Gift Giving Made Easy!!

Do you ever wonder what to give a relative or a colleague for a gift? How about YOUR child's teacher?  I alwaysssss freaked out when thinking of amazing gifts that my friends and kids' teachers could actually use and benefit from.  As a teacher myself, I knew gift giving was always something to enjoy, laugh about, be thankful for and sometimes a little stressful for all those involved.   We all have stories of how our students often feel the pressure of gift giving, too, and sometimes wrap items from Mom or home to give when they aren't financially able to.

Well, don't find yourself in this boat.  I have a list of few handy, dandy gift ideas you can easily gift to any teacher, or friend for that matter, male or female!! My husband is a teacher, too, and often male junior high teachers are the hardest to purchase for!!!



For anyone in your life, a gift certificate to a book store or a place that sells books would be IDEAL!!! I have at least 100 books on my Amazon Wish List!!

Who can resist Target?  If I had a Wish List for Target, it would be easily as long as my book wish list!! I often fear I could easily spend $100 in the Dollar Section!! Anyone with me on that?!

However, for me, the BEST gift of all are the ones that are like a buffet or a smorgasbord!!  A basket, plastic bin, mug, cup,... you get the idea, filled with goodies that I can use and enjoy!!! My son loves baseball and played for years!! I scored and found glass baseball shaped and textured mugs at Marshalls! I am going to fill them with his favorite candy and pop some gift cards in one and his other favorite thing, socks with personality, into the other!!  Easy Peasy and the items inside are all things he will definitely use AND enjoy!!! This mug isn't finished, but trust me! He will love those socks!!

A TPT Gift card always heads the top of my Wish List!!  My own kids are great about gifting me those!! My other family, aka my mom and my dad don't quite understand the whole concept of Teachers creating curriculum resources out of their own pocket and time! So I know I will never, ever receive a TPT gift card from them!!  

To help you with your gift giving, hey you can gift yourself you know, below is a Rafflecopter to enter for a $10 TPT gift card!!  Treat yourself, surprise a coworker, or gift to your own child's teacher!! Believe me, it will be valued and appreciated!!!!   Thank you TPT for your generosity in donating this card to the teacher community!! I am so proud to be affiliated with TPT!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Head over to An Apple for the Teacher to enter her $10 TPT Giveaway also!  GOOD LUCK & Happy Gift Giving!

Celebrate with me! I'm featured on Rachel Lynette's Mind in Bloom Today!!! Giveaway!!

Have you ever met someone and wondered how in the mix of the universe did your paths cross?  During last summer's Teachers Pay Teachers conference, I attended a session hosted by Rachel Lynette of Minds in Bloom Blog.  She spoke from the heart and shared her story with us.  I didn't know it at the time, but the theme of My Story was one I was going to hear quite a bit of this year through California Teachers Association as awaited the decision of the Supreme Court on the Friedrichs Case.  

If you don't know who Rachel is, check out her blog! She literally took task cards to the highest level and she offers about a gazillion of them with every topic known to man, and probably some unknown ones also!!! 

I met up with Rachel again this past February at the Teachers Take Sacramento Meet Up.  She was her ever chipper, enthusiastic, energetic self.  I enjoyed chatting with her and am thrilled to say that today I am featured on her blog. Swing by and check out my post on Integrating Art into All Curricular Areas.  

I recently hit a social media milestone of 1.000 followers on Instagram! Come celebrate what a month I have had by entering my Rafflecopter!! 3 PRIZES!! $25 TPT and Target gift cards along with a Container Store brag tag container filled with my AR Reading Tags!!! 

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The Classroom Clique's Teacher Appreciation Giveaway and FREEBIES!

Hey you! Yes, YOU!! You have to be an educator if you found your way to my blog today!!! Welcome!!!! I am so excited to have you join me for some fun tips, a teacher freebie, and a chance to meet some of my Clique Friends as we celebrate Teachers.  If you are a paraprofessional or work with students, you are welcome to join in the fun!!!

Do you use collaborative groups?  My school is a GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) school and we use a wonderful grouping and job mechanism known as Numbered Spoons.  Whenever you need to assign jobs, or have partners created in a jiffy or want one person from each table to hold a special assignment, then this classroom tip is for you.   Have students number off in 4's, mine are seated this way so that makes it easy! Then pull a spoon and all students that represent that number for their table, do the task.  Perfect for table games against each other! I use numbered spoons all day long, every day.  For science, I post the number with the job: 1. iPad recorder 2. Supply Gatherer 3. Director, make sure instructions are being followed and everyone is participating 4. Scientist!   These are perfect for language arts! 1. Directions Reader and Director  2.  Read the passage aloud  3. Hunt for Evidence as well as explain to your teammates how you found the evidence  4. Reporter: report out to whole class!

