

It's been quite some time that I've joined Tried It Tuesday hosted by Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper.  

If you're looking for something school related this post is not; it's ME related, and I'm not being paid to promote this item. I'm just having fun and LOVIN' it!

I love having brightly colored, funky, fun nails! Years ago I would do the acrylics with crazy designs! My kiddos LOVED it, even to the degree they would make suggestions for colors and designs! Wild, hunh? Kids notice the wackiest things about us teachers. The only problem is that I often have to play the guitar for worship services or liturgies at school. 

Long nails and guitars do NOT mix! Never mind that you see Dolly Parton playing guitar with her three inch nails!  Mine are as short as can be so I can get the job done. For years I've shied away from even polishing my nails. 

For several weeks I have been noticing ads in the sidebars for a company called Julep. They specialize in beauty products, especially nail colors.

So, out of curiosity I decided to click on the link. I was taken to the Julep website where I was confronted with...

The first that I noticed was that many of the nail models' hands had SHORT nails. SMILE! I was definitely intrigued.

Of course I took the quiz (about twenty questions for a total of five minutes of my time) and I discovered that my style profile is...

What I saw I liked! I was intrigued... I could receive a supply of funky, fun polish each month. Hmmm? Why not! I took the plunge and signed up. I was going to be a Julep Maven.

I received my box within a week!

Inside was...

I tried it immediately...

*The polish goes on smoothly and one coat (teal colored polish) covered my nails well!
*The one coat lasted for four days of washing dishes, showers, piano playing, and teaching before it BEGAN to wear off... not chip, not peel, it just began to fade away in places. I've NEVER had a polish with this kind of staying power.
* It's a little harder to remove with nail polish remover than typical polishes.
* The cuticle serum is divine. A little goes a loooonnnggg way! And after a week I'm noticing softer, more pliable cuticles... better yet, my hangnails are becoming less and less.
* Two coats of the lavender polish is wearing like armor! I've had it on for three days so far- no chips, no wear and tear yet.

So far I'm sold!!!!!

I'm looking forward to my June Maven shipment. I had the opportunity to preview and change (if I wanted) its contents. I opted to keep the original contents and add a mystery polish. Here's what I'll receive soon (I got an email today stating my Maven box was in the mail)

I can NOT wait for my next Maven box!!!!!

Are you intrigued by Julep? Want to become a Maven? Just click here and begin exploring. Be sure to take the Maven quiz to discover your style...

http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/800996/

... then come back and share/compare.