Tech Thursday and 500 Follower Giveaway!!

Today's post is a two-parter. The first is our Tech Thursday Linky. The second is we are having a GIVEAWAY  to celebrate the new year and hitting 500 followers. Be sure to read ALL the way to the bottom of the post to enter in the giveaway and see all the amazing products you could win from our generous bloggy/TpT friends! First Things First...

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

This week's PowerPoint Potential is all about how to save your PowerPoint as an image (png or jpeg). These save options are especially handy when you go to make previews for your TpT products. I am going to walk you through how to save as a picture (not the entire slide) and also how to save your entire document as a picture.

Saving a Few Items as an Image    I use this a lot when I create something that I don't want to be full document size. The first thing you need to do is select all the items you want to save as an image. You can do this by either command + a (mac) or ctrl + a (pc).

Then do a quick control + click and a dropdown menu should appear. Select save as picture.








The normal save as menu pops up and you just need to rename the file and select where you want to save it to.









Now when you go to where you saved your picture, you will find your new file! Open it up and you will find that ONLY what you selected in your document saved as a picture. This means I have an image with a transparent background instead of the white background like the document!!!





Saving an Entire Document as Images -  I use this option ALL the time. The most frequent time is when I am making previews for my TpT products. Simply open your product and go to file save as.






The save as box pops up. Select a file destination for your save. For these I always save to my desktop. It just is more convenient than saving to my documents. (When I am done making my preview file for the product, I delete this file of images because it is no longer needed.) Then go to the bottom and where it says Format: select either PNG or JPEG.


Go to wherever you saved it and open up the folder. Inside will be an image for each slide of your document! Pretty fabulous right?! Simply drag these images into your preview file! Easy!

There you have it! Saving your files as PNG or JPEG is a great way to use your documents in different ways! Link up at the VERY bottom of this post with your Tech Thursday Tips!

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ON TO THE GIVEAWAY FUN!!!

We are celebrating in a big way! We have three separate prize packs (primary grades, intermediate grades and TpT sellers) that you can enter to win. There are over 30 prizes in all! Check out the graphics below to see what you can win and be sure to enter the Rafflecopters!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Merry Christmas & a Giveaway winner!

Just stopping in today to say Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful followers!

Remember, there will be no Tech Thursday tomorrow due to Christmas, but we will be back on Sunday with the Sunday Scoop and a very exciting Tech Thursday on New Year's Day!

The winner of our TPT giveaway is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Liz! You should receive an email from us today with your gift certificate.

Sunday Scoop {12/21/14}

The Sunday Scoop is based on the popular 3-2-1 graphic organizers so many of us use with our students. Tell us three things you HAVE to do, two things you HOPE to do, and one thing you're HAPPY to do (because these days, we could all use a little motivation to find something to be happy about every week!). It's a short and sweet way to connect with each other every Sunday (or Monday... the linky will stay open all week!)

Here's what to do:
1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! You don't even have to explain yourself any further if you don't want to.
2. Include the button above and a link to our  blog on your post.
3. Link our post up here on Sunday morning (or whenever :) )
4. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours!

My 3 things I have to do should be done by noon today which will leave the rest of my day free! My student gifts are all finished, just need to stick all of the pieces in the bag. I will blog all about what I gave my students later on. :) I am almost all prepped for January. A few pages left to copy and some interactive notebook pages to cut out and I am done! Clean house... this is a constant!

My family is coming to my house the weekend after Christmas to celebrate. They are so willing to work around our crazy schedule this time of year. My sis and her fiancé will be staying with us. I need to get all the groceries for the big meal and also for the weekend of family being here! Let's just say I have a grocery list that is 2 pages long!!! The hubs decided to buy a few more gifts... so more wrapping for me...

I absolutely love making sugar cookies. It is seriously one of my favorite deserts this time of year!!!

You can link up your Sunday Scoops below! But... before you go, don't forget to enter our TPT Gift Certificate giveaway!

An InLinkz Link-up

All I want for Christmas is... {a giveaway!}

a TPT Gift Certificate! 

What's the very best gift you could get a teacher? A gift certificate to TeachersPayTeachers, of course! A TpT gift certificate is worth gold! Seriously! Being able to purchase top-notch teaching resources instead of having to create them yourself saves precious time, time that can be spent over the holidays relaxing or enjoying special moments with family and friends.

TeachersPayTeachers recently gave their gift certificates a make-over, and now each certificate has it's own unique color. You can purchase a gift certificate for any amount between $10 and $200. Wow! Imagine what you could do with a $200 gift certificate! Click over to the TpT Gift Certificate page  (You'll need to be logged in to see it).

As a Christmas gift for our fabulous followers, the Teaching Trio is giving away a $10 TPT certificate this week! Enter in the Rafflecopter below before midnight on the 23rd, and we will announce a winner on Christmas Eve! You can earn up to 9 entries if you complete all the items listed, but it's fine to just complete one or two.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We are also teaming up with some of our other teaching blog friends who are each also giving away a $10 TpT gift certificate. You'll find all of their links at the bottom of this post. If you don't see many blogs linked up, check back tomorrow to find the others. You have to enter each contest separately, and each of us has a slightly different process for entering their giveaway. Be sure to read the directions on each blog before entering.

http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=478582" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up

   

Sunday Scoop {11/9/14} + Giveaway Winner!

