Monday funday! We started off our day making some text-to-self connections and I must brag for a minute, my kids did an amazing job. First, we reviewed what a text-to-self connection was and made a quick little anchor chart. Then, we read Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (click below for the book). During […]

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you t...

If you are looking for our teacher memes, you can find them here: 1. Classroom Memes: Class Rules 2. Customizable Teacher Memes 3. Editable memes for elementary classroom 4. Teacher Problem Posters…

i must characterize my faves by making them do self portraits

Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.

60+ Must Make Kindergarten Anchor Charts for the classroom. Covers classroom management, literacy and math. Multiple ideas!

People often see meetings as an inevitable evil. As you can’t get out of it anyway, why not make the experience a little bit easier for everyone? Make meetings more enjoyable, effective and efficient by abiding to these simple etiquette rules.

Read our local's guide of top things to do in Nara. From temples, to deer park and amazing food we share the best tips to make the most of your trip to Nara

Shavuot is a Jewish holiday being celebrated this week that remembers the time when Moses received the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is also an a...

The Mall-ard's blog provides a window into our Kindergarten classroom. You are welcome to take a peek into our daily activities and share in the lives of our Kindergarten students.

To the person that says, “Oh! It isn’t scanning! That must mean it’s free!” Every time someone tells that joke a cashier dies.

You must have nokedli with your chicken paprikas. Also make these little fluffy delights for stew or any dish with a nice thick gravy.

tame impala.

It's getting to be that time... early wake up calls, lesson plans and meetings. When I'm preparing to go back to school, I always start with decorating and organizing my classroom. I truly believe that if the room starts out looking good, then the students will appreciate it and work hard to keep it looking nice. It's also fun for me to work on this stuff, so it eases me back into school mode. My classroom is not fully set up and ready for students yet, but I wanted to share what I've done thus far. There is a wall right outside of my door where I like to post the standards that the students are currently learning. I made up a quick sign last year and wrote the standards on index cards for each unit. This year, I'm typing up the standards by unit and will post them that way. Now the students all know what we're working on before they enter the classroom and anyone else that walks by knows as well. Another thing that I started using last year that worked very well was inspired by Pinterest. If you're on Pinterest, then I'm sure you've seen those "I love you because..." picture frames that people write on with a dry erase marker. Since I teach four different preps, my homework assignments were occupying a lot of space on my white boards. I decided to modify the frame idea and created a homework frame for each prep. I bought inexpensive 11 x 16 inch frames at Walmart and used coordinating scrapbook paper and sticker letters to create the frame. Every morning I write the homework assignments on those boards, along with any upcoming assessments. This worked really well last year since the kids always knew exactly where to look to see their assignment. I put all 4 of the frames up front in a grid pattern. The frames also added some much needed color to the room. I hung the frames using command hooks and they've been up there since last summer without a problem. Above the frames you can see a quote that I also found on Pinterest. It says, "It's ok to not know. It's not ok to not try." I used this particular quote because I wanted to students to know that their effort is really what's important to me. If they try hard enough then they will learn the content and be successful. You can also see some laminated signs that I made for the front board. One is the classroom survival tips - another thing I found on Pinterest. I can post a close up picture of that too if anyone is interested. The other is the teacher's definition of talking. This really gets the point across - so here's a closer look: Since the white boards are magnetic, I attached a strip of magnet to the back of these signs and now I can move them on the board if I need to. One thing that I make a point to do is acknowledge the strong students often. I think that they seem to get left behind with the emphasis on test results because we know that they'll do well. Last year I started posting the "Star Student" for each class period and it is simply the student with the highest average in the class. The student grades consist of tests and quizzes, so it is a flat out achievement recognition. I was surprised at how it really made the students want to achieve higher scores. The students that regularly got 80s and 90s now wanted to get 100s on everything and were doing test corrections to raise their grades. I was thrilled that they weren't satisfied with 80s anymore! All of this just to have their name on an index card in the front of the room! I made the banner out of scrapbook paper by just cutting out triangles and stapling them together. Again, I wanted to add some color to the very tan and beige room! Notice that blue sign that says "Mrs. Pickett"? Two students made that for me in technology class last year. They painted it blue and white because they knew that I'd want the Yankees colors. Love that! Lastly, I had an extra curtain panel that we used at my first house on a closet in leiu of a door. I put it up on a tension rod and hung it in a big bookcase to hide the mess in there. Since my room does not have a closet, I love that I'm able to hide some of the chaos. When I pull the panel to the left, it covers the entire bookcase perfectly. So that's what I've completed to this point in my classroom. Who else has gone into school to get settled in? If you teach younger students, make sure you check out the crate seats I made for a friend's third grade classroom. I'd love to get more ideas from you guys about how you've made your classroom both fun and functional. I'm not trying to rush summer, but I'm ready to get things going with the new school year. I'm sure I'm totally alone with that idea! Thanks for reading, Kathleen You can find me at

