Paperless Collaboration Made Easy

Too busy for collaborating in "Real Time"?

Random emails and files arriving when you don't have TIME to manage them appropriately?

Have I got the tool for YOU!

Hi friends! It's Debbi from 3rd Grade Pad with a collaboration tip for you!

Juggling so many forms of communication is driving me batty!  We are standards-based, so we are constantly looking for ways to supplement our curriculum.  Additionally, we have become a team of 5 teachers, and our PE times are now split. Our common planning time has now gone POOF!  What's a busy team to do?  Using Livebinders has become a time-saving and efficient way to keep our common needs in one place.  You can store up to 100MB of files, websites videos for FREE…all in one simple spot.

Once you've created your account, you are ready to start!

If you are creating a place for your purchased multiple licenses for your team from TpT, you will want to create a private Livebinders.  Additionally, if you are using PDFs from your school curriculum, you should make sure those documents are private, as well. However, if you are creating a spot for lots of free sites and ideas, why not describe for the WORLD to use!


Livebinders will start you with THREE blank tabs to get you started.  You just need to rename them to your liking.  Need more…and you WILL… click on the "+Tab" button at the top.

Now that you have a Livebinder for all of our team's math,  create Tabs like Fractions, Multiplication, etc.

Inside the Tab I created for Fractions, I added a SUB TABs.  I wanted to add the URL for a cute anchor chart on Pinterest.  So, I clicked Website then dropped in the URL.  Done!  If I had a file that I created, I would click Upload and attach the file!

We have a Livebinders that contains the PDFs of our weekly tests from our curriculum.  I spent ONE  evening adding them to the binder for the YEAR, and we all benefit.  Pulling up from the URL allows you to print or save to your own computer from that screen.

I love that I can scroll up and down inside the tab to read the contents.  I can click very quickly between all the tabs to view what I need!.  No more sending & receiving files from my teammates that get buried in all of the other items I need.

Start your New Year off right and collaborate SMART!

Ring in the New Year in the Classroom and a FREEBIE

The very first day back from winter break is a party in my classroom! We celebrate the new year together. We are a family and it seems fitting that we celebrate together. It is also a nice way to ease back into school and set the tone for the fun quarter ahead. Here are a few ways that we celebrate....

1. Watching the Ball Drop in Time Square

Each year I have a few kids who have seen the ball drop, but most of my third graders are not allowed to stay up that late. I just find a recording of the ball drop on YouTube. We count down together!

2. Hats and Horns

A New Year's party is not complete without hats and horns! I grab these at the dollar store. My kids think I have lost my mind when I tell them to make lots of noise! I highly recommend having a sign to the kids that will indicate that they must stop blowing the horns. Also, apologize to your neighbor teacher. Or, just invite her to the party!

3. Toasting

I love to teach my third graders what it means to "make a toast." I give my class a cup of apple juice. We all sit in a circle and make a toast for the new year. When we have all had a turn, we clink cups and drink! So simple and yet so fun! The kids feel grown up!

4. Reflecting on Memories and Writing Goals

My kids adore making paper bag books. They are super simple but look so very special when we  finish. First we take some time to reflect about our year and write some of our favorite memories.

Then we think about the upcoming year and the goals we want to achieve. Students choose a reading, math, writing and behavior goal. They also write about the steps they will take to reach the goals.

Want some GOOD NEWS?!!! You can grab this paper bag book and instructions for assembly for FREE! Just click on the picture below.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my teacher friends!

Appetizer and Dessert Recipes For the Holidays

The end of another year is quickly coming to a close and I don't know about you but I am EXHAUSTED! My dear friend Mary from A Classroom Full of Smiles said it best with this meme...

I'm at the point where I don't want to think about lesson plans, assessments, RTI papers, or conferences. So I'm not even going to go there. Instead, I've decided to focus on the festivities that we have in store the next few weeks.

Many of us will either host or attend various holiday or New Year's parties, so I've decided to gather a few QUICK and EASY appetizer and dessert recipes just in case you need to bring something to a get together or simply haven't had time to go searching around Pinterest.

First up...