Really the ideas are endless and the best part?!  The tools are easy and inexpensive to get!! 4 Plastic Spoons, use a Sharpy and write one number on each spoon.  Put them in a cup, bucket, etc. and off you go!!!! Simple way to get classroom participation and have jobs so everyone is held accountable.

 Happy Week of the Teacher!!! During this week, I have students write to the teachers they had in past years.  Sometimes we use this writing QR Cube to give us ideas.  Other days I have them use the cube and write about me!! This 6 sided cube has 6 prompts for students to write about their teacher.  Great memories for those days you want to pull your hair out!! 

To honor Teachers everywhere, TPT is throwing a sale and WE here at The Classroom Clique are showing our appreciation with freebies and giveaways!! Collect the word at each blog's stop and enter it in the Rafflecopter below!! Great prizes!!!  Make sure you scroll through the Rafflecopter to see the goodies! TPT gift card, Starbucks gift card and Target gift card!!! Winner, Winner all the way around!!

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Wish Lists Aren't Just for Kids!!! TPT CELEBRATE SALE

Wish lists!! Growing up I always seemed to have a wish list for things I would like to have, places to visit, things I wanted to do, etc.  As an adult I have one, too. Just now it's more specific listing places I still want to visit, activities I want to try, books I want to read, and places I want to take my granddaughter. 

But what is sooooo exciting for me is that many teachers have found some items in my TPT store things they want enough to put on their Wish List!!!  I am honored!   Jen over at Teaching in the Tongass created this Linky Party for you to see some amazing wish listed items!! I know you will be like me and find some treasures I stuck right in the cart, especially since TPT is having its annual Teacher Appreciation sale, May 3rd & 4th!! 28% off quickly had me adding items to my CART!! Check out my top 3 wish listed items, are they yours? Don't forget to use CODE:CELEBRATE for your 28% savings!

VERBS QR CODE WRITING ACTIVITY CUBES: My students love using technology1! I am sure most do! It is new, hands-on, engaging, and part of the 21st century! Let's face it, VERBS can be a bit boring!! I created these QR Cubes as a way for my students to practice action, linking, and helping verbs in a fun and meaningful way: by writing!! My students love these and don't mind when I throw them in my centers all year long for easy, engaging review.

POWERS OF TEN/BASE TEN EXPONENTS BUNDLE: Fifth grade is where students learn about exponents and powers of ten.  It is a difficult concept for them to understand.  I couldn't find material that was engaging for my students so I created these 2 card sets.  One is perfect for Matching Game, Go Fish, or find your partners move around activity, while the other set are task cards that are great for Scoot, exit slips, or a center.

 

WOULD YOU RATHER? 44 GETTING TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS & WRITING PROMPTS:  I love getting to know my students.  I use writing and oral activities to get to know them and for opportunities for them to know their classmates.  These 44 cards give students questions to share which they would rather have, eat, do, or visit.  These are a hit all year long.  I use them in the beginning of the year for oral get to know "you's" where students stand in two circles facing each other.  The outer circle has the cards.  They tell the inner circle their choice of what they would rather do and then the inner shares.  I call out "Inner circle rotate one step to your right." And we start all over again.  Throughout the year, I place these in my writing center where they write detailed paragraphs.  They look forward to the variety and the chance to write something THEY enjoy!! These have been so popular, the second set will be out in a few weeks!! Leave your email below in the comments and I will let you know first!

To find more amazing products for your cart, head over to Teaching in the Tongass and follow the loop! 

Springing into Learning with Lopez Land Learners

Spring is here, at least in Southern California that is.  We often are introduced to spring with beautiful caterpillars and butterflies everywhere.  My students love art during this time of year as the flowers near our classroom bloom into amazing wonders of beauty.  Spring break is almost upon us! One of my favorite activities we do daily is WRITE!!! I have included my Spring QR Code Writing Cube.

Hop on to some of my friends for more goodies that will have you screaming, "SPRING" regardless of your current weather!


Linky HTML Blogger Code:

An InLinkz Link-up

SUPER Giveaway and LINK UP!!

BRONCOS AND SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!! I could list you 50 reasons why I am stoked, but then you wouldn't be able to watch the game!! So what I have planned for you instead is a link up and giveaway with an amazing group of talented teacherpreneurs who came together to give you SUPER TIPS, SUPERB CLASSROOM RESOURCES, and SUPERFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS PRIZES!!! Say that 3 times fast!

