Sunday Sanity Saver: Cranberry Pork

First of all, a HUGE thank you to Rachel, from The Tattooed Teacher, for my amazing series logo!  Isn't she so talented?!?!?
I am so excited for #SundaySanitySavers to help you as much as they have helped me.

Today's post is all about the CROCKPOT!  Yup, that amazing device that was created to help moms, especially working moms, everywhere!  Even better than busting out the crockpot is being able to toss 4 ingredients in it and have dinner ready 6 hours later.  Without further ado....

Cranberry Pork

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 - 3 lb bone-in Pork Shoulder
• 1/4 c dried minced onion
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 can of whole cranberry sauce

Place the pork shoulder in the crockpot.  Cover with onions and honey.  Pour the can of cranberry sauce around the pork.

Set the crockpot for 6 hours, on LOW.  Then, leave it.  Seriously, do not touch it until it is done.

Once the pork has finished cooking, shred with a fork and remove the bone.

This deliciousness pairs perfectly with rice and green beans.

I would love to know if you try this recipe.  It has been on repeat for several months over here.  What is your go-to crockpot meal?  Let me know below in the comments.

Germs!!!

Seriously, if one more student goes home with a fever or because they have thrown up in my classroom I am going to loose it!  I love teaching, but I loathe the germs.  I joke sometimes that I get sneezed on for a living.  All jokes aside, I read this interesting write up and I am hoping it is TRUE!!
Apparently grape juice has super powers I was not aware of.

Real grape juice, none of that sugar added, watered down stuff, has the ability to alter the pH in your intestinal track.  By creating a more alkaline environment the virus is not supposed to be able to multiply in the intestines.  Plus, grapes are high in vitamin C, which we know is great for immunity.
Fingers crossed grape juice is as magical as the science behind it says because we have no room for a stomach bug in our house.

What do you do to keep your immunity up?  Do you have a special remedy for avoiding monster germs?

**I am not a doctor!  This post is my own opinion.  If you have a medical question your doctor would be the one to answer it.**

Running Records In My Pjs

Running Readers' Workshop has its challenges.  For me, one of those is meeting with each of my students everyday.  It unfortunately just doesn't happen.  Thanks to technology, I am able to check in with as many students as my heart desires from the comfort of my couch, while wearing my Pjs.  This is not a joke!  I am completely serious!
There are two tools that I use in my classroom to gather fluency and accuracy data on my students.

Raz-Kids:

This is the digital version of Reading A-Z.  I love it because it doesn't just end at providing each student their own leveled book room, but each book is read to the students.  Once students have listened to the story, they may practice reading it as many times as they choose.  Once students are ready they record their reading.  Finally, there are 5 comprehension questions for each story.
The recordings that my kiddos do are sent to my computer.  I then have the ability to listen to them on my time.
I also have the ability to send them assignments; the readings are then cold reads.

I created this running record form to track students' fluency skills.  We are starting our nonfiction unit this week, so I altered the form to meet our nonfiction criteria of main idea and details.

SeeSaw:
If you don't have a Raz-Kids account SeeSaw is an easy to use app that allows you to keep a record of everything for your kiddos.  One feature is the ability to take video.  Each week, my students choose one book from their "just right" ziplock and video themselves reading it.  Just like Raz-Kids, the video, in this case, gets sent to me.  I am then able to use the same forms to track running records for each of me students.

These two tools have been a game changer for me.  I love that I can knock out 5 running records from the comfort of my couch, after little man is in bed.  But even better is the fact that I have the time to be methodical in my teaching with each of my student's next steps.

How do you find the time to meet each of your student's needs during Readers' Workshop?  Do you have a favorite tech tool that you use to during Readers' Workshop?

Hooray For Hat! and a STEAM Extension

Trying to find that glimmer of happiness can be tricky on days when you are just feeling grumpy.  In Hooray For Hat!, by Brian Won, Elephant and his friends teach us that a simple gift can turn that frown upside down.

