LE Studio

Has it really been this long?! Plus a few projects...

WOW! I can't believe it has been since May 19th since I've blogged! I wanted to share a few things I've been up to since school got out.

First, I decided that my office needed a makeover. I found this desk and chair at a store called Trendz Market in KC. Trendz is like a flea market with booths that small business owners can rent and sell their products. I found this chair and desk from reDeux and had to have it!
What do you guys think? I know I don't have a whole lot of room to work on my desk, but I really wanted to scale down. Before I had a huge desk and it became a catch-all for tons of junk!

Second, I began working on organizing all of my resources (ideas, curriculum, etc.) for teaching. I used to keep everything in 3-ring binders organized by subject and then by topic inside, but I quickly ran out of room - I needed something a little different! I decided to organize by color and then by topic inside each color. I used file folders that I bought from Pendaflex and mailing & shipping labels from Avery.
Next, I assigned a subject to each color: reading - red, writing/grammar - yellow, math - green, science - blue, and social studies - purple. *Note: The purple folders didn't come with the box of folders. I had them already and I needed 5 different colors.

Then, I labeled the topic on the tab at the top (addition, subtraction, time, money, etc.) and then typed the corresponding grade-level expectation (GLE) on a label and attached it to the front. I used mailing labels for topics that only had 1 GLE that applied, and shipping labels for topics that had several GLEs that applied.
Okay, what do you guys think? Is this a good idea for organizing? I plan on putting the folders in my filing cabinet at school. I also plan on organizing other topics (holidays, parent communication, etc.) next. I'm also in the process of creating a spelling/vocabulary program that is based on a program created by Beth Newingham. I'll post more on the spelling program as I get further into it!

Thanks for stopping by!

We Heart the Science Fair!

Open house was last night and on display were our science fair projects. Our class completed 2 experiments: By Golly By Gum and Bubble Science. I didn't mean to, but both our projects just happened to involve bubble making! Oh well! The kids still had fun and that is what matters the most! So take a look at our projects and let me know what YOU think!




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Patience, Please

I finally took some time tonight to stop and write down everything that I need to accomplish before the school year is over. I'm sure like most of you, it is a lot and possibly overwhelming! I just wanted to take the time to ask you to forgive me if I am absent with posting new ideas over the next few weeks. I can't wait for the summer because I will not only have time to work on projects for next year, but I will also be able to share them with you! As I write this, I am thinking about all the teachers in America that are in the same boat as me - trying to keep the boat steady as the seas become more rocky! Good luck everyone and I hope the end of the year goes smoothly for you!

And the Winner Is...

Julie Ann, please contact me with your info. and stamp details! Thank you to everyone for entering!

It's Time for My 1st Giveaway - YEA!

Wow! I'm so excited that I have 25 people that are curious about what I have to share about teaching! Thanks to everyone for giving me a springboard to bounce around ideas and find new ones!

To celebrate reaching 25 followers, I am giving away a personalized chalkboard stamp from the Etsy store, cupcaketree. If you remember, I posted about her wonderful stamps a few weeks ago. Your stamp can say (just about) anything you want! Please keep in mind the stamp is about 2 inches wide, so you will be a little limited in what you personalize it with.

Here is how you can enter my giveaway (there are 3 ways!):

1. Follow my blog and leave me a comment saying you do.

2. Post about my giveaway on your blog and leave me a comment saying you did.

3. Leave me a comment telling me what you would put on your stamp!

You have until midnight Sunday, May 8th to enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry and don't forget to include an email address for me to contact you at! The winner will be announced Monday, May 9th. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Math Monday Blog Hop - Place Value Sliders

I can't believe I have been blogging for 3 weeks now! I realized it had been 3 weeks when I started thinking of what idea I would submit for love2learn2day's Math Monday Blog Hop - how quickly time flies!

This week, I am posting my Place Value Sliders. I like to use this to supplement our current textbook. Unfortunately, our curriculum does not have enough place value practice and I was desperate for a way to have the kids play with numbers that was kinesthetic.

To make the sliders, I give every student a set of number "slides" and one "holder" (the green slip of paper in the picture). I use 5 slides because our state GLEs require students to know numbers up to 99,999. I'm sure you can use as many place values as you would like. After the kids cut out their slides and holder, I laminate them so they will last all year. I then use an Xacto knife to (very!) carefully cut the slits in the holders to hold the sliders (you can also tape the ends of the number sliders together to make an odometer look). I give the sliders and holders back to the kids to keep in their math tool kit.

As for using the sliders in the classroom, I often ask students to make a 4-digit number, a 2-digit number, etc. I also ask for them to make numbers using only odd/even numbers or ask for them to make a number with an odd/even number on the ends. I might ask for their number to include 2 odd/even numbers, etc.

Number Sliders

How would you use Place Value Sliders? I would love to hear more ideas on how to use them in the classroom!

Thanks for stopping by!

Google Documents Help - Please!

I'm sure a few of you have read my last post about the Math Vocabulary Cards and noticed there were no vocab. cards! Here is the tale of how painful it was to get the vocabulary cards posted to my blog:

First, I tried using Google Documents to upload the files. Well, I figured out that you can't upload a Publisher file, so I went to school and converted it to a PDF. I came home, tried to upload the PDF onto Google Docs. and it wouldn't work! You should have seen me Saturday morning, trying to upload this thing - it wasn't pretty. My husband came into the office and told me it was too early to be this upset (it was 6:45 - I hate to say it, but he was right). It didn't matter, I was bound and determined to get this PDF to upload and share on my blog. I searched Google for articles that would help me figure out how to upload a PDF and the only thing I could find was a few articles that told me you can't upload PDFs on Google Docs.

Now, here I am stuck and I still don't know how PDFs on Google Docs work. I know this can't be right because I have visited countless other teacher blogs and they have (what have to be) PDF files uploaded with Google Docs. on their blog (I figure they have to be PDFs since we don't all have the same fonts or clipart saved on our computers)! I've even tried downloading files that I think are PDFs and used the 'Download Original' tab to see if I could figure out if the original posting was a PDF or not. So far - no luck!

I am now asking you, dear followers to help me with Google Docs. if you have any knowledge on how to upload a PDF with Google Docs. onto your blog, please drop me a comment. I would greatly appreciate your help. Until then, I have decided to use Scribd. A special thank you to those who have been willing to read my babbling frustration!

Thanks for stopping by!