Last weekend was Musty's 40th birthday (woot!) He doesn't really like stuff, but he loves food, so I decided to make him a big batch of personalized fortune cookies. I did some searching around and found a recipe on about.com. I tweaked it a bit, veganized it, and began experimenting. Let me say that making fortune cookies is a bit of a challenge! For this post, I present you with the recipe I used, a photo tutorial, and a *bonus* video tutorial! First, get your fortunes ready. I used a combination of old standards ("You will attend a party where strange customs prevail") to personalized ones. Now mix up the batter. It should be pretty thin, as you can see. Pour the batter onto the cookie sheet. Use 1 Tbsp per cookie. Don't try to make more than 2 cookies at a time, or it will only end in heartbreak. I tried many different things here: tilting the cookie sheet every which way to spread the batter, using a spatula, using my fingers (what the heck, they were for my boyfriend!)... I finally settled on the spatula. Also, I tried using a heavily greased cookie sheet (no good), natural parchment paper (no good), and in the end found no big difference between using my silpat (silicone baking sheet), traditional parchment paper, or a lightly greased cookie sheet. (Hint: in the video tutorial, I put in a batch using one method and take out a batch using a different method! Incongruity error!) Now cook 'em for about 14 minutes. They should be golden around the edges. Quickly remove them from the oven and use a firm spatula to loosen them from the cookie sheet. Flip it over in your hand, and lay a fortune down in the cookie. Fold it in half like a taco! Pinch the corners and bend it over the edge of a bowl or mug. Then lay it in a muffin tin or mug so that it can harden without springing back open. Quick, do the other one! Here you see them all resting in the muffin tin. I think I made about 20-25 in all. It was project, but lots of fun! Here is a little video I made. Special shout out to my mom who did the masterful camera work! Here's my version of the recipe: Ingredients 3 tsp EnerG Egg Replacer + 1/4 c warm water, whisked together 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 6-8 teaspoons water 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 c. granulated sugar First, get your fortunes ready - either type or write on pieces of paper about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 F. Get your baking sheet ready. Either lightly grease it, or use a silpat, or traditional parchment paper. If using parchment paper, you will need a fresh piece for each batch. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg replacer, vanilla extract, almond extract, vegetable oil until frothy. Add in the water. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should be on the runny side. Pour 2 level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter. Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes). Use a firm spatula and act fast. You may need to "scrape" them off a bit... just keep at it! Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Do the other one. If you are inspired to give it a try, please let me know if you develop any useful tricks or insights!

