Lapbooking

I am really interested in the whole phenomena of lapbooking. I'm sure it has something to do with my infatuation to Pinterest and the many, many wonderful teaching ideas I have found!


Today, I had my first experience with lapbooking. OK, not really. We did create a flap book of mean, median, mode, and range, but it is not in a notebook. With my current math program, Saxon Math, it is incredibly hard to fit in any "extras" outside of the program. However, I feel it is super important to give kids a concrete, hands-on approach to learning. They need a tool that they can easily use to refer to certain topics. I am definitely going to explore the area of lapbooking more. 


That is where I ask for your help. Can you offer me some tips and tools to use in being an effective lapbooker? I really like the ideas I am seeing of having one notebook to hold all of the lapbooks (if that is what you call them in this situation).


Thanks in advance!

~Cara

There is a Giveaway in Your Future!

This blog only needs 10 more followers to reach the 200 mark. When that milestone is reached, I will host a giveaway. Encourage your friends to join. We all love trying to win something, don't we?

~Cara

Tech Tuesday-JogNog

I recently was introduced to a site called JogNog. After introducing it to my students, there were nothing but praises being herald. 

"This site is awesome."
"I can't wait to get home, so I can play JogNog some more." 
"This is so fun."

The premise behind JogNog is a competitive learning experience that encourages everyone to have success. Students can compete against themselves or a friend. There are a variety of question towers (sets) to choose. Each question tower is based on the Common Core Standards in math, language arts, science, and social studies. The question sets are in a multiple choice format similar to standardized test questions. Teachers have the ability to create their own question towers. As students answer questions, they build a virtual city. The more questions answered, the bigger the city. 

There is even a JogNog iPhone and iPad app.


I have only recently been exploring JogNog, so I still have a lot to learn about the site. However, I wanted you to know of this great find! Let me know what you think. I have in no way been endorsed to submit this review. I just love this site!


As of mid-March, I have been working with the JogNog team in promoting their fantastic site. Once you find a great site, there is no telling what will happen next!

~Cara

Permission To Pin

Thanks to Laura Candler's Corkboard Connections, I learned some new information that concerns all of use who are Pinterest junkies. When reading Pinterest's fine print, you will find the following statement:


By making available any Member Content through the Site, Application or Services, you hereby grant to Cold Brew Labs a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit such Member Content only on, through or by means of the Site, Application or Services.

Read more: http://technorati.com/social-media/article/pinterest-users-need-to-read-the/#ixzz1nXR01w1k

Basically, we claim we own the rights to the images we are pinning, and Pinterest can sell those images if they so choose.

So, saying that, I give you permission to Pin anything from my blog. However, I will no longer knowingly post from someone's blog unless I have been given permission to do so. How will I know I have permission? Follow these steps from Laura Candler's Corkboard Connection.

1. Add this red Permission to Pin badge to your website or blog by copying and pasting the HTML code below into your blog post or sidebar. Placing it on the sidebar will serve as a permanent symbol that you are giving permission to pin. Link the image back to this exact blog post so others will know what is going on.
   <center><a href="http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2012/02/do-you-have-permission-to-pin.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.lauracandler.com/images/pinRed.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>
2. Create a blog post that briefly explains this issue and describes your permissions. Don't forget to include a link to your Pinterest page, too!
3. Join the Link Up at the bottom of {this blog post} by adding your URL and the name of your blog or website to the link up area below. The URL you enter should go to your blog post giving visitors permission to pin, and the image should clearly identify your blog.

~Cara

Read the Bible Through Week 8

As I trudged through Leviticus and into Numbers, I had to continually remind myself that "All scripture is God breathed." (2 Timothy 3:16) God offered a lot of advice in these chapters on being prepared for worship and being holy. Holy is being different, set apart, and unique. God commands us to be different than society. He asks that we "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27) I want to be holy!

• Leviticus 11-14: "Therefore, be holy because I am holy." (11:45) We must prepare ourselves for worship by living for God all week not just on Sunday.
• Leviticus 15-18: God is holy. We should prepare our hearts before we pray and worship.
• Leviticus 19-22: The Bible is not a list of rules. Jesus said to love God with all our hearts. If we love God, we want to follow His commands.
• Leviticus 23-25: God owns everything. We are only a manger. We are taking care of His property, so make it available to others.
• Leviticus 26-27, Numbers 1-2: God takes promises seriously. If we promise something to Him, we must fulfill that no matter the circumstances. 
• Numbers 3-5: We can all enter the presence of God without fear. Look for ways to make wrongs right.

Next week's plan:

• Monday, February 27: Numbers 6-9
• Tuesday, February 28: Numbers 10-13
• Wednesday, February 29: Numbers 14-16, Psalm 95
• Thursday, March 1: Numbers 17-20
• Friday, March 2: Numbers 21-24
• Saturday, March 3: Numbers 25-28

~Cara

Social Media in the Classroom

I am preparing a presentation on social media in the classroom. Would you take a minute to answer a couple of questions? The information received will be valuable to all teachers. I will publish the results at a later date. Thanks in advance!

~Cara

Tech Tuesday-Teacher's Assistant Pro

If you were to ask me my #1 iPad app, it would have to be Teacher's Assistant Pro. This app is by far the best organizational tool for classroom management. You can quickly and easily keep track of your students' behavior. I inputted my students, color-coded their actions based on my classroom rules, and added my own infractions. You can filter the results by the week, grading period, etc. Another cool feature is that you can email parents straight from the app. When you get that note wanting to know why Johnny's conduct grade is low, they are quickly notified. You can also export your data into a Google Doc as a backup. 

At $7.99, this app is a little pricey, but I can guarantee that is is money well spent. Anything that will make your day just a little easier is worth a few extra dollars. The free version only allows for five students, so you may want to sample it. The pro version allows unlimited students that you can arrange by classes.

I have in no way been compensated for my review. When I find a great product, I want to share it.

~Cara