Christmas Advent Event Wrap UP - Visa Gift Card Giveaway!

This year was I did my first Christmas Advent event and I must say, it was a great success! I gained new followers, made some super games, and gave away tons of prizes. If you participated in any of the giveaways, I would like you to take a quick survey to tell me what you think.

Day 15 - Even or Odd Numbers

Winner: Marylin Prysi

 

Practice identifying even or odd numbers with this fun Christmas games. Students must count the number of Christmas ornaments and determine whether that number is even or odd.

 

Day 16 - Elapsed Time Practice

Winner: Karissa Tatom

 

Practice elapsed time with this yummy, Christmas dessert game! In teams, students compete against one another while answering time questions. There are 3 types of questions: start time, stop/finish time, and elapsed time. Each question deals with a different type of dessert. Yummy!

 

Day 17 - Number Patterns

Winner:  Kristine Dawson Stewart

 

Practice number patterns with this fun Christmas themed game. Students must figure out what the pattern is, whether it's addition or subtraction, and the next 3 numbers. Includes a hint button that states the rule.

 

Day 18 - Finding Santa

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

This game reinforces multiplying fraction with this fun powerpoint game. Santa is missing and your students must find them. Santa is hidden behind 5 boxes and there are 25 to choose from. In order to choose a box, students must correctly answer a fraction problem. Whoever finds the most Santas win.

 

 

Day 19 - Adding Within 5

Winner: Tonya Shore

 

Practice adding with this fun Christmas addition game. Using pictures of dice with Christmas trees instead dots, students add numbers from 0 to 5.

 

Day 20 - Comparing 2 Digit Numbers

Winner: Everyone - 24 Hour Freebie!

 

Practice comparing numbers with this fun Elf themed PowerPoint game. Students are comparing 2 digit numbers using the greater than, less than, and equal to sign.

 

Day 21 - Writing 3 Digit Numbers

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

Practice place value with this fun, engaging Santa themed. game. Students must identifying the number when given how many ones, tens, and hundreds.

 

Day 22 - Multiplication Word Problems

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

Word problems are a hassle! Make it fun with the Christmas themed word problem game. There 5 cookies hidden behind one of 25 squares. Students must answer multiplication word problems in order to choose a square. Whoever finds the most cookies wins!

 

Day 23 - Types of Angles

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

Engage students in this fun, competitive Geometry game. Students compete against one another or in teams to correctly identify different angles. This includes acute, obtuse, right, and straight angles.

 

Day 24 - Coordinate Grid Practice

Winner:  Kristine Dawson Stewart

 

Celebrate Christmas and practicing using the Coordinate Place with this engaging twist on traditional tic-tac-toe. Students choose a box and must answer the question correctly in order to place their shape. There are 3 game modes, each with 9 questions. There are 2 question types: naming objects at given coordinates and giving coordinates for given objects.

 

Day 25 - Mystery Christmas Gift

Winner: Freebie until Dec. 31st

As my Christmas Advent comes to an end, here's my Christmas gift to celebrate 25 days of you, the follower! Without your loyalty and support, I could not have made it to where I am now. Thank you very much. Enjoy this freebie while it lasts! Don't forget to leave some feedback! Be sure to get this before December 31st!

 

My final giveaway is a $25 Visa Gift Card to shop anywhere Visa is accepted. You'll also receive a $20 Shopping Spree to my store.

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

I wanna thank everyone who entered my giveaways and shared them on social media. It means so much to me. I hope everyone has a safe New Years and don't forget to take my Christmas Advent Survey!

 

Class Dismissed!

Christmas Advent Week 2 in Review and New Giveaways!

 

It's been a fantastic week! Every day a new prize and a new winner! I've added 7 more games and 7 more winners. The winner of my first giveaway was announced and another giveaway has started!

 

 

Day 8 - Subtraction Bingo

Winner: Lori Raines

 

Bingo! Use those subtraction skills to cover the right number to win!

 

Day 9 - Buying Christmas Presents

Winner: Susan Zink Katt

 

How much did each child spend on a Christmas present? Practice counting money when given the number of each coin.

 

 Day 10 -Subtraction within 1000

Winner: Susan Zink Katt

 

Compete in teams against each other while practicing subtraction.

