My First Freebie Attempt!

So I'm going to make this short and sweet because it's very late ... But, I'm SO excited! I have always loved the idea of the Desk Fairy visiting my friends to check for neat desks. It's much cuter and way more positive than a grown woman whining about paper, broken crayons, and critters falling out of little desks, right? . Of course the "Desk Fairy" wasn't born yesterday (and she IS NOT my original idea...) but this little rhyme is MINE!  Woot Woot! So, I would like to share with all of my bloggie friends, my FIRST (be nice) attempt at a freebie! I hope that you like it as much as I do! Now if only that Desk Fairy had magic cleaning dust for my house...hmmmmm.... ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Technology Tuesday with a side of catch-up

Yes, I know. If I ever intend to break 30 blog followers, I have to actually do the "blogging". (I can use that as a verb, right?) Since my last post, I've attended two staff meetings, two team meetings, a committee meeting for Social Studies, a Brownie troop orientation, Grits for Grandparents,  two parent conferences, a week of early duty,  and a partridge in a pear tree  PTO meeting. WOW... and I still have Open House this Thursday. Welcome back to school, friends! :) Sooo, I'm so glad that my ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER ARRIVED! It is the best thing EVER and I even received a coupon for my next purchase. (If I ever decided on what that will be and how it will look! There are so many options!) And for your viewing pleasure, here it is....

even the packaging was beautiful in all of it's Clemson glory :)

the front cover

the back (have no clue why it's upside down...I tried to fix it...oh well)

I said it was "Technology Tuesday", so here is my tid bit for the day. I am a self professed technology junkie in all forms. (Per my summer professional development, I am what is now known as a "Digital Native"...I need the t-shirt) Anytime I can find a really neat way to integrate technology in my class that carries over to their homes,well,  I'm sold!  Last year, I was in a vertical team meeting with a kindergarten friend and noticed her desktop. It was neatly organized with icons and colors... I was drawn in like a moth to a flame. I HAD to know more! My friend quickly introduced me to Symbaloo. Symbaloo is a free site where you can create and organize "webmixes" (aka. an awesome way to access websites that you use often in one neat, visually appealing place AND it can be accessed from any computer that has internet connection).  At first, I used symbaloo as a way to organize my "teacher" desktop...curriculum sites had a green background, interactive kid sites had a pink background, and so forth. I then decided to dig a little deeper and try to find more ways that my KIDS could use it. SCORE! One way that I currently use Symbaloo is to organize a variety of safe, educational sites that my kiddos will enjoy during computer workshop. (You can check-out my personal webmix here. Feel free to use it! Let me know what you think about the sites on it and if you have ideas for new ones!) Another very cool way to use symbaloo, is to create a webmix based around a theme or unit study. For example, if you are studying dinosaurs (We are currently reading Magic Treehouse: Dinosaurs Before Dark), create a webmix with museums that contain fossils, a dig out west, a link to videos, online children's encyclopedia for research, etc. Your students now how a central location to go to, find relevant information on their topic, while still feeling "in control" of their learning.  The best part is, you can SHARE your webmix through a link or embed with html so that parents and students can access your symbaloo from any computer with internet access. Cool huh?

Well, I am going to 'jump ship' for the night... I have learned to create some of the ideas that have been crammed in the back of my head, to share on here and on TpT! (THANK YOU Nicole Heinlein @ Teaching with Style! Check out her blog-great ideas and she is super helpful!)

Until next time,  remember to smile, breathe, and ENJOY the JOURNEY!