Five for Friday (On Saturday)

Oh my goodness!  So, I never know how to start when I write.  There should be a book that tells you 500 different sentences to start a blog post with.  Once I get going, I'm good, but every time I go to blog I think for at least five minutes about my opening.  Sad that I'm admitting that, but it's true.

Anyway, now that I've gotten that out of the way, how is your summer going?  Mine has been pretty uneventful.  So far, I've spent the majority of it working on my laptop.  I know I'm out of school, but there is so much to get done and when it is something you enjoy doing, it doesn't feel like work.  Plus, if I put the time in now, then during the school year I will have more time to create and plan really fun lessons.

Alright, now for my Five for Friday.  Click on the button to go see more fantabulous link ups!  I'm also linking up to Classroom Freebies.

#1 - Erasable Pens

As you already know, I got an Erin Condren lesson plan book.  Since I want to start working on lesson plans this summer, I figured I would have to use a pencil to do my work.  Well, a friend of mine introduced me to erasable pens.  I went to find them at Office Depot because they should definitely have erasable pens, right?  Wrong!  They didn't have any brand or type.  After a little investigating, I discovered that the best place to get them is Amazon.  I ordered them last Sunday and they arrived by Thursday.  I didn't think I'd like them, but they write pretty smoothly and to top it off, the erasers are made differently than your typical eraser.  They erase great, but the best part is they don't leave little eraser pieces everywhere.


#2 - Freebies
Since you read this far, I created freebies for the ones of you that are still in school.  I know you are throwing daggers at me right now, but keep in mind that I go back in August and you are out until September.  One of you requested word problem pages, so here you go.  Hope you enjoy!

#3 - Chevron Paper

I hated chevron at the beginning of the year, but it has quickly grown on me.  Now, I can't get enough. Well, I told you last week that I ran to Michael's where I got tons and tons of Washi tape.  Sadly, I still haven't used it.  Well, I also found Chevron card stock.  It is around the size of a large note card.  The front has different colors and then the back is white.  It is pretty much useless, but it's pretty so I'm using it to make To Do Lists and lists of other things.  Oh, and if you do get it, it's best to write on it with a Sharpie.


#4 - My Cute Graphics
Well all of you know how much I love to collect clip art.  This morning, I was searching for a specific type of clip art and a friend sent me a link to My Cute Graphics.  People, her clip art is cute.  The best part is all of her clip art is free.  The only thing she asks is that you don't use it as is (Include it in a product) and that you give her credit (Which you have to do for 95% of people anyway).  So, if you are needing clip art and you are trying to not buy right now, then check her out.   I'm certain you won't be disappointed.  All you have to do is right click on the pics and hit download.

#5 - Calendar Math
Calendar Math is why I didn't have time to blog yesterday.  Except for eating breaks, I worked on it ALL day and night.  I do my Calendar Math differently than most teachers.  I make it standard based and I use my Activboard.  I had it two years ago, but this year I never made it to fit the new standards.  My test scores were still good, but I noticed that my kids missed some very basic things and I realized it was probably because they needed more repetition.  So, below are pictures of what I created.  One of my favorite things I did is I went ahead and added Harry Kindergarten songs where I could.  Then, I added the pencils and erasers so if the kids click on them, it immediately allows them to write or erase.   It is probably one of my favorite things I've created.  I thought it may give you guys some ideas for how to do yours.

Hope you have a great weekend and if you haven't checked out my About Me section or my Freebies section lately, I've been working on them.  Also, if you have a blog definitely take some time to put your blog on my Blogger Friends page.  Alright, off to eat lunch.  It's a little past 12:00 (2:45), so probably need to get on that.