Tech Thursday: Elements 4D and a throwback-versary...

Hey there...

I'm linkin' up with Teaching Trio for 

Technology Thursday.

I've been SO out of the loop, 

so I don't know if this has been

shared before or not, but I am in LOVE 

with a new app

and the kiddos are too.  

I learned about this app at a Tech expo that my 

district hosted this past Spring.

You are goin' to want to load it...NOW!

Welcome
Elements 4D
into your life.

This is an Augmented Reality-Chemistry app.

This video that I found on my friend Google
does a fabulous job of 

explainin' how to use the paper blocks with the app...

to learn about elements.

Watch this and be WOW-ed!

Click here to access the paper blocks to use with the app.

*Use cardstock when printin' and con a super crafty

student into makin' your blocks for you...only

if you have a broken finger and can't cut or glue 

for yourself.

This app pairs nicely with the 

America's Most Wanted: Element Posters that

I have blogged about before here and here.

I know what you are thinkin'...

YOU'RE WELCOME!

You can now put on your:

"BESTEST TEACHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD"

crown.

Also...I missed my 2nd Blogiversary (at least it's in the same month),

so I wanted to do a

Throwback to last year's Technology Thursday

that just so happened to fall on my blogiversary.

Click on here or on the picture below to read my post.

Even though I haven't been bloggin' much,

I still stand behind these tips and tricks!

P.S.  Who likes Harry Potter?

If yes...

wave your wands in the air...

wave like you really do care!

I'm workin' on somethin' new....

Happy Thursday, friends.

Exactly one year ago today...I started writin' on this blog

Exactly one year ago today...I started writin' on this blog.

Happy ONE YEAR Blogiversary to me.
Are you singin'?
Should I blow out some candles?
Do I need to make a wish?

One year ago...I had no idea what I was gettin' myself into.

I didn't know that I would make friends with people around the world.

I didn't know that I would grow tremendously as a teacher.

I didn't know that I would learn so much.

I didn't know that my brain would be non-stop thinkin'.

I didn't know people would actually read what I wrote.

I didn't know that I was funny...okay well maybe that's an 

exaggeration...I've always known I was funny.

Yes, I'm braggin'...

I'm goin' to link up with Angela from The Teacher's Desk 6 for
Throwback Thursday, Nick from
Sweet Rhyme-Pure Reason for Back to the Archive and
The Teaching Tribune for Throwback Thursday.

 

Anyways...I'm goin' to throw it back to my very first post...

You can read it here.

Readin' that first post was bittersweet for me...
as I typed that, I was sittin' in my Nitty's livin' room
and now as I type this...I am sittin' in my parents livin'
room after returnin' from her memorial dinner.
It was beautiful...pictures to come on Saturday.
Oh...how much my life has changed in one year.
At the end of the day...I'm truly blessed and I'm thankful.
150 posts later(Yes...it's 150 today too!)
Again....150 posts later,
I know Nitty would be proud of me.
I'm proud of me.

Y'all know how much I love linky parties.
That's my jam.
So...I thought it only appropriate that I do
some reflectin' and think about some
tips and tricks that I wish I I would've known
on my first day of bloggin'.
I'm linkin' up with Teaching Trio
for Technology Thursday since bloggin' is technology.

I'd like to say THANK YOU to
Jessica at Ideas by Jivey for her Techy Tips and
Megan from I Teach. What's Your Superpower? for her
Blog, Baby, Blog series.
These posts have been the best help with Technology
and hopefully, their suggestions will have the same impact on you.
If you don't follow them...you should.

I'm nowhere as tech savvy as these two ladies, but I do have
a couple of tips that might be worth your while.

Even if it takes you a week...reply.
There's a reason you're bloggin'...you've got somethin' to say.
Am I right?
You want to be heard.
You want someone to read what you have written.
If you don't reply...you aren't makin' connections and
basically...you are tellin' the person that took their precious
time to read your blog and comment...
that they aren't important enough for you to take your time
to read what they have written and reply.
That's rude.
Don't be rude.
Be courteous.
Reply.
Most bloggers like to reply via email.
If you reply to someone's comment on your own blog...
not through email, but on your actual blog,
there's a chance people are not goin' to come back to your
blog to see your comment.
That's just the way it goes.
Which leads into the next tip...

This is a tricky one.
Some of you probably have no idea that you are even
considered a no-reply blogger and that's okay, but
now's the time to fix that.
Read here and here.
It will make more sense.

Want to know the fastest way to lose followers?
Only postin' about items you have in your store.
It's true.
If I follow a blog that ONLY writes about their products
on TpT, TN, or Educents....BOOM....I'm clickin'
UNFOLLOW.
Sorry...I'm not sorry.

