Pirate Themed Days of the Week FREEBIE and New Classroom Materials Pack

I wasn't planning on finishing this last pack for this year, but "mi amor" and I are leaving in two days to go backpacking for a month in Europe, and I think when I get back it will take me a few weeks to get back in my groove again, and by then - it'll be time for a new school year - who-hoo!

So, anyways, as always, I start off with the freebie, the attention-getter that will hopefully bring you back wanting some more. :) Here are some free days of the week signs with the Pirate theme.

This freebie is included in a 170+ page Pirate-themed classroom pack that includes:

Letter Posters A to Z

Student Binder Covers

Calendar Set

Classroom Job Display

Two Birthday Display Options

Labels/Templates

Postcards

Cute Bookmarks

Various Upper and Lower Elementary Name Tags

Monthly Newsletters

Numbers Set from 0-20

Various Teacher Materials

Word Wall

Grouping Cards

You can check this title out at TpT or Teachers Notebook.

And if you've missed my other posts, I also have a Frog Pack, Chevron Flowers Pack, Beach Pack, Monster Pack, a Jungle/Safari Pack, a Rainbow Pack, and an Owl Pack with a FREEBIE from each.

Have a great summer! :)

Tabitha Carro

Easy Parent Thank You Digital Cards with Punchbowl

Have a lot of parent thank-you cards to write here at the end of the year? Trying to motivate yourself but just can't? Do all your parents have email addresses?

If so, try Punchbowl!

It's a cute, non-tacky way to send digital cards that look real, envelope and all!

Click on the card to see an example I made and sent to my partner teacher about using this for our parent thank-you cards.

So, how it works:

First, I went to Punchbowl (it's free but you have to create an account) and scrolled down to the Thank You link.

Then, I scrolled down and found this adorable learning-themed card. I'm sure there are other school-related ones (like that boring Twilight look-alike apple card :P), but this was cute enough for me.

Now for the creating fun! First, you can change the front title if you wish. I went for "muchas gracias" since I teach Spanish immersion.

Then, you get to customize your message.

Lastly, you can change design aspects of your envelope in a really cute way.

Digital stamps, anyone? Yes, please!

Now, you just need the email address for the parent and a subject heading for your email. Click send, and it's on its way!

Ok, here is the super cool, time-saving feature about this site - if you click on "Make a copy," it will open up the same exact card with your previous cover title, inside message, envelope design, and subject heading. What does that mean? All you have to do is change your inside message a bit, add the parent email, and you've already completed another card!

It took me about 20 minutes to do 16 cards. And the best thing about it...? It's done! I don't have to lick envelopes, buy stamps, pray Billy gets the card to his parents - nada! My time is now freed up to do other things, like write blog posts and buy the new S'mores blizzard from Dairy Queen (true story and it's amazing!).

I hope you all have an awesome summer! How do you work smarter and not harder when it comes to sending mass thank-you cards? Let me know!

End of the Year Easy Memory Slideshows with Animoto, Gmail, and QR Codes

Yes, you know me, or if you don't, I will always find a way to insert QR codes into a school project. This year, I have been taking pictures of my students with my iPhone and creating Animoto slide shows that are SO easy (the only catch - if you want more than 12 photos, you have to pay $4.95 a month). I actually didn't pay the premium fee until April and May, so if you want, just wait unil the end of the year and pay for one month's fee. You have to manually renew your membership, so no worries about forgetting to cancel. However, it's super fun to go on a field trip or do a special project and then share a slide show the very next day that took you about 3 minutes to put together.

Click on the video to see an example of a video I made about my daught-- um, I mean dog. :P

 

So, here are the steps to getting your slideshows throughout the year onto one page that will open by scanning a QR code.

1) Using PowerPoint or some sort of design program, type out the names of the videos. Here's mine:

2) Go to Animoto, click on the video you want, and copy the url of the video at the top.

3) Go to your document, highlight the title of your video, and add the url as a a hyperlink.

4) Once you have completed this for all of your videos, save your document as a PDF.

5) If you don't have a Gmail account, create one! You get 5 GB of shareable storage which is awesome for us teachers.

6) Open your Gmail account and go to Drive. This is where you upload files you can share.

7) Click on the red button with the arrow (see image above), and upload your PDF.

8) A box will appear once it has downloaded. Click on share.

9) Change your Share settings to "Anyone with the link." That way the slideshows can only be accessed by persons with the link.

10) A link should appear to where your PDF is stored. Copy the link.

Now to create the magical QR code!

11) Go to QR Stuff and paste your link into the box. Click on the url shortener button, so your QR code will be easier to scan.

12) Download your QR code and save it to your computer.

 

And now the fun part!

13) Click on this freebie postcard template, save it, and insert it into PowerPoint or other design program.

14) Insert your QR code as a picture (it's an image file) on top of the beach balls, and insert text boxes with your personal message.

15) Add a beach ball for students to autograph as a keepsake, and you're good to go! I will also email a copy of my postcards to the parents in case the postcard doesn't make it home. :P

For a video explanation of how to attach images to QR codes, click here.

For other QR code freebies, click here.

Click the below image for my TpT QR code resources.

Happy end-of-the-year!

Tabitha Carro