• Grape Jelly Meatballs from Buns in My Oven. I know what you're thinking... grape jelly and meatballs... WHAT???? Trust me, these are sooooo easy to make and sure to be a crowd pleaser. I can never make enough of these. Give it a try and you won't regret it!

• Baked Brie from She Wears Many Hats. Melted oozy cheesy goodness with apricot preserves... need I say more. This recipe is delish with any kind of fruit spread so feel free to use whatever you have on hand. No stress!!!

• Caprese Skewers from Iowa Girl Eats. These appetizers will look darling on any tablescape during the holidays and are just sooooo easy to make. I think even your kids or hubby can help you out on this one :0)

Next up...

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always loved making desserts! Unfortunately though, I did NOT inherit my grandmother's dessert making genes and through the years I have had some major catastrophes... the worst being the time I accidentally added cups of SALT (instead of cups of sugar) to a banana creme pie I was making. Now a days, I leave the dessert making to my 12 year old daughter.

Here are a few simple and easy desserts ideas...

• Cherry Cheescake Trifle Dessert from Freebie Finding Mom. This dessert is as beautiful as it is tasty and I love the idea of serving it up in individual wine glasses vs. the usual trifle bowl.

• Caramel Apple Dump Cake by The Novice Chef. There's nothing like warm apple pie filling and caramel drizzled on top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It just makes my mouth water! What I love about this recipe is that it's a dump cake... meaning no heavy duty mixing. Simply dump ingredients into a pan spread, sprinkle, and cook.  YUMMO!

• For the chocolate lover like my husband, there's Chocolate Lasagna by My Litter. Once again, this recipe is easy enough to enlist the help of your kiddos. Let's put the little goobers to work I say!

Honestly, all 6 of these recipes are pretty fuss free and simple enough for even the utmost of Tired Teachers to follow.  Let me know if you have any easy recipes of your own.

Have a restful, peaceful, and wonderful winter break... recharge your batteries and spend some much needed down time with family and friends! Many blessings to all...

QR Codes Tutorial!

Last spring, I attended and presented at the California CUE Technology Conference on technology in the classroom. Since we are 1:1 Chromebooks in my classroom, most of the sessions I attended were Chrome or Google App related. But one of the sessions I attended was all about using QR codes in the classroom. Hmm...I thought to myself. I've seen 'em. I've even bought products that had these fuzzy square shaped things in them! I mean, I essentially knew you just pointed your cellphone or iPad camera at the image and BAM! You'd get a message, website, or image sent to your phone. Well my sweet education friends, there is SOO much more you can do with QR codes...especially in the classroom! So, today I'll be showing you step-by-step on how to create your own QR codes.

Before I go onto the tutorial I have planned, here are a few quick facts about these magical square boxes...let the tech nerd in me share what I learned at my conference!

• QR is an acronym for "quick response barcodes"

• QR codes started in Japan as part of car part identification

• Static QR code=always goes to just 1 place

• Dynamic QR code=code stays the same BUT it takes them somewhere else each time

• Use them to embed images, links, numbers, or videos

• Holds more info than a traditional code=unlimited possibilities!

There are TONS of QR code generators out there. A few suggested ones are Kaywa and GOQRme. Both are free and easy to use. I'm using Kaywa for this tutorial. I wanted to start with something simple...not complex for my qr code. I thought creating planet review cards for my kids would be the perfect addition to our Solar System Unit. So, I started out by creating an account with Kaywa. Once I signed up, I chose to create a static QR code that would always go to the same website or text when the kids scanned it. This is what you would see on your screen at this first step.

Next, I would choose where I'd like the code to go when it is generated. I picked a url for the planet Jupiter. Once you click generate, you'll see the QR code pop up! YAY! You've just created your first QR code!

I then saved my QR code to my super organized desktop so I could paste it into my planet flash card.

And here is the finished product! Now when a student scans this Jupiter planet card, it will take them to a reading informational text passage about this specific planet!

But wait! You're not through yet! You have to test your QR code to make sure the link works the right way and your kids will be able to access the correct link. Be sure to try more than just one QR code reader. A great free tool is QR Code Reader, which automatically takes you to whatever it “reads.” This is what mine looked like on my iPhone...you can use it on an Android as well.  

