Throwback Thursday: A Summer Mystery Giveaway

It's time for yet another installment of Throwback Thursday here at The Teacher's Desk 6. Look through those PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Then add this badge to your post and link up below! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAYBACK will do! Just join in the Throwback fun!

If you've been reading my blog posts this week then you already know what the topic is for today: Mystery Pictures! This blog post first appeared on March 3, 2013.

My sixers love them! Mystery pictures! I first used them years ago when I taught math for a brief stint. I had an OLD packet of color-by-number math sheets that took the drudge out of routine computational work. When I no longer taught math, I passed the packet on to the math teacher who, by the way, never used the sheets.

I saw these mystery pictures again this past Christmas. Only instead of a math orientation, they were designed for students to practice parts of speech. And they were aligned with the Common Core State Standards. YES, right up my alley! I purchased a few sets on Teachers Pay Teachers and presented them to my fifth and sixth grade Language Arts students. They were a hit! The kiddos asked for more.

Instead of returning to Teachers Pay Teachers for more, I decided to try my hand at creating my own Mystery Pictures. I came up with a few that were quite acceptable and a bit more challenging than those that I had purchased. My sixers were impressed so I offered them at my own TpT store and they've been selling nicely ever since!

At last count there were over FORTY ELA mystery pictures in my store! WOWZA! I was quite busy with them for a while! Although I don't concentrate on them as much as I did last year, I do still occasionally create a mystery picture. I worked on one this week as a matter of fact. It is a pic of Johnny Appleseed that requires students to practice identifying parts of speech, just in time for September 26th, his birthday. It's available in my TpT Store for just one dollar.

NOW, let's have a little giveaway! I recently bundled FIVE of my summer themed mystery pictures and began offering them in my store for a discounted price. Each of the mystery pics individually is a good seller, but I wanted to treat my customers to a bargain. You can read more about the bundle and individual items HERE.

If you purchase the bundle, rather than each item separately, it's like getting two pictures free, and we all like FREE! If you'd like to own this bundle for FREE, enter the giveaway below before Sunday, June 22, 2014, 6:00pm EST. When the contest ends, I'll select a winner and email you the bundle of mystery pics... easy, peasy! GOOD LUCK!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to link-up your Throwback Thursday posts!

Wordless Wednesday Worksheet 6.18.14

I'm joining both Miss DeCarbo from Sugar and Spice for her Wordless Wednesday linky (although I've use quite a few words this week) and The Teaching Tribune for their Worksheet Wednesday linky.

Do you use worksheets in your classroom? What kind? How often?

I don't use a lot of traditional worksheets, per se, in my classroom. Most of the handouts that I use are for interactive notebooks, craftivities, tests/quizzes, or project packets. A typical worksheet that I do use might look like the one pictured below.

I often use songs/poems as a springboard for practicing specific skills. Above is pictured one such worksheet. After my sixers had finished studying pronouns this is how I asked them to practice the skill as homework. On the worksheet they found the lyrics to a song and a directed question or two. The QR Code in the upper right hand corner as well as the shortened URL whisked them away to the actual song performed by One Direction. They were able to listen as they learned. Heck, they may even have whistled while they worked---sheet!

Feel free to download the worksheet HERE or by clicking on the pic if you'd like your own copy to use in your classroom.

Don't forget that tomorrow is Throwback Thursday here at The Teacher's Desk 6. Be sure to ready your PURR-fect Previous Posts and link-up. Not a blogger? Join TBT anyway; I've a nice little giveaway planned!

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!

Anchors Away 6.16.14 Things to Think About

Once again I'm joining my sweet, bloggy friend Deb from Crafting Connections for her weekly anchor chart linky, Anchors Away.

Being away from school for summer break allows me time to reflect on my teaching. What can I improve? What did I do well?

I think one thing that I do very well is use a variety of tools and techniques to try and meet the needs of each of my students while still engaging the entire class. Creating and using anchor charts is one terrific way for accomplishing this!