UNDERSTANDING DYSLEXIA Myth- Letter reversals is the main sign of dyslexia. Truth- Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia can refer to an array of symptoms, which result in people of all ages having difficulties with specific reading, writing, and spelling skills (1). There are various misconceptions about

I make my hot cross buns slightly smaller than is traditional. Don't know why, just like them that way, but you form them the size you want, please. Just one thing I must be strict about: you do need to use proper bread flour here, not the usual plain. There's no point to all this effort and ruining your chances of success over such a small but significant point. By effort, I don't mean you need to be hugely active or expert to make these; you just need the patience to sit around while they rise and the faith to believe they will. Very appropriate. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

I remember reading about the idea of Math Taboo on Sam Shah’s blog, this post by Bowman Dickson. I feel like I had the idea independently, but it seems like many people have, by doing a curso…

The other day we had an easy dinner of German Bratwursts, green broad beans, and I wanted to have a Spaetzle dish to go along with it. I remembered my mom telling me about a dish they serve in Germany, which consists of basically spaetzle, sauteed onions, and emmental (a kind of swiss) cheese. This is my easy version, using dried packaged spaetzle. I'm sure this would be even better with fresh spaetzle. The leftovers (the spaetzle combined with the green beans, and sliced bratwurst) were even better the next day, stir-fried in a little olive oil. My Kasespaetzle 2 cups dry spaetzle 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 red onion, sliced thinly 1 1/2 cups shredded emmental cheese 2 tablespoons chopped green onion salt, to taste Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add spaetzle and cook until done, 8-10 minutes for dry. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil and butter and cook onion slowly, over low heat, until carmelized. When spaetzle is done, drain well, and add to the skillet with the onion. Add emmental cheese, and stir until melted. (Some may clump together). Season with salt, and top with chopped green onions.

