Longtime indie darlings celebrate their 30th anniversary with a reissue of 1993's "Painful"
A couple years ago I discovered that I could make my own panties! I got a free pattern from online, and man, I was super excited. I carried them around in my purse to show everyone. I mean I know h…
I have recently seen a post floating around Pinterest showing a way to organize your Boomwhackers. Rainbows Within Reach shows a cardboard file stacker turned on its backside with cardboard dividers inserted into the slots to separate each boomwhacker. Although she has many great ideas for organization around the classroom, I kept scratching my head when I saw this picture. (Please note that this system does not belong to Rainbows Within Reach. She took the picture when she was visiting another elementary music classroom.) I'm all about organization; I have an entire Pinboard devoted to it. But when I look at a post on organization, the first thing I ask myself is, "how long would it take someone to create that?" One must evaluate their system to make sure they're not wasting their time with details that are not necessary. When I saw Rainbow's picture of storage system, I didn't understand why each Boomwhacker needed it's own little cubbie hole. I just thought of the time it took to cut the cardboard dividers and to get them to fit just right snug in their place without moving around while the children are getting the Boomwhackers in and out. The individual cubbies are not necessary. Also, some of the smallest Boomwhackers looked difficult to reach because the cardboard was taller than the Boomwhacker. (To solve this, the teacher could put something in the bottom of the slot so the Boomwhacker does not fall all the way down. Something quick and easy could be wadded up newspaper.) Here is a picture of my Boomwhacker storage system: Each pitch has it's own slot, but there is really no need for each Boomwhacker to have their own cubbie space. I have stored my Boomwhackers this way for 6 years and the cardboard boxes are still in pristine condition. It does not require any maintenance. In the picture below, you can see that I reused boxes that came from brand new sets of hand drums. The smallest frame drum boxes are shorter so it is easy to reach even high do! If you were not fortunate enough to have purchased a brand new set of hand drums, any set of narrow boxes would do. You could cut the height to the correct size for the shortest Boomwhackers. (I also like organizational systems that you can make for free! I always think twice about something before I throw it away. I also have a pinboard devoted to repurposing.) I do not have any of the long lower octave Boomwhackers, but I do have some Octavator Caps that make the pitches lower. I store them in a plastic index file and just stick the box in the open space near the upper octave. I have a set of 8 and they fit perfectly. This index card box was something I had laying around, so no money was wasted purchasing something new. I keep my box of Boomwhackers in the bottom of my storage cabinet. When I need them for a lesson, it is easy to just slide the box out and put it back out of the way when finished. I especially like the fact that students can easily put the Boomwhackers away without teacher assistance. During clean-up time, I call only one pitch/color at a time and rarely do I have a kid put their Boomwhacker in the wrong slot. Also, with this arrangement, the students can visually see the progression from low to high (long to short). They almost always make the connection to how the xylophones are arranged. This is the system that works in my classroom. I hope someone else finds it useful as well.
Have you seen Epic or Fail on The Ellen Show? The game is fun, engaging, and SUPER easy for students of multiple levels to pick up. This blog post is FULL of ideas on how to use the game in your speech therapy class from working with mixed groups, focusing on verb tenses, sequencing and more! Click through to read more
Let me show you how I did the scallops on my Scallop Skirt – this way is quicker, easier, and gets better results than the methods I’ve seen in sewing books. First of all you cut a stra…
As seen on Instagram! For the last few years I’ve been giving my students choices for homework. I feel that it has empowered my students because it has given them the independence to make choices, while also showing them that their opinion has worth. Families have also told me that weeknights have been much less stressful and that their kids actually *want* to do their homework. It does take some student training and parent education at the beginning of the year, but with the proper communication and explanation families understand the why. Read more on my blog! Follow me! Blog Facebook Instagram Pinterest Your feedback is appreciated! Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺
Looking for educational preschool shows on Hulu? We've gottchya covered. With 50 of the best, you'll find everything from the alphabet to animals.
Every wondered how to make a nice simple carry-all tote bag to cart all your junk around in? Here's an easy DIY tutorial to help you out!
Learn how using beeBots in your classroom can engage your youngest learners. Learn tips to get started with robots and coding in your class.
I haven't really anything big to show as a WIP today that you've never seen before. I was trying to get busy with designing a few more blocks in the Transport Blocks Theme. Here are a few of the newer blocks. Each one measures 12" (30cm) and is very straight foward and 'easy' to put together. We have a 'Motor Bike', a 'Cement Mixer' and a 'Rocket'. The little Rocket is a FREE pattern - look in my Craftsy Shop. I'm never sure what other people understand by 'easy' to do, so I'm making my own levels of difficulty that I will be showing with my patterns: Beginner Easy Easy Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Hard Advanced Don't Bother Each of these cute blocks is available in my Craftsy Shop. So far there are 11 blocks and I don't see the end in sight just yet. I think these will have to get featured in the Magazine at some point. If you've missed it - It is a quarterly magazine that showcases paper piecing patterns. This second quarter edition has a 'theme' - Animals and Birds. There are 15 Full Patterns for you to have a go at. You can get more info on the magazine here: qadpublishing.blogspot.com Have a Great WIP Wednesday. Linking up with Fine Craft Guild for Earth Day Party
Every wondered how to make a nice simple carry-all tote bag to cart all your junk around in? Here's an easy DIY tutorial to help you out!
This week I tried something new with the vocabulary in the story. I got the idea at a First Grade Conference in December. The student writes the vocabulary word in the middle of the sheet and then there are four things to do with the word. We completed two of the boxes together as a class and they finished the last two boxes independently. The kiddos sure had a great grasp of the vocabulary after this. When we read the story they had fantastic comprehension.
Let me show you how I did the scallops on my Scallop Skirt – this way is quicker, easier, and gets better results than the methods I’ve seen in sewing books. First of all you cut a stra…
When it comes to shaping the light sources photographers use, there are a lot of modifiers available. Each lighting modifier has it's own characteristics which can make it difficult to determine the best light for your project. Karl Taylor has produced one of the best videos I've ever seen showing exactly how the light fall off, contrast, and specularity differs between the
This infographic below from The Practice of Practice is making the rounds. It’s one of the more powerful ideas from the book. The way we think about ability shapes how we approach learning an…
Hidden gems to explore.
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Shannon and I are back today with another Sewing with Knits Mondays, we’re just
Looking for educational preschool shows on Hulu? We've gottchya covered. With 50 of the best, you'll find everything from the alphabet to animals.
It's a fabulous benefit if you can take for granted if you live in a place where crime is low and no one is ever going to be dipping into your purse. But
"I have to warn you about the worst. The part that makes me wonder that if I knew then what I know now would I have done it again?" Read more.
“Rich Men North of Richmond has been uploaded to all major streaming platforms and will show up there in a few days. Im still in a state of shock at the outpouring of love I've seen in the comments, messages and emails. I'm working to respond to everyone as quickly as possible.”
Two weeks in Portugal is the perfect amount of time to see the best bits of the country. We'll show you our highlights for your Portugal two week itinerary.
