Giveaway Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway for the Kidknows Thermometers!

Congrats to Diane R., Jody E., Doreen B., Kelly B. and Heather S.  I've emailed all five of you ladies and just need to get your addresses back, so that I can contact Daniela for shipping! :)

If you were not a winner, I suggest that you head over to www.kidknows.net and order you one for $8.99.  If you use the promo code 5790 you will receive $1 off the price.  If you want to purchase more than three the contact Daniela through her website for a larger discount!!

Kidknows Outdoor Thermometer, plus a GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Sunday!  Today is officially 1 month until I go back to school to start preplanning, oh boy! :/

I am not ready because I haven't done everything that I wanted to do on that original to do list! Plus, I visited Pinterest last night and found MORE things that I wanted to do!!

Last week I received a Facebook message from Daniela asking me to review her Kidknows Outdoor Thermometer.

I was excited to do this review because it is my first "official" one, plus it is a SCIENCE tool!

So I received the product and immediately put it up!  Installation, if you can even call it that, was simple.  You place the suction cups on the outside of a window, but not directly into sunlight.

(As you can see I checked the mailbox late at night! ;))

Then VIOLA, your kid does not need to ask about the temperature and what they need to wear that day!  I LOVE this thermometer!  During the summer I am a bum and sit around in my pjs all day.  Then when my hubby comes home we go out and do something.  I always ask what the weather is like and he usually gives me a numerical number.  I always ask, short sleeve or long sleeve?  Will I be hot in pants?

Obviously I am an adult and have problems with temperature, so imagine how a kid feels!  This thermometer right outside their window will give them some independence.

(The temperature showing on my phone at the time of the picture was 80! :))

Now what about a classroom?  This can easily be hung outside your classroom door to teach your students about weather and the proper clothing.  I know that in kindergarten and first grade this is a topic that they teach in Georgia along with the seasons of the year.

In the Upper Grades Classroom students are still struggling with reading a thermometer, plus associating the weather with their fashion.  In the middle of winter a student showed up in shorts and flip flops, maybe on purpose, but as a teacher this should be addressed!

This thermometer will be going outside my classroom as soon as I am allowed to go back into my room!  I hope to teach students how to read a non digital thermometer and also help with their fashion sense!

If you want to purchase your own Kidknows Outdoor Thermometer they are available for $8.99 plus shipping and handling at www.kidknows.net.  ***UPDATE!!!  DANIELA HAS OFFERED US A COUPON CODE TO SAVE $1.  JUST ENTER THE PROMO CODE 5790 AT CHECKOUT.  IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE MORE THAN THREE THERMOMETERS THEN DANIELA HAS OFFERED EVEN A GREATER DISCOUNT.  YOU WOULD NEED TO CONTACT HER THROUGH THE WEBSITE BEFORE YOU PURCHASE. :)

BUT I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS!!!  Daniela has offered 5 thermometers for me to raffle off to my readers!!  So enter the drawing below!  It starts today and it ends July 21 at noon!  The winners will be notified that afternoon!  Thank you and GOOD LUCK! :)

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered my giveaway!! I am so happy that you all follow my bloggy and even considered me a worthy one to follow! :)

I did the random generator and the winner is....

Congrats to...


Mrs. Eberhart you are the lucky winner of a $15 gift card to TARGET!!! I'm sure that will help you with those good ol' dollar deals!! Please send me your address. My email is amberlazenby@gmail.com

BTW, I'm now close to 100 followers so you know what that would mean! ;)

Giveaways and such...

I totally forgot to say HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY on my last post! I guess I was so excited to share with you what I learned during my gifted endorsement classes that is slipped my mind that today was a holiday, that and the hubby was working and I was home with the dog...

Anyways! I wanted to share some exciting news with you all! First I have recently won 2!!! Giveaways!

The first one that I one was ...

I won this from an AWESOME illustrator named Elizabeth Dulemba. If you click her name that is her link to her website. She has a blog that she posts very regularly including free coloring pages!! This is actually her friends book that she offered as a giveaway! I cannot wait to receive it! From what I have heard and read, it is super book!!

The other giveaway that I won was from the Teaching Blog Addict Blog!!!

I am very excited to win this because I am responsible for teaching a short RTI Math period in the mornings. I think that this will fit quite nicely within that time! Last year many of my students struggled with their times tables so this will be great!!

Another thing that I am SUPER excited about is the postcard exchange!


I am on the look out for some cute Augusta, Georgia postcards for my class. I know that my students will be super excited about this!! They are currently looking for a few more states to complete the 50 state exchange! If you see your state below then click on the picture to link back to Primary Graffiti's blog who is helping organize this.


Lastly, what I wanted to post for the night was a THANK you for following my blog. I know that I started at the end of the school year and I haven't really been posting. However, I promise that once I am set back on "school mode" my posts will be more regular. I am even going to create a classroom blog this year!!!