TECHknitting blog is not about knitting rules, in fact quite the opposite--it's about knitter's choice. Yet if someone INSISTED that I HAD to state a rule, that rule would be to put a good sturdy seam across the shoulder tops and bind off the back of the neck of your knitted garment. The rule You see, the shoulder tops and neck back are the foundation of every sweater. Stated otherwise, unless you live on a space station without gravity, the point of greatest contact between you and your sweater is the shoulder seams and back of the neck, because the whole garment hangs from there. If the very top of the garment is yielding--if the neck back stretches out sideways and the shoulder seams are soft--then that garment will slip and slide from your shoulders and will never sit right. Exceptions to the rule Although I say a good sturdy seam is a rule, like all rules, there are exceptions and partial exceptions. Tight garments with negative ease cling to the body and so need not have a sturdy shoulder--in fact the ultimate negative ease garment--the tube top--has no shoulders at all. In a very tight negative-ease sweater, there is very little weight hanging from the shoulder because it clings, rather than drapes. Sleeveless garments and backless garments are held up with shoulder straps or perhaps even a tie and have no shoulders. These, too, are often quite tight garments, and their cling, coupled with the scanty amount of fabric means that there is no particular weight to drag the garment down. Raglan sleeve garments, strictly speaking, do not have a shoulder seam either--they instead rely on 4 yoke seams radiating from neck to underarm to take the weight so no shoulder seam is needed. However, even these should have their neck backs bound off. Yoke-style sweaters don't have seams, either. Instead, their construction has radiating columns of knitting extending out from the neck hole like a sunburst, and this arrangement helps distribute the weight to hang from the neck facing. These too require no shoulder seams, but their neck backs should be bound off, especially since the neck seam is the target for all the weight of this style garment. Yet, although there are four exceptions to the "shoulder seam" rule (and probably more I'm overlooking) these are the kinds of exceptions which "prove the rule," as the saying goes. In other words, these exceptions show that the shoulder seam rule doesn't apply only when some OTHER measure is taken as a substitute. So, there must either be a way of getting around the seam, such as the four exceptions above, or there must be a good sturdy seam. How the problem arises Turning back to the slipping and sliding problem--how does it arise? The back of the neck is too loose Possibly the most common way to end up with a slipping sliding sweater to modify the directions for the back of the neck so that a collar or hood grows right out of the neck-back stitches, without any seam at all. In other words, what generally happens is that the pattern does call for the shoulders and neck back to be bound off, and then the collar or hood stitches to be picked up THROUGH the bound off stitches. Many knitters, faced with a pattern like that, come up with what seems a clever short cut to avoid binding off, then picking up the exact same stitches. "I will simply avoid that seam," thinks the knitter "and simply keep knitting the collar or hood to grow right out of the neck-back stitches," and so goes their way rejoicing at the labor saved. The rejoicing stops, however, when the garment is put on and the neck back stretches and stretches, rather than remaining seated as it ought. Of course, sometimes the pattern itself is at fault for not specifying a bind off and pick up along the neck back, but you are now too clever to follow such instructions. Melissa has written in the comments, asking about garments worked from the top down. Starting these with a permanent cast on is something of a gamble, tension-wise. IMHO, the best way to start these garments is with a provisional waste yarn cast on (called COWYAK--cast on with waste yarn and knit). At the end, cast the garment OFF at the top edge. This allows you to adjust the tension (more than once, if needed) for the neck opening, before going on with the neck band, collar or hood. The neck hole is too big A boat collar (also called a slit-neck) is an example of a garment with a very large neck opening. These are lovely to show off the shoulder tops and collar bones of an Audrey Hepburn, but they can be the very devil to keep on straight, without having the garment slide off one shoulder or another. V-neck and scoop neck styles can suffer this also, especially when too many stitches are picked up around the neck opening, or when the neckband is not knit for enough rows (knit too shallow). The seam joining the shoulder tops is too soft Another common cause of slipping and sliding is when the knitter modifies the shoulder seams by succumbing to the temptation for pretty, and kitchener stitches (grafts) the shoulders tops together, rather than putting in a good sturdy seam. Kitchener stitch sure SEEMS like sewing--in fact, it is often done with a sewing needle. However, Kitchener stitching is actually KNITTING--the needle follows the path that a knitted row would take, and that is why it is so utterly invisible. Knitting is stretchy, and having knit fabric on the shoulder without a raglan seam or a yoke construction to take the weight results in a slipping slider that's hard to wear. Again, some patterns actually call for a grafted shoulder, but you are free to ignore such instructions and seam, instead. The garment construction is inherently slippy-slidy Now we come to a large category of knitting a slipping slider: when the construction of the garment is responsible for the problem. This category breaks down into (at least!!) five further subheads. Large sweater-coats When an entire sweater-coat is knit from heavy yarn, there is a real problem of keeping it seated at the neck and shoulders, regardless of any construction detail. The fact is, knitting stretches, even properly bound off and seamed knitting. In this case, we knitters must borrow from tailors, and use their techniques--there is a description of reinforcement with a ribbon, below. Drop shoulder sweaters Drop shoulder sweaters do HAVE shoulder seams, but no real shoulders. Stated otherwise, The "shoulder seams" are so long that they hang well off the shoulder. This, coupled with the bulk and weight of the sleeves themselves, drags the garment away from the wearer's neck on both sides. This is especially a problem when the garment is a cardigan, knit in heavy wool. Worn open, drop-shoulder cardigans tend to slide away. If combined with a soft neck back (collar knit right out of the neck back stitches, for example) the result can be nearly unwearable. Circle-knit garments This innovative garment construction technique is sort of like wearing a round tablecloth with arms inserted. The upside is a beautiful radiating pattern, often with a lovely circle motif centered on the wearer's back and lovely falls and folds of fabric cascading down the fronts. The downside is often no shoulder seam at all--the top edge of the tablecloth is flipped back for a collar, and the shoulder line is formed at the fold. This fold may prove to be very soft and yielding. Some patterns get around this