The Sunday Scoop is based on the popular 3-2-1 graphic organizers so many of us use with our students. Tell us three things you HAVE to do, two things you HOPE to do, and one thing you're HAPPY to do (because these days, we could all use a little motivation to find something to be happy about every week!). It's a short and sweet way to connect with each other every Sunday (or Monday... the linky will stay open all week!)

Here's what to do:
1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! You don't even have to explain yourself any further if you don't want to.
2. Include the button above and a link to our  blog on your post.
3. Link our post up here on Sunday morning (or whenever :) )
4. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours!

Here's the Scoop on my week...

So... I am pretty pumped about starting math workshop with my kiddos. They have been working so hard the last few weeks in math (and during our Daily 5 time). I think it is finally time to start with Math Workshop. I have waited this long because this group of kiddos had never experienced small group rotations like this for reading or math before. I didn't want to overwhelm them with both workshop and Daily 5. I am SO excited because we received our iPods through Donors Choose so that will be a new technology rotation!

Of course... nothing is more exciting than announcing a giveaway winner! Thank you all so much for entering our "New Birdie Giveaway". The winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Introducing Cassie and A Giveaway!

Hello! I am the new addition to The Teaching Trio! I am so excited to be part of this great collaborative blog. This post is going to be all about me. If you want to know even more about any of us click the about us tab at the top to find out some more interesting facts about the little birds behind this blog! 

So... in case you haven't figured it out already, my name is Cassie. I started my blogging adventure at Funky in Fourth. Kristen and Juliet asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted to join them on this blog and OF COURSE I said YES! I started my blog/TpT adventure about a year and a half ago and I am loving the amazing friendships that I have made along the way. Joining this collaborative blog is just another example of the amazing friends I have met.

Here are some about me facts. I have been married to an amazing man for over 4 years. We have the "lovey dovey" type relationship that every girl dreams of. I honestly believe he completes me.

We have two lovely "fur children". They are our entire life right now. Frankie and Gracie have total rule of the house! Frankie is my little man and he often poses in pictures with his cray-cray momma. Gracie is a daddy's girl. She follows him EVERYWHERE and whines when he leaves. She is also known as the diva in the house. She loves photos and you will see that she loves to photo bomb when mommy is taking pictures!

 

We live in a small town in northern Minnesota. No sarcasm with the "small" town... we have one stoplight in our town!! I teach fourth grade at an elementary school that has about 600 students k-6. I teach at the same school that my husband attended. This is my second year teaching and I am loving every single minute of it. We live about an hour from where I grew up so we both have tons of family in the surrounding area. Family is extremely important to both of us. My parents have encouraged me my entire life to pursue my dreams. I wouldn't be where I was today, without them. I have an older sister and a younger brother. My big sis is a graphic designer! She has all of the artistic ability in the family. My little bro is a huge inspiration to me {you can read more about that on the about us page}. He is ten years younger than me and the things he does amazes me every day. I also have an amazing brother-in-law and some pretty great parents-in-law. I am so jealous of all of you that have nice weather mostly year round. Here, we have snow for about 5-6 months of the year, with lots and lots of snow from December-March. My poor puggies hate being cold! 

As far as my teaching career goes... it is a small one. I graduated in December of 2012 from the University of North Dakota with honors. I graduated with my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Psychology. We officially moved to my husband's hometown and I started subbing in the same district that I now teach in. I was hired as a fourth grade teacher in August of 2013 for the 2013-2014 school year. After my first year, our school had a huge remodel project and we had to completely move out of the school. That was an experience I will never forget. This year I am teaching fourth grade again and I am thrilled. I seriously love this age and all of the content we teach. Here are a few photos of my "second home" from the beginning of the school year. 

 

 

That is where I spend a good chunk of my time. I usually get to the school early and leave late every day. But, I love every minute of it. My students this year are really excited to learn and that makes me excited to teach! Some other things I love to do is spend time with family, go horseback riding and watch sports. I am a huge sports fan. My husband coaches both football and basketball. So in addition to spending a ton of time at the school in my classroom, I spend a ton of time at the school in the gym! I love watching him out on the court! We are also HUGE hockey fans (go Wild), baseball fans (go Twins) and football fans (I'm a Giants fan and the hubs is a Vikings fan... cough ewww). 

This is about all there is to know about me. I am so excited about joining this blog and meeting so many new people!!

To celebrate my joining, we will be having a giveaway! Check out the Rafflecopter below for your chance to enter to win $10 to each of our TpT stores!

But, the celebrating isn't done yet! We will be having a sale in all of our TpT stores starting today through Thursday!! Go get some goodies for 15% off! I am looking forward to getting to know all of you and becoming a part of this blog! Oh and thank you for taking the time to read this LONG about me post!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway