End of the Year Awards FREEBIE!

Today's TEACHER FREEBIE comes to you from Lori at Teaching Tykes!

It's a set of 40--yes, 40!--printable awards for the end of the year. Each award comes with a cute saying that goes with a different brand of candy. Below are a few of my favorites. Okay, okay! These are my favorite kinds of candy--and the awards are nice, too! 

What's great about this FREEBIE?

The best thing about this TEACHER FREEBIE is the nice selection of awards. There is something for everyone! Plus, it comes with a blackline version for those of us who like to conserve ink. Just click on the picture below to download them for FREE! 

Thanks for reading!

Why We Teach Blog Hop!

Thanks for hoppin' by to read the story of how and why I started teaching! I love to hear other teachers talk about what inspired them to pursue a career in education. I'm happy to join in with my story, too.

Once upon a time, I went to school to be a family therapist. Even though my mom was a teacher, my brother is a teacher, and my dad was a principal, I guess I just had to be different and choose something else. At least I had to try to choose something else.

A few years later, I found myself in a psych doctoral program shadowing a school psychologist. I was sitting in the hall waiting for him to finish a meeting. It wasn't long before some poor, overworked teacher spotted me and hauled me off to help cut out bulletin board materials. Now that I think back on it, I wonder how long it took before the school psychologist A) remembered that I had been shadowing him that day and B) found me hiding from him in the first grade classroom. 

Later that exact same day, I went to see my advisor. "I've got some good news," I told him. "And I've got some bad news. Which do you want first? The good news is that I have discovered what I want to do for the rest of my life. The bad news is, school psychology isn't it." Then, I transferred to the education department. 

That's how it all started, now for the why part. For the last 17 years, I thought I became a teacher to make a difference in the lives of others, to help impart the basic knowledge children need to be successful, and because I want to be rich and famous. (Okay, so scratch that last part.) And I did become a teacher for those reasons. Yet, being home with my own 3 littles this year (mainly as a  chauffeur) has changed the way I look at being a teacher. 

I have realized that I became a teacher because I have the right combination of talents for  it. The things that I LOVE to do and teaching go hand in hand. I enjoy working with children. I find their playfulness energizing and their laughter contagious. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, so I'm thrilled to teach others to decode words and enjoy the company of a good book. I also enjoy drawing and crafting, building things and creating. What teacher isn't doing this every day?! 

So, I'm enjoying working with my own littles at home. We aren't homeschooling, but we play educational games and build things and work on music lessons. As I work with them, I am realizing why I became a teacher in the first place: because I really enjoy the act of teaching, the creativity that goes into reaching each individual child. Whether I'm at home or in a classroom, being a teacher is part of me. And it always will be.

So don't miss one of my FREE creations for kindergarten! Click on the picture to take a look and download this fun set! 

Thank you so much for reading! 

Hop on by the next blog to hear why Mrs. King teaches!

Telling Time Task Cards/Game and a FREEBIE!

Click on the picture to see it on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to find it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Here's a fun way for your students to practice telling time! Whether you prefer center activities, a game of Scoot, or card games, you have ALL THREE OPTIONS with this set! 

First, the cards are numbered and a recording sheet is included. This is perfect for using them as TASK CARDS in a center or for a game of SCOOT! 

Or, include a couple of these "melting snowman" cards to make the task cards into an engaging CARD GAME! 

I am using this set at home as 2 of my littles (kindergarten and first grade) learn to tell time. We played a game with the cards using the BIG CLOCK! This set also comes with little clocks. They would work well in centers or so that each child could have a clock.

This product comes with the following sets of cards:

1. Analog clocks to the hour and half-hour 

Students must record the time in digital form.

2. Analog clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must record the time in digital form.

3. Digital clocks to the hour and half-hour

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

4. Digital clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

ANSWER SHEETS are also included! They are great for having students self-check.

Click on the picture below to download a 2-page TELLING TIME FREEBIE! 

I hope your students enjoy the FREEBIE! Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy New Year Blog Hop--and a Winter FREEBIE!

Happy New Year! 

First of all, I want to wish you a prosperous, happy, and healthy New Year. Then, I would like to invite you to "hop" through our blogs, grabbing some FREEBIES and taking a look at our winter and New Year themed items. 

My featured item is one of my all-time favorites, the Kindergarten Math Cut-and-Glue Workbook for Winter. 

I LOVE these sets for 3 reasons:

1) This workbook (and similar sets for each season/holiday) covers ALL of the Common Core Standards for kindergarten math. So, using all of the pages lets you know that your students have practiced every CC concept! 

2) These sets help students practice their math AND fine motor skills! Plus, my littles always enjoy cutting and pasting! 

3) These are prefect for reluctant writers. Some of the pages require no writing at all! That's huge for students who struggle with writing. While writing should not be overlooked, I think it's nice to have a resource every now and again where students are not required to write in order to demonstrate their knowledge.  

