Five for Friday

Seriously, it's crazy how much I've blogged this week, huh?  I have to tell you, I think I'm starting to find my rhythm again.  I guess that's what happens when you are snowed in a few days.  Oh, and real quick shout out - if you left me comments over the last few days, I promise I read them.  I LOVE reading comments.  I did try to respond, but Blogger has been a little moody tonight and for some reason I couldn't, so know I read your comments and I will do my best to try again this weekend.

Alright, now guess what day it is?  Nope… it isn't Hump Day!  It's Friday which means it is time for…

#1 - Puppet Pals HD
Monday I spent my day at iPad training and I have to tell you about this one app that I think you guys would absolutely love.  It's called Puppet Pals HD.  I ended up getting the version you buy, but they do have a free version if you want to check it out first.  Your kiddos get to pick different characters and can even take a picture of themselves to use as a character.  Then, they use a microphone and record the parts while they move the characters on the iPad screen.  Once they are done, they can watch their play like you would watch a movie.  I don't know about y'all, but I have a little friend that I know is going to LOVE making some puppet shows.  So, if you have an iPad in your classroom and you want something new and cool, definitely check this app out.

#2 - Giant Clips
I found these at Michaels a few weeks ago and I love them!  They will be great to hold up directions, center cards, etc.  I have to be honest though, I am going to be using at least one to hold up a sign that reminds my kiddos that they should not be anywhere near my table when I'm doing Guided Reading.  That is my pet peeve.  I promise, I'm not cruel.  The other kiddos are supposed to be doing their Read to Self or Read to Someone time and they know what they are doing.  I just have ten a few friends that are still working on not coming to ask me little questions during this time.

#3 - Fun Trick
So, I was talking to Tammy from Fluttering through First Grade the other night about how I have been smudging names out of pictures.  If you are a blogger, then you probably are doing this or you are wondering how do other bloggers do this?  I have gotten the trick down and friends, it is so very easy.  If you have Adobe Photoshop, you open it up and on the left-hand side you will see a little Band aid-looking picture.  On my picture it's the second one and kind of highlighted.  You click that and you just drag it across the name several times.  It will smudge it out.  Then, you just save the picture.  This also works with kid faces if you put those on your blog.

#4 - New Gadget
This really should be a Five for Friday: Tech Geek post.  So, since I knew I had training on Monday, I ran to Best Buy Sunday night and grabbed this new gadget.  Once you charge it for six to eight hours (Yes, it really takes that long), you can use it as a backup battery.  I knew my iPhone and iPad wouldn't make it through an all day meeting, so for me it was a necessity.  I had been wanting one for awhile anyway for vacations or shopping trips with my family.  Don't get me wrong, I love the shopping trips, but I do usually spend at least an hour or two in Barnes and Noble reading while my sis, Mimi, and Mom are in Charming Charlies.

#5 - My Weekend
Well, this weekend my church is doing Mystery Day for our fourth and fifth graders.  I ended up with the yellow team.  Friends, I have to be honest.  When I think of yellow, I think of two things - Big Bird and bananas.  I am not a huge yellow fan, so I improvised.  I added "accent" colors.  We are now the yellow team with just a little black and white polka dotted stuff.  Don't worry, I checked first.  Here's the room I have to work with.  I will make sure to post pictures of the room on Saturday.  It is definitely going to be a ton of fun!

Alright, so there are my five things.  Time to run!  Talk to you guys later and have a Fantabulous Friday!!!!