 

Day 11 - Boys vs. Girls Rounding Numbers

Winner:Joanne Alderete

 

Boys vs Girls! This game pits boys against girls as students practice rounding numbers up to the hundred thousands.

Day 12 - Parenthesis Practice

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

Santa vs Elf vs Reindeer! Who's the best magical creature? Find out and practice problems with parenthesis at the same time.

 

Day 13 - Counting Candy Canes

Winner: Kathy Illington

 

Do you like candy canes? Reinforce student's counting skills with this fun counting game.

 

Day 14 - True or False Math Facts

Winner: Free your Heart-graphics

 

Practice identifying math facts that are true or false.

 

 

Week #2 prize has been award! I planned to giveaway one $25 TPT gift card. I reached 500 followers on TPT so I gave away 2 TPT gift cards.

 

Winners: Callie W. and Kristine D.

 

Week #3's prize is a handmade tie fleece blanket made by yours truly. I've made tie blankets for every member of my family including my 2 nephews and niece. They're very easy to do (just 2 fleece and scissors).

 

 

 

You can win this blanket as well a $20 Shopping spree in my TPT Store. You can enter below. This giveaway ends Dec.22.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Be sure to check my Facebook page every night around 7 PM EST for a chance to win a new game every night. If you don't win, you can purchase the game at 50% off in my TPT store!

 

Class Dismissed

Christmas Advent Week 1 in Review and New Giveaways!

  

My Christmas Advent is in full swing! I've already had 9 winners including a winner for my movie pack. Here are the games that Santa has given away! You can click on the games to learn more about them.

 

 

 

 Day 1 - Kindergarten

Winner: Kathy Illington

 

Practice counting with your students in this fun Teacher vs. Student Powerpoint Game.

Day 2 - 1st Grade

Winner: Kristine Dawson Stewart

 

Can you find the Snowman? Practice identifying missing numbers in equations in one of my newest games.

Day 3 - 2nd Grade

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

It's Christmas Time. Identify what time each child does their Christmas activity in the this fun game.

Day 4 - 3rd Grade

Winner: Mary Love Strange

 

Find that missing multiplication number in this fun Elf vs. Elf math competition game.

 Day 5 - 4th Grade

Winner: Natalie Gunderson

 

How much for that Christmas candy? Comparing the prices of Christmas candy in this Tic-Tac-Toe game.

 Day 6 - 5th Grade

Winner: Michelle Fasbender

 

Ah, the smell of freshly baked cookies! Practice adding fractions in this fun, engaging game!

 Day 7 - Kindergarten

Winner: Kathy Bowman

 

How many to 10? Help these penguins figure out how to make 10 using ten  frames in this fun game!

Day 8 - 1st Grade

Winner: Winner Selected Tonight.

 

 Bingo! Use those subtraction skills to cover the right number to win! .Click here to enter to win!

 

 

 

We have a winner for the first Weekly Prize Pack which included 4 movies, popcorn, popcorn bags, and a $5 Gift Card for soda and candy.

 

Winner: MM Bilingual Vasquez

 

Week 2 Prize has already started. This week, you can win $25 TPT Gift Card. Since I'm close to 500 followers on TPT, if I can make it there before the end of the giveaway, I'll make it 2 gift cards!

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check my Facebook page ever night around 7 PM EST for a chance to win a new game every night. If you don't win, you can purchase the game at 50% off in my TPT store!

Class Dismissed

 

Christmas Advent Event!

The Christmas season is upon us! To celebrate, I am hosting a "Christmas Advent" Event!

 

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year! In my house, I decorate everything! I put up the tree, decorate it, put the lights up outside, and decorate the entire house. Once, when I was in high school, I decorated my entire house, inside and outside, before my mom came home from work.  

 

This year, I wanted to do something different for Christmas. I did a Christmas Advent with my students last year. Why not try it out in my store!

 

Each day leading up to Christmas Day, I will post a new Christmas or Winter themed Math game. I will give one away each night. Afterwards, it will be on sale for 48 hours. On Christmas Day, the last game will be free for everyone! Make sure you get it before the end of the year when it goes on sale.

 

I will also be giving away 4 prize packs each week. Each giveaway begins on Monday and ends the follow Sunday, with the exception of the last giveaway. Here are the prizes for each giveaway.

