Let's Get Those Clothespins Ready!!!

Before school was out a couple of months ago, I visited a K classroom in a school near mine. This classroom was terrific, and what do you think this teacher had throughout her room? Clothespins! Lettered clothespins, numbered clothespins; ahhh, it was fabulous!!

So, I thought I would repost the guest post I had on Rachel Lynette's blog Mind In Bloom.

School starts soon.

Let's get those clothespins ready!!!

I have 232 clip card products in my TpT store – no beating around the bush - I love Clip Cards and clothespins! And really, who is not addicted to the way clothespins open and close?
Clothespins are inexpensive and versatile, too. Inexpensive? You can get a bag of 50 clothespins for $1. Versatile? Clothespins are crafty; you can make cutesy animals and gifts with pins, but wait, there are so many more ways to put clothespins to work in your classroom.  Please, check out the following activities.

Save a staple, use a clothespin. I remember being in fifth grade and my teacher handed back my paper with big holes at the top because of her stapling it to the bulletin board. Trust me, your students will thank you for not defiling their papers plus using clothespins is much faster and easier than stapling. Glue two flat thumb tacks to the back of the clothespins so they stick into the bulletin board. Totally easy!

Thanks Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten!

I am definitely a centers teacher. I employed centers with my primary students and even during my stint teaching high school. While all centers should be motivating and engaging, let's admit it, some center activities are more fun than others. That is when a centers chart is handy, to help choose and rotate centers. And a great way to keep up with rotating centers? Clothespins, of course.

I should buy stock in clothespins!

I actually squealed aloud when I first saw this idea on Pinterest: using clothespins as bathroom passes. Ingenious! The passes will return - the clothespins are clipped onto the students' clothing; hence, the passes never get left in the bathroom; the passes will be germ free – the clothespins are clipped onto the student before leaving the room then unclipped upon returning to the classroom and untouched in between; hence, germs are super reduced. 

Brilliant idea!

Classroom jobs are a must as they are a great way to instill a sense of responsibility in our students. And, you guessed it, clothespins are once again the go-to tool to use when rotating student names on charts.

Everyone wants to be the paper passer!

Many teachers use the traffic light behavior management system. Green, yellow, and red circles with, of course, clothespins. I have used a similar behavior management system; one that, for my students, was less embarrassing for the yellows and reds and less stressful for the greens.
We had individualized “charts” placed at the student's desk. This “chart” was a craft stick colored in thirds green, yellow, and red and a clothespin that can be moved to the appropriate color. (I never once had a student change their chart.) Either chart monitoring system you choose, there should be clothespins involved. 

Excellent tool, once again!

Yes, clothespins can be used in math centers to show the correct answer to a math problem but don't forget, clothespins can also be used with meatier math center activities. Clothespins can be used in ELA centers to show the correct part of speech or the correct sight word. One of our favorite center activities is clipping final blends. My special ed kids especially enjoy and benefit from this activity.

My students also love making clothespin words - Write letters on clothespins and have students pin letters to make words. They can pin onto hanging string (think clothes line) or even an index card. And this activity can be differentiated by allowing the students needing extra help to clip the matching lettered clothespin to the letter in the word.

So, let's review: Clothespins have so many classroom uses. Clothespins are such an inexpensive resource. And do not even get me started on how clothespins are a perfectly fun way to improve fine motor skills.

Even though my kids have nicknamed me, “The Clip Card Queen”, my TpT Store does have more than just clip cards. But if clip cards are what you are looking for, I have a Back-to-School freebie for you:

Yes, it is back-to-school time; let's get those clothespins READY!!!

A Few of My Favorite Things May

Old cartoons. Who doesn't love sitting down with the family or friends and watching great, old cartoons. Here are our top 3 favorite old animated cartoons.

The groovy colors and vocabulary, the hip songs, and the scary villains - you gotta' love Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (pre-scrappy episodes, of course) Our family loves to find the animation mistakes. Velma talking in Daphne's voice, Shaggy with blonde hair, villains' legs missing. We LOVE Scooby-Doo!

A close second is Bugs Bunny.

One question for you – from where does Bugs pull those items? He must have really deep pockets. Our family loves Bugs. He is so suave, isn't he?

I know Spongebob is not old exactly, but it is still a classic. The creative characters, the townspeople rioting, the songs - everything comes together to form a fun cartoon that appeals to both young and old alike.

Of course, my favorite thing is saving time and money. Yours too? Then check out my End of the Year Awards. I hope it helps you out in this busy end-of-year madness.

Be sure to check out others' Favorite Things.

Currently May

What better way to celebrate the new month of May than a party with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade?!