So for those that currently follow, and those that will soon follow- I am hosting my 50 (plus) follower giveaway!! You could win a $15 gift card to my most "favoritest" store!
How can you win?? Complete the following for ONE entry each! Make sure you comment for EACH thing that is completed!! That is a total of 8 chances!!!

1. Follow my blog.
2. Follow my slowly, but surely TpT store!
3. Blog about my giveaway! (send me the link)
4. Shout it out on facebook! (send me the link)
5. Put my super cute blog button on your bloggy roll!!
6. Tell me what you ALWAYS do on the first day of school, I don't mean like fill out information cards. I want something good! :)
7. SEE BELOW FOR NEW ADDITION!!! :)

You will have until July 12, 2011 to get this done!

Thank you again for following me! :)

Happy Fourth of July!

****Totally adding one more way to enter!! I have a lot of FREE items on my TpT store!! If you download one of them and provide feedback I would be greatly appreciative and would allow you to have 2 entries!!!!!***

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!

Well she really didn't win a chicken dinner, but I do have a winner of my Ron Clark giveaway.



Which was my new bloggy buddy that said,



Congrats to you Fern!! Send your address to amberlazenby@gmail.com and I will get your book in the mail!! Yippie to giveaways!! :)

Thank you to all those that participated!

Another giveaway will be done when I reach 50 followers!!!! :)

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

So I have decided that I wanted to CELEBRATE my first year of teaching being over, and the fact that I STILL HAVE A JOB in this tough economy! Plus, I would like to increase my followers! So I am giving away a book that I read before my first week of teaching started!



If you haven't read this book then you SHOULD!! It has the 55 Essential Rules that everyone should know, adults included! I TRIED very hard to teach my fourth graders manners. Some of them learned, but some of them thought I was crazy. One kid told me her mother told her never to say. "I'm sorry" because she would admit that she is a SORRY person. WHAT IN THE WORLD????

Anyways, for the giveaway of a BRAND NEW copy of The Essential 55 by Ron Clark you can gain entries by the following...

1. Follow my blog (or let me know you already follow it)

2. BLOG about my giveaway, which will give you TWO entries (submit two comments when you complete this one.)

3. Tell me a RULE that you think ALL students should know when it comes to manners.

I will select a winner Wednesday June 1, 2011, which should give me time to figure out the random generator thingy! ;)

Good luck to everyone!! And thank you in advance!

***NEW WAY TO ENTER! I JUST CREATED MY TPT ACCOUNT. IF YOU FOLLOW ME, THEN YOU CAN EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY!!! YAY, THANKS FOR THE IDEA JULIE!

Discipline

As a first year teacher discipline is the HARDEST to me.

One night I was up crying about the behavior of a few of my students. I began to Google ideas and found something called Rubber-band Discipline. I do apologize that I don't remember the site, but please note this is NOT an original idea from me.

How it works:

I start the morning (or beginning of each class) with six rubber bands on my right wrist. Anytime my STRONG WILLED student acts out I remove a rubber band, which is of course after giving him/her one warning, and place it on my left wrist. At the end of the class period if they have four rubber bands left they can receive a piece of candy.

The site suggested using silly bands, or different colored rubber bands for different students. Also if you have students all day (which I teach four different classes throughout the day), then you can utilize a schedule with the bands. Keep track after an hour or two how many are left and then add them up at the end of the day.

Results? Well of course these students are still not perfect, but this has offered them more of a motivation to do better. It also is a visual reminder when I am teaching I don't have to stop and say the student's name, just simply make eye contact and remove a band.


**SIDE NOTE: Check out the AWESOME giveaway I won!!!
I cannot wait to receive it! Thank you again Michelle from First Grade Best.

I'm a Winner

Sorry for the delay in posting, I have been super busy with things. However, I have some great things to share with you this weekend and will get to that tonight, or tomorrow. Right now I want to share with you some exciting news, which is I WON SOMETHING!! :)

Queen of the First Grade Jungle had a giveaway for a super cool book that I have never read before and also an exciting lesson from Sarah Cooley! I cannot wait to get both prizes because they look/sound exciting. It will be a great year end review from our Solar System Unit we did a few weeks ago.

I guess the other exciting news to share with you, is that two days are complete with our CRCT (state testing) and we have three more to do. Most of my students are rushing and not checking their answers. Are there any tips, other than telling them?

I'll be back later for more updates and some pictures of how things are done in my classroom.

Here is a picture of my beautiful newspaper covered walls. ;)

Reading other blogs...

I noticed today that most of my time on the computer is spent reading other peoples blogs! I wonder if anyone has a system for reading blogs, or do they just sit and read constantly?

I also noticed that many blogs do contest to keep people interested. Like the blog below. She has a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card that ANYONE can enter. Click on the picture below to go directly to her giveaway.



Those people that read blogs, what keeps you interested and coming back? I love pictures!! Any blog that post pictures of the lessons, ideas, finds, or classroom I am totally hooked!

Check out this blog, and the other blogs I follow for fun ideas! Enjoy!

****Update, after posting this I read in a blog about www.google.com/reader all the blogs that I follow are on one page! Very awesome stuff!