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Hello, World!

I'm Kate and I'm new to the teacher-blogging world!  I'm here because I love to share ideas with other teachers... so if you're a teacher, you've come to the right place!  I've loved gathering ideas from other bloggers over the years and I want to give back and share some of what I'm doing in my class and offer ideas on all kinds of stuff from teaching (of course) to technology to health and who knows what else this little space will evolve into!  I'm passionate about lots of stuff, but this is my little corner of the world to talk about teaching!

Wanna subscribe, but not sure what you're getting into?
Here are some of my initial ideas:

I've taught Kindergarten and 1st grade for the past 12 years and I've come up with lots of cool stuff... yes, some of it is for sale on Teachers pay Teachers ---> and I'll show you how I use some of that from time to time, but I promise this blog won't just be an advertisement for me.  I really, truly do love to help so there will be lots of just good, old fashioned, free idea sharing and pictures to inspire you or get your wheels turning!  If you like something, feel free to pin it or use it in your classroom!   My blog name/classroom these is HOWYWOOD... my last name is Howard and so it's a Hollywood theme with a personal twist.  The kids (my superstars) think it's hilarious.

I'm really into technology and I'm planning to do video reviews of all my fave apps!  I've seen more than enough lists of great apps... but I don't like the lists- I wanna SEE it-- like, show me! Give me a sneak peek before I fork over the $3 to buy it!  If you have an iPad in your class or at home, definitely be looking for that!  I'm a serious app nerd!  :)

I'm a super busy wife and momma to three precious kids at home.  Are they cute or what?!

SO, if you've ever been there, you KNOW I don't have tons of spare time to blog because, well... I have more important things to do like watch Brady Bunch (my oldest two, ages 6 and 5 are suddenly SUPER into watching this show lately! Ha!), wipe noses, hug babies, and pack lunch boxes.  So this would be a GREAT blog to subscribe to if you don't want to be bombarded by posts every day... but maybe just a little treasure once a week or so?  Feel free to subscribe via email using the link over there -->

Also, I like to give stuff away... and I don't imagine this blog will become super huge or anything so if you wanna enter any of my giveaways, lets just say you have a pretty good chance of winning!  Go for it!

Super Speedy Sub Plans: Peace of mind in the midst of flu season! PLUS a GIVEAWAY and tip #1 for staying healthy!!

Hey, teacher friends!

Okay, has this flu season been the WORST already or what!?  Oh my word!  So many sick people!

I'm a busy Kindergarten-teaching mama to three babies at home and I feel like I just NEVER know when someone is about to throw up in the middle of the night (happened too many time to count this winter already- for real, like I'm really good at knowing when to grab a bucket or whisk them to the bathroom- ha!)... or the babysitter comes down with a fever at 4 am and I'm left without anyone to watch the babes (happened just yesterday!) or maybe I am even the sick one (been there, done that!) and I'm just too out of it to even THINK about school.  I know you know what I mean... we just never know when something like that might come up, especially this time of year!

Last minute sub plans are miserable, but I finally got smart this fall and whipped up my "Super Speedy Sub Plans" and a binder of sub info that is generic, yet detailed enough to guide a sub through any day.

Here is a pic of my binder, which I always just keep on the corner of my desk:
outside:


(Thanks to whoever created this CUTIE binder cover... found it somewhere on Pinterest, I did NOT make this myself, but I love it!)

inside:


And here is a pic of how I keep my Super Speedy Sub Plans:
outside:


inside:

I have 3 sets of plans created so far and each one is at LEAST 3-4 hours of activities to go along with a classic kid's book that you surely have already in your class library or could easily borrow from the school library or teacher next door:  :)

• The Mitten by Jan Brett (my most popular!)
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.

You can click on the titles to see links to the plans and more pictures of what is included!

When I have had to use the sub plans, no one has needed to use everything that's included-- I've found it to be MORE than enough (and I teach all-day K).  The kids take home most of the stuff they work on so I don't have pictures of that, but every packet does include a class book to create and I have those to show you-- so cute!

This is from Brown Bear, of course:

cover

do you LOVE Kindergarten art or what?!

so sweet

 

And these are from The Mitten packet... each child designs two matching mittens and glues only one onto their page. The rest of the mittens are left separate for matching up with the pages of the book. I'm going to add a tiny piece of velcro to the backs of the lost mittens... kids LOVE this!

look at all these adorable, creative mittens?

 

Because I teach Kindergarten, these are really geared toward K-1 but could probably also work a little higher or lower than that as well. You can buy them individually on my TpT store or even go wild, save money and grab all three bundled together at a discount and be set for the entire year!

There are 2 ways to handle the sub plans and I've personally done both:

1. Get things set up ahead of time (like I've done above with the blue folder, copies made, book popped inside- btw, you just need one copy of the book) or
2. If it's too late and you're not going to make it back to school before you can do #1, just email the file to a friendly teacher next door and ask him/her to pretty please print and hand to your sub.  They'd need a few minutes to make some black and white copies and scrounge up the book, but that's all simple and then they're set!  It works, I promise!

Seriously, y'all.  This concept has changed my LIFE!  No more stress or spending HOURS trying to think of what in the world my poor sub can do and how I can type to describe where she needs to look to find everything.  AND not to mention how much better it is for the sub and the kids, too.  It's just a really, really good thing!

I'm pretty new to the teacher blogging world and I love sharing ideas and trying to make life easier for other teachers.... SOOOO this calls for a giveaway!!!!  Woo-hoooo!  Here's the deal:

I would love to give away a Super Speedy Sub Plan to one, ah why not make it TWO lucky winners!!  

There are lots of ways to enter- you get one entry for each thing you do!  Just leave me a comment to say which sub plan you'd like if you win and tell me how many times you entered!  Here are the choices:

1. Follow me on TpT and leave a comment here to tell me you're a new follower AND tell me which sub plan you'd like! (you can link to my TpT store on the sidebar here)
2. Do you have a blog?  Link to this giveaway and spread the news!
3. Follow this blog by email and again, leave a comment to let me know and tell me which book you'd choose sub plans for!

The lucky winners will be chosen on Friday, January 18.  Best of luck to everyone!!  I will email the winners with the file they have requested!  Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT weekend!!

p.s.  One more thing!  Like I said, I really just like to share ideas so since we're talking about being healthy, I'm going to tag on my first little quick STAY HEALTHY tip of the season (I'll add more throughout the month)!  This one is tried and true, ladies and gentlemen!  Ready?  Here goes:

If YOU have been exposed to the stomach bug, as in "the throw ups" as we call it at my house, RUN to the store and grab yourself a couple jugs of 100% grape juice!  Hopefully you like grape juice because if you drink a glass 3 xs/day, it is actually powerful enough to alter the pH of your tummy and keep those nasty bugs from setting up shop in your gut.  For real!  I've tried it five times and it worked every single time!!
And then there was that one time when I started trying it, decided I should be even healthier and have less sugar in my life, dropped the grape juice and told myself I'd be FINE... well, I wasn't.  Like the next day, it hit me. and I needed those super speedy sub plans STAT!  :)  So needless to say I really believe in this one.
I even consulted my nutritionist expert about it (knowing she would shame me for all that nasty sugar) but she admitted that YES, it 100% makes sense that the grape juice trick works.  She did give me another, even better, more sugar-free tip... but I'll save that for next time!  Stay tuned!

btw, if you already have the throw-ups, sorry... outta luck, too late... but keep this little idea in mind next time BEFORE you get em and you might be just fine!

Stay healthy, friends!!!

Let it Snow!

This art project is fun, beautiful and perfect for brightening up these grey winter days!! Do you love it?! I stumbled upon it via Pinterest right here... if you like it, go there for all the instructions! She describes it really simply. All the steps take about 20 minutes each day for 3 days (because you have to wait for stuff to dry).

I also loved how they all turn out so uniquely beautiful... here is a little clip of my class' work!
 

 We matted these on black, popped them into big decorated envelopes and gave them to parents as gifts before Christmas! I think this project would be gorgeous hanging in the hall, from the ceiling, or anywhere around your classroom! Just had to share how much I loved it!

Happy New Year!!

Just wanted to share this sweet little New Year's activity my class did this week!  I cut the heads, hats, party blowers, and shirts out for them ahead of time and let them just select the ones that fits them best.

They had to glue it all together, add their face, curl their party blower, and add the bling (one of our first experiences with bottle glue... ooooh, my.... just confirmed we're glue stick kind of people!) :).



 We talked about resolutions, which is kind of a hard concept for the littlest kids to understand.  This sound clip is kind of funny cause you can see some of them totally get it... and others, well, not so much... bless their little Kindergarten hearts.  :)  So sweet, I love them.
(btw, forgive me for being a little sloppy on the recording-- my 1st time using garage band on the iPad!  eek!)
But, if you're a teacher talking about resolutions, YOU could use this in your class to give your kiddos an idea about what a real resolution sounds like (and which ones could maybe use a little tweaking).



And then of course we did some writing!



Btw, these writing papers (in 12 different varieties so you can choose the best one or two that's BEST for YOUR class!) are available on my TpT store (and you can also buy them bundled with some "What I did over Winter Break" writing papers if you wanna go crazy and get all that classic back to school after break writing done in one simple shopping trip!)  :)

 Blessings on your 2013!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Some Favorite Math Apps for the iPad!

I thought it'd be fun to share some of my fave math apps for PK-1!  These are tried and true ones I have used with my preschooler and 1st grader at home as well as my Kindergarten school kids.  I tried to talk as fast as I could and I got to 4 apps in 5 minutes (and then also quick just named a few others I like).  So hopefully this video clip will show you something that might catch your eye and be helpful to parents and teachers or anyone out there who knows a little one who'd like to use the iPad to work with numbers!  I have heaps of other apps I recommend for other subjects or skills and I'll try to post some of those another day!  Have fun!
Sorry I wasn't able to embed it with this software, but just click this link to see the video: http://screencast.com/t/76Qqo1oWyLuD

 
ps... just fyi, I'm not associated with any of these apps or creators in any way... just trying to spread the word about what I think are good, quality, beautiful apps!

THANK YOU!

Just a quick shout out to say THANK YOU to all who reached out and purchased items from my TpT store in the past 24 hours!  I'm humbled and grateful to be sending 100% of my profits to help heal the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.  Together, we raised $60... it doesn't feel or sound like much, but I figure if everyone does a little bit, our efforts will pile up to make a big difference!  I like how one TpT poster said it: "Tiny raindrops make big puddles!"  That's what I'm trying to be a part of.   My heart and prayers go out to all the lives that are forever changed because of what happened Friday.