This is me...coming to you from my iPad!! Part 1

Last week I wrote a test post from my ipad and I had a few people wondering what app it was. I didn't want to blog about it until I decided how I really felt about it. I am here to tell you today, that so far, so good.  And I want to share with you a couple apps that I use to blog from my ipad. But since POSTING is the big thing, I will start with this app.

Here is the fantastic, FREE app..

Pretty straight forward app name. Posts. Because that is what I am doing here. Posting. Right from my ipad. You can add images from your ipad media or from a URL. And they go right where you put them. Then you can align them (I always put mine in the center if you haven't noticed.) THIS is a big deal for me because even the $5 app that I have didn't work that well! In fact, I gave up using that $5 app and was really upset because I bought the ipad with the sole purpose of blogging (I use it to take pictures in my classroom so I don't have to bring my very expensive camera to school with me. Yes I know I lose picture quality but I don't want anything to happen to the camera. The iPad stays with me at all times at school.) Then my friend Farrah mentioned this app to me and I just had to try it. 

See that hyperlink up there on Farrah's name (and you may have noticed the image is linked to the app page too)?  Yep, I can do that RIGHT ON THE APP. Another big plus. Just like you do it on your computer. With that $5 app, I had to delete the text, put the hyperlink in and put the text back. I was not a fan. I like to type up my entire post then go back and add all my links. It is quick and easy just like on the computer. 

(That is how you hyperlink. Hylight the text or click the image you want to link, then click that button. You will see a screen like this...)

Did I mention this app is free?

What else can it do?

This makes me happy too. Now, I haven't tried this feature yet. I planned to try it while waiting at the dentist yesterday, but I didn't have a wait. On the $5 app, anytime I tried to save a post due to being unfinished or no internet connection, the post would NEVER post. Even when I published it. It was AWFUL to say the least. This FREE app claims to not have that issue. Once I am somewhere with no internet I promise to try it out and report back to you.  But even without that feature I am just super excited that I have an app that allows me to blog as if I am on the computer. (Sheesh, I just now noticed how many tabs I have open in those pictures...)

Want to schedule your post (like I am doing right now, as you can see I am typing this at night but you will not see it until tomorrow)... you can do that too..

You click that little info button right there, and this will pop up...

Put your date and time in, and ta-da you have a scheduled post. And yes this works, I tried it with an earlier post. 

Oh... did you want to know what your post will look like when you finish? (I know I can't be the only one who likes to preview my post before publishing right?) Easy peasy... Click this little button here...

And you will see this...

(and this is why I like to preview my posts before I publish... because that is just way too much spacing between paragraphs)

The ONLY thing that I give a thumbs down on is that my super duper cute signature does not post if I blog from here. BUT I have figured out a solution to that (as you can see if you scroll down, my signature is definitely there). I went to blogger on my ipad, went into make a new post, went to the html section and copied the html for my signature. I pasted it into a note on my ipad, and then when I am working here, I can just click html and paste it in. 

If you want to know how I was able to add my logo to my pictures, or draw the arrows, stay tuned for future posts in the Coming to You from My iPad series. 

(Disclaimer- this app is FREE so I was not provided the app to write a review. In fact, I wasn't provided anything. The developers of this app probably most definitely don't know who I am. I just was so impressed with this app and have had a few friends talk about how mad they are that blogging from their ipad was almost impossible that I wanted to share. If you have an ipad and want to blog from it, go scoop this one up!)

Teach Like a Pirate Chapter 1- Passion

"Light yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles around just to watch you burn." ~Dave Burgess, Teach Like a Pirate

It's time friends!! We are kicking off our Teach Like a Pirate book study today! Have you purchased and started reading your book yet?

Chapter 1 is all about Passion. And my favorite line... 

     "We are not passionate about everything we teach."  Whew! Doesn't it feel good to just admit that?

Dave discusses the three different areas of passion- Content, Professional, and Personal. 

My content passion- my favorite IB unit is our Sharing the Planet unit/conservation. I love reading but struggle with the best ways to teach it. But because I love it, I am always willing to work harder on it. What I hate- rocks/minerals and pretty much most other science. So, what do I do when I have to teach the things I hate?

Move onto my professional passion- My big one is the lightbulb moments. I may not like what I am teaching but I will work my hardest to see the lightbulb moments in my students. And I enjoy hearing my kids say they don't want to go home, they want to stay in third grade, they don't want me to be out, etc because they truly enjoy my class and coming to school. THAT is what teaching is all about. Not the test.

And the last area- personal passion- I don't know of a single student who doesn't want to get all up in your business. The more I incorporate my personal passions into my lessons and class discussions, the more intrigued the children are. If you love being crafty, incorporate arts and crafts into your lessons. My students are always interested in stories about Payton, so any time I can throw her into a lesson, I immediately have their attention. Even just starting a lesson with a simple- "Payton was coloring Easter eggs last night.." bam- I have their attention and all of a sudden we are sequencing and Payton is no longer involved. By adding personal passion into your lessons, it helps YOU to stay engaged and motivated as well.