• Prize Pack #1 - Movie Night Pack - 4 Blu-ray Movies including "Happy Feet", "Happy Feet 2", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and "The Wizard of Oz", a box of Popcorn, Popcorn bags, and a $5 gift card to buy soda and candy.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Prize Pack #2 - TPT Gift Card - Get a $25 TPT gift card to spend anywhere in TeacherspayTeachers.

• Prize Pack #3 - A Winter/Christmas Fleece Tie Blanket - Get a handmade Winter/Christmas themed Tie blanket as well as a nifty Santa hat.

• Prize Pack #4 - A $25 Visa Gift Card - That's right! A visa gift card to use anywhere Visa is accepted.

Lastly, there's a special product you can get but only by getting all 25 clues. It's a Christmas treasure hunt! Get all the clues and it will take you to where this special product is. The first clue was already posted on my Facebook page. Be sure to keep watch for more clues each day.

 

This will be oodles of fun! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Class Dismissed!

Blog Design Tutorial: Getting Started

Blog Design Tutorial: Getting Started

Getting Started

1. Design in mind
2. Websites
3. Photos, Clip Art, and Font
4. Templates
5. Layouts

Let's get started with your blog design. In this section, you will explore some blog designs, useful photo websites, various fonts and clip art, different templates to choose from, as well as blog layouts.

 

 

 

1. Design in Mind

 

Before you can even start a blog, think about the type of designs you want. If you already have a TpT store with a logo, start from there. Think about the colors you want to see. Think hard! You may not be able to change it again so easily. When I first started my logo only had my name and apple. The colors were red, green, and black. White goes with everything so I decided gray/silver would be my third color. Red and green represent the apple from my first logo. The gray/silver represents the technology where majority of my products work on.

Here are some TPTers who can create logos for you:

Maria DiCesare - $6
EduClips  - $12+
Melonheadz - Contact her for price
Surfer Kids Clip Art (Provided Free Computer Clip Art in my logo) -  $27

If you're wondering about my new logo, I made it with Microsoft Word. =P
 

 

2. Websites

 

Once you have a design in mind, there are some websites you may need to complete you own blog design. First, you will need a photo website where you can get photo links. Photobucket is the website I use. You can upload numerous pictures and create different albums. There are other website too like Flickr. You need to make sure that the website you use can create urls for your photos.

 

Another great suggestion would be to get a second blog and label it your "Test Blog" so that you don't mess up a blog you have already. Believe me when I saw I messed up my original blogs so many times, I didn't want anyone to see it. As you complete various parts, I saved the blog design and added to my original blog.

 

3. Photos, Clip Art, and Font

 

Next, you'll need to create the different sections for your website (such as headers and dividers). I used Microsoft Powerpoint and Paint to create all my designs. I used KG Fonts for my website (with a paid commercial license). There are other fonts that are available without a commercial license. Check out Fontspace or Dafonts for wonderful fonts. For clips art, mycutegraphics has free educational clip art. TeacherspayTeachers has numerous free and paid clip art. The computer clip art and banners in my header were all free from TeacherspayTeachers.

For the 2 side designs, I downloaded free Digital Paper (Digipaper)  from TPT. I will go more in depth on creating that 2 sided design latet. For now, think about what designs would like. Here are some Digipapers I tested out before I finally decided:

KristyBear Designs - Digital Paper
Red Pepper - Digital Paper
Jamie Carey - Backgrounds
Emily Wean - Digital Paper

Here are some other helpful clipart if you plan to make your own designs:

Free Push Pin Graphics / Clip Art - The 3AM Teacher
Curvy Rainbow Square Frames Clip Art - The Enlightened Elephant
Sweet Round Label Digital Clip Art - Lockless Creations

Another great website to help make your pictures have a transparent background is Lunapic.com. You can make any picture have a transparent background with only a few clicks. Simply upload a picture, choose the color you want to be transparent, and save that picture! I love it! I wonder how I lived without it.

 

4. Templates

 

As far as templates are considered, Blogger has a few templates to choose from. I used a "Simple Template" for my blog. Easy and straightforward. "Picture View" is great for emphasizing your header/logo. My advice would be to go through each one and click the type to see what you blog would look like if you chose that style.