This is the one that just about sends me over the edge.
I read a lot of blogs and I like to reply to what I'm readin'.
See above.
It takes me twice as long to go through blogs when I'm
sittin' fightin' with my keyboard over whether or not
I've typed the capthca phrase, word verification, no robot thing...
whatever it is...appropriately.
Sometimes it's itty-bitty numbers that I can barely see
and other times it's make-believe words with squiggly letters.
I gave up tryin' to reply on my phone or ipad.
Please for my sanity, fix this.
This will help you here.
I bet by followin' the instructions you will
be helpin' to lower many peoples' blood pressure.
Consider it a Random Act of Kindness.

Everyone that I have ever come into contact with in the bloggy world
is super helpful.  Don't be afraid to ask for help if you don't know somethin'.
Need help?  I'm here for you, buddy.
Here's my email: butterflialisun@gmail.com
I don't know everything and I won't ever pretend to, BUT...
I can guarantee if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer,
I will do everything in my power to find someone who does.
I have some super smart bloggy friends.

I hope that some of these Tips & Tricks are helpful to you.
I'm seriously glad I was able to reflect...one year later.
With that bein' said...
I'm goin' to also link up with my sweet friend
Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for
Positive Thinking Thursday.

Source

Happy Thursday, friends!
Make sure if you eat a piece of cake to celebrate
my blogiversary...that you eat a bite or two for me too!

Technology Thursday...Throwback Thursday...Positive Thinking Thursday

It's Thursday, so there is a lot goin' on in the bloggy world.

I'm linkin' up with Teaching Trio for Technology Thursday,

The Teacher's Desk 6 for Throwback Thursday,

I'm throwin' this back to last August...right before school started.

Today I am linkin' up again for "Tune into Technology Linky: QR Codes" 

with Kristin at iTeach 1:1 as well as 

Alyin and Amanda at Learning to the Core.  

I'm super duper sad this is the last one of the summer. 

 I have LOVED readin' how everyone else uses technology 

in their real lives and in the classroom.

                                      

Let me start off by sayin' I came to school today

 because the cleaner dude is at my house

 (don't judge...I'm highly allergic to dust...plus, it's so worth the money!) 

 When I walked in, I saw the dreaded "spot".  

The place that appears about twice a year on the carpet 

between mine and my bestie's room.  

"THE AIR CONDITION' LEAK"!  UGH...I thought

 I would be super smart and leave up my bookshelves with books on them. 

 You know, less work for the Fall return...I'm dumb.  

Enough about that.  Let's get to the good stuff: QR codes.  

I've dabbled a little in makin' my own,

 but sometimes I prefer buyin' other people's QR task card packets on TpT. 

 I figure it saves me time and I'm supportin' someone else. 

The kids really do enjoy them or maybe it's just that they like 

to get ahold of my cell phone to use the app.  

I also love findin' QR codes when I'm out and about. 

 It's like a little scavenger hunt.

Two years ago, my district outfitted all of the classrooms with

 new technology with the help of the community, 

votin' for a half cent sales tax increase. 

 YAHOO!  I love me some technology!  

The district decided that they would like to video tape 

some of the teachers & students usin' the new technology.  

The first two videos have NOTHING to do with QR codes, 

BUT the district made QR codes for these videos and put them on posters 

all around the community for people to see.  

Pretty neat to just walk up to a poster, scan it, and BOOM

 you're watchin' a video of a classroom sayin' "Thank You".  

The last video DOES have to do with QR codes and 

shows how the students are usin' them in a third grade classroom.

Video one: Me and my sweet little rockstars that I taught for THREE years. 

I sure do miss them. 

They were sponges when it came to introducin' somethin' new with tech. 

***I posted this when I didn't have a lot of followers.  

Now I actually have people read my blog.

If you ever wondered what I look and sound like...now is your chance.

I give you permission to laugh because I think I sound so WEIRD!***

Video two: My bestie with her group of kids that she will be startin' her third year

with these babies. It's been fun watchin' them grow and learn as digital citizens. 

Video three: My other podmate and bestie usin' technology and QR Codes. 

It was Pajama Day that day...please excuse some of the outfits.

                                          This is the product from the above video.                                            

                                      

Last year, my Video three bestie also started out the year 

with the students writin' their "All About Me", drawin' a self-portrait, 

and addin' a QR code.  

I think I will also start out my first week with this activity.

Overall, I WILL be makin' more of an effort for my students 

to be makin' QR codes this year. I have a techie GENIUS in my class 

that writes code for a hobby. 

I can pretty much guarantee that he will help me teach everyone else 

how to make QR codes or I can ask my pod besties. 

If I was really smart, I would've made the videos into QR codes! Haha

Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for Positive Thinking Thursday.

Source
This was sent to me courtesy of my bestie, ACH.

