Saturday Apps #13

Apps make the world go round....well not quite, but they do make our mobile devices go.  I stumble upon apps, I find apps on Pinterest and Facebook and seek out apps on AppsGoneFree. 

Today I'd like to feature 

This app is FREE from iTunes.  I love music and stream Pandora in my classroom both when students are present (especially during Writing...the George Winston station is fantastic) and when they're not (during my preps and after school when I need to chill out (turn out the lights and put on Relaxation Radio).  Pandora is great. . .but there are commercials and it's especially annoying during quiet work time when a loud one comes on.  

But now I will use this app!  I love this app for 3 reasons:  1) You can turn the volume each individual melody/sound up or down, 2) There are no commercials and 3) It's FREE!   

I will also put this on when falling asleep or when trying to get rid of a headache.

Enjoy!

Five For Friday

It's been a very long time but I'm so excited to link up again with 

This was our first week back from a 5-week vacation in Minnesota (yearly pilgrimage to my home state) and it was good to be home.  I'm so fortunate to have my summers off so I can be a mom and do lots of fun projects that just keep piling up in my brain.  Here are my top 5 things I was most excited about and thankful for:

Succulents

A plant whose leaves store water.

This one looks like a sea anemone. 

These were too cute to pass up and will be cute in my classroom!

This beauty of a bookcase.

It is being held up by a filing cabinet but I'm still trying to figure out something better.

I label my fiction bins by first letter of the title and these are wooden placards I made.

I've admired a similar one at a local book store (except it wasn't painted this cute) and finally made my own!

Spray Paint

I'm a lazy painter so this is my best friend because it's paint & primer together and it sticks to anything!

Crumby

$10 at Office Depot

I love to use a DustBuster and have one in my classroom.  I've even been known to use them on my own messy children (to clean and tickle).  But this tiny terrific tool makes me so happy!  I'm changing the lyrics of the Bobby McFerrin song to "Don't Worry Be Tidy".

Pokémon Go

 Hi, my name is Jaime and I'm addicted to Pokémon Go.  But there's a good reason: I was into GeoCaching before this came out and both have the commonality of being treasure hunting games.  Plus, I'm currently working on a series of Pokemon Partner Plays so I've been doing research on this whole Pokémon craze and it's insanely detailed!

Have a FUNtastic weekend!

An awesome find at Goodwill!

First I willingly and excitedly spent my money at Lakeshore Learning for my classroom.

Then I started willingly and excitedly spending my money at Target and Dollar Stores for my classroom.

Now I'm willingly and excitedly searching for treasures and spend little money at local Goodwill and thrift stores!

The other day I found a new building treasure that I've never seen before and my kids have been happily testing out.

The box is old and the copyright is 2006 but upon Googling it, I'm happy to say they are still for sale and look like this:

You can order them online from Amazon, Walmart and Fat Brain Toys (my new favorite online spot for classroom building things, toys, etc.) for anywhere from $12 to $30.

This video is great and shows some more (math) ideas for how to incorporate it into your classroom.