summer

Thursday, December 29, 2016

How do YOU Reward Your Staff Members?


What do you do to reward your staff?

I know we just finished with Christmas celebrations and gifts, but what about a random surprise?

 Do you stop and thank them in some big or small way once in awhile? Have you ever thanked them on a day that wasn't a special day on the calendar, like Teacher Appreciation Day? Maybe it's time to brainstorm with your staff some days within the year that you can give the others some special attention. 



 I'm so glad to have this support staff to do some of the work that I can't possibly get completed by myself.

Have you ever sent the bus drivers a kind note? We like to send a bowl of candy to the bus garage at Christmas time to thank them for taking the kids home every night. (Well, we do thank them for bringing them TO school also! It's just that sometimes it's more meaningful that they have a ride home.)


                                        

Click HERE to see the candy bar link in Pinterest. 

Do you thank your custodians? Have you left them a note or a treat once in awhile? I know that some of them may not seem to deserve a special treat, but maybe if you kill them with kindness, they'll turn around and do something for you too. I've often heard of custodians who complain about all the mess in a classroom. . . .. hmmmm. . . let me think about this. . . . if there were NO messes, would they have a job? Isn't that what they were hired for? Don't they get paid to clean up after us? Imagine that all of us kept our rooms spotless, why would we need them?

Attach this sign to a muffin. 

                                                      Click HERE to see the Muffin post on Pinterest. 

Oops, I digress. .. this was supposed to be about good stuff.

One day, my principal brought all of us a large drink from McDonalds and one of their chocolate chip cookies. She hand delivered them to us. . . .Yes, she is a peach and yes, I love her on every other day too, But wasn't that wonderful that she did all that for us?  She said it was National Appreciate You day. . . or something like that. . . I was so amazed at the treat, that I don't think I heard what came from her lips. 

We also have maintenance people who come in during the day to fix things and clean up when a child gets sick. There are the people who run our district office. There are the school board members. Who else do you have in your district that does something big or small for you?  
Attach this to a bag of  microwave popcorn.
Click HERE for the link to the popcorn sign. 

With Valentine's Day approaching, maybe you could get the ball rolling and find a way to show them some extra love. Divide and conquer. Let each grade level pick a group and a day to shower your staff with some goodies.

                                                             


Moral to the story. Stop and look around you. Who helps you? Who is always there for you? And who do you need to give warm fuzzies to? It can be a group effort or a class letter. You can be creative about this. Treats, cards, pictures, or whatever. 

I would love to hear what things you do to appreciate your staff. Leave me a note. I'm anxious to read your thoughts.  






Sunday, December 11, 2016

Snow Day Give Away!


I created a product to help Krista Wallden from Creative Clips fulfill some Donor's Choose projects of teachers around the nation. Be on the lookout for more of these this whole month. 
Click the picture to find out more.

Our school just cancelled for tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 12th. So I'm giving away 2 sets of my newest product called Fry Words Fun. This is a great way for your 1st and 2nd graders to practice those Fry sight words and have fun too. 

 You can enter to win these by visiting my Facebook page, liking it and leaving me your email address. If you leave a friend's email who teaches 1st or 2nd grade, then that person will also win if I pick your name.  Click HERE to go to my Facebook page. If you're not a Facebook user, you can leave your email and a friend's here in the comment section. 

Maybe my luck will rub off on you and you'll get  a snow day too!!! 



Friday, December 9, 2016

Santa Letters

Many of you have your students write letters to Santa. I'd like to share a post I wrote last year about what I do with my Santa Letters. I know I should have gotten this around sooner, but maybe you can tuck this idea away to use next year.  Click HERE to go to my last year's post. 


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Vowel Games That Elves Play

Tis the Season for Giving! 
So I'm giving 2 sets of my Vowel Games That Elves Play away on my facebook page. 
Click HERE to go to my facebook page. 

Just like the page and leave me your email address. 

If you don't have a facebook account, leave your address in the comments below. 




Monday, December 5, 2016

DJ Inker Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered! I hope you enjoy hearing from DJ Inkers if you signed up for their newsletter. They do fun things all the time! 

I could only pick one winner and. . . . it. . . . is. . . .


I know you'll have fun making stuff with this set. Congratulations!


Sunday, December 4, 2016

Last Day to Enter My Giveaway!



Click HERE to enter. This set is complete with clipart from 7 holidays, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Scandinavia, and USA. Click HERE to go to DJ Inkers to see the complete set. 

Below are some samples of what you'll get. 






I hope you win! 


Thursday, December 1, 2016

Still Time To Enter Plus A Surprise

Have you entered my DJ Inkers giveaway yet? If not get moving! You have a few more days left. And then when you're done entering here. . . you can also go to I Live to Learn I Love to Grow and enter her giveaway too. She and I are both giving away this Holidays Around the World set. So you can double your chances of winning. How fun is that! Click HERE to enter. 

