Hello Friends! Today I have three things to ask you.... Is technology your friend or foe?   Are you savvy or sorrowful about it?   Do you embrace it or do you fear it? These are the tough questions that the instructor asked on the first day of my  professional development seminar this past June.  I have to admit that my answers fell on the "fearful" side before the week-long training started.  I am most comfortable teaching with a story or a song, an easel and chart paper, or a puppet and a fun, print-tracking pointer. I am the person that hardly knows what to do with my iPhone, and tells my students to "cross their fingers and hope it works" whenever I attempt to use fancy gadgets to enhance instruction.  I am the educator who would sassily wear this t-shirt.... After a week of intensive group work, video seminars, and one-on-one tutorials though, I have changed my tune and adjusted my attitude! I listened intently to my instr...

Printing, laminating, copying, collating, and organizing have kept me busy this week as I prepare to meet my new group of second graders on August 21st, and I cannot wait to introduce them to the "Poetry Corner" that I have created for my classroom!  All of the materials that I will use there were designed and compiled by my friend and fellow blogger Melissa of Teacher Treasure Hunter ,  and are "just right" for building fluency, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and rhyming skills all year round.   Melissa's resource includes four sets of seasonal literacy posters that support the Common Core ELA standards for reading and listening to poetry, and can be used in many different ways in grades K-3.  Her collection includes a nice variety of non-fiction and fiction poems, as well as both serious and silly verses. The focus of my product review will be the variety of summer and fall poems that are featured in this resource. ...

Hello friends! Just when I was feeling VERY sad about summer ending and the back-to-school frenzy beginning, THIS arrived on my porch to boost my mood! Throughout the months of June and July, I have had the pleasure of participating in the SLANT Box Exchange hosted by Jameson over at   Lessons With Coffee .  Each month she organizes a themed event and matches bloggers up to be  "pen pals." Emily over at Munchkins Inc.         and  Heidi over at Mrs. Samuelson's Swamp Frogs          have become my newest teacher-author friends during this short period of time. I have truly enjoyed getting to know them better through our exchange of friendly e-mails!  Be sure to visit their sites and become their newest followers! The theme for our summer SLANT Boxes was "sunshine," so shopping for goodies to surprise Emily with was a real treat!  Numerous adventures to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Target, an...