This picture book shows readers that the act of generosity can brighten a person's spirits.  

I wanted to build an extension to this fabulous story, because, well I just LOVE it!  Why not build multi-layer hats like the book?!?!

Click on the picture of little man wearing his Hooray For Hat! or follow this link.  I have a template as well as a STEAM extension for you.

This activity can be done by individual kiddos or in a small group.
What is your favorite picture book for teaching kiddos the importance of being kind to our friends?

Adding Color To My Life

Oh, Crayola!  You have been a huge part of my life forever!  As a teacher, I have an excuse to use you everyday, but now, oh man, now I have a better excuse!
Enter...

Crayola Chubby Sticks, by Clinique!  Guys!!!!!!  These are AMAZING!  This is coming from someone who does NOT like makeup.  Seriously, I do not like the way that it feels on my face, but I am not getting any younger and I need to do something to look more "put together".
So, these Chubby Sticks have a creamy texture and they go on super smooth.  What I like most is that the colors are not the ones that stain your lips.  These have a lighter appearance, even the bolder colors.

My only disappointment with these is that the case didn't come with all ten colors.  For some silly reason tickle me pink and razzmatazz are sold as individual sticks only.

Clinique will only have these Crayola Cubby Sticks for a limited time, so if I were you, I would jump over to their site and grab a set today.

So my Crayola finds didn't end at the amazing Chubby Sticks.  Have you seen these My Color Is... packs?!?!  Each color pack is loaded with Crayola's fabulous products, but in only that color.

I was able to find My Color Is Pink, at my local Target, but I am on the hunt for the other colors.  The window crayon has been a huge hit in our house lately, and I can't wait to use it in my classroom.

What is your favorite Crayola product?

Sunday Sanity Saver: Snowed-In With A Toddler

The weather here has been absolutely NUTS!  Being that I grew up in Michigan, it still drives me crazy that Portland hasn't gotten their act together and learned that rock salt and snow plows are a must this time of year.

Either way, I have loved this time with little man.  He has developed into such a creative, funny guy and I love witnessing his learning.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get out and do much exploring, we hit record low temperatures, so we made use of some items from the craft closet, or as my husband calls it the "crap closet".
These activities kept this 18 month old happy, engaged, and in one place for more than 5 minutes.  That my friends is amazing!

Pom-Poms, plastic IKEA bowls, and tongs were perfect for sorting and practicing colors.  The fine motor practice was incredible.

We reused a milk container and added colorful paperclips and cut up pipe cleaners.  Little man used a magnet to move all of the pieces around.  He loved trying to move them from one side of the container to another.

 The pom poms got another go with a piece of pool noodle.  Little man stuck each one in the center of the noodle and then I blew them out.  He couldn't get enough of the pom poms flying all over the living room and then setting it up to do it again.

 We have been having a great time with colors lately.  He is starting to recognize more colors and is very interested in learning the names of each color.  We used these interactive steps to practice a different way.

We also have spent a ton of time playing with his felt board.  Check out my DIY post here.

What are your go-to activities for an active toddler?  I would love to add more to my "bag of tricks"!  Here's to hoping the snow melts sooner rather than later.

Easing Stress and Anxiety with GoNoodle

Did you see my post on the GoNoodle Blog?  You can read it here as well:
There is no denying the fact that stress is all around us.  As adults, we are more aware of what causes us stress, and how we can cope with it.  As a working mom, I am stressed all the time.  However, I have learned that active movement and breathing exercises help me cope with it.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for many children.  Children are inundated with demands and stimuli constantly; it is honestly never ending.  Due to this, there has been a rise in childhood stress and anxiety with little understanding as to what to do.  It is however important to note that some stress is good!  Learning is stressful, but the art of learning and having a growth mindset is imperative.

So, how do we as parents help our children tame and tackle this anxiety they feel? We use GoNoodle as a tool!  GoNoodle is packed with breathing exercises, focus tools, and intention setters to help with the stress and anxiety that children deal with.

