Overdue...Merry Grinchmas!

First of all, a big THANK YOU to Erin from Creating & Designing Blog Designs for creating my new blog design! I love it!

Ok, this is post is long overdue! Things get busy and with the hustle & bustle of the holidays, the blog just completely slipped my mind.  So, please accept my apologies.

During the month of December, things can get a bit hectic at school.  I wanted something to do with my class to get them focused more on what the holidays are about, not just about all the gifts they'd be getting for Christmas or Hanukkah.  That's when I found a creative way to use one of my favorite holiday movies to get my message across.  I got the idea off of Pinterest (which I could spend HOURS on!) and created my own Grinch.

I made my Grinch by projecting the image onto my wall/whiteboard (just tape the paper onto the wall).  Projecting the image allows you to make the image as big or small as you want.  Then I traced the outline of my image with pencil and took the paper down.  I then took a black permanent marker and went over my pencil tracing to finish off my Grinch.  I laminated him so I can use him again in the future (although emergency surgery needed to be performed as his feet got stuck in the laminator...I cut them off and reattached them later).  I love how he turned out! :-)

 



I introduced the project to my students by explaining to them that we had a little LOT of extra turkey after our Thanksgiving meal (for some reason my mother felt that we needed an extra 8 lbs of turkey for the two extra people that were joining us for Thanksgiving dinner...not really sure where the logic was on that). We didn't want all the extra turkey to go to waste, so the Grinch ate it....ALL!!  Well now he has an extremely plump belly. 

We then talked about the Grinch having a heart two sizes two small, and I explained it was our job to "show him we care for one and all."  Their task was to look for random acts of kindness in each other through the month of December.  When they found them, they would award the person a heart that would help fill the Grinch's plump belly.  If the class could fill his belly before winter break, we would have a Merry Grinchmas Party.  The class LOVED the idea.  We then watched my favorite version of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (the animated version).

 

The kids did a great job with the project. We even ran out of our first batch of hearts! They filled up the Grinch and earned their Merry Grinchmas party!

 

 



We started our Merry Grinchmas Party with some Grinch activities (Grinch adjectives, coloring pages, How to Make a Grinch Smile). And then the fun really began!  We had Grinch Punch (strawberry kiwi punch--the only green juice I could find, gingerale, and sherbet), green cookies, and green candy canes while watching the Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (which I think was the version my students preferred).

 

 

The party was a success Grinchtastic!  To see some of the Grinch ideas and activites I used, visit my Merry Grinchmas board on Pinterest.

 

And to stick with our Grinch theme, check out the Grinch app by Oceanhouse Media...

 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas!-Dr. Seuss (iTunes, $4.99)

 

The app is great for kids. The book is interactive and has a narration ("Read to Me") option for little ones who can't read yet or for struggling readers. You can even record your own voice onto this app! How cool is that?!

 

 Again, I apologize for the long overdue post, but I wish everyone a Merry Grinchmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!!

 

 

P.S.-Has anyone ever noticed how creepy Jim Carrey's Grinch is?! I must share a personal pet peeve.  In Jim Carrey's the Grinch, his fur/hair/fuzz seems to extend way beyond his digits...

 





 

I refer to this as Grinch paws. My dogs, particularly Layla, get Grinch paws when it's time for them to go to the groomer.  You can't tell where their paws end because the fur just keeps going....it drives me nuts!  Just thought I'd share. :-)

 

Layla & Mickey









Coming soon...

Excited to announce that a new look is coming soon!!  Erin from Creating & Designing Blog Designs is working on a custom design for the blog and the preview looks great!  Can't wait for you all to see it!!

Gettin' busy!

Late fall always starts to feel a bit hectic for me...Halloween passes, Thanksgiving quickly approaches, and the winter holidays are just around the corner. And let's not forget about work...things at school always seem to get busier around this time of year and this school year is no exception.  I apologize for my absence and for not posting an App of the Week last week, but things have been a little uber busy at work.  During the last two weeks, I've gotten three new students, and I think for any teacher that would probably feel like a lot (although I could be wrong?)...well, when you're at a therapeutic day school, it is a lot!  No worries though :-)



It's nothing my team and I can't handle...it just means we're a lot busier and have less free time (which for me means not as much time to focus on my blog).  I love the picture above.  I have a similar painting of this in my classroom.  It's a great reminder that this is what I am trained to do, and I can do it!  (Maybe in my next life I'll become a motivational speaker!)