But this brings me to something that I need to improve... keeping STUFF organized, especially anchor charts. We spend the time creating them in class and use them while we are studying a particular topic/concept, but then it's time to move on. I do not have the wall space that offers me the luxury of hanging the anchor charts on the wall for students to continually reference (isn't that the point of an anchor chart though?), so I roll it or fold it up and put it to the side for when we need to look at it again. Only I have so many that they all get jumbled together and I never can find what I want... SIGH!

I've spent quite some time this past week searching for a solution.

Pinterest to the rescue!

First up is this cute and clever idea from Frogs in First. These look adorable, but would take some time to do up. I would need to miniaturize each chart (by hand or snap a photo?), place them in protective covers, and  hang them with metal rings. Ideally I would like one on each table so that students would have the anchor charts at their fingertips. Of course, I could just have one and keep it in a centralized location in the room. Students would be able to go to the area, flip through to find the chart they need to reference, then return to their seat. Or they could simply bring the chart to the table and return it later. Things to think about!



Next are these wonderful dual-sided picture frames from IKEA. I already own several that I picked up on eBay last summer. I placed inspirational quotes or project directions in them and sprinkled them around the room on the student tables. Forever in First came up with the clever connection to anchor charts. The frames could hold two miniature anchor charts created by snapping a pic of the original chart, downloading into my computer, then printing it to fit the size of the frame. Students would have access to all of the charts that we would create. However, there might be some confusion as to on which table a mini-chart might be located. Things to think about!



These last three ideas derive from three different blogs. They are similar in concept but differ in style. All three require miniaturization and purchase of plastic, protector sleeves. Again the issue of number and placement in the room arises. Things to think about!





All of these ideas are SOOOOO clever and SOOOOO good! I'm not sure which I like the best. If you were making a decision regarding the BEST method for utilizing/storing your anchor charts which would you choose? Do you have an even BETTER way? Please leave your ideas below. I'd love to hear your advice and expertise.

Something else to think about is...

This week my throwback post will reintroduce Mystery Pictures and include a giveaway. Get your PURR-fect Previous Posts ready to share and join me here for Throwback Thursday.

Font-astic Sunday!

I'm joining Ashley from The Polished Teacher for a fun, little linky she created called Font-astic Tag. The idea is to use your favorite fonts to complete the template topics. Just like this...

Now that you see how it's done, head on over to The Polished Teacher, grab the template, and play along!

Friday Favorites

Today I'm joining Chandra over at Teaching with Crayons and Curls for her brand new linky...

During the school year I am not the best of eaters. By this I mean I grab what I can when I can, be it fast food, junk food, or a dinner out. Seldom do I shop for or cook nutritional, REAL food. It takes too much time and effort for just one person and two furry babies as far as I'm concerned! Plus, there is the mess to clean up!

I sooooo look forward to summer break, not just for the time off, but for the time to search out, buy, and prepare wholesome food. I still don't cook much (it's those pots and pans, I'm telling ya!) but I do eat well! One of my summer favorites is all the readily available fruit. Two days straight I've gone shopping for a variety of sweet, yummy fruit. Two days straight I've made beautiful fruit salads to take to my friends' houses for dinner (another summer favorite: being able to leisurely visit with friends neglected during the school year). Here's one of the delicious treats I whipped up this week.

Doesn't this look yummy? Not to mention, healthy? And one more favorite... notice the beautiful bowl the fruit is in? I have time once again to poke around at flea markets and garage sales for pink depression glass and other, unusual older glassware. LOVE the stuff! I've been collecting it for more than twenty-five years (and am running out of space to store it). I'm itching to find a new piece to add to my collection.

Don't forget to visit Chandra's blog, Teaching with Crayons and Curls, to see what other favorites our fellow teacher bloggers have to share.