Utilizing all 3 areas of passion is what is going to get us through the parts of the year that draaaag- you know, post spring break when there are NO.MORE.DAYS.OFF until summer. Passion. It will keep you sane. (Or as sane as a teacher can be post spring break.)

In the introduction to the book, Dave mentions that pirates are "daring, adventurous, and willing to set forth into unchartered territories with no guarantee of success."... They are "willing to travel to the ends of the earth for that which they value." Aren't those the types of characteristics we need to have as teachers? Have you lost that drive? Pick up this book and try to get it back!

Why did you go into teaching? I know it wasn't because you were so excited about THE TEST. I am guessing you went into it to change lives and make a difference. Focus on professional passion, be that teacher that you want to be, and

"Light yourself on fire with passion...and don't worry if it's not a controlled burn." 

For more information and to join in on the discussion from chapter 1, click the button below

Monday Made it #2

I am linking up with Tara again for 

And I am super excited about this one. See, I am moving into a new classroom next year. Three years of being in the trailer was enough. I am finally breaking free! Sadly...when my students helped me move some things into my new room, they saw it and said "OH.... we don't want you to move in here... this is disgusting!"

Well... when you have a bunch of third graders who have spent the year in a LITERALLY falling apart trailer telling you the new class is bad, you immediately start thinking about what you can do to make it better.

Step 1- come up with a theme- CHECK

Step 2- start making things to go with said theme. I have a notebook FULL of ideas and am slowly starting to make them for my classroom. 

My theme this year is...Pirates! But... I didn't want the typical all black and red pirate decor. So I went on the hunt for cute clipart. It took me over a week but I finally found something I liked. Since no one has created pirates in the colors I wanted, I am starting from scratch.

One of the first things I did was make a word wall title and letters.

(It dawned on me after seeing a friend's post that I didn't put the lowercase of each letter!! I have since fixed it for the file but I am not reprinting and laminating again.) This is hanging on my daughter's chalk wall for picture purposes. I have these letters (with the lowercase) and some letters with cute pirate clipart, but those aren't the ones I am using. Once the entire file is complete, I will be sure to share previews.

The next thing I decided was that I needed to redo my plastic drawers. Here are the before pictures...

(If you want to know HOW I use each of these, you will have to follow Pamela's blog for a guest post by me. It will be up on Friday.)

The white plastic was FILTHY. The ones with the subjects had pen all over them and the days of the week were just blah. And I didn't want white. So I got out my spray paint and went to town. Which ended with me having black spray paint all over my new manicure, my feet, and apparently my daughter's little blow up pool. Then I made new labels to match my theme and put them together...

Big difference right?! I liked them before because they served a fantastic purpose. But now.. now I LOVE them!!!

Be sure to check out all the posts that link up with Tara. I end up finding such good ideas for things I want to make!

Multiplication Paper Saver Follow Up and a Mini Me

After posting about my multiplication paper saver method, a friend of mine asked a very good question that I thought deserved its own post.

The question was- if you are giving them their timed tests on dry erase pockets, what are you sending home to parents to show grades.

And it dawned on me that I never specified just HOW I do that. And this is what I have done even when I used a bajillion copies of tests..

The timed tests NEVER go home. If students got a 100 I would file it in the 100s folder. If the students did not get a 100 they would have to copy the problems they got wrong, correct them, and write them 10x each. They would have to get it signed by a parent. So, their parents would know they didn't get a 100. These tests were separate from my actual grading. I didn't record THESE grades in my normal grade book. They went on a separate checklist. I give my students TONS of practice and other multiplication tests and THOSE are the grades that count and the ones that get sent home. Some examples of things I would grade are: workbook pages, word problems, task card activities, dice games, etc. The parents still see how their child is doing without me having to send home the timed tests.

Now IF you have one of THOSE parents...you know the kind. The ones that want to see EVERYTHING. I have a simple solution for you. Take a quick picture on your phone of the timed test after it is scored, send it to the parents in an email or text (if you text your parents), or you can even print it out and attach it to your papers you send home. (We only send papers home on Wednesdays, so in this case, I would print it out and it would get stapled into the packet of papers for the week.)

Students will still have to make their corrections if they don't get a 100. I will just have them copy the ones they got wrong before they erase their pockets. They will have to make their corrections and get it signed by a parent. It is easy for me to keep track of WHO has to return this because I have a checklist where I mark off if someone got a 100 on the test. If they didn't, then I don't mark it, and I know they owe me corrections with a signature. (I am sorry I don't have any pictures of this because I got rid of it at the end of the year.)

Now my mini me...

You may have noticed on my logo that I place on my pictures, there is a little clipart person. That person is me!

I absolutely love it. Crystal from The Library Fox made it for me and I just love love love it. She has them listed in her TpT shop if you want to get one for yourself. Her turn around time is just a couple days and she is very easy to work with! She dealt with me... she can deal with anyone! AND you get a black and white copy of yourself too! Which I positively love and am going to use on classroom communication!