Wanting your students to participate a tad more?  Are they sitting in groups of 4?  4 is the best number for teams. Odd numbers are great for many things, but when you need partners or multiple students working together, 4 is perfect for creating team jobs.  I use what we call Numbered Spoons. Click on the link for my original post on this collaborative resource I use daily in my class! You simply have students number themselves off 1 through 4,  my only rule is you can't be the same number you were the last time you numbered yourselves off.  If there are less than 4 at a table, someone or the two students will need to be 2 numbers and do more than one job.  I call out a number often and will have that numbered student explain the concept to their tablemates, ask a new comprehension question, do a task, give a vocabulary clue, etc.  The number of ways you can use this tip are endless!

As part of the Superb Resources we are giving you will be one of my favorite best sellers, Would You Rather? 44 Card Set of Writing Prompts giving students the choice of whether they would rather do, eat, play, etc. one thing or the other. These are perfect for beginning of the year oral and writing getting to know each other activities as well as throughout the year for free choice writing. Students love the topics and you always receive such genuine unprompted honest responses that will bring smiles and tears to your eyes!

Ready for some chances to win SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS PRIZES?? Sure, you do!!! I want to win!!!! And I am not eligible so a SUPER BRONCOS fan has to win... right?!!!! There are 3 chances to win one of the following PRIZES!!!

AAAANNNNNDDDDDDDDDDD................

Soooo what are you waiting for?  Click on the rafflecopter below for your chances for these SUPERB prizes!!!   Thank you GoNoodle, Knowledge Bound, Pencil Grip, Classroom Friendly Sharpener, Sit Spots, Champagne and Polka Dots Whistles, and the fabulous teacherpreneurs listed in the Rafflecopter.

LET'S GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROCK THE NATION PEYTON MANNING!!!!

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BRONCOS WON!!! YOU CAN WIN TOO!!!!!

I grew up in Tennessee where sports and loyalty to sports teams go long and far.  Peyton Manning is a southern legend! Not just because his dad was a professional southern league quarterback, but because he was the QB for the Tennessee Volunteers!! 

You can still #16 orange jerseys throughout Tennessee and Peyton Manning Way and Locker Complex are must see's when visiting Neyland Stadium! Photo credit @UTSPORTS.com

I followed Peyton's career to Indianapolis along with the rest of my southern family and hung faithful as he found his way out west with my second childhood favorite team, the Denver Broncos. I remember cheering Elway on during his Super Bowl victories and I am beyond thrilled to go back there again with Peyton in SUPERBOWL 50!!! Two weeks from today we will be screaming and wearing orange and blue in this house!!! 

I hope you will be cheering on with the Big Blue Bear that sits outside of Denver's Convention Center in 2 weeks!! I am so proud of the DENVER BRONCOS and their perseverance!! They showed what determination through hard times is all about!! 

I have teamed up with my Bronco blogging teacher friends for today's amazing AFC Championship Win!  Follow along in our blog hop, picking up amazing football freebies to use with your class and enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win gift cards to TPT, Papa John's Pizza, and Cinemark movies!!  

My students love using technology. I created these Football QR Code Writing Prompts for them to write about next week before the Super Bowl.  They scan one card or one side of the cube, open it into NOTES on the iPad

and can finish writing to the prompts.  The notes can be uploaded into Google Docs, Educreations Application, or emailed to me.  They really enjoy writing this way. Look for this set to make it into my Growing Bundle!  

Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter! Then Hop to Craft of Teaching for her goodie! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winter Blog Hop Southern California Style!

While Southern Californians don't get snow like some of our northern or eastern California friends do, we often have crazy, strong winds that cause us to feel like we are experiencing arctic temperatures! But that is rare!! Just look at my students at PE this last week.  January, Schmanuary!! 

                           

But of course, we also have to dress up like we are in the middle of a blizzard, too! Well, at least, my cat does! She loves hiding under the comforter in the winter! 

Because our winters are usually so mild, we are able to still experience fun outdoor attractions like the Santa Monica Pier, Universal Studios Hollywood, Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles, and of course the beach! 

While we wait for El Nino to really hit, enjoy my Winter QR Code Writing Prompts.  You can print them as a QR Code Cube or as individual cards for students to scan and write! 

For more So Cal Winter Freebies and Fun, click on LisaTeachR's Classroom Blog button below. 

http://lisateachr.blogspot.com/2016/01/so-cal-blog-hop.html

Be sure and enter the Rafflecopter for amazing gifts you could win!!! 

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