Good luck!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Christmas Around the World Giveaway!

If you have been here before, then you know I'm a huge fan of DJ Inkers. Let me tell you, that YOU too, can be a fan. I'm about to give away a set called Holidays Around the World

It includes 7 different places with clip art, printables & fun facts for each one. (There's Australia, Germany, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Mexico, Scandinavia & the USA.)
Holidays Around the World clip art


I created a project from this clipart, that includes 3 of those places. It is yours for free for a short amount of time. Click here to grab it. This would be great for 2nd or 3rd grade students. Besides helping them with comprehension, it's also a great way to help them compare the countries to see how they are alike and different. 



 This set shows the traditions of Africa, Germany, and Mexico. With this set your students can work in a center or small group to read about each country and then match up the four fact cards for each place. 


There is also a black and white set for the students to color and put together in a booklet to take home. 




Did you know that DJ Inker's is having  12 Holly Daze Sale from December 1-12, 2016. You can read more about it by clicking on these blue letters. Click on the red letters to go to their store and take advantage of their fun stuff! If you sign up for their newsletter, then you'll be notified right away. If you are already a newsletter subscriber, then you know they send you a lot of freebies. Who doesn't love their freebies?


 Would you like to win this clipart set? Just enter the rafflecopter below and cross your fingers. Maybe you'll win. 




I wish you the best of luck and hope that you are my lucky winner. 

Sunday, November 27, 2016

TPT Sale Is HERE!

It's here! The Cyber Sale! Load up your carts and get ready to shop on Monday and Tuesday. 

You might be able to win a TPT Gift card. There are many contest floating around. There's also one on my Instagram account. Click HERE to go to it. 


Thanks to Meg's Crayons for the cute cute cute graphic!


Thursday, November 24, 2016

Sale on SitSpots Monday only!










To receive your 15% Cyber Monday discount, enter code: 
CYBERMONDAY


Don't Miss Out! This offer ends midnight (PST) November 28, 2016!

Click HERE to go to Sit Spots.




We want to wish all of our educators a very warm and happy holiday season.



Happy Holidays from our SitSpots family to yours!





Sunday, November 20, 2016

Big Holiday Weekend Sale

If you're ready for some holiday shopping this coming weekend, don't forget that you can shop from the comforts of your warm home and in your PJ's, too!


Click the picture to go to their website.

. . . AND . . . There's MORE!

Do you love great holiday SALES and cute stuff for FREE?  Be sure to visit DJ Inkers for their annual 12 Holly Daze Celebration!  

Every day from December 1-12, 2016 they’ll have a special holiday FREEBIE and awesome discounts on their clip art, fonts & printables!  {Click here to sign-up for their email list & join in the fun all year round, not just this holiday season!}

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Have You Downloaded the TPT App?

Have you seen the new app for TPT 
that you can put on your IPhone? 

It is a work of wonderfulness! 
(really? is there even such a word?) 

It's not just for sellers. It's for teachers everywhere in any capacity that want to tap into wonderful resources at the tip of their fingers. 


It's FREE and it has made my life (and many other teacher's lives) a lot better. 

The picture below shows you what it looks like when you search for it in the ITunes Store. 

When you download the app, you get many features. 

First you get a glimpse of some freebies. 
(Who on this earth does NOT like freebies?)

There are different freebies each day.
Next you can follow your favorite teacher-authors. 

I always love to see what they are up to.
Next, I can search for things that I need right now or in the near future for my class. 
Bonus!
TPT also gives ideas to help keep us motivated and on track. 

Their team really rocks when they put this together. 
In this section, you can read more previews and ratings to be sure you are getting just what you want. 

Along the bottom of the app, you'll see where you can search, look at your shopping cart, and look at your favorites.


In this section if I click on the arrows on the left they will open up things that I have purchased, put on my wish list, and sellers I'm following. It also shows where to contact TPT and the settings that you may need to adjust. 


The benefits to having the TPT app on your Iphone or Ipad are great. All this for free at your fingertips is ideal when we know how precious our time is. 

Here's a few of the reviews: 

Customer Reviews

LOVE! 

I love this app! I have missed out on great products before because I read about them and then would forget the name or whatever and missed out on purchasing. With this app, I can grab it on the go and then it's in my purchased items when I need it. Also, I love the highlighted freebie and blog links. Quick access to great ideas!
User friendly! 

This app is a great way to shop, check my sales, and access a freebie of the day! I love how I can email a link to myself to easily download purchases.
Excellent App! 


This app is so easy to use! I love how each day a free item is featured and how there is such great information for teaching right at my fingertips! Thanks for making such a great app!
If you haven't downloaded it yet, you can do it right now, before you forget!