Online Teacher Portfolio

Hey ya'll. I've been knee-deep in applications to different school districts here in Colorado and all my free time has been spent clicking away on websites, printing cover letters, and preparing myself for any possible interviews. 

One of the steps I always take in preparing myself for a new state/school is updating and upgrading my teaching portfolio. It can get a bit hairy with the different grades I've taught so I always want to clean it up before I enter any buildings. Honestly, it drives me nuts trying to decide which information I want to include/take out and if principals/interview committees will even have time to look through it during my interview.

Well, I did some research on the use of teaching portfolios and thought "I need to make this as simple as possible for myself AND any potential interviewing personnel". 

I'm making the switch!

My teaching portfolio is coming out of the binder and going online!

3 simple reasons why:

1) It allows me to easily review and edit as needed.

2) I can use it for professional growth reasons: laying out growth plans, evidence     of growth, & reflections.

3.) Anyone can view it at their convenience. 

Wanna make the switch too???

This might take some time on your part, but gather up anything and everything you want to include in your portfolio or already have in your portfolio. Organize materials into categories (teaching samples, assessments, professional growth, etc) and then head on over to Weebly or another online website builder. 

* I chose Weebly because it was FREE and easy to interact with.  

1. ) Log in to Weebly.com and select a design layout that fits your style by clicking the orange CHOOSE button on the bottom right of the layout. 

 2.) Name your domain...try to be pretty specific so your name will be accepted. To keep it FREE, click the 1st button (Use a Subdomain of Weebly.com).

 3.) You'll most likely want to edit the header image to make it better fit your page. Simply, click the gray Settings wheel tab in the top right hand corner. Change the page layout from Landing Page to Tall Header

 4.) If you want to change the actual image, click on the orange EDIT IMAGE tab and you can either upload your own image or search for stock images. If you choose SEARCH, type in pretty generic terms (like kids) so you get the most options. To keep it FREE, select the FREE PHOTOS tab.

5.) Want to add more pages to your site? Click on PAGES at the top of the screen and click +ADD to add as many pages as you wish. I tried to make mine pretty specific so I could detail a lot in each category without the reader getting lost. 

*** Make sure to click the SHORT HEADER tab under Header Type so your original header image will show up at the proper proportions. You can rearrange the order of the pages by clicking and dragging the titled tabs on the left. 

6.) FONTS! Always super important! You can change the font settings by selecting the DESIGN tab at the top of the screen. Click on Change Fonts and then select the areas you want to edit. When you click on a specific tab (ex. Navigation Menu), that area on your page will be highlighted with a blue box around the area so you know what you're editing. *** Take note, when you change the fonts for a certain tab (Paragraph Titles, Paragraph Texts,...), the font settings will be applied to all pages. You'll be able to change the font size and color on each page, but the font style remains the same. 

Now, let's move on to the more personal phase of this how-to.  Here are some pics of my personal portfolio and some details on how to make yours personal. 

Everything you need to edit/enhance your site is located on the left hand side of the page. It's a just a matter of click and drag over to your page. Play around with the different features, don't be scared, nothing is permanent until you hit PUBLISH (and even then you can go back and change it).

Starting from the top, you can change the top left hand box by adding either text or a photo/logo by clicking on the box.  

By adding a TEXT tab, you can type and edit your words on each page. 

You can change the colors and sizing of text in text boxes BUT not the font style!

You can upload videos to your page by clicking and dragging a YouTube tab onto a page. You can use an HD video tab, but that will cost you.  Additionally, you can add a caption below the video by editing the video from your page. 

By clicking on and dragging the IMAGE tab, you can add & edit (size, add caption, ...) photos.  Also, you can utilize the GALLERY tab or SLIDESHOW tab to give varying viewing options. To create photo layouts, I suggest uploading and arranging your photos on a photo editing site (like PicMonkey) so you can display many photos in a single upload. 

There are tons of features you can pick from (free and pay-to-use) so go check it out.

And if you're wondering how in the world I plan on sharing my online portfolio with administrators since I won't be toting in a big ole' binder. Check out my FREE resume template here which includes a space for PORTFOLIO. This is where I place a QR code and URL for my personal portfolio site. 

If you're job searching, HAPPY HUNTING!

It's here, it's here...Teacher Anchor

Hey lovelies, 

Have you missed me?

I told you it wouldn't be another 2 months before you heard from me again.

It's May 1st....um yeah, I'm so excited!!!! It's my birthday month. 