More F words...

Nope, still not THAT F word. One of the same F words as last week...
And another that you will have to read through to see what it is all about.

My freebie for this week (seriously how does Friday get here so stinkin fast in the summer?!) is something simple, but something I needed for my class.

In third grade we work on mastering multiplication facts. And I expect my students to master one set before moving on to the next set. Meaning a student could potentially take the 2s tests 10 times before finally getting the 100 on the test. In fact, I had a student that was working on the 0s and 1s for over a month. And that, my friends, leads to a LOT of paper. I needed a way to reduce the copies. And I finally figured out a way! Enter my freebie...

You may have seen my post about the dry erase pockets from My Binding... Well I have decided to make sure I have a class set and utilize these for multiplication tests.  In this freebie there are three templates for students to use. They say ___ x 4, ___ x 7, etc. In random order. I did this so that 1. students can't cheat and 2. students won't always get the same test so they can't just memorize the order of the numbers and answers. Each student will get a dry erase pocket and when I say go they will have a minute to write down whatever facts they are working on in the blanks and solve all the problems (only 11). So a student working on the 3s would put 3 in all the blanks then solve the problems.

When time is up I can quickly check to see who got a 100 and put a sticker on the class chart for that test. If they didn't get a 100, they will take the same facts test next week. This last year I used the bubblegum machines for students to keep track of their own progress (read about that here), and I may use that one again next year, or use another that goes with my classroom theme. I am undecided because the gum really was a good motivator.

The file has pictures and more explanation than up above, but that is the general idea. Clicking the picture will take you to the freebie! Enjoy!

Now the other F word... Halle at Across the Hall in 2nd Grade has come up with this cute linky party and I just can't resist a good linky!

Favorite Things! And this week's topic is Morning Must Haves...
I am not your typical person I guess, because aside from the necessities (toothbrush, soap, etc), I don't have many must haves... but I do have two...

This is my makeshift vanity. I think it is a writing desk. I don't even remember. But I love it. It is the perfect size for all my makeup. You don't see all the mess of makeup. And I can sit comfortably while getting ready in the morning.  (My straightener is also a must have, but I didn't take a pic of it. You do NOT want to see this 'do without that thing.)

(Please don't mind the blurry picture- Payton was in my arms and we were busy laughing hysterically over nonsense... picture had no chance of being clear.)

And this little girl. It is a sad day when she isn't up when I leave for work. She wakes up in the morning usually right before I leave and comes outside to say bye to me. Every morning. She gives me kisses and as soon as I am in the car she is demanding her daddy come to the door with her so she can give me a high five, hug, and another kiss. Then they go back in the garage and she waves frantically bye bye.

What are your morning must haves? Link up by clicking Halle's image!

Testing a post from my ipad

I downloaded a new app to my ipad so I am just testing out some features to see if it works. Don't mind this nonsense post. 

My TpT Store link  (this is just to see how I can do hyperlink)

Don't forget about our book study coming up. Posts will start on Tuesday! 

Google Reader is going away...

Do you use google reader to read all the blogs you follow? I will admit, I didn't even know this was an option until news broke that it was going away for good. And then I went and checked it out. And I shouldn't have. Because I loved it. Since it is going away I had to find a different way to read all my blogs. And here are the solutions I have found.

First- before finding out that google reader existed, I would simply go to my blogger dashboard and just read the posts at the bottom where it lists all the blogs I follow and all their posts.

This is a simple option if you use a blogger account.

Then someone mentioned feedly. I downloaded this app on my ipad and enjoyed it. Once you create an account, you can import all your blogs you follow from your google reader account with the click of a button. Simple.

And then I heard about bloglovin. It seems this was everyone's favorite. So I went and checked it out. Same idea as feedly. Create an account and it will transfer all your blogs you follow with the click of a button.

Now, I want you to look carefully at the titles of the posts that show up in each picture. You will notice that feedly directly matches what I would see on my blogger dashboard. But bloglovin is missing a couple posts and I also found out today that while my settings SHOW I am following someone's blog, their posts don't show up in my feed.

ETA... when I just went to bloglovin to look something up, my feed changed. I now see this...

This one directly matches my blogger feed without things missing. About 20 minutes ago when I looked the Book Study post was missing (as well as the one on top but I have been told it takes a little time delay to get the posts published).  I think I will continue to play around with both to see what works best for me...

I just found something else I like about bloglovin. When you click on one of the blogs (say I clicked on the top post up there), it will open in a new tab and you will find this at the top...

I can click the "older" button and it will take me right to the next post on my list (in this case it would be the True Story post).

What I don't love... when I try to leave a comment, it leaves that bloglovin page and I have to either go back or head back to the bloglovin main page and start again. But I think that is something I can get over because I wasn't having good luck posting comments from feedly on my ipad (I haven't tried from the computer yet).

I think this one just comes down to personal preference. They both have their perks, I suggest just trying them out and seeing which one you like best. If you already use one, which one do you use?
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