If you are an educator, have you started the countdown for how many school days are left? I am raising 2 hands as we speak! I love working with my students, but I am also ready for summer vacation.
May is Get Caught Reading Month. Read, Write, Think shares that “Get Caught Reading" is a nationwide public service campaign launched by the Association of American Publishers to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read.” What better way to celebrate reading than with CARE Day!
Our school celebrates CARE (Celebrating Authors and Readers at Elliott) every May. It is a day that students and staff look forward to through the whole year, and also a great end of the year activity.
To make a successful CARE Day happen there is some planning that is involved, but the excitement from the students is priceless and makes all the planning worth it.
Here are some simplet steps on how to creating your own CARE Day: All students are required to create their own book to share on CARE day. This can be done in a journal, notebook paper, or a Bare Book. Invite authors and guest readers to join in your CARE Day. These guest readers could be local business owners, parents, administrators, or other people from your district. This year we are recording some author visits through Google Hangouts to allow teachers and students to watch them throughout the day.
Get scheduled! We are color coding classrooms to provide ease for activities throughout the day. Activities on our schedule include:
Watching author videos
Using a craft station (making bookmarks)
Participating in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read); This is where students share their books
Preparing for and recording a FlashMob.
Hosting guest readers
In the past our CARE day has also included a Character Parade where all of the students were invited to dress up as their favorite character.
CARE Day offers a great way to celebrate reading and writing. It also offers a great way to end the year in a fun way (that still meets all of those standards you are required to work on!) .
How do you celebrate Get Caught Reading in May? I'd love to know. Please share with me in the comments below.
Andrea Keller teaches children with disabilities. She is the wife to Executive Chef William. Andrea is a lover of volunteering and technology and was a 2011-2012 TCEA Teacher of the Year and on the NSBA 20 To Watch.
Follow her “Beeline” of learning to find quick and handy tips to use both in and outside the classroom. Can’t wait for my next blog post? Follow Andrea's adventures on twitter @akbusybee.
Our Pinterest boards are in full bloom thanks to Follett Software’s guest pinners. Let's explore some of the latest resources that our guest pinners have shared on their boards.
Common Core from Guest Pinner Laura Healy Laura's board has 113 Followers and 211 Pins. She pins resources related to the Common Core every Friday. Here are a few she has pinned:
The Follett Webinar, Successfully Rolling out a 1:1 Initiative had over 65 plus
attendees this morning. The conversation with speaker Rick Jones, School
Librarian with Eastbrook Community Schools (Marion, Indiana) detailed a successful roll out of a 1:1 initiative
across th entire K-12 district from the pre-planning stage to devices in the hands
of students.
We microblogged the session on Twitter this morning. If you missed the
live feed,here is the digest.
I mentioned in a previous post that I LOVE Pinterest! You can find my 5 Pinterest Tips here. Although I love Pinterest to help me with school ideas, I also love it for my crafty side.
This year, for my birthday, I decided to host a Pinterest Party. I had seen several people post on how to organize a Pinterest themed party, and just like everything else I created my own spin to it.
Being a teacher I realize how busy everyone gets so I made it fairly simple (and cheap). After spending time on Pinterest (ok, maybe a few hours) I decided the crafts I wanted to complete. I created a specific birthday party board and invited those that were attending both virtually and face to face to pin ideas to it. You can find my party board on Pinterest here.
Each guest was asked to bring 2 items: 1. A food dish that they had created from a recipe from Pinterest. I have to say I did NOT follow my diet this evening as the dishes were so tasty. Although it was a potluck, guests enjoyed sharing how they found the recipes and what they were going to try to make differently the next time. 2. A t-shirt that could be made into either a scarf or headband (or whatever else they might come up with). This craft provided much giggling as we realized that it wasn’t the best project. There were several acceptable scarves and a beautiful headband, but they were produced after much trial and error.
Guests also had the opportunity to create their own coasters. This was by far my favorite project that evening and since then I have created several more. I purchased tiles from the local hardware store (for less than $0.20 each), modge podge, and clear spray paint. Party participants had a chance to decorate their own tiles using sharpies, scrapbook paper or pictures that they had brought themselves.
Pinterest is a great resource, but an even better one when you have a chance to try some of the things you pin. If you would like to see pictures of end products check out my Busy Bee Blog.
Follow my own “Beeline” of learning to find quick and handy tips to use both in and outside the classroom. Can’t wait for my next blog? Follow my adventures on twitter @akbusybee.
Andrea Keller teaches children with disabilities. She is the wife to
Executive Chef William. Andrea is a lover of volunteering and
technology and was a 2011-2012 TCEA Teacher of the Year and on the NSBA
20 To Watch.
She also blogs at Busy Bee Ideas.
Follow Andrea's “Beeline” of learning to find quick and handy tips to
use both in and outside the classroom.Can’t wait for her next blog post?
Follow her adventures on twitter @akbusybee.
April 19, 2013 · By Rebecca Levinson · No Comments
Our Pinterest boards are rocking thanks to Follett Software’s guest pinners. Let's explore some of the latest resources that our guest pinners have shared on their boards.
