Everyone is a winner!

Congratulations....if you left a comment on my most recent Apps Give-Away, then you're a winner! The last comment was from CindyL so if you got your comment in ahead of hers...then you WIN! (You did too Cindy!) ;-)
  If you didn't hear from me already, please contact me so I can send you the codes. Please note the codes are time sensitive, so don't delay!

Leaves Are Turning...

Leaves are turning...Time for learning....
You can rake up a nice set of Falling Leaves activities over at my Teachers Notebook Shop! The packet has activities to build Letter Recognition & Letter Sound Skills, Graphing, Patterning, Numeral Recognition, (1-20), and Reading basic sight words and sentence building.
There are 3 printable student books that include practice with 1:1 word to text practice. I saw some books Fran Kramer created and LOVED the notion of putting dots under the words to help guide young readers! It's a simple, yet powerful boost to their skills. THANKS Fran, you have some of the BEST ideas!
Before the leaves are all gone....Make your way over to my shop to learn more!

Time for Another App Give-Away

 It's been a while since I've done a give-away. You know how I love the iPad and the great Apps available to support teaching and learning. I am giving away two sets of apps.
The first has Memory Game: Addition and Memory Game: Subtraction.
The second set has Memory Game: Multiplication and Memory Game: Division.
To enter to win simply visit my Teachers Notebook Shop and take a peek at some of my items. Then leave a comment here telling me which item is your favorite (and which set you'd like win).
That's it!
If you want an extra entry, you can sign up to follow my blog and leave a comment for that as well. Entry opportunities will close on Wed. Sept, 28th and announced on Thursday, the 29th. There will be 6 winners for each set. 12 winners in all! ;-)
 Click on the images below to learn more about the Apps.

   

Putting Skills into Action

I was so excited to see that Hadar over at Miss Kindergarten has already taken some of what I shared at the Teaching Blog Expo and put it to work on her blog. Check out her tutorial on Embedding a Document in Google Docs.
If you missed out on the Expo...don't worry...you can purchase a copy of the recording starting Sept 24th! You can view it ANYTIME it fits into your schedule!  I LOVE that concept....learning when it's convenient for YOU!
 There were a lot of really good ideas and tips shared! Whether you're new to blogging or an old pro...you're bound to learn some really great tips!

PS...check out my  EXPO Q & A post for additional TIPS.

Busy, Busy, Busy, BOX!

I know I've talked about Drop Box before, but sometimes a resource comes our way and we're not quite ready to use it, or have a need for it.
Now that we're all pretty much back at school, you may find yourself busy creating files to enhance your teaching. If you're like me, you could easily have files at home, school, and a few places in between. Drop Box is a GREAT resource that allows you to save and share your files on the Internet. You can access the files from any computer, or your iPad as long as you have an Internet connection. If you're working on a project on your own or working collaboratively, DROP BOX can help. Simply email your link and access to your files can be share with anyone you choose.
 We're just starting the school year, but I have found Drop Box to be EXTREMELY helpful. If you don't have an account there, you really should consider opening an account...it's FREE and you will save yourself time and energy by knowing where you stored your files! ;-)

Click image to get your own  Drop Box account

Fran has Pete Rockin' Again!

My good friend Fran over at Kindergarten Crayons has done it again....she has taken Pete the Cat and created a plethora of great activities to rock your room. Her newest packet, Pete the Cat MORE "Rocking" Activities for Primary Leaners  has tons of fun & adorable lessons for your students. There are games and activities for balanced literacy, math, art and classroom management.
Every time I think she can't possibly make a better packet than her last one, she proves.... if any one can....Fran CAN!! ;-)
Rock on over to her site to learn more!

Teaching Blog Expo Question and Answer

I hope you got a chance to attend the Teaching Blog Expo and learned some new tips and tricks for adding videos to your blog. It was a new experience for me. As I said, I am here to help so please feel free to ask questions about anything you saw/heard. Please don't be shy, I really enjoy sharing.....so ask away! ;-)
Here are links to the sites shared in my presentation:
Photo Story 3
Free Play Music
Teacher Tube
School Tube
Vimeo
Smilebox
PhotoBucket
One True Media (one of my FAVs!)
You Tube (blocked by many districts)
VoiceThread (be sure to sign up for the Educator site)
Screenr (screen capture free)
Voila (screen capture not free)
iShowu (screen capture not free)

How to make Pencil Grips

OK, I am back to share how to make the pencil grips. I apologize for the delay...I honestly thought I was reminding folks about these (I sometimes forget some oldies-but-goodies).
With a little help from my daughter, we were able to film the actual making of the grips. Here's what you'll need

•  beads (Hobby Lobby has some cute ones in the jewelry making section...animal shapes are really adoable)
• soft cord (in the ribbon section of your local Hobby Lobby or craft store)
• loops that are used to make potholders, sizes medium & small (medium is for the wrist band and small for the pencil)

Watch this easy to follow video. They really are THIS SIMPLE to make! ;-)

I hope this helps..please let me know if you need further clarification or have other questions. Happy gripping! ;-)

Pencil Grip Help

If your Kindergarten class is anything like mine, then you're bound to have a few students who struggle with finding the right grip for the pencil. As you work to get them to hold it properly, you find some hold it too tight, others too loosely. Others still will point the eraser in the wrong direction. A few years back someone shared this with me. I haven't needed it for a while, but keep a dozen or so on hand...just in case. Maybe you've seen these before....maybe you have some tucked away and need a little reminder to pull them out:

Pencil Grip Help from Cindy Blakely on Vimeo.

This Made Me SMILE!!

Thanks to Melissa  at Plug-N-Plan for naming my blog as one of her Top 10 Favorites. It means so much to know that what I share is having a positive impact on teachers and their students. THANKS so much Melissa!

Sale on Ready-to-go-Blogs

I've gotten many compliments on my blog design here and at my classroom blog, Kindergarten Tales. All the design credits go to Pamela at The Posh Box. She worked with me to create what I feel are the perfect blog designs to fit my personality and that of my students. Right now she is having a sale....hurry over and check out her Ready-2-Go Designs...you're bound to find several that you'll just love!

Save the Date...

What are you doing Saturday, Sept. 17th? What if I told you that you could join teachers from all over the globe in an expo? I know what you're thinking...school is back in  session and you just don't want to think of getting out of bed and going to an expo on a Saturday!! What if I told you that you can attend this expo in your favorite PJ's....you don't have to curl your hair or even get out of bed? Yes, I know sounds too good to be true...but you can do that and more!
TBA is once again leading the way for teachers. This time it's an ONLINE EXPO! You can sign up and participate in sessions to help you learn more about blogging. Interested? Click on the button below to learn more! I promise you there's  really nothing like it out there....