Listening:
We had a cold snap last week, so it is super nice sitting here with the window open listening to lawn mowers, children playing, and the breeze gently blowing. Springtime in NC is truly lovely!

Loving:
We have one daughter entering grad school, one daughter graduating from college, and one daughter graduating high school. So many excellent opportunities are opening up for them and for our son still at home. I am so thankful to have truly terrific children!

Thinking:
My trunk is full of clothes and items that we no longer need or use. It is a simple process to drop them off at the Outreach in town. I just need to DO it.

Wanting:
So, I am trying to eat well and exercise more. It is such a struggle for me. I am SO hungry and to be honest a bit grumpy. Should be better soon. I hope.

Needing:
I use to have such strong willpower. I need more now though. I cannot fall back to eating junk and being lethargic. I shall overcome!

Summer:
I have soooo many unfinished TpT projects, so finishing those projects are my yes, hope, AND dream!

Be sure to check out others' Currently posts!

Ethel is an Outdoor Cat - Again!

You may remember our cat, Ethel, after her harrowing experience, had become an indoor cat. (Read Ethel the Indoor Cat here.) But over the months, she became rather brave – not dashing under the bed with every bark, exploring more of the house besides just “her room”, lingering in the living room even when the dogs were visual at the sliding glass doors. It didn't take long to train Clooney to not bark and go crazy when he saw Ethel in the house. And Maggie has always been fine with Ethel (during the day).

As the weather became more pleasant, we would leave the glass doors open and, with training and time, all of the pets were okay with the sights and sounds of each other. The next step Ethel took by herself. We have a tear in one screen (thanks, Clooney) that we have not repaired yet. One day, I could not find Ethel anywhere and, low and behold, she was sitting on our back porch! We still had a lot of training to do with the barking at night but to make a LOONG story short, Ethel is now an outdoor cat. All is well with the Booze pets . . for now!

Sunday Scoop for February 15

Yes, it's Sunday again! And time for Teaching Trio's Sunday Scoop.

One wall in our living room is filled with yearly pictures of our kids.

The joke is that when you hit the door frame, you have to leave the house. Not sure what Erik is going to do about the light switch!

I really need to sign up to receive group karate texts, so I will know if class is canceled or anything comes up.

I told myself I would get more organized with this messy desk. I need to find a calendar on which to write reminder dates. Plus, now that I have completed my conference materials, I need to clean up my junk.

I made cute grad announcements for Emily, Audrey's we bought from Early College, now I need to create again for Sarah's. Graduation is an exciting time!

I have ordered testing for my kids fifteen years now. I would think I would know exactly when and what to do. But every year there is a slight change, so I always like to preview things before I actually order our tests in March.

This week is pretty uneventful which is a good thing from looking at the forecast. Snow midweek possibly. Well, we have had an easy winter here, so I cannot complain. Plus, Spring is almost here; I CAN make it!

Don't forget to check out what others are up to this week.

Ethel, the Indoor Cat

Recently on the TpT forum, I posted about my cat's near-death experience. Thought maybe I should give an update on Ethel along with her two dog co-conspirators, Maggie and Clooney.

Yes, I said co-conspirators. Ethel has always wanted to be an indoor cat. But wait; let's back up.

Maggie says it stinks getting old.

It was a week before Thanksgiving and Maggie, our Jack Russell Terrier who no longer sees very well, began terrorizing Ethel at night. These two have lived together (outdoors) for 5 years and have always gotten along. We marked it down to our living in the woods and Maggie's eyesight getting Ethel confused with a woods creature (fox, coyote, etc). We left it up to Ethel to arrive on the porch before dark or else sleep on our barn porch. This was working until...

Clooney has arrived.

Thanksgiving, our second eldest brought her dog for us to keep. This dog has major issues, one being he hates cats. Long story short - Clooney and Maggie both begin barking at Ethel. Ethel disappears. We search and search. We assume the creatures or the cold got her. [She had a good life with us (we rescued her from a farmer's gun).] We went on with our life.

"YES, we are rid of the cat."

The Friday before Christmas, our neighbor texted she glimpsed Ethel entering a drainpipe near our house. LONG story short, I carried Ethel to our house to (I thought) die. She was pitiful. My husband said he thought Ethel was hours away from death.

Fast forward one month, Ethel is a healthy indoor cat. She does freak out when the dogs bark and spends most of her time underneath my bed, but she is physically healthy.

Our Christmas Miracle Cat

A seller from the forum said I ought to write a book on bullying. I think I should write a book about a cat and two dogs conspiring to make an outdoor cat an indoor cat.

"My ingenious plan worked!"