And I'll be honest, I already know what I want...

I know, I know, it's the END of the school year and I'm drooling over something for NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. But friends, it's just so lovely. Chandra, over at C. Jayne Teach gave some of us a sneak peak, a few weeks back, and I've been staring at the pictures ever since...waiting for today's launch! 

This beauty has everything I need and lots of things I want:

Month at a Glance & Year at a Glance pages

 Lesson Plan pages

Common Core Checklists for K-3 

(4th-6th can be downloaded from her free library)

Classroom organizers, curricular checklists, a substitute teacher section, and a student data sheet set that includes master forms and checklists for gathering pre/post test data, running records, small groups, individual conferencing and more!

I love how the Classroom Planner fits nicely into the Teacher Anchor Binder - I'm going to have everything I need in one nice, neat, tidy binder and this makes me happy. 

I just might splurge and get that bad-boy personalized...

So many colors, so hard to choose.

Thanks to Chandra for all the amazing photos. You can see these photos and many more on her site

C. Jayne Teach and her store. 

Drought

Have you ever experienced a drought? I have.  Well, sorta.  This most recent one was of the blogging kind.
If you haven't been following me on Instagram (you should), you may not have known that my family recently moved from coastal Rhode Island to the mountains of Colorado. 

Now, while I will miss so many things about New England... lobster rolls, Dell's lemonade, great friends, and the opportunity to meet some of the best teacher bloggers out there (go check out Noelle's, from Giggles at Greene, post about our Providence Pow-Wow blogger meet-up) ...I am reuniting with my best friend. 

Now that we've gotten settled (for the most part), I've been able to get my mo-jo back and started brainstorming some things that I wanted to share with you.  To start, I came across these amazing pencils at Target and I have fallen in love with them.

Yoobi pencils are colorful, pre-sharpened, and have white erasers.  And they continue to sharpen so evenly, that I actually enjoy using the pencil sharpener.  They'll be my go-to pencils from this point on.
Since we moved in March, we had to pull our little guy out of his fabulous Pre-K program (tear). We re-enrolled him in an exploratory program where the prime focus is science and social studies themes. They gloss over reading and math concepts, but it's not their main agenda. To make sure he continues to prepare for Kindergarten, we're using 2 hours of our afternoons to shore up those entry-level skills and maybe (fingers crossed) go a bit further. We're using lots of various resources from amazing TPT sellers/bloggers. To see more, search #KountdownToKindergarten on Instagram. 

One final thing, I've been inching towards reaching a milestone achievement on my Facebook and Instagram accounts (links on the right). 

If you aren't already, go follow me on both so I can throw a "don't want to miss" giveaway.   Until next time...which won't be in two months, I promise!

Don't leave it up to LUCK

I grew up thinking I was Irish...no seriously, I did. 

My last name started with the traditional "Mc" and my paternal grandfather had an "ode to Ireland" in his basement. Not to mention my dad's uncanny ability to speak like an authentic Irishman. 

But alas, that bubble was popped almost 10 years back when my grandfather informed my family that in fact, we were most likely of Scottish descent.

Um, what?! 

(Identity crisis in the making.) 

How am I supposed to explain my heritage and my long-standing proclamation of Irish blood IF I am NOT actually Irish in ancestry??? AHHHH!

Okay, so it wasn't a huge crisis, but it was a bit shocking. Fortunately my sweet little guy doesn't have to worry about his links to Ireland, my husband's side of the family has strong ties to the Emerald Isle. 

My sweet hubby is actually a native of Savannah (GA) and grew up celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the best of them. And since dating/marrying, I've learned how to hold my own right along with them. St. Patrick's Day is NOT just one-little-ole day down in the Hostess City, it's a month long event...go check it out if you've never been...I've heard it holds its own in comparison to the big events in Boston and NYC. 

With all the green-wearin', shamrock-shakin' hoopla that I've experienced over the years, I've always wondered about the "real" story behind the festive day and who exactly was this snake-chasin' Saint Patrick. And that, my friends, is how I found myself at it again...researching another holiday and its origins. 

WOW! The facts were plentiful and very contradictory to what I grew up believing. YIKES!

One site lead to another lead to another and before I knew it, I was learning so much about this Saint Patrick guy. 

And if you know me, I need to share this information...so here it is. 

{Click image or HERE to purchase}

 

With so much information, I was able to create 6 different non-fiction passages with corresponding comprehension sheets for group or independent reading. 

