Thanksgiving FREEBIE To Help Teach Thankfulness

Being Thankful in a World that Seems Less and Less Thankful I am not sure about you, and maybe it is just a sign of me getting older, but it seems that more and more people are less and less thankful for things that they simply take for granted in life. From our freedom to clean drinking water to the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, our children are learning to feel entitled to having these things as opposed to being thankful for them. I am excited about an idea I had while thinking about my own children and the greed they sometimes exhibit during the holiday season. Thinking about others who suffer during these next months, I want my children to experience the holidays in a different manner. I want them to start taking the time to be thankful for the things that they have instead of being full of desire for the things that they don't have. Since my own children span from first through eighth grade, I knew in my heart that this idea might benefit other students as well. I created a FREE version of this resource with 4 thankful certificates that can be attached to the "Thank It Forward" certificates for others to continue showing thankfulness. For those wanting more thankful certificates to choose from, I added 12 more to the resource and have that available for only $1.00 in my TPT Store. I plan to use funds from this resource for my children and I to shop for others in need during the holiday season. You can click on the image below to find the item in my store. I hope you find this resource useful for your own children and/or students! This is the link to download the FREEBIE! Please leave feedback and let others know what you think.

Do you want some FREE resources for your classroom? Beginning on Friday, September 20, at 8:00 AM, I will be part of a September Facebook Frenzy where you can hop from one facebook page to another and download some great resources. There are 3 different frenzies: K-1, 2-3, 4-5. I am part of the K-1 group and will be giving away a fall-themed packet of math and reading activities. To access the K-1 hop, you can start on my Facebook page Teachers Make a Difference and look for the tab near the top right that is labeled as Fall FB Frenzy. All links will not be active until Friday morning. Other grade level links can be accessed as listed here. Follow my blog for information on future FREEBIES!

Kindergarten Teachers - Take a look at this great bundle! Educents is currently offering an amazing Kindergarten Bundle! It's a great deal with 24 incredible products at 78% off the regular price! Let me know if you get it and which one is your favorite! Here is the link:

Interactive Notebooks!

I am SO excited to be using Interactive Notebooks in my math classroom this year. Even older students find enjoyment in learning math with a hands-on approach. I am simply amazed, so far, at the creativity that I am seeing from my students when I present a concept to them, provide an interactive activity, and then ask them to summarize the concept in their own words and create their own interactive example. I cannot wait to be able to share some images of their work with you later in the year when we have created more. For now, I want to share with you this wonderful source of FREE templates that I found to use for interactive notebooks. I have been creating my own so far, but these templates (for personal and classroom use) could save hours of your time and offer a variety of foldables for your own interactive notebooks.

Be sure and SHARE these with your friends and follow my Blog for more great resources! Interactive Notebook Foldable Templates

Welcome Back to School Teachers! I hope that you have had a relaxing summer and are refreshed as we begin this new school year. One of my main focuses with my blog will be to show you ways to integrate technology into the classroom. I start with a brief video today to expose you to the idea of using tracking sheets to target your objectives. The video specifically introduces the idea of using tracking sheets to target weak objectives. I specifically focus on the Common Core State Standards, but the concept can be applied to any type of standardized objectives. With the idea of tracking, I focus on how to help students strengthen those weak objectives using a website known as the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.

Please leave comments with ideas, suggestions, comments, and/or questions. Thanks!

Tracking to Target Weak Objectives

I am a guest "blogger" today at Minds In Bloom! Click here to check out my blog post. Minds In Bloom

Click on this link to find my Facebook Fan page and find a Facebook Frenzy where I am giving away my "Back-To-School Get To Know You Domino Game" for Free. There are lots of FREEBIES that you can get through this Frenzy that starts on Friday, at 8:00 AM EST. Teachers Make A Difference Facebook Fan Page

Linky Party to Celebrate my New Blog!

My Blog is new, and to celebrate, I am offering one of my new