Master-Caster from Shoplet Review

I was recently asked by Shoplet.com to review a few of their office supplies.  I reviewed the Rolling Wrist Rest, Furniture Touch-Up Kit, and Microfiber gloves.

The Rolling Wrist Rest is great for anyone with a desk top computer!  It allows you to move from your mouse to your keyboard with out lifting your wrist.  The rest has rollers underneath that allow it to glide easily over your desk.  It feels very natural and comfortable.  The rest only took a few minutes to get used to using.  If you have joint stress from constantly being on the computer and using a mouse then the Rolling Wrist Rest is perfect for you!

The Furniture Touch-Up Kit couldn't have come at a better time!  I have a table in my den that was recently scratched by my daughter.  I thought I would just have to live with the scratches until I was asked to try the Touch-Up Kit.  It was so easy to use!  Since the scratches were deeper, I used a filler stick first.  Next I chose the closest marker color and went over the filler stick.  Here is a before and after photo of my table.

The scratches are much less noticeable and I couldn't be happier!!!  The kit comes with three filler sticks and five markers to match most wood types.

Have you ever had to take off your gloves to answer your smart phone?  This drives me crazy so I was thrilled when asked to review the SMARTer Dual Action Microfiber Gloves!  The gloves are stretchy and very soft.  The best thing about them is that any of your fingers will activate your device, not just your pointer finger.  The gloves are washable as well!  The gloves are perfect for cold weather (not for snowball fights!).
You can check any of these products out by clicking the links above.  Click here for Promotional Products, Promotional Shirts or Office Stationary from Shoplet.

Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) Sale!!

I am really looking forward to the TpT Cyber Monday sale!  My store will be an extra 20% off on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  TpT is adding an extra percentage off with the promo code CYBER on Monday and Tuesday.
Here are some of my best sellers and Christmas items that will be on sale.

 Recess in a Jar activities are a great way to keep students busy all winter long!

I'm Done Jar is great for early finishers.

 Christmas Writing Prompts in a Jar for writing workshop or workstations.

Christmas Addition Roll and Cover for math workstations.

Christmas Multiplication Roll and Cover for math workstations.

I have so many items on my wish list.  Here are a few of my must haves!

 This is from Got to Teach.  I just bought a set of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the DVD.  I think my students will love reading the book, watching the movie, and completing the writing unit!

 This is from Hope King.  It will keep students busy all December long!

 I have other Interactive Notebooks from Lovin Lit.  They are so helpful!!

 I love everything from Mr. Hughes!  The Mystery Pictures will be a fun way to review parts of speech.

This Interactive Notebook is from Ashleigh.  It will be a great resource for my Humanities block!
Head to Teachers Pay Teachers tomorrow for a great sale!

Black Friday Sale!

Interactive Math Notebook Flip Books for Meanings of Division

I finally finished my sixth Interactive Math Notebook.  Do you ever start one product only to come up with another and decide to start that one as well?  This happens to me all the time.  My students will be ready for division right before Christmas so I decided I better get this one finished.
The Notebook includes five flip books; Division Vocabulary Words, Division Using Repeated Subtraction, Division is Sharing, Division Using a Multiplication Chart, and How to Solve Division Story Problems.  Here are some pictures of the finished product.

You can check the Notebook out at my TpT store or TN store.

Writing Fluency

Have you ever had a student that has a topic but no idea what to write?  I have several this year.  It's not that they can't come up with any thing to write about each day.  It's that they don't know how to get started.  I came up with a jar activity to help students with writing fluency (because it's timed), thinking quickly, and making connections.  Students choose a word card from the jar and write it at the top of their paper.  The minute timer is then turned over.  Students have one minute to write as many words as they can that relate to or connect with the chosen word.  I made a graph for students to complete each time they do the jar.

This really encouraged them to try to write more words than the previous time.  So far it's worked very well.  One of my most reluctant writers chose this prompt from my Thanksgiving Writing Prompts Jar, "Pretend you are a pilgrim for a day.  Write a story about it."  She said she didn't know what to write about for her story.  I told her to do a minute writing fluency with the word pilgrim.  She was able to come up with 15 related words.  I then asked her how she could include some of those words into her story.  It was in no time at all that she had written a great story about a day in the life of a pilgrim.  You can check my Writing Fluency Jar out at my TpT store or my TN store.

Five for Friday (photo overload!!)

It's been eons since I linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  It's probably because by Friday evening I'm so exhausted that my fingers are too tired to type!

I just updated one of my favorite jar activities!  My students absolutely love my Recess in a Jar, especially now that we've had to stay inside several days the last two weeks.  The jar contains 24 indoor recess activities for students to do.

You can check out the preview at my TpT or TN stores.

Last weekend I had the best weekend!  My husband and I went to Louisville with seven other couples for a friend's 40th birthday.  My friend had the whole weekend planned.  Some of the highlights were doing the Louisville Quest (like The Amazing Race through Louisville) and zip lining at the Mega Cavern.  We ate lots of good food!  May I suggest Jack Fry's if you're ever in Louisville!!  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

On Thursday my teaching team was lucky enough to go to see Lucy Calkins in Indianapolis.  I can't wait for her new Units of Study for grades 3-5 to come out in the spring!  It's so nice to be able to go to a conference and get new ideas for improving instruction!

I need a new look!  I'm thinking about getting my hair chopped off (not too short).  I've always been a fan of the bob and love Jennifer Aniston's new look (we are the same age!).  What do you think?

Just some randomness from the last few weeks...
My oldest daughter earned straight As for her first trimester in high school.  We are so proud of her!  She's obsessed with selfies!

Rock, paper, scissors...

My poor dog leads a rough life...

New Products and "It's All New" Giveaway

I have so many new products in the works!  I'm hoping to have two ready for this weekend.  The first is my sixth Interactive Math Notebook.  This is a notebook of flip books to help students with division.
My second is an old product with a brand new design!  Here's a sneak peak...

Speaking of new... I'm so happy to be celebrating with Meg at Fourth Grade Studio's for her blog anniversary and new blog design!  She is have one huge giveaway.  Today's giveaway is for $120 worth of TpT products!!  Click on the button below and head over to Meg's blog to enter!!