Plug-n-Plan

Illustration Predictions and Reading Comprehension Freebie

2013-04-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

Looking to get your students to take more meaningful picture walks?

Predicting can be very telling of a student's inferring skills. In this activity students will use this graphic organizer to choose a key illustration from the story to predict story elements including characters, setting, and events. After reading students will go back to confirm or correct their predictions, reflecting their reading comprehension skills.

This graphic organizer can be used to practice CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.7 (Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.).

I first introduced this graphic organizer to my class on my document camera and did a picture walk using an online book. You can find some great options on sites like MeeGenius, wegivebooks, and KOL Jr. Stories. We did a picture walk first, discussed which illustration might be a good choice for predictions, and then predicted together. We read the book and returned to the illustration we chose for prediction. Finally, we checked our predictions to see how accurate we were and also discussed how we may have come to incorrect conclusions. After this run through your students should be ready to use this reading response on their own!

I hope you find this freebie useful!

Get it here from TPT or here from Teachers Notebook!

New Online Magazine for Teachers!

2013-02-20T21:23:00.001-05:00

Surely you've heard about (and are a big fan of) the Organized Classroom blog from Charity Preston. If you haven't heard of it, it certainly is one you'll want to check out. Either way…I've got GREAT news for you!

As of today Charity has now launched her online Organized Classroom magazine! The first issue is completely free, so you'll definitely want to check it out!

Click the image below to check it out NOW!

Pick Apart those Parts of Speech

2013-02-18T14:52:00.001-05:00

Have you been teaching your kids the Parts of Speech? So far my class has concentrated on nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives. I've introduced them to conjunctions, but they're not responsible for identifying them at this time. Some of my kids really got the hang of identifying them, and others . . . still need practice.

I've created this fun little center (which I will eventually turn into an early finishers activity) to help my kids pick apart their sentences and see how using various parts of speech help to make complete and interesting sentences.

It's called Picky, Picky! Parts of Speech. I've written 50 sentences to go with the activity, so that's plenty to last your kids many, many rounds. However, I've also included a blank page for you to add your own sentences that you may want to personalize with names of students and teachers in your class or school to engage the students even more. If you've been working on a particular use of a part of speech, use these pages to tailor the sentences to the needs of your students!

All you need to do is make copies of the activity sheet and cut out the sentence strips and place them in some kind of container (maybe even a pickle jar). Students will choose a sentence, glue it into the empty box, color code the words, and count up or inventory how many of each part of speech the sentence has! Simple as that! You could even have students write their own sentences in the box if you'd like!

There are 2 worksheet pages. 1 is geared towards grades 1-2 (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs). The 2nd is geared towards grades 3-5 (adding adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions to the code and inventory).

Grab your copy from TPT or Teachers Notebook. Enjoy!

Calendar Math Updated

2013-01-27T18:14:00.002-05:00

A couple of months ago I posted a Calender Math Freebie.

I've been using this as a center in Math every week with my students. (It's great because the responses are different every day!) We recently had our 100th day of school, and that's when I realized the glitch. My calendar center has a section that focuses on counting up to the 100th day of school. I've now added a 2nd page to the freebie that can be used after the 100th day of school. It's free for download on Teachers Notebook or from my Google Drive account. Enjoy!

Click here to get it from Teachers Notebook or Google Drive.

Free Online Books!

2013-01-24T21:48:00.001-05:00

I totally have to thank my friend, Eve, for this find. We always compare apps that we've downloaded for our little girls on our iPads, so when she sent me the info for this one I had to immediately download!

The app is called MeeGenius, but its more than just for an iPad! It can be used on the iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, Google TV, or any computer with Internet access! As a regular member you get a handful of books for free that give you the "Read it to Me" or "Read it to myself" option but as an educator, young get something like 70 free titles! There are some really great classics like fairy tales and other fun stories on there all with narration and great illustrations. I'm not sure what your populations like at school, but I am always shocked when I talk with my class about text-to-text connection regarding classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Usually 50-80% of my class responds that they've never heard the stories before! That makes MeeGenius a great, at-hand resource for me to help them build that background knowledge. I quickly pull it up on my projector and we read the story!