My positive thinkin' is...
everyone should have a buddy that they
send Pinterest pins to.
When I say send Pinterest pins...I mean you should flood
their inbox with "So and so has sent you a pin on Pinterest".
You should send so many that all they will see in their email
are these notifications.
My besties and I often do this late at night to one another.
When I wake up in the mornin', I'm instantly smilin'
because they've packed enough humorous pins in my inbox
to at least make me a happy mornin' person for five minutes.
If they are really funny it might be ten.
Just depends on which side of the bed I've woken up on.
Everyone needs a lil' laughter...don't ya think?
If you don't have a bestie to send funny pins to,
you can send them to me!

I'll leave you with another positive thought...

My mama is cookin' THREE pounds of bacon right now for 

us to take on our trip this weekend!!!

I'm flippin' out...my belly is growlin' for this

and I'm pretty sure my eyeballs just popped out of my head!

Don't know how much I love BACON?

Read here!

Happy Thursday, friends! 

Technology Thursday...Thursday Throwback...Positive Thinking Thursday...Teacher Tip Thursday

Today I'm linkin' up with
The Teaching Tribune for Teacher Tip Thursday,
Teaching Trio for Technology Thursday,
Angela from The Teacher's Desk 6 for Throwback Thursday,
Nick from Sweet Rhyme & Pure Reason for Back to the Archive
and last, but certainly not least...
Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for Positive Thinking Thursday.

First things first...

I have to tell myself this every single day of my life.

Family first.

Go home...it will still be there tomorrow.

Agreed?

I'm goin' to do a techy throwback again to somethin' that I think
would benefit every grade level.

& 

&

The Hour of Code is COMIN' BACK

for Computer Science Education Week

Mark your calendars for December 8th through the 14th, 2014.

I know this is a long way away, but you DON'T want to miss this!

My technology throwback:

The Hour of Code

I got an email from Donors Choose at the end of October titled "The Hour of Code is coming".  I quickly read through it and then saved it in my inbox.  Several days later, my Admin said we needed to watch a short video about "The Hour of Code" that our District wanted us to watch.  The next day our mornin' announcements had a video that had music and the words "The Hour of Code is coming in 32 days".  The kids were all askin'...."What is the Hour of Code?"  BOOM...it was everywhere!

So, I got onto Computer Science Education Week's website with the help of my pod bestie, J.R., to find a short video to entice the kids even more.

So...what does this even mean you might be askin'...
  

Basically, durin' Computer Science Education Week, we will spend at least one hour writin' code in our classroom.   My students and I will choose from a variety of one hour tutorials in order to participate.  I've read that no prior experience seems to be needed and it states that computers are optional.

Read here to find out more about the Hour of Code.

Here are some more places to find info:

Computer Science Education Week

Code.org
(sign up on Code.org to get a coupon for 10GB storage on Dropbox for
organizin' an Hour of Code in your classroom)

Edsurge

Gettingsmart
Scratch
(Accordin' to the tech genius in my class...this is the BEST site ever for kids to program their own games and animations.  I truly value his opinion.  He has gotten several of my kids hooked on this site.)
Code Academy
Khan Academy-Computer programming
CodeHS
10 places where anyone can learn to code
Hopscotch

I'm definitely intrigued and will be doin' some more research on the Hour of Code to pick out exactly what we will be doin' durin' the week.

Is anyone else participatin' in this?

Read about and see how we used the Hour of Code in my classroom...here.
I PROMISE YOU...You want to do this with your kids!!!

Source

My sweet friend Laura from Learning, Lessons, and Life was talkin'

about movie theater popcorn the other day and it got me thinkin' about

how much I LOVE POPCORN.

My other sweet friend AMC from Elementary AMC has also 

been subjected to havin' to hear about my obsession with 

movie theater popcorn.  She probably wishes I would just get up 

off my couch already and go get some. 

Source

Surely I'm not the only one that does this???

Source

Source

Source

WHAAAAAAAT?!

How have I gone my whole life without knowin' there was such a

thing as National Popcorn Day? 

It occurs on January 19th.

You need to write this in your calendar too...RIGHT NOW...
you seriously aren't movin' fast enough...we CAN'T miss this!

This is almost...almost...as excitin' as the Hour of Code comin' back.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Throwback Thursday...doin' some reflectin'...

Happy Thursday friends!
I could really get used to this stayin' home for snow(ice) days stuff.
This has been the best three day birthday celebration in my history!

Since we are nearin' the end of January, I wanted to go back to my
original January 2014 goals post and reflect on my goals
that I made at the beginnin' of the month.
Read my responses that are highlighted in pink to see
if I did what I said I was goin' to do.
__________________________________________________

I am linkin' up with one of my absolute most favorite bloggers, 

A(my nickname for her), from The Babbling Box.  

A is real, she is honest, she types from her heart and
 isn't afraid to let out what is on her mind.  

I love that about her and I enjoy readin' her blog immensely.  

