Teacher Feature Tuesday: The Applicious Teacher

Are you ready? It's time for the next edition of Teacher Feature Tuesday!

Our featured teacher is:

 Leigh Langton

The Applicious Teacher

Leigh is a second grade teacher in DeBary Florida! She also enjoys spending time with her new little boy and running in her "spare time".

Leigh's TpT store The Applicious Teacher opened in September 2012. You can check out her TpT store and her blog

Why do you teach?

"I am blessed enough to have a career I love. I wake up every morning excited to be at school. The smell of crayons and glue remind me that I am making a difference in these kiddos lives!"

Why did you open your TpT store?

"I opened my store after realizing that most of the stuff I created in my classroom other teachers would see and want to use. I wanted to share my ideas and projects with more than just the teachers at my school."

How has TpT made a difference in your life personally and/or professionally?

"TpT has changed the way I teach! It is constantly forcing me to reflect on my activities and pushed me to create better projects for my classroom and ultimately my store.  It also provides an avenue for me to create. I've always enjoyed drawing and sketching. TpT allows me to marry my love for art and school!"

I wish someone had told me...(share some advice for TpT sellers)

"...to have patience! I thought selling on TpT would be so easy and that buyers would fall head over heels for ALL my products. It has taken some time for me to build a (small, but ever growing) following. As long as I keep creating quality products, the sales will come."

We've taken some time to look around The Applicious Teacher store and she has some great resources! Head on over and check out what Leigh has to offer!

Make It Monday: Lunch Skewers

Today we had a really fun lunch and wanted to share it as our Make It Monday! Lil Man was excited about lunch today because it was fun, yummy, and healthy! Our lunch was inspired by this pin...





Our dining room table was covered with a makings of a craft project, so we had a picnic at the coffee table in the living room.

Here's what is pictured above: wooden skewers, Catalina dressing (in the colorful bowls), spinach, mandarin oranges, ham, bananas, vanilla yogurt, mandarin oranges (again), pineapple, and marshmallows! 

Now at this point I've probably lost you because all of that stuff together doesn't sound quite appetizing. Just stick it out a little longer! 

We had like a pack of 100 skewers, but we each took two and kept reusing them.

Here's the first skewer we tried:

We paired the spinach, mandarin oranges, and ham together and dipped it in Catalina dressing! It was really yummy!

Our second skewer was a little sweeter:

We paired banana, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and marshmallows together and dipped it in vanilla yogurt! Again, it was really yummy! 

We went back and forth between the two different ones. We even had to go back to the kitchen a few times for more ingredients! We definitely enjoyed our yummy, fun, and healthy lunch!

Can you tell he enjoyed it?

He decided to enjoy some of the left over yogurt!

What do you think? Do you like skewers? What do you like on yours? 

 

 

 

Weekend Wrap-Up: A Busy Week

We enjoyed our week of "first editions" with our new schedule! Hope you did too!
Make It Monday, we shared Lil Man's tank craft with you. Teacher Feature Tuesday, we introduced you to Katie Orr. Wired Wednesday, we shared a little on Internet Safety Month. Thoughtful Thursday, we discussed recycling. And lastly, Fun & Free Friday, we shared four great freebies!

We are gearing up for this coming week!

Lil Man has the week off from dance this week; here's to a fun week at home!

Fun & Free Friday

Our fun this week consisted of unpacking more boxes and doing chores. We did go to the pool for a few hours one day. Lil Man was super busy with dance classes this week. I promise, next week we'll have something more fun to share with you ;)

On to what you really came for...the freebies!!

Chris Cadalzo-Making Meaning shared this great freebie with us!

This blank ABC booklet is perfect for so many uses! Come up with a topic for your kiddos to research this summer and they can discover the ABCs of _______. Let the kiddos make a handmade Father's Day gift. Or maybe you're getting a head start on next school year...How about an "ABCs of Me" book for your class to get to know each other! Click the image above to download your copy!

Kamp Kindergarten shared this beachy-fun freebie!

 

This math center can also be used as independent practice. This is a great resource for Summer practice to keep subtraction fresh on the kiddos minds! Whether it's practice at home, a small group of kiddos, or maybe a summer camp group...this beachy-themed fun math packet is sure to please!  Click the image to download yours!

Tiffany Teaches shared this adorable freebie with us! 

This Summer themed packet is sure to help those kiddos remember homophones! This great practice can be used as a center, with partners or individually! You can even make it a fun-filled game of memory! Click the image to download a copy!

Heart2Teach shared this Summer fun pack freebie!

