Playtime at the Toy Store

We visited lately a store called Blickenstaff's which has vintage and unique toys.  Here are a few of my favorite things.  

This circus display would be perfect for a school library or book display with circus books.  

There were two Princess and the Pea toys I liked... One was small and one was quite large, I think with crib mattresses.

This was a cute frame.

Classic toy that my dad used to have from Brazil.

My son requested a few pictures of his favorite robots.  

Who would buy this?  NOT ME!

I would buy this though!

And like every place I go...books I want to buy!

Finally, this was cool...

P.S. I only touched it a little when no one was looking.

Hats, Hats, Hats

I loved this idea from a second grade room.  If you like to use hats in the classroom as the teacher or for students, then this was a creative way to display them.  She used plastic milk jugs, added big googley eyes and drew on a variety of mouths and faces.  Place the hats on top and display around the perimeter of the room.  

Use for read alouds, lessons, and so on.  I've seen a ton of hats at a nearby vintage store that I might go back and get.  Great idea!  

Shirt I Want

Study time

This is me with my brain fried doing homework and my son steals the camera.  

This is me with my hair down and my brain fried after doing homework and my son steals the camera.  

Ignite

Do you like to watch TED talks?  Well, here is an example of what University students can do with 5 minutes and a fast paced presentation that moves every 15 seconds.  I'm surprised it hasn't been a required assignment in my program so far.  Check out this example from the Ignite Conference at Research Week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_n_MvVmxyQ&list=PLsqQ6JjTD6wUP8bfdQMNlGrGU02iHYeL6&index=1

Common Core Insights

Here are some insights from Dr. P. David Pearson regarding the Common Core Standards.  He had such a visionary view of it that was very compelling.  He is quite a persuasive and logical speaker.  

Muppets

We had been counting down, we had our muppets in hand (from the last few birthdays) and the day arrived!  There is nothing quite like the excitement of seeing a movie that you've anticipated for months.  Happy day!

Ticket out the door

Step One:  buy some gloves when they are cheap or free (like in the lost and found)

Step Two:  use a sharpie marker and write high frequency words, vocab, or spelling words on them.  I've also seen word strips pinned on.

Step Three:  Put them on at the end of day and have kids "high five" and say the words as the ticket out the door.  

Listening Poster

To the rescue...

If you are looking for a great company in Utah to repair a computer issue...try these folks.  My laptop with all my doctoral research got spilled on, and not only did they help me replace it, but they've provided additional service a few times with little to no charge and excellent customer service.