Another way you could use MeeGenius is if you have a classroom computer of tablet for your kids to use. If I had one of these available during centers, I would have it as a listening/reading center. If choosing the "read to me" option, the words are highlighted as they are read. It's also great for ESL students and students who might need remediation. So many possibilities here!

Here's how to get your free account-
Go to www.meegenius.com
If you come to the welcome screen with the iPad on a desktop picture, look in the top right corner. It says "Check out our school accounts" right above then"Start Reading" button. Click the school account link and sign up using your school email and info. Once approved, you'll get an email confirming and you're set!

(If for some reason you don't get this welcome page, scroll all the way to the bottom of any of the other pages on the website and you should see the option on the bottom menu that says "Work with us"…"Schools and Libraries". Click that and it will take you to the signup page.

Hope you enjoy it, my kids and my daughter love it!

Did someone say free TABLET?

2013-01-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. It's been quiet on my page for quite a while. Big changes happening on this end that have kept me pretty occupied, but I had to push through and break the silence to give you a chance to win!

By now I'm sure you've heard of it, but if not . . .

You could win a FREE TABLET!
Enter daily from now until January 31 at Teachers Notebook for your chance to win your choice of iPad mini, Amazon Kindle Fire HD, or Nook HD!

Click the link below to enter.

I mean, really. The best thing I've ever won was a free pretzel after a 5k race I ran in college, but you better believe I'm entering for this one! How awesome would it be to break that "I never win" streak with this sweepstake?!

Silence for Sandy Hooks Elementary

2012-12-16T07:55:00.001-05:00

Calendar Math Center

2012-12-02T18:11:00.000-05:00

After redoing and revamping and rethinking my Math centers for 450th time this year, I've decided to make one of my Math centers a Calendar Math center. I searched all over Pinterest and blogs and found so many great options for Calendar Math pages. I really, REALLY wanted to just use one of those wonderful pages and not reinvent the wheel, but of course I ended up making my own version.

Trust me . . . it's not because all those other versions I found weren't great. It was because some of them are too easy for my higher learners and others covered more things on calendar than I have covered at this point in the year with my own kids. (I might use those later in the year when I've gone over more skills during our calendar time.)

Anyways, here's my version. I hope it can be useful to someone else as well! I've also included a Calendar Math Word Bank to differentiate for my varying learners. Higher students will not need to consult the word bank, but it is available for my other students who need a little help. =)

Click the preview to download a copy.

Or click here to download it from Teachers Notebook or TPT.

Cyber Monday Sale!

2012-11-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

I think teachers should be able to enjoy Cyber Monday sales for their classroom too? I do!

Pop by my stores on TPT or Teachers Notebook to enjoy 10% off any product.

Happy Shopping!

Thanksgiving Sale!

2012-11-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a short break from preparing for Thanksgiving for 15 to say how thankful I am for you!

I'm running a sale on TPT and Teachers Notebook starting Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 22) through Black Friday (Friday, November 23). Since I'm preparing a dinner for 15, how about 15% off!

Hope you find something you like!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you be surrounded by love with too many blessings to list!

Sweet Measurement

2012-10-27T22:27:00.001-04:00

In an interesting turn of events . . . 1st Grade Common Core only covers nonstandard measurement of length! I've always taught nonstandard units, inches, and centimeters. Now my big rules for the kiddos in measurement are:

Make sure all your nonstandard units of measurement are the same in size (uniform).
Start at the beginning of the object - line 'em up!
Make sure all your units of measurements are touching. No spaces in between and no gaps!

Here's a fun, seasonal activity:

Click the picture to get it from TPT.

Grab a FREE copy of this measurement page and some candy corn and Smarties from the store. I went to Dollar Tree and found the candy and cute baggies there. I put about 10 pieces of candy corn and a roll of Smarties in each bag. (So it cost me only about $4 for all 23 of my students with some left over to treat students . . . or teachers!)

This is activity is simple enough that your students can do this as a little independent practice, at centers, or even with you as a form of performance assessment! For this activity students need to practice the rules of nonstandard measurement using 2 different units of measurement: candy corn and Smarties! At the end of the activity students are asked whether the 2 different candies delivered the same results. As you know one of the goals of the Common Core is to "dig deeper". Here is where we hope the students will be able to conclude that it took more Smarties to measure each object than it did candy corns because Smarties are smaller in size.