Here are a list of my top 5 GoNoodle videos for easing stress and anxiety in children:
1. Rainbow Breath - this guided breathing exercise provides a beautiful visual of taking a breath to eliminate the stress.
2. Begin Again - in 3 minutes and 26 seconds, children are guided through a refocus exercise to strengthen their growth mindset.  This is the perfect video to do with your children before sitting down to work on homework, or before they leave for school.  I love having a conversation about how the video helped as well.
3. Swirling - just like numbers 1 and 2, this is a video under the FLOW Channel.  Swirling is a focus tool that teaches kiddos how to take all the chaos around them and let it settle into a quiet pile.

4. The Think About It channel!  Seriously, every video on this channel is AMAZING!  I honestly use them myself.  They are one minute intention setters that allow children, or adults for that matter, to create a focus and intention to their day.  These are perfect to do before leaving for school in the morning, plus they also provide a great conversation starter after school.

5.   Hug It Out, with Maximo - before or after a stressful event everyone needs a hug.  Maximo guides kiddos through mindful movement while incorporating cross-lateral movement, an important motion for brain development.
I hope that you and your children find some success with the videos that I have mentioned.  If you try any of these or use other ones at home let me know in the comments!  Happy Movement!!!

STEM Resource Gold Mine

As a teacher, I am always looking for engaging, meaningful, and let's be honest, free resources. Well friends, I found a great one...
STEMRead.com
This site is developed by Northern Illinois University and they did a great job!  The "books" tab is my go to.  There are recommended titles for elementary, middle, and high school classes.  But, they didn't stop there; each book also has extensions and lesson plans that support NGSS!  What?!?!  Jackpot!!!
Just check out the books they recommend for my kiddos:

Plus, like I mentioned, each of these books has extensions and teaching tools.  All you have to do is click on the book.
Woohoo for a great find!!!
Do you have a favorite teacher resource?  I would love to know about it.  Leave a link or title in the comments below.

Coding with OneSpot Erasers

We all know that the OneSpot at Target is always filled with these fun erasers, and as a teacher it is difficult to pass them up.  There is always something you can use them for!  I love using them as a math manipulative, but this friends, this I am excited about!

How about block coding with them?!?!
The arrows make the perfect movement codes and the stars can be used for any movement your kiddos choose.  You can also add in other erasers for a variety of movements.

Little man is obsessed with DinoTrux right now, so we made a code for his Reptool to eat all the ore on its way back to the garage.

You can grab this coding template here.  There are two templates available, one lets you add additional codes.

Do you code with your kiddos, or have a love for the OneSpot erasers?  Leave me a comment below, I would love to hear from you!!!

DIY Teacher Mama: Felt Board

Keeping an 18 month old actively engaged without batteries and lights can be an interesting challenge now-a-days.  As an educator, I want to expose my own child to the language I know he needs to be successful.  As a mom, I want to see my little boy having fun and being creative.  Well, you know me, I searched for both and I found it...

Felt Board Fun!  

Plus, I found another awesome use for all of my clipart.

Here is what you need:

To create the board just spray the adhesive on the poster board and cover with felt.

Obviously, you will need a printer and an iron, but that should be a given. 

The fun part is picking out all of the images.  My son LOVES Sesame Street and DinoTrux so I did an image search and found some great ones.  He also loves animals, so I went through my clip art and added some of his favorite animals to the list.  

The most important thing to remember is to reverse the image so that when you iron it on everything is spelled correctly and is facing the right direction.

Once you get all of the images picked out follow the printing directions on the paper and print your heart out.  Then, all you need to do is iron, peal, and play.

My happy boy with his new characters!

I just need to whip up a second board for my classroom.  I am going to use it for story retells and story starters for my reluctant writers.  It will be the perfect tool for my ELLs to practice their speaking standards.

Happy Creating!!!