Still Looking For Teacher Gift Ideas?

Well Paul Taylor over at Babysitting Jobs has some great ideas just for you. He has compiled a great list of ideas and suggestions entitled ' 30 Blogs With Great Teacher Holiday Gift Ideas'. You can browse each of the suggested sites according to the type of gift you're looking for. It is truly edifying!

So hop on over to this wonderful article that is going to make your last minute shopping a whole lot easier!
Click the picture above or click HERE!

One Day Sale on TPT

Visit my TPT store and take advantage of my Day of Sales which takes place on Monday 31st December ONLY. Yes folk, get any of my items at 15% off on that day. Available to you would be an array of clip art and teaching printables suited for pre-school through  Grade 6. These items were all created by me during the past months and I wanted to make them available on discount just for you to close off this great year!

Highlighted below are of my current best sellers:

For more of my products look on the sidebar to the right of the webpage or go directly to my store by clicking HERE .

Free Monster Toppers Label

Hi there! I just wanted to send yet another freebie your way today. It is from my recently completed Monster Toppers Variety Pack. This pack contains two designed labels of seven different colors. It is available at both of my stores.

Click the monsters below for your free labels

This offer is no longer free.

Writing With Sense and A FREEBIE!

I have the unearthing experience of teaching kids who are reluctant to write. I guide them and teach them well  yet still they always get depressed (really) when it comes to putting their thoughts down on paper. My 12 year old hates to write so much that you can actually see the transformation of feelings at the very sight of lined paper. It seems to be an isolated case, but I'm pretty sure that you have seen that before. I must say that I have a few tricks up my sleeve for her during this holiday time despite her celebratory mode. I'm going to get her to write by engaging her senses at this time. So this is my plan!


Focus on Adjectives
Adjectives are very important in writing so we will match all five senses with as much adjectives as possible. For example;
                       sight-pretty, beautiful, ugly, green, white, orange
                       smell-sweet, good, bad
                       sound-loud, quiet
                       feel-hard, soft, rough
                       taste-sweet, yummy, sour, bitter, nasty
We will eventually rule out the weak and unimaginative words for the more colorful ones.

Experience The Senses
This is an opportunity for us to gather as many sensory objects as possible to experience  the senses at work. The key here is to describe an object using as many senses as is possible.


Writing With Sense
This is the actual writing or documenting of experiences. In this process thoughts become words and words fuse together into a cohesive piece. In other words, I say what I mean, I mean what I say. So, at this point there must be a definite change in behavior.

I have put some ideas down on paper to help with descriptive writing and it is FREE for the taking. It is suitable for kids from Kindergarten to Grade 1 depending on their working level.
You can click  HERE for a link.

 Anyway I've got to go. Let's see how much I could accomplish. :)

FREE Random Hearts for Christmas and Valentines

It's been a while since I have done any clip art and I think that it's time that I re-started the old mill :). I love doing it, but it really takes a lot of time, really a lot of time.  I have soo many unfinished sets that I think I want to start clearing out the 'To Complete' folder. I know most of you are in pre-Christmas mode but I am offering my Random Hearts set early especially for those early starters. This set is done in both png and jpg formats. There are 33 in each.

If you are interested in my set click HERE. Remember it is FREE, FREE, FREE for the taking!

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas to All!

Faith makes all things possible,

Hope makes all things work,

Love makes all things beautiful,

May you have all the three for this Christmas. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas from A Teacher's Idea

What To Write In A Christmas Card

Are you looking for cute or classy little messages and verses to add some punch and pizzazz to your Christmas cards? Well you have come to the right channel :)! I found a fantastic website which does just that for me so I am sharing it with you. The folks Homemade Gifts Made Easy is your one stop shop for any category of verses or messages that you may need this Christmas. Whether it's general, religious, non-religious or biblical these lovely verses can carry your message straight to the heart! Guys, it is truly worth checking out!

Click on Categories Below

All Purpose Verses and Messages

Religious Verses and Messages

Non-Religious Verses and Messages

Bible Verses

Our Plastic Nightmare

Someone sent me a great article from OnlineEducation.net that talks about my favorite topic, Recycling.  The article contains an infographic that paints a dark reality and an even gloomy future for us and our practices. The infographic seeks to educate all about the need for the recycling of plastic to avoid a future of gloom and despair. The reality of the production and consumption of plastic is portrayed most vividly and realistically as a 'Plastic Nightmare' in this image. According to the graphic, the way out for us is in the conservation of energy by recycling of old plastics. This generation of consumers must change their habits.

You can read the article and get the original infographic with an HTML code by clicking HERE.

Free Christmas Gift Tags!

Today I am sending  Season's Greetings your way with a very special FREE DOWNLOAD. Its my set of Christmas gift tags that I created for you as a way of saying thanks for your tremendous support. Just download and print on sturdy paper to send good tidings to your dear friends and family.

Just click on the picture below.

The Elf on The Shelf and Myself!

Picture Courtesy Amazon.com

The Elf on The Shelf is an endearing Christmas classic that gives one of Santa's Elves the responsibility of checking on little kids to report to Santa on their behavior. The book is sold together with an elf doll which parents are to place at strategic points about the house throughout the year. When this is done kids are reminded constantly about good behavior as the elf is 'watching' them. 

Time Saving Tips For Teachers!

Time Management is a skill that teachers have not yet learned how to master in the classroom.There are always too many things to do and too little time for us to do it in! Sometimes we try to squeeze everything into the daily grind and come out more stressed and depressed! Other times we simply leave the things out which seem less important to get the more important things organized and out of the way. But, unfortunately this practice just makes us feel more and more inefficient! What usually happens is that the quality of our teaching becomes the sacrificial lamb.