The student's prize for being so smart? They get to eat their tools of measurement! =)

Actually . . . I'm sending the goodie bags home with the kids so they can show their parents how they use nonstandard units of measurements. THEN they can eat them!

Nonfiction Features in Text

2012-09-25T19:33:00.002-04:00

For those of you teaching your kids about nonfiction reading and writing, here's a free mini book that can help the students remember some of the basic features of nonfiction writing. The mini book has cut and paste examples and facts for each of the 4 basic nonfiction features: Table of Contents, Pictures and Captions, Glossary, and Index.

I walked my 1st grade students through the different features using a Science text book first. Then we worked together to sort through the facts and examples to cut and glue onto our pages. When all done, I took a grade on the mini book and sent them home for the students as a reference for nonfiction text features.

(For some reason I wasn't able to upload this to TPT, but here are the links to Google "Drive" and Teachers Notebook.)

Or click here to get it from Google Drive.

Hope you like it!

And the winner is . . .

2012-09-22T20:16:00.001-04:00

Lori Rosenburg!

Congrats Lori! I will be emailing you with the details, so start thinking about which of those pens you'd like me to send you!

Teacher Addictions

2012-09-17T21:12:00.000-04:00

The 1st step to overcoming an addiction is admitting you have a problem, right? So I confess . . . I am addicted to office supplies. Pens in particular. If I calculated the odds based on my teacher friends, I'm pretty sure you have an inclination towards them too. In fact you probably have an inclination to a specific kind of writing utensil. Flairs? Sharpies perhaps?

I consider myself an equal opportunist when it comes to writing utensils, switching from one brand or style to another depending on my mood and the quality of my handwriting on a particular day. (Am I the only one who has good handwriting and bad handwriting days?)

As a writing utensil junkie, you can imagine my joy when I found this in my mailbox:

(Please excuse the photos. I can't seem to get them to upload right side up!!!)

Zebra sent a really sweet pen portfolio filled with a sampling of their pens and mechanical pencils. Totally. Made. My. Day! (It also made some of my coworkers a little envious!) The portfolio had 8 different kinds of pens, 2 mechanical pencils, and 1 highlighter.

I have to admit that the sampling made me a little nostalgic. The Zebra 301 retractable professional pen series totally took me back to my grade school days because believe it or not, I used to use these all the time! I had them in blue and purple and remember feeling so grown and mature with these "fancy" pens. Now when I visit my parents I always see an economy pack of these in my dad's desk. While they're not exactly my style these days, I did notice that they now come in the smooth-flowing gel options too. These pens are still favorites of my sister and my dad; they are a nurse and a doctor (respectively) and need really fine point pens to write in charts.

I'm partial towards a fatter tipped ball point pen now, so I really enjoyed the Z-Grips. They've got a fatter build and a nice rubberized grip, too. The ZMulsion, however, was a nice surprise. I tend to lean towards ball points because of the "smear factor" of gel pens, but gel pens tend to write so much more smoothly. The ZMulsion is great because although it's a ball point pen it glides over the paper as smoothly as many gel pens do! (If you want to try one of these for free, Shoplet is having a free giveaway with a chance to win a gift card! Click here for more details.)

Another item that took me back to my childhood was the Z-HL highlighter. This wasn't the one I used when I was in school, but the smooth highlighting reminded me of the old school Zazzles. It's crazy how everyone wanted to borrow a highlighter as soon as I pulled out that rainbow pack of liquid highlighters. You know, when I see my kids get into mini arguments and spats over their "special pencils" or pens, part of me totally gets it.

No matter how old I get, I don't think I'm ever going to outgrow the little pleasures and excitement that bubbles up when I get my hands on cute office supplies! (BTW - the cutesy Cadoozles mechanical pencil that looks like a novelty lead pencil is totally adorable. . . and not just to my students!)

While Zebra pens and pencils aren't always the cheapest option on one of my favorite aisles at the store, you'll always know they give you quality.

*Confess your love/addiction to office supplies in a comment below and you could win your choice of Zebra pen/pencil. I'll randomly choose a winner on Saturday, September 22 and send it to you in the mail!

Get Your Writing On!