Throwback Thursday 6.12.14

It's time for yet another installment of Throwback Thursday. Look through those PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Then add this badge to your post and link up below! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAYBACK will do! Just join in the Throwback fun!

My PURR-fect Previous Post for this week features not a blog post but two photos, a then and now of my sixers! They have changed a great deal throughout the year, not only physically but emotionally, spiritually, and academically as well. I am VERY proud of them! The BEST part... I don't have to say good-bye to them this year! I will have them once again next school year, this time as seventh grade English students. 

Watch out, kiddos! You're not done with me yet!

THEN: September 2013

NOW: June 2014

It's your turn now!

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Break Style

Time for Wordless Wednesday with Miss DeCarbo of Sugar and Spice.

This is the first Wednesday of my summer break... ahhhhhhh! Just because I'm on break doesn't mean that I take a break from school work. Not so, it just means that I take my good old time getting things done. I've brought a TON of things home from my classroom to work on over the summer. The problem is that I'm taking my time putting it away until I get the gumption to work on it. Do any of you have a similar problem?

It seems that everywhere that I turn is school "stuff"! Piles of it! On Tuesday I tried to tame the mess. Now everything is in organized piles, but still piles; piles arranged in the order that I want to tackle. Guess I'll just have to start doing some work. So much for summer break!

Monday Meet Up and Anchors Away

Happy Monday to one and all! Summer break has finally begun here in my neck of the woods. That means there's time to blog, do all the things I want to do, and just plain relax. The contributors over at The Teaching Tribune have created  a fun set of interactive posts to help us fill our lazy days of summer. Each day of the week has a specific theme. Mondays are reserved for meeting new bloggers or becoming better acquainted with familiar friends.

For this week's Meet Up I partnered with one of favorite bloggers, Deb from Crafting Connections. I met Deb late last summer when I discovered her blog by accident. A word in her post title caught my attention: CRAFTIVITY. Boy am I glad I stopped to read! Meeting Deb energized my teaching, helped my student teacher plan terrific lessons, and brought a new friend into my life.

Deb is a super, sweet bloggy friend, a dedicated mom and wife, and a super TpT Seller. I hope someday to be able to meet her in person! If you aren't following Deb's TpT Store go there now and check out all her terrific products. Then come back and enjoy Anchors Away, the linky that Deb hosts each week featuring great anchor charts to use in your classroom.

For Anchors Away this week, I am sharing my Anchor Chart Pinterest Board. I've been collecting anchor chart pins for nearly two years now and have quite a variety. Some I have recreated for use in my classroom while others I've used as a springboard for my own ideas. Some I've even displayed as a digital image on the Smartboard. I hope that you find something on my board that you can use. Anchors Away!


Follow Angela's board Anchor Charts on Pinterest.

Throwback Thursday 6.5.14: Wayback Machine

It's time for yet another installment of Throwback Thursday. Look through those PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Then add this badge to your post and link up below! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAYBACK will do! Just join in the Throwback fun!

My PURR-fect Previous Post for this week features a handy, dandy website that everyone should be aware of.  I first shared this idea on Feb. 20, 2013. It was my third post... The Wayback Machine.

I use numerous websites to help in planning lessons and selecting activities for all of my classes. I rely heavily on digitized copies of worksheets, and never bother downloading videos or music anymore. Nearly everything I need for teaching is at my fingertips, keyboard, and monitor. However, there is nothing worse than trying to access a favorite website, only to find that it is gone or has been totally revamped.

Never fear! Way Back Machine is here. I stumbled upon this website many years ago. In fact, it was that discovery that firmed my decision to close the teachersdesk.org domain. However, my old website still exists.

The Original Teacher's Desk is featured on The Way Back Machine from Jan. of 2002 through May of 2012. I can still access most of my old material. Have fun exploring! There are some real treasures there.

Visit the original Teacher's Desk.

There's another Throwback Thursday going on. Stop on over at The Teaching Tribune for more oldies but goodies.