by having the circle truncated at the shoulder line, and then a collar added afterwards, some have other work-arounds, but many of these circle-knit garments offer a pretty fair dose of the slipping-problem. Cuff-to-cuff garments Cuff-to-cuff garments are fun to knit and offer a truly organic method of getting vertical stripes in a hand knit garment without having to knit intarsia bobbin-work, or fair-isle color work. Yet, when a garment is knit cuff-to-cuff, there is nearly never a shoulder seam because the whole point of the garment is to knit it sideways, each row extending over the shoulder from one bottom edge to the other, then back again. The neck-back must be bound off--it is the fabric selvedge, shown in red below--so these garments aren't quite as loose as circle knit garments, yet nonetheless, cuff-to-cuff sweaters can offer a pretty high dose of slipping and sliding. Dolman (aka "batwing") sleeves Sometimes patterns are offered for garment with dolman sleeves, knit bottom-to-top, then grafted shut along the long sleeve-top seam and right along the shoulder too. Like the cuff-to-cuff, such a design usually offers at least some firmness along the shoulder line by having the back of the neck bound off, but can also suffer from sliding. Some solutions The simplest, most time-tested solution is either to create a sturdy seam at the shoulder PLUS bind off the neck back OR to knit a garment from the "exception" list such as yoked or raglan. Yet, this is no help if you've already knit a slipping slider, or if you simply adore a garment construction which inherently slips and slides. Slip stitch This is probably the easiest fix for an already-made sweater which wants to slip and slide off the shoulders. Run a line of non-stretching yarn across the top of the shoulders and the back of the neck. This is usually done with a crochet hook, applying the yarn in a slip stitch. Here is a TECHknitting post about crocheting for knitters, which includes information about how to work the slip stitch. TECHknitting blog has also covered slip stitching in the context of firming the stretchy edge of a garter stitch scarf, and the idea is identical here. Rather than traveling along the edge of the fabric, however, the slip stitch is worked across the back of the neck and the top of the shoulders. Below is an illustration showing a line of slip stitch worked across the interior of a knit fabric. There is nothing to stop you from running two or even more parallel lines of slip stitch if the garment requires--a large shawl collar rising directly out of a neck back, for example, or a circle knit garment with no other provision in the pattern for a shoulder seam. Slip stitch to tighten a loose neck back or a too-soft shoulder seam PS: the slip stitch trick works pretty well to tighten other loose parts too: sweater and mitten cuffs, loose and floppy bottom bands, hats too large and so on. Ribbon or fabric tape sewn into the shoulder seam Another traditional method, although now not much used, is to sew in a line of grosgrain ribbon or twill fabric tape along the shoulder seam. In a modern variation, the shoulder seam on garments made of commercially knit fabric is serged together with a narrow strip of fabric tape (sheer or twill) serged in along the seam also for a three-layer fabric sandwich. The ribbon/tape prevents stretching, helps distribute the stress and generally preserves the garment--we have quite old sweaters in our family which incorporate a ribbon and these have held up well over the years. Sewing grosgrain ribbon over a seam from the inside of the garment The stitch to use for sewing the ribbon or the tape along the shoulder top is the overcast stitch, worked in little tiny stitches all along both long edges of the ribbon, pushing the sewing needle through the plies (split the plies) of the yarn so that the stitches do not show on the outside. This is the method I would use to correct the droop and stretch of a garment previously grafted (rather than seamed) shut at the shoulder. This is also a good trick for a drop shoulder garment. A garment with a ribbon sewn along the shoulder seam is rock solid and will not slip. A large sweater-coat might even warrant the ribbon being sewn along the neck back too--and it might be wise to use a rather wide ribbon for this--perhaps as wide as 1 1/2 inches, or even more. A neck-back ribbon is located so it runs over the neck-bone (the large bone at the top of your spine / base of your neck) Making a too-large neck hole smaller by re-knitting the neck band If too many stitches were picked up around the neck opening, OR if the neck band was knit too high (too many rows/rounds) without sufficient decreases, the result is the same: A ruffling and loose neck band. This is tedious to fix, but hardly difficult: pull out (frog) the band and do it again, on fewer stitches or with more decreases. Another recipe for a too-large neck opening is when the neck band was knit too shallow (too few rows/rounds). The cure is easy: Take out the bind-off, and add a few more rows or rounds, remembering to add decreases when appropriate. This cure will surely work, regardless of the original size of the neck opening--you can work the neck band as high as needed: at the extreme, you can build the neck up into a mock turtleneck or even a full turtle neck--maybe not what you set out to make, but these neck styles are certainly not going let the garment slide around. Correcting a sliding boat collar (slit neck) For a slit neck which will not stay put, consider sewing in two little ribbons, one on each side of the neck. Alternatively, knit two short little straps and sew one in to the inside on either side of the neck. Where these ribbons or knit straps peek out at the shoulder, they will look like camisole straps. Either of these cures will surely cure "slide-itis" in your boat necks. A final point: seaming We'll end with a final point: just how DO you make sturdy non-stretching shoulder seams? IMHO, the three best ways are-- Slip stitch: first bind off each shoulder using the ordinary chain bind off, then slip stitch the shoulder seams shut from the inside (this is the same slip stitch as the "neat little edging," or the slip stitch illustrated above, only worked through both layers of fabric at the shoulder top). This information is also shown (illustrated through both layeres) in this post about crocheting for knitters. Back stitch: first bind off each shoulder using the ordinary chain bind off, then simply sew the shoulder seam shut from the inside using the back stitch and working through both layers of fabric at the shoulder top. Use a dull-pointed needle and work between the stitches, not through the plies. Use the three-needle bind off: for this trick, hold the live stitches for each shoulder together on their two needles, the front fabric face of each piece touching, then use a third needle to bind off through two stitches (one from the front needle, one from the back needle) at the same time. For further information, go to the illustrated post about three needle bind off. Good knitting--TK * * * This is fifth in a series on garment correction. The others in this series are: Part 1: My sweater is too wide Part 2: My sweater is too long, my sweater is too short Part 3:My sweater is too tight under the arms/at the bust/chest--the magic of gussets Part 4: My hat is too loose