Ruth's Board has 103 followers and 40 pins. She pins resources related to her blog posts on the Learning Library every Monday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Education Apps from Guest Pinner Laura Healey Laura's Board has 114 followers and 181 pins. She pins resources related to Education Apps every Friday. Here are a few she has pinned:
We also have Follett related boards like the Follett Challenge and Behind the Scene boards that give you a sneak peek inside our offices. We are pin happy and we'd like to share. We'd love to see you.
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter @follettsoftware or @rebeccalev.
Spring is in the air! In my classroom that means that not only is spring in the air, but also the dust from me doing my spring cleaning.
Around this time every year I get in that kick where I am ready to purge. This year is a little different as I am not only spring cleaning, but I am also preparing for construction on our school this summer.
As I complete my own spring cleaning I wanted to share my top 3 spring cleaning tips:
1. Go through your paperwork! I am an organizer, but I admit it, I have that filing cabinet where I “file” paper. You know what file means; it means you throw it in the drawer because you don’t want people realizing that you don’t file your papers! This time of year I take out all of the papers and actually go through them. Some of them are handouts from staff meetings and some are notes that I have taken. If I have not looked at the notes or information I politely recycle or shred them if it seems in anyway confidential. I save what I feel is most important from the year and I put it into a three ring binder. This way it is not just loose leaf paper, but also easier to access. I do check with my office before I shred items, as some paperwork needs to be saved for up to 5 years. All those extra copies of worksheets that I might have accumulated, I staple those together and send home with students (great summer work and then you are not wasting paper!)
2. Purge! Many of us inherited rooms that had items already piled up inside of them. I feel bad for getting rid of things, but if I am not using them there is no reason to keep them (teachers do tend to be the best hoarders). This is a great time to share the wealth with that new teacher on campus or teachers that are changing grade levels. Can’t find a new home for some items? Donate them to a local church or pre-school. Also if you have a Destination ImagiNation team on campus they will take items off your hands.
3. Organize! So you have recycled your paperwork and you have purged, now it is time to actually organize your materials. During this time I even sometimes rearrange my classroom just to change things up. What is the best and easiest way for you to access must need items? Are there items that you can store neatly away until next year? Not only do I organize cabinets during this time of year, but I also make an effort to clean my computer desktops and hundreds of bookmarks or favorite webpages that I have.
Take a moment to watch the video below and spring into cleaning your classroom.
What tips do you have to spring clean? How do you keep organized? Please share them with Andrea in the comments below.
Andrea Keller teaches children with disabilities. She is the wife to
Executive Chef William. Andrea is a lover of volunteering and
technology and was a 2011-2012 TCEA Teacher of the Year and on the NSBA
20 To Watch.
She also blogs at Busy Bee Ideas. Please welcome Andrea and her new series by commenting below. Can’t wait for her next blog post? Follow her adventures on twitter @akbusybee.
Follow my own “Beeline” of learning to find quick and handy tips to use both in and outside the classroom. Can’t wait for my next blog? Follow my adventures on twitter @akbusybee
April 02, 2013 · By Rebecca Levinson · No Comments
Our Pinterest boards are blooming thanks to Follett Software’s guest pinners. Let's explore some of the latest resources that our guest pinners have shared on their boards.
Common Core from Guest Pinner Laura Healy Laura's board has 98 Followers and 94 Pins. She pins resources related to the Common Core every Friday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Education Apps from Guest Pinner Laura Healey Laura's Board has 103 followers and 141 pins. She pins resources related to Education Apps every Friday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter @follettsoftware or @rebeccalev.
March 22, 2013 · By Rebecca Levinson · No Comments
Our Pinterest boards are springing to life thanks to Follett Software’s guest pinners. Take a journey with us as we explore some of the latest resources that our guest pinners have shared on their boards.
Ruth's Board has 90 followers and 26 pins. She pins resources related to her blog posts on the Learning Library every Monday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Education Apps from Guest Pinner Laura Healey Laura's Board has 101 followers and 112 pins. She pins resources related to Education Apps every Friday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Library Media from Guest Pinner Terri Pope Terri has 90 followers and 50 pins. She pins resources related to Library Media every Wednesday. Here are a few she has pinned:
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter @follettsoftware or @rebeccalev.
Andrea Keller teaches children with disabilities. She is the wife to Executive Chef William. Andrea is a lover of volunteering and technology and was a 2011-2012 TCEA Teacher of the Year and on the NSBA 20 To Watch. 
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter 
Andrea Keller teaches children with disabilities. She is the wife to
Executive Chef William. Andrea is a lover of volunteering and
technology and was a 2011-2012 TCEA Teacher of the Year and on the NSBA
20 To Watch.
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter 
Rebecca Levinson is the Manager of Online and Social Media Marketing for Follett Software. Social media is her passion and blogging is her first love. You can find Rebecca on Twitter @follettsoftware or @rebeccalev.