Click on the picture above to find this resource on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to see it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Plus, ALL OF MY RESOURCES ARE 15% OFF from January 1-4, 2015!

Here's my featured winter FREEBIE! 

This one has been in my stores for a while, but it's a good one! It has worksheets, games, and even a game board for winter-themed addition Bump! Click on the picture below to grab a copy for your classroom!

Thank you "snow" much for stopping by!

Click on the blog button below to hop on to the next New Year post and FREEBIE! 

Technical Problems with Teacher Files and How to Solve Them

I frequently get technical questions regarding downloading/opening/printing my teacher-created materials.  Although I am no technology whiz, here are some ideas about how to solve a few common problems.

PROBLEM 1:  HELP!  THE FILE LOOKS OR PRINTS WRONG!

I once had a file that looked great on the screen, but printed with all of these black boxes instead of text!  Help!  Printing wrong AND using up more ink than I ever imagined is a teacher nightmare!  

     SOLUTION 1:  Download the latest version of Adobe Reader.  Just click HERE.  All of my files and probably 90% of the files on teacher sites are PDFs.  They are meant to be opened with Adobe Reader.  Now, my Mac with open them with Preview usually, but I have to remember that this program makes the margins, etc. just a bit different.  Opening with file with the latest version of Adobe Reader usually solves a myriad of problems.  

     If the file STILL looks wrong (such as you see it on the screen correctly, but the dotted lines won't print), then open the file with Adobe. Go to "print." Then, click on "advanced settings" and choose "print as image." 

PROBLEM 2:  HELP!  I CAN'T OPEN THE ZIP FILE!  

As a teacher-author, when you have several files to bundle, this is the most efficient way to bundle them.  No one wants to receive one huge file with 300 or 400 pages to scroll through, right?  Instead, we place separate files into a ZIP file.  

     SOLUTION 2: If you have a Mac, just save the zip file to your desktop and double click it to extract the folder within.  It will magically appear on your desktop!   If you have a PC, it might be that simple . . . or not!  When I had a PC, I purchased a program called WinZip.  It looks like there is now a free trial WinZip available on their official site.  Click HERE to take a look.  

Here's a page that offers more ideas for opening these files:  How to Open a .Zip File Without Winzip.    

Another easy solution to this problem is to download the file on another computer.  Some operating systems will open the .ZIP file automatically.  

PROBLEM 3:  HELP!  THE PAGE ISN'T PRINTING CORRECTLY!

Let me just say that I have come to regard printing and laminating as an art form--or perhaps it should be an Olympic sport!  I am constantly looking for ways to use less colored ink, print with different margins, print posters, etc.  

     SOLUTION 3:  There is really no one answer here, I'm afraid.  Your answer to this will depend on the program AND take some searching, as well as trial and error printing.   For example, I like to open my files with Preview on the Mac.  I click "Print," then I look for options.  

If you are missing some of your page (such as missing borders or titles, or the margins are wrong), then click on "Print Entire Image" or change the scale.  

Click on the bar that says "Preview" to find more options . . .

In the picture above, I clicked on the bar with "Preview," then I clicked on "Print Options."  This is where I usually end up.  If you like to print things in grayscale to save ink, click that box.  Printing one page as a poster is great for group lessons or for things that decorate the room.  

If you are having major problems with margins, make sure that you have selected the correct paper size and that the scale is 100% or what you need.    

IF YOU ARE TRYING TO PRINT A POSTER, PLEASE VISIT ONE OF MY PREVIOUS POSTS FOR DIRECTIONS.  CLICK HERE.  

PROBLEM 4:  HELP!  IT SAYS THE FILE IS DAMAGED!

Most of the time, teachers assume that something is wrong with the file.  While this can happen, it is usually not the case.  This just happens.  It is just a glitch in how the file was downloaded. As you know, technology is great, but it never works 100% of the time.  This is one of those times that something failed to come from some server on the other side of the country through your wifi, arriving on your desktop in pristine condition.  If you think about it, I don't know why we don't have more damaged files.  

     SOLUTION 4:  The solution is to just download it again.  Now, if you download it 3 times and there is STILL something wrong, then please contact customer service.  

GENERAL SOLUTIONS:   

1.  Here's my secret "go to" solution for almost everything:  Google it!   It works almost every time.  You might have to search once or twice to find exactly what you need, but there is a lot of helpful info out there, especially when it comes to computer problems.  Keep in mind, though, that programs sometimes change with new versions, so you might find info that no longer applies.   

2.  Shut down the computer (or printer, or iPad, etc.).  Count to 10 slowly, then turn it back on.  I have absolutely NO idea why this works, but it often does!  

3.  Open the file on another computer.  The other computer might have a program that will open your file automatically.  It also works sometimes if you can print the file using a different computer and/or printer.  

Well, I hope you have found something here to help.  If I think of more problems/solutions, I will add them here.  

As always, thank you for reading!