Anyways, I guess this post is more of an excuse than an apology for being absent for a little bit.  However, I feel that I can't leave you without talking about iPads or recommending a few apps, so here are some FREE Thanksgiving iPad apps for you to check out (shared with me from some coworkers):

Thanksgiving Coloring Book

Thanksgiving Photo Cards

Tom the Talking Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey Words

A 1st Thanksgiving Turkey Rescue

Hand Turkey

Amazing Thanksgiving Wallpapers and Games HD

Holiday Picture it!

Thanksgiving Music Radio

Thanksgiving Menu Maker

And for those of you looking to do some Black Friday shopping (although I hear some stores are starting on Thursday so I'm a bit confused how it can still be considered Black Friday, but that's probably a separate conversation):

TGI Black Friday

I'm attending an AppShare workshop tomorrow so hopefully I'll have more new apps to share!  Enjoy!

Turkey Lurkey Time!

One of the things I love most about the school I teach at is that we get together as a community and sit down in the commons to have a Thanksgiving meal feast on the last full school day before the Thanksgiving break. It's wonderful to see the long row of table and chairs that shows how much our school has grown over the years (check out the picture!). It's a great time to reflect on all that we are thankful for!

I'm thankful for the old staff that come back for the Thanksgiving feast and visit. It's great to see old, familiar faces! :-)

Well, it's time for me to finish packing as my family prepares to spend Thanksgiving at our lakehouse in the northern woods of Wisconsin. I'll be attempting to keep warm with the bears...(they haven't gone into hibernation yet, right?!)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and can enjoy some time with family!

P.S.- I was going to include a video if the great song "Turkey Lurkey Time" until I realized it's actually more a Christmas song than a Thanksgiving song...huge bummer!! Anyways, happy turkey day! Gobble, gobble!

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! I got crafty with my costume this year and since I'm piloting an iPad classroom, I thought it fitting to have an iPad costume.  It turned out looking really cool! The kids loved it!  One of the leaders in the district's tech department was dressed as an Apple store Genius so we had to get a picture together. :-)  Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!



App of the Week-Nearpod

This week's 'App of the Week' is geared towards teachers or anyone that may be leading a presentation through the use of iPads. This app has quickly become one of my favorite tools for conducting lessons.  It allows me to present interactive, multimedia presentations that keeps my students engaged. 

The app itself is free, and there are three different levels of memberships: Silver Edition (free), Gold Edition ($10/mo.), and School Edition (contact Nearpod for pricing). Each membership level allows for different storage space, sharing privileges, and training/support levels.  Presentations can be made, managed and shared at the Nearpod website. There are even free, pre-made multimedia presentations in the Nearpod 'Store' that can be downloaded into your library, including some created by Khan Academy. Presentations are interactive and can even be used for assessment purposes!  Include quiz questions, polls, and other interactive components throughout your presentation and Nearpod will help you create a detailed assessment report when finished.  Still feeling a bit uneasy about creating a multimedia presentation on your own?! No worries!  Nearpod frequently conducts webinars WebiNears to teach you everything from the basics to advanced components for your Nearpod presentations.



If you're looking for a fun, interactive way to keep your students engaged during class, give Nearpod a try.  My students have enjoyed using it, and some have even taken screenshots of the presentations so that they can go back and review the information later! (I know, I was shocked too...proud teacher moment!)  It made me realize that they not only enjoyed the topic (the solar system), but the way the information was being presented to them as well.  Give it a try...did I mention that it's free?!

Nearpod (FREE at iTunes)

App of the Week-Work System

As simple as it may seem, this week's app is a visual checklist for the iPad.  Created for students on the Autism Spectrum, this app shows students the expectations/steps in a task and, in my opinion, is great for all students. At our school we use the language of "expected" and "unexpected" to describe events, so students can understand emotions, reactions, perspectives, etc.  Unexpected events can be unsettling for the students and they can provoke a lot of anxiety, so we always try to prepare them for what's to come throughout the day.  This app is a great way to do that.  In the screenshot below, you can see what the 'Work System' app looks like in use.

To edit a task/step or activity title, just tap on the word and the iPad keyboard will pop up allowing you to edit.  There is also a timer at the bottom that can be used to time a task. After the student completes each task/step, s/he just taps the box next to the task/step and a green check mark will appear in the box.  I've found this app easy to edit and easy to use, and despite how simple it seems, my students enjoy using it.  This app could also be great for use in the home (i.e., chores, grooming, bedtime routines, homework time, etc.).  I definitely recommend checking this one out when you get a chance!



Work System (Autism) ($0.99 at iTunes)