This Summer themed set is a fun way to build language skills! Kiddos will have fun with themed acrostic, writing prompt, and other fun activities! These are great ways to keep your kiddos refreshed on language skills will having some Summer fun! Click the image to get yours!

Thank you to those who shared these freebies! We hope everyone enjoys them!!

If you would like your freebie featured, fill out the form! 

Thoughtful Thursday: Recycling

Our Thoughtful Thursday posts will vary in topic week to week. We're going to play with both sides of "thoughtful". Some weeks we will be focused on topics that have kids thinking. These posts will include subject themed (math, reading, science, etc) type posts as well as other "get them thinking" topics. Other weeks we will be focused on being thoughtful. These posts will include being kind to others, helping the environment, etc.

For our first edition of Thoughtful Thursday we are talking about a topic that is a little of both: Recycling!

For some time now, we have been recycling drink cans. The entire family (4 households) have been saving cans and we take them to the recycling center with Lil Man. While we do benefit monetarily from this, it's also a great experience for him. He loves watching the different machines they use to move the cans to the scale, weigh them, and then shoot them into the back of a trailer.

Recently, Manda was asked at work if she would like to take off some of the old fixtures they had removed during a store remodel. She loaded up some stuff and we took it off to the recycling center. We've made a trip since then in a truck. All of the stuff was steel, so we got to drive across the scale to weigh, drive around back to unload, and go back across the scale. It was a different experience.

Here's some pictures from our first trip:

We talked about electromagnets!

Do you see the car?

 

 

 

More electromagnet discussion!

 

 

 

 

Do you recycle? Have you been to the recycling center? Wouldn't this be a great experience to share with a class of students?!

  

Wired Wednesday: Internet Safety Month

Did you that June is Internet Safety Month? Well it's perfect timing too! Being home for the Summer, kiddos have more access to computers and internet-capable devices throughout the day. This is the perfect time to teach the kiddos some internet safety. It's always good to refresh their minds on it too. Lil Man watched a Brain Pop Jr video about Internet Safety. It's great for a wide range of ages.

KidsHealth has a short but thought-provoking article. It makes you think about what can happen when your kiddo accidentally types "Legs" instead of "Lego". It also shares a little about safety laws.

Check out the FBI's Kids Safety Tips. It includes internet safety as well as some other ways to protect yourself.

NetSmartzKids is another good resource.

Check out KidzSearch for a kid-friendly search engine powered by Google. Keep those little eyes off unnecessary inappropriate search results. Plus, on the main page, there are quick links to fun, educational games.

Remember it's Internet Safety Month and it's important to teach our kiddos of the do's and don'ts of being on the internet.

Share your internet safety tips and resources with us!

~Steph

Teacher Feature Tuesday: Katie Orr

We are so very excited to kick off this part of our new schedule! We have had such a great response from our fellow TpT teacher-authors and bloggers!

Our first featured teacher is:

Katie Orr

Katie has taught 4th grade previously, but she is currently a reading interventionist for a 5th and 6th grade center. This was her first year as a reading interventionist, and she is loving it! 

Katie Orr's TpT store opened in August 2012. You can check out her TpT store: Katie Orr and her blog: Mind Sparks

Why do you teach?

"Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  In fact all through out my schooling, I never even considered another career.  Growing up I had some amazing teachers--and they inspired me to be a teacher. I know it is cliche---but I really do love working with kids. :)  Their love of learning, innocence and positive attitudes is contagious!"

Why did you open your TpT store?

"When I accepted my job as a reading interventionist for 5th and 6th graders, I quickly realized there was a lack of resources for my students.  So......I started making reading resources, lesson plans, graphic organizers, games and more games for my students.  Teachers in my building kept asking to borrow what I was making, and urged me to start a TPT store.....so I did! :)"

How has TpT made a difference in your life personally and/or professionally?

"I can't begin to explain the difference TPT has made for me! Personally it has helped me save money---and who doesn't love that!!  Professionally I have connected with some amazing educators....who have given me invaluable ideas, feedback and suggestions on how to help my students.  I also have discovered some great blogs---with some awesome tips and tricks for teaching.  TPT has just done wonders for me personally and professionally!!!  I LOVE IT!!"

I wish someone had told me...(share some advice for TpT sellers)

"...to upgrade my membership sooner!!  I know it seems like a lot of money at first--but it is so worth it!"

We've taken some time to snoop around her store and we are loving her great resources! Head on over and check out what Katie Orr has to offer! We're hoping she'll be back to share some of her great freebies with us one Friday!