Helping K-2 Teachers Like You Save Time, Grow Instructional Skills, and Teach With Confidence!

I decided to make an amigurumi Lt Columbo and his basset hound, Dog, as a tribute to the late Pater Falk. Columbo is based on the 'Boy' pattern in my book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amigurumi, and Dog will become a new AmiDogs pattern :) Please see my blog post for more details of how I made them. Hope you enjoyed my tribute.

What is gaslighting? What does gaslighting mean? Gaslighting is a crazy-making form of emotional abuse. Gaslighting occurs when someone intentionally twists your perception of reality for their own gain. That gain may be to: win a fight, cover-up their actions, make you think something is true when it is not, or think something is false when it is true, or . . .

I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t, Damned if I will, and damned if I won’t. I must try to make choices, this I do know, Decisions are needed in order to grow, But often I …

Cisternino is one of the most charming villages of the beautiful Valle d'Itria, in the region of Puglia. My sister and I visited during a recent trip to Puglia - in fact, that's where we

This is the big salad of your dreams.

I have become a voluntary ambassador of British cuisine. Today I am sharing a comprehensive list of British foods to try in London. I promise that these foods will turn you into a fan of

"I AM MAN I MUST DO THIS THING."

Although I've been teaching for a bajillion years, I still find that the littlest organizing tip goes a long way! I am going to mix a few of my all time favorites with some of my new found treasures. This is going to make my classroom run as

Lovers of Tartine’s legendary morning buns, rejoice!

So you’ve been thinking about jumping into this whole indie author thing. Here are 7 things indie authors should know when just getting started.

Attending Open Kitchen (Odprta Kuhna) was one of the highlights of all my time in Slovenia. In fact, it's one of the top things I recommend, and I've already sent several people to visit. What is

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90% of young people today have a razor thin financial margin of error. They should avoid these nine screw-ups to have a decent shot at a middle class life.

This post was written by my foodie sister Robin, who is now sharing all of her favorite recipes and kitchen tips regularly on the new “Make It and Love It – in the KI