2012-09-08T15:57:00.001-04:00

Oh my goodness! Can you say "busy"? Of course you can . . . you've been in the same back to school boat, haven't you? I am SO exhausted with back to school, deadlines, new curriculum, AND new software. All this to explain why I've been MIA (again).

I've had ideas of things I want to make and do but haven't been able to get to them, so I'm glad to say that my 1st time back in a month brings you something good! =)

I've just created a Writing Prompts package that includes 50 creative and challenging writing prompts for your students. I use these in Writing Center during Guided Reading. I generally let my students choose their on topics during Writing Workshop but then give them prompts during centers (giving them practice at both self-chosen writing and writing to a topic).

If you remember my Math Journal Prompts that came out last year, these work the same way. You just print out enough of the writing prompts for each of your students, and the students cut out a prompt to put in their journals. (Saves you paper that way.)

Here's a free sample from the pack . . .


Click the preview above to get your freebie!

Click the preview below to get your copy of my 50 Writing Prompts to Get Them Thinking!

*Click here to get it from Teachers Notebook.

Oh . . . and if you missed the Math Writing Prompts to last you through the 1st grade year, you can get them here.

Going Back to School With YOU Sale!

2012-08-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

I may have already had 1 long, full week with my brand new firsties, but this may be your 1st week back to school in the area you teach! That's why I'm joining in with Teachers Pay Teachers in their Back to School Sale! Everything in my store is 10% off from August 12-13. You can get up to 28% off when combined with the TPT sale! Use promo code BTS12. Click the image below to head to my store.

Welcome back to the classroom!

O"fish"ally a 1st Grader!

2012-08-02T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today is our Open House/Registration day. I get to meet my students and their parents! It's kind of the moment that makes the idea of this next school year a reality.

Registration day is usually a mix of long, slow empty stretches dotted with sudden influxes of families. Everyone always seems to come in one big wave and it's just a whirlwind! This year we found out that we only have 3 forms for the parents to fill out in our classrooms rather than our usual 8 or so. I always felt bad for the parents having to fill out all those papers! Now they will be doing most of the registration on computers. I'm so excited about this! I'm hoping it's a sign of a smoother start to the beginning of our year.

The best part of Registration Day for me is always meeting my new students. Some are shy and hide behind their parents. Some talk your ear off right off the bat! This year I got a really cute idea from the goody bags I made for my daughter's 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago. I made these cute little candy bags using the satchel shaped cellophane bags, nerds, and Swedish fish! Here's what they looked like:

I thought it would be a fun way to welcome my new class to give these out at registration too, so I changed the tag closure at the top to say "O"fish"ially a 1st Grader!"

These are the things you'll need.

Here's how you make them:

Print the top closure tags on cardstock paper. (Get them here.)
Cut out closure tags so that you have enough extra paper above the words to fold over and double up in the back.
Cut the closure tag with a scalloped or wavy edged scissor (with card folded).
Pour some Nerds into the bottom of the cellophane bag to simulate aquarium gravel.
Add a few Swedish fish.
Tuck in and fold over the tops of the bag, slip it between the folded cardstock, and staple!

Sale starts TODAY!

2012-08-01T18:35:00.000-04:00

Don't miss my Back to School sale! It starts today. Everything in my store is 15% off from August 1 - 4. Hope you find some great things that will help kick start your year (and sustain it)!

Teachers Pay Teachers AND Teachers Notebook

Back to School SALE!

2012-07-30T18:34:00.000-04:00

Is Summer really over?

For me it is. Time for preplanning! Time to prep, prep, prep! That's why I'm throwing a Back to School sale now. Everything in my store is 15% off from August 1 - 4. Hope you find some great things that will help kick start your year (and sustain it)!

Teachers Pay Teachers AND Teachers Notebook

Advice for New Teachers

2012-07-24T10:54:00.001-04:00

I was sitting here randomly thinking about my personality and teaching style and started remembering my super-awesome student teacher this past year. (I need to check in on her! I REALLY hope she found a teaching position by now…it's so hard to find positions lately with all the budget cuts!). Anyways, I was thinking of the her and thought about all the new teachers starting next week or in the next few weeks.

I remember one of the things I found myself telling my student teacher was the importance of flexibility. Things change so often (and sometimes with little or no notice). You make plans and find you will need to squeeze other things into the schedule. Or you make plans and it takes longer (or not nearly as long) as you thought. You make plans, assess, and find that you're going to have to stay on the same skill a little longer. You know what I'm talking about. I think FLEXIBILITY is an essential trait for a teacher (at least if she wants to keep her sanity).

If you were to give advice to a new teacher (one word, tip, motto, whatever), what would it be?

Let's hear YOUR advice!

A Year of Common Core Aligned Math Tests!

2012-07-21T00:03:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness this took forever, but I am SO happy to say that I have finally finished my packet of 1st Grade Math Common Core Aligned Assessments! I am pooped! I've worked my tail off this week between finally completing this beast and planning/preparing for my daughter's 2nd birthday!

I know there are other packets of Common Core aassessments out there that were completed before I could finish mine, but you know how it is when you have a vision for something. You just have to see it through! The way I designed this packet was to create a Unit Test for each of the 4 broader standards set out by the CCSS: 1)Operations & Algebraic Thinking, 2)Number & Operations in Base Ten, 3)Measurement & Data, and 4)Geometry. Then I created Unit Subtests for each of the standards listed under these headings. I then created a Problem Solving assessment for each of the Unit Tests and Subtests to help extend student learning and assessment. These are written in the style that some of you may know from "Exemplars". They should be solved using problem solving strategies such as drawing a picture, number sentences, graphs, charts, tables, and then completed with a written explanation of the student's thinking.

Well I'm not sure if I'm feeling generous or if I'm just delirious from all this cooking and baking, but how about a sample of the assessment packet for free? Get the Unit 1 test by clicking on the image below!

or get it here from Teachers Notebook

Want to go ahead and buy the packet? Click the image below to get it from my TPT store!

or get it here from Teachers Notebook

Hey! If you're still reading this you may be in luck! In celebration of my baby's 2nd birthday the 1st 2 people to comment on this post will get the ENTIRE PACKET for FREE! Please leave me your email address, so I can email it to you!

And just for fun . . . these lollicakes are just one of the many, many things I did today that's contributing to my present delirium! Aren't they cute?!?

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl, Analise! Mommy loves you!

(And now so do 2 lucky people! J/k!)

Back to School Supplies!

2012-07-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, teachers! Please validate me here! I LOVE office supplies! That's not weird is it? I've always loved pens, pencils, stationary . . . you name it since I was a little girl, so now that I'm a teacher this has become a dangerous obsession! But wait . . . it gets worse. When I find really nice or really cool office supplies, I don't want to use them because then they'd be all used up so I hoard them! I'm working on this. I don't want to end up on the tv show (although I've seen some pretty scary classrooms out there that comfort me in that I know I wouldn't be the 1st one they'd choose if there was ever a "Hoarders: Teacher Edition").

Anyways, the reason I bring up office supplies is that it's back to school time and the sales are starting! While it's always fun to elbow your way down the crowded Back to School aisles at Walmart, Target, Office Depot, Staples, or , I always have to revisit a teacher's best shopping friend: Oriental Trading!

Here are a few of my favorite Back to School teacher products from Oriental Trading.

These usually last my 1st graders the 1st few weeks of school when they're still a little shy and the Specials teachers and Cafeteria staff are still getting to know their names. (Well . . . they help me too for the first few days. I usually learn their names quickly, but it helps to see their names too!)

I think these are pretty cool. I usually just use sheet protectors (and lots of them), but I'm trying these out this year.

You know how it is during preplanning. You're constantly gluing things onto magnets, clothespins, sticks, tables, walls, etc. Maybe this will help me keep some sanity! There are lots of different options available here as to size, quantity, and other factors regarding these glue dots.

Plastic envelopes. A must have for reading groups! I've used these for years now to keep their books, dry, clean, secure, and easy to find. Reading logs, homework, reading books, etc get slipped into these babies and they're safe and secure . . . for the most part! I usually get these a lot cheaper at Big Lots, but the years I can't find them there, I get them from Oriental Trading. Trust me, I've searched high and low for a cheaper option. This is the best I've found when I can't get them at Big Lots.

Name Plates! I try to avoid going to the teacher stores at all costs at the beginning of the school year. 1-The crowds are crazy! 2-It's dangerous to my wallet. I'd be too tempted to get more stuff! Oriental Trading carries lots of different styles of name plates. I do warn you, though. They're not all the same size, but the price (and dimensions listed) are a good indicator as to which ones you should purchase. I bought the cheaper ones thinking they were just a much better deal, but they turned out to be half the length . . . but I think I like that better!

