5 For Friday: 6/13/14

Friday the 13th?  Not a problem.  Today we are linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for the 5 for Friday Linky!  One of our Favorites!

I had a major crash course in using Adobe Photoshop!  Thanks Kristen!  Here is a sample paper I made.  So much fun!

Some shopping therapy.  I bought a new computer.  I decided to go back to a desktop for various reasons mainly dealing with my back hurting.  I ended up buying one of those "all in one" computers that has a huge monitor.  Love it.  Did I mention it has a huge monitor?! 

I also watched my guilty little secret: Pretty Little Liars.  Yes, I do have a teenage daughter, and no, she wasn't at home with me.  I watched it anyway!

Well, I had to set up my new computer and play on it didn't I?  Ha!  

It's my son's 18th birthday!  No I am not old enough to have an 18 year old.  I am only 29....uhhm.  Here are 2 of my favorite soccer pictures of him.  We have to acknowledge that his birthday, his iconic 18th birthday, is marking the opening of the World Cup in Brazil.  Yes, I will always be a soccer mom at heart!  Go USA!

I am finding Friday the 13th is a beautiful day in my neighborhood.  How about yours?

Technology Thursday: Mouse Tricks!

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: You must include the image above and a link to our linky somewhere in your blog post.
Rule #2: Follow the Rule of Three...visit the two blogs who link up before you and the one immediately after 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. {Exception...freebies...because everybody loves a good freebie!}


Technology Thursday's Tip of the Week!

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across an article about how to use your mouse.  I had time on my hands and started to read.  What I read actually shocked me.  I considered myself a fairly competent computer techie.  I mean, I know I don't know everything, but, how to use a mouse? Come on...I am a certified educational technologist, I AM The Tech Crazy Teacher after all, and use technology everyday in my classroom and at home.  But as I read the article, I found out that I am a novice at using the basic tool that connects me to my computer- my mouse.  The tips! The tricks! The basic understanding that could have saved me untold hours over the years astounded me. (This is me shaking my head and sighing.)

Mouse Tricks and Tips that I Didn't Know

1.  Double click: highlights a word

2.  Triple click:  highlights a paragraph-  No joke!  Why didn't I know this?

3.  Hold down the ALT and left mouse button: highlight a column of text 

4.  Press down the scroll button.  This is referred to the "middle-click".  The middle-click does different things in different programs.  

• For instance, on an internet page, using the middle-click on a link will automatically open the link in a new page.  So cool and quick!
• Middle-click on a blank spot in a page and a navigation tool appears.  This allows you to move anywhere on the page quickly. (Especially fast when going up and down.)

My personal favorite:

5.  Hold CTRL while using the scroll wheel: zooms in or zooms out of the page you are viewing - I have used this so so much!

I have even discovered that there are more complicated mice (Is that the correct word?) that can be purchased with even more buttons.  These can be tailored and adjusted to your needs.  

I think I will stick with the Mickey I have for now.

Hopefully you learned a new trick that you can practice and add to your expertise.  Leave me a comment and let me know!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday-Summer Edition

It's Wordless Wednesday...

What are you excited to implement into your classroom next school year?





Two for Tuesday - Great resources at Great prices!

It's Tuesday again, and this summer, that means Two for Tuesday at The Teaching Tribune!

My newest resource is my TPT Business Planner. This is a one-stop-shop for keeping all of your product ideas, resources, blog plans, and stats together and organized!

Includes tons of pages to keep  your store and blog organized!

• monthly calendars
• weekly checklists
• sales and follower tracking for TPT, blogs, and social media
• giveaway planning
• linky parties
• blog post and series idea planning
• product planning
• product updates
• terms of use quick reference
• fonts & clip art organization

On sale today for just $4.50!

How many times do you hear students complain politely mention that they don't know what to write about? Here's your answer! Use these Writing Ideas in a Jar to give  your students an easy place to grab writing topic ideas.

 

Included are 60 very broad writing topics that students can choose from. There are a wide variety of topics sure to engage every student in your class! {Amusement parks, exercise, dessert, your favorite place, etc.} I laminate and cut apart these cards, and keep them in a large plastic jar in my classroom. Occasionally, I have everyone choose a topic from the jar for our Writing Circles, but most of the time, it's just there for students to use when they're having trouble coming up with a topic. On sale today for $1.50!

Remember to leave feedback for your purchases and earn TPT credits! Stop  by The Teaching Tribune for more great products at half price! I know I stocked up on some goodies last week!

Don't forget our Technology Thursday linky party! Link up your tech tips, tutorials, website and app reviews, and check out the other fabulous technology resources every Thursday!

Monday Made It: EOY Gifts, TPT Planner, & a giveaway!

Today I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Frolics for Monday Made It to share two things I made over the last few weeks - one crafty project and one digital project.

I made these cute end of the year gifts for my team (and myself) this year. It took a lot of sneaking around to get all of my teammates' students' fingerprints without them knowing, but fortunately, we have an awesome math enrichment teacher who let me barge in on her class a couple of times. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture before I gave them to my teammates, so all you get to see is mine.

The idea is to have all of our students every year add their fingerprints to the tree. Over the years, the tree will grow bigger and bigger!

Here's a little trick for you to make the bows on top...
1. Cut a piece of ribbon longer than you think you need.
2. Fold the ribbon into a loop like this:

3. Tie a regular old knot in the center of the loop.
4. Fluff out your bow! (This works WAY better with wired ribbon than it does with regular ribbon.)

The other little project I've been working on is a planner to keep all of my TPT /Blog ideas and info organized. A lot of work has gone into this planner to make it exactly what I needed and wanted, and I am super proud of how it turned out! I'm calling it my TPT Business Planner, because I believe that in order to be successful with TPT, you really do need to treat it like a business.

Here's a peek at what you can find inside:

...and even more!

For today only, the planner is on sale for half price! Want to snag a free copy instead? Pin it to Win it! Pin any of the images above, comment below with the URL of your pin, and I will randomly choose a winner to get a free copy!