Just click and wait for the ping or vibration to let you know it's read the code correctly. The camera on your phone or device scans the QR code. I scanned my computer picture, but you can also print and scan from any type of paper source. Mine worked perfectly and directed me to the reading passage online! Super easy to use!

The next and LAST (thank goodness) step is to track the number of scans by analyzing your data...similar to what google analytics does for blogspot blogs. You can see how many times your QR code was scanned or looked at, where and if they are being scanned. ALL sorts of great data! If you link the QR code to you blog or site this would be a great tool to see what traffic is being brought to your site. That's it my sweet friends! You are now ready and able to create a QR code on your own! You don't only have to use them for reading passages. QR code serve SO many purposes in the classroom! Here are a few ideas I've seen/heard from other teachers:

• Create QR codes that need to be looked at in a dictionary or book

• Put them around the school library with links to book reviews and blog posts

• Kids can scan and launch QR codes with mobile devices like iPads or tablets

• Make a QR code to link to a specific video or tutorial

• Have a scavenger hunt around the classroom

• Take a virtual field trip to anywhere the code takes you

The possibilities are endless! I hope you've learned a thing or two about using and creating QR codes for your classroom. What do you see yourself using QR codes for? I'd love to hear all about it! Use the buttons below to follow my blog and TpT store for more ideas!

Problem Solving: Determine the Operation by its Structure

Hey Peppys! It's Amber from Peppy Zesty Teacherista.
I am sharing with you an idea from my brilliant teammate. I literally taught this lesson on the 7th and writing this post on the 7th. It's that imperative y'all ;)

In all honesty, there is not ultimate problem solving golden ticket to teaching. We all have different methods that we use and stand by them. I am all about taking those ideas and trying them at least once in my classroom because that method may resonate with just ONE KID, but if you didn't teach it that way they may still be lost.

This is another method for your toolbox :) 

I started by teaching my kids some new problem solving lingo.

We discussed how in addition you have something and you get some more, we discussed personal examples as we went through the boxes. 

We then completed a foldable in our notebook. I told them that they can use this notebook when we complete our Daily Problem Solving word problems. 

Inside the flap had an example and the operation that they are to use. 

My goal is for the kids to write the acronyms:

SSM, SWA, BSD, EGTA, and EGPT

next to the word problems that they are going to solve. This can be helpful for multi-step word problems because it enables them to stop and think. 

Once we finished I made a quick sort for them on the Stick Around App. Never heard of it? It's a soon to be blog post on my blog so make sure you're waiting ;) 

If you would like this new problem solving lingo in poster format AND a (prettier) foldable of the sort, click the image below!

I hope this has been a Peppy Zesty Idea for you! 

Click the social media icons next to my name so you can stay up to date with lots of new ideas! :)

Using Sign Up Genius for Your Class Holiday Party!

Hey Y'all! It's Ashley from Teach Create Motivate! I wanted to share a quick tip that can help keep your sanity during the holidays and help your classroom events run much smoother!!

Have you heard of Sign up Genius? Seriously the best thing ever!! I use it for my parent teacher conference sign ups and much much more! One of my favorite times to use it is right now around the holidays! It is perfect to get your parents to sign up to volunteer AND bring things for your class party/events!

First, you need to create an account. I use my school email, so that I get notifications to that email about the current sign up. Once you are logging in, click on "Create a Sign Up".

The fist thing you will do is enter some details about your sign up. This is a small message your invitees will see at the top of your sign up. Just explain what it's for and who it's from! Next, you get to pick a theme! There are so many cute ones to choose from! 

Next, you get to choose the type of sign up. For a class party I think "One Time" works best! After that you put in everything you need people to sign up for. You can change the quantity and add a comment! Here is an example: 

Once you finish this step you are done!! You can then send it out directly from the website, or get the link to send. I usually just send the link because it is way faster! 

Sign up genius is great because it notifies your parents a few days before they signed up for something, and notifies you when someone signs up! You can log in and check it at any time! I love it! I hope you are able to try it out for your classroom holiday needs! :)