She is startin' a new linky that suggests you write down your goals
for the month.
I can totally do this.  

One month is much more attainable than one year...for me personally.  

1. Do not let my laundry mountain get too high.  

I end up waitin' until the mountain gets really high before doin' laundry and 

then it absolutely overwhelms me.  

My goal is to do a little, a few times a week, instead of all at once.

I will unpack my suitcase when I return and put away my clothes.
(So far...pretty good.  Not great, but definitely better.
Now only if I could kick my Jane.com problem
I wouldn't have to worry about more laundry.)

2.  Stop drinkin' Diet Coke.

I can't help it.  I really can't.  It's an awful habit.

I have been three days Diet Coke free. 

I'm hopin' I can keep it up.
(This has by far been my biggest challenge.  I am 32 days Diet Coke free.
There are times that I have almost cracked, but I'm determined to keep it up.
I have switched to Green Tea and I haven't bitten anyone's head off...yet.)

3. Read a book once a week in January.

Before I started bloggin', I read two to three books a week.

I am after all the leader of the Nerd Herd.  I love to read.

It is my escape.  It's my happy place.

Readin' blogs is still readin' though...so I haven't actually given up cold turkey.

That's a plus.
(I have read three books this month.  
Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant all by 
Veronica Roth.  Since I'm still on a snow(ice)
day...in Florida, I still have an opportunity 
to read a fourth book before the month is over.
Still hangin' out in my jammies has been a great motivator.)

4. Get my Bloglovin' feed down at least once a week.

I'm pretty good about keepin' up with blogs.  

Then again...I'm new to this and I don't have children.

I imagine this has a lot to do with it. 

I admire each and every one of you that goes to school each day, 

raises a family, does all of the extra work that teachin' requires, 

and still manage the time to be an online celebrity.  

You amaze me and you really are a celebrity to me.

I want to keep up with at least once a week gettin' my feed down to zero.
(I have been super busy on the weekends this month, BUT I have 
made time to get my feed down.  Success!)

5. Stop bein' so bossy. 

Again, I can't help it.  I blame it on bein' an only child,

 but I know plenty of other only children that are not bossy like me. 

I like to make excuses.  I know I need to stop.

I'm goin' to at least try.
(Major fail on my part.  I'm still bossy.
I knew this was goin' to be difficult when I typed this.
Will it be awful if I use it as a February goal also?)

6.  Gettin' back to the kitchen. 

I know I tease that I am allergic to the kitchen. 

 I'm not.  

I do know how to cook,

I just hate don't like to cook.  

The grocery store stresses me out. 

There are too many choices.  I go in there and instantly become brain dead.

I have no sense of adventure and always walk out with the same things.

Since Miss Nelson and I are goin' to be juicin'...I must go to the grocery store.

We can't juice forever though, so we have vowed to start cookin' together,
 one day a week,

to get ourselves prepared. 

 Both of us are spoiled by really amazin' men that would rope the moon for us if we asked. 

 They are responsible for feedin' us.  

This is about to stop and we are goin' to surprise them.

(I hope neither of them are readin' this because they would probably be laughin' their heads off)
(Miss Nelson and I did two rounds of juicin' together...
which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
 I have been eatin' a lot healthier and have even participated in the grocery shoppin'. 
I'm gettin' really good at pinnin' healthy pins on my "eat well" board.
Who knew there were so many different recipes out there for cauliflower?
 I am down 11 pounds...my jeans thank me.)

7.  Quit lettin' every little thing about education bother me.

I am passionate about what I do.

I love teachin'.

There are some things that really get under my skin though and I let it overtake me.

I need to breathe and let things go.

I waste too much time and energy too often on this.

Movin' on...
(I did VERY well with this until about a week ago...
Never fear...I'm back on track now.)

8. Join Amazon Prime.

I just need to do it already. I don't know what I'm waitin' for.
(I got two $50 gift cards to Amazon for my birthday.  I'm thinkin' this was
just what I needed to make this happen.)

9. Watch Downton Abbey.

The only way to stream it now is on Prime, so I'm goin' to accomplish two things at once.
(I technically have two days until January is over.  Don't give up on me yet.)

10. Win big at the slot machines.

I'm goin' to Biloxi this month for a yearly birthday trip with some friends.

Last year I hit the first five minutes I was there and lost it back.

This year...I'm goin' to hit and get up and walk away.

You just wait.
(Um...this did NOT happen...I lost...a lot.)

11. Smile more.

Sometimes I forget to smile. 

It's not that I'm unhappy, I just get lost in my train of thoughts.

I really am a happy person. 

I can do this!
(I have been tryin' this..."tryin'" bein' the key word.
I just need someone to walk around with me all day tellin' me jokes
so I can laugh...which produces smiles.)

Just got the call that we are back on for school tomorrow.
One day...I can do this!