But who just wants the facts? 

Let's make them colorful by turning them into CRAFTS!

I love watching my kiddos turn the information they've read on a page into something they can create. Each of these crafts can be done in isolation or combined to create a larger project.

And what's the best part? 

ALL of the templates are provided so you just have to print and pass out. 

Students can use the reading passages to fill their pots with pieces of gold(en) facts. 

I like to write in facts that I found interesting or new knowledge.

Attach the Comprehension Cloud after answering the description text features. 

Students can choose any of the passages to complete this activity.

 And just because he's cute and it's not St. Patrick's Day without one...here is a leprechaun craft.

Quick and easy for students to do independently.

To round out the fun, these text structure graphic organizers were created to help students understand how authors organize non-fiction texts. While the provided reading passages are formatted in a paragraph style, students can utilize each of the 5 text structure graphic organizers to draw information/conclusions. 

Here I used the Patrick's Past reading passage and the Sequence of Events graphic organizer to lay out a timeline of important events. After a passage and graphic organizer are selected and completed, students can use the provided template to write an expository piece. 

Now, that I know more about the "real" story behind St. Patrick's Day and how the tradition lives on today, I'm ready to go throw on my green and start pinching you unlucky lads and lassies (only kidding, I don't like pinching...it hurts!!!)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Five for Friday: February 6th

Wow!

Just wow! 

It's been a bit since I last linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her 5 for Friday linky party. 

Pardon my absence. 

I've been knee deep in snow.

LITERALLY!

So let's just do a real quick catch-up over the last month and this week.

Blizzard Juno came and went...not as bad as I expected.

But then his smaller friends just keep tagging along and bringing more snow/ice to the NE.

Spent the better part of January updating my HOP ON IT sight word games.

I like them SOOO much better now. 

Check out my last blog post to learn more.

My sweet little dude is half way through his school year and is impressing me day by day. Got his first report card from Pre-K and, not to brag, but he pretty much rocks! Regardless of how well he did or didn't do, I LOVE THAT BOY MORE THAN HE'LL EVER KNOW.

Speaking of Pre-K, I made up this little ditty to help him with his numbers, counting, and number word recognition. I put it on my Facebook page as a 24 hour FLASH FREEBIE the other night, BUT I'm going to leave it up through tonight (FRIDAY) so you lovely people can grab it too. Hurray!

Lastly, I got a wild hair and decided to really go for it. I put together a blogger/TPT author meet-up in Providence (RI) for the end of the month! Posted it on Instagram and have already gotten a good number of people from CT, RI, and MA attending. If you are in the general area and wanna come join us, email me at thetakehometeacher@gmail.com

Ok friends, that's it, that's all. Next week will hopefully have more crafts (uh, Valentine's Day, duh). HAPPY FRIDAY!

Hip Hop. Hippie to the hippie, the hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop

Oh Sugar Hill Gang! 

You make me believe I can be a rapper. 

Until I realize I've mispronounced 3/4 of your famous

Rapper's Delight

That's okay, I'll stick with what I do know...

Sight words and hip, hip hopping on them.

DOLCH HOP ON IT sight word games

I've always had great success with these simple activities that get students moving and practicing sight words all at the same time. 

Kids WANT to keep playing! 

There have been many times when I've had bring the game out to the playground. 

Each sight word set comes with a START & STOP card and sight word cards are placed in a path between the two.

Beginning at START, kids hop on each sight word card, picking up any cards of sight words they do not know or try to sound out. 

When they reach STOP, they use the stack of unknown sight word cards to fill in the recording sheet.

A few tips: 

I like to have my friends match up the sight word card to the sight word on the sheet and keep their finger on the word so they don't mark the wrong word. 

The sheet indicates to use checks and Xs, but highlighters are FUN!

So if you have them and trust your babes with them, use them.

They really do make those unknown sight words stand out. 

This has helped my friends have record of and focus on the sight words they need to practice. 

And parents REALLY love this on-going record so they can help too!

Watch Hop On It (DOLCH Pre-Primer) in action:

This sweet friend LOVES this game!

Trying to beat HIMSELF. 

Once your sweeties have mastered all the words in a set, he/she earns an achievement certificate!

I've bundled all 5 DOLCH sight word sets (Pre-Primer, Primer, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd) 

to save you money.

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

Or you can purchase each set separately.

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

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 {Click on image or HERE to buy}

 {Click on image or HERE to buy}

{Click on image or HERE to buy}