I use as many magnetic surfaces as possible in my room! It's how I organize centers and small groups, and it's also how my students keep track of their behavior and where they are in the writing process. It was also how I kept track of who was ordering what breakfast for several years. So I guess what I'm saying is: I use lots of magnets. Self-adhesive means less hot glue for me! Yippie!

Oh, and just in case you're wondering . . . no, I am not being compensated by Oriental Trading in any way (although I wouldn't mind that at all!). I'm just like any other teacher - a huge fan!

Editable Registration Day Checklist

2012-07-14T21:44:00.001-04:00

I received a request on TPT for access to my Registration Checklist on GoogleDocs so that information could be typed directly into the form rather than handwritten. I know exactly how the requester feels. I'm not too fond of my handwriting most of the times and would much rather prefer the uniformity of the ten thousand different fonts I have on my computer to suit my mood. =) My only hesitation is that if I uploaded the file to GoogleDocs, the images I used would not be protected as I agreed to in regards to copyright. Anyways, what I did to accommodate is upload the form without graphics. If you want to cute-sy it up yourself, have at it! Then you can have a theme to match your classroom!

Click here to get access to the editable Registration Checklist. Hope it makes your registration day a little bit smoother.

A Registration Day Checklist

2012-07-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

If you're on a similar schedule to my county that mean Registration Day is only a few weeks away! (Can you believe that?) I always feel sorry for the parents on registration day, filling out form after form after form. Ugh!

At my school we have been very blessed to have had some great registrars who truly know what they are doing. In turn they make sure we know what we are doing. Our registrar was Teryle. She most definitely knew what she was doing, so if you weren't so clear on what was needed and consequently did not get your parents to fill out all the forms correctly, you'd better believe she'd send you back to chase after those parents and get everything in order!

Today I said goodbye to my friend and registrar, Teryle. Last week she went home to be with the Lord. We are all going to miss her dearly; I know I'll miss her sassy attitude and warm, welcoming smile. There's no one like her, and I have been so very blessed to have known her these past 10 years.

I'm posting this freebie in honor of Teryle. It's a blank registration checklist. There are always way too many forms to keep track of, but sometimes a little organization can keep us on track in our post-summer break haze.There are spaces for your students' names, a column to mark whether your students is a car rider, takes the bus, or walks, and a column for the student's car or bus number. The rest of the columns are empty for you to customize according to the forms required at your school. For those of you who work in Gwinnett County, GA click here to get your GCPS customized form with all our required forms! May these forms help you keep track of what you're responsible for, and may they put a smile on your registrar's face.

More Technology Tips for the Classroom!

2012-07-14T00:03:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last technology tip post last week that I attended a staff development through my county regarding technology. Sometimes I think some of the best stuff we get out of these staff development classes are the resources! Those are the things I want to share with you.

For those of you who use your iPads in the classroom here are 4 apps that might come in handy!

1- CommonCore
This app gives you quick access to the Common Core Standards. Enough said.

2- Rover
This is a FREE Educational web browser that is Flash enabled! That's right . . . you can actually utilize websites that use Flash! (I don't know about you, but this used to be a big bummer for me regarding the iPad. I even debated whether it was worth getting an iPad before since you couldn't access Flash.)

3- Puffin
This is another web browser that is Flash enabled! Puffin is great in that it enables you to get the full version of web pages on both smart phones and tablets and uses cloud servers. Puffin is normally $2.99 for the iPad but it's currently free as a 2012 Olympic Promotion, enabling Flash support for users from July 22 to August 12 for the London Olympics.

4- Penzu
It's a FREE online notepad/journal/diary. You can actually just do it on the internet giving you access to your entries from anywhere through the web. If you choose the app for your iPad/iPhone, however, you would need to purchase the Penzu Pro account in order to sync your iPad/iPhone to your web account for $19/year.

More tech tips to come, but until then here's a question I'd love for you to weigh in on. I see plenty of pros and cons, so I want to know what you think!

Do you let your kids use your personal iPad for instruction in the classroom? Why or why not?