 

5. Layout

 

After choosing your template, you layout comes next. This maybe one of the bigger decisions you'll make about your blog. This is how your organize the different parts of your blog including where each section goes to. You can choose your "Body" Layout (the main part of your blog) and the "Footer" layout (the bottom section of your blog). Basically, think about where you want your posts to be and where you want your other clickable sections to be.

To Choose you layout:

Template >> Customize>>Layout.

Choose your favorite layout and click "Apply to Blogger" to see what it looks like. Once you're back on the main page, you can click "Layout" and move around various parts of your blog layout.

 

Click For the Blog Design Tutorial Overview.

Test out a few things and see what you come up with. Let me know if you have any questions in comments below!
Class Dimissed!

 

 

Blog Design Tutorial: Guide

 I promised to share with you all how I designed my blog. I will tell you upfront that you will be frustrated at some point during the process so having patience is important. If you get angry and think you can't take it anymore, throw your computer out the window.\ stop and take a break. It took me 2 weeks to complete it, only because I had to find websites with codes that actually worked. Here, I will provide you with the codes so it may take only a day or two, depending on what you want and how long you have to work on it.

 

I've broken down my blog design into different sections. It is broken down as followed:

 

1. Guide
2. Getting Started
1. Design in mind
2. Photos, Clip Art, and Font
3. Templates
4. Layouts
3. Layout Parts
1. Header
2. Post Area
3. Sidebars
4. Background
5. Bottom
4. Post Area
1. Post Icon
2. Signature
3. "Posts you may like . . "
4. Comment Area
5. Post Divider
5. Sidebar Area
1. Headers
2. Follow Me Buttons
3. Grab My Button
4. Other Sections
5. Section Dividers
6. Backgrounds
1. Simple Background
2. Blog Border Color
3. 2 Side Design Borders
7. Bottom
1. Bottom Blog Logo
2. Back to the Top Button
8. Other Tips and Tricks
1. No Photo Shadows
2. Pinterest Hover Button

 

As I write out the posts, I will hyperlink each section at the top so you can easily find it from this post. I will also hyperlink this post and it will also be at the bottom of every post about Blog Design. Some sections will be small. Others quite large. I will try to include as many pictures as I possibly can. You can expect a post from the tutorial at least twice a week.

I haven't decided if I want to tackle the "Page Ribbon" as it was 3 days of trial and error, but if you wish me to, I will.


Class Dismissed!

 

 

 

 

 

You Ought to Know About Livebinder!

You ought to know about this website I found that is wonderful and perfect for any teacher in any grade or subject. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Livebinder!

 

 

Before I start, I did update my blog. I spent about 2 weeks on it and I must say I am impressed with myself! Anyway, I taught in a 1:1 school. If your unfamiliar with that term, it means that every student in every grade has their own digital device, whether it's a laptop, netbook, or tablet. I taught 2nd so we had netbooks.

 

As a teacher with students having laptops, it was kinda frustrating to have my favorite bar full of 20+ links to websites. Don't even get me started on what my favorites folder actually looked like. During a professional development that was particularly useful, they introduced this website that acts as a favorites bar except its online! Yes, that means logging in, but after that, you can access your favorite websites from ANY computer!

 

For those who continue working at home (pretty much all of us!), it's frustrating to find a website you love and then get to work and totally forget the website address because we saved it to our home computer. Livebinder is the solution!

 

 

Livebinder Login

 

 

After signing up, you can create up to 10 binders with different links to websites. For elementary teachers, that's enough for each subject and then some! Take a look 2 binders I have created. The first binder is for the content areas.

 

 

Subjects Binder

 

 

In the first tab, I've added all the reading websites I have found while I was teaching. Most of them are free (Tumblebooks, Starfall) . Others require just a log (Houghton Miffin) . One or two of them you have to pay for (Grammaropolis, Speakaboos).

 

 

Best part of all: you don't have to open a new window! With most websites, you can explore the website from within Livebinder. That means no multiple tabs. You can jump from website to website in just one binder.

You can even browse other binders that others have created.

This tool is wonderful! I look for websites at home, add them to Livebinder, and access them on my school computer. I simply keep Livebinder on my favorites bar! I hope Livebinder is as great for you as it is for me!

 

An InLinkz Link-up