I present to you today some time saving tips just for you and proposed by K.J. Wagner over at Education Oasis. Let's see how best we can reverse the "stressed" feeling and make "desserts" out of those pesky time robbers!

Time Saving Tips For Teachers

1. Use a daily planner to keep on top of things! Always refer to it!

2. Leave difficult tasks for peak energy periods! When you're tired, do the smaller tasks!

3. Try scanning for students while they are at work instead of calling students names in order, one by one to take roll.

4. From the beginning of the year assign each student a number which corresponds with the number in your roll book. Let them learn their number and use it on all papers to be submitted. The papers can then be arranged in numerical order for easy referencing especially at the end of the term or semester.

5. Gradebook software can help you save a lot of time once you get the hang of it. There are some free ones out there in cyber land and there are some paid products also. If you are versed in the Microsoft Office Suite programs then you can use Microsoft Access for creating database also. Check a colleague for some ideas.

6. Allow self-grading and peer-grading when appropriate.

7. When students are passing papers have them pass them across and the person at the end will pass them forward. This reduces the amount of poking and upsets and of course the amount of time wasted.

8. Post a list of classroom routine and procedures.

9. Assign tasks to students.

10. Consolidate trips to the office instead of running up and down several times during the day.

Keep a file folder handy with forms or worksheets that you use regularly. 


These are just some of the ideas on saving time so that we can enjoy desserts instead! However, if you wish you can read the entire article at education oasis. Click HERE for the article.

Monster Footsteps! Read It! Say It! Step on It!

This is a fun, new and exciting way to get some movement into practicing sight words. Monster Footsteps! Read It! Say It out loud! Step on It!

In this game, Monster Footsteps cards are place on the floor in a walking pattern. Students line up and take turns in saying each word correctly before they step on the word. The goal is to say the words correctly in order to make progressive steps to the other side. If the word is left out or mispronounced the student has to loose a turn. He will proceed back to base. 

This is a great activity for whole class participation, physical education classes and brain breaks.

Click HERE to go to my TPT store.

Picture Sequencing Cards

Check out my latest product Picture Sequencing Cards for Young Detectives! The pictures tell a story!

Click the picture to go to my TPT store for details.

Cyber Monday Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Cyber Monday plus Tuesday Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers is here! Next Monday and Tuesday you can get my products at 20% off plus a further discount of 10% on whatever is in your cart at checkout. Surprisingly that adds up to 28% off the original price. 

All you do is simply use the Promotion Code CMT12 upon checking out. Isn't that a great idea?

So go to my TPT Store- A Teacher's Idea and start adding your items to your wishlist. Remember, do not checkout until Cyber Monday or Tuesday to take advantage of this special offer!

Teachers Notebook 3 Day Sale!

Teachers Notebook is "giving back" to all its members! Make a purchase from a teacher shop and Teachers Notebook will take off an additional 10% from your ENTIRE ORDER!. With so many shops running sales, you could get up to 55% off!

Click on the promotion above to go directly to my store A Teacher's Idea or Click on the sidebar if you wish.

Base Ten Matching Cards

I just love to create resources for teachers. It is my new found passion! Every minute, every hour spent putting stuff together leads to great things. I spent some time creating these matching cards just for the thrill of it! It took me the entire day more or less, but it was all worth it!

These cards are bright, colorful and eye-catching! Included in this card set are number cards 1 to 100 with three bonus cards- numbers 101 and 110, just to show what the higher numbers in the hundreds look like. The picture cards are from 1 to 20 only.

My cards can be sorted, matched or even arranged in numerical order, ascending or descending. They can be used in isolation, that is, as stand-alone on your bulletin boards or displayed in your Math centers. These are just some of the ways that you can use them!

To access these wonderful number cards check my TPT store by clicking HERE or you can get it at my TN store HERE! And don't forget to add your feedback when you do check it out!

Hip Hop in The Classroom

This is a very interesting topic for a post don't you think? Well, I got my inspiration from a wonderful link someone sent me from Flocabulary- a site  that promotes teaching of content through the use of hip hop songs and videos. It is amazing how this genre can be utilized in the classroom to make learning both fun and meaningful.


Here is the link to the very catchy video entitled "The Last 18 Years in Class of 2012". I love it!! 

Tell me what you think.

This is for teaching the Five Elements of A Story

For more great videos and audios go to Flocabulary

Over 50 Thanksgiving Words for Your Word Wall Needs

Stimulate your Thanksgiving writing centers with these bright and colorful Thanksgiving-themed word cards. They can be used to help in brainstorming activities and Vocabulary exercises to get your kids to focus on key ideas associated with this celebration. They can also be added to your Social Studies and History centers to give your lessons the target they need.

There are 95 word cards which include such difficult words as:

Massasoit, Patuxet, Wampanoag and Tisquantum... words steeped in America's History.

Click HERE for my TPT store!

You may also like this version for students in the lower classes also available.

Click HERE  for further details.

Free Clipart For Personal and Commercial Use

Looking for great clip art and photos that's free for personal or commercial use? Then check out these sites that I came across recently. These sites do have limitations on usage, especially for commercial purposes, so you will need to read the terms of use carefully.Click on the images or the links at the bottom.


Wpclipart


http:wpclipart.com      (Personal and Commercial Use)



Clker


http://www.clker.com   (Personal and Commercial Use)




Icon Bug



http://iconbug.com (Personal and Commercial Use)
These are mainly icons for use on blogs and websites.




Stock Xchng Photos


http://www.sxc.hu (Personal and Commercial Use)




Public Domain Clip Art


http://www.pdclipart.org (There is No Warranty)


Free Images Collection Photos


http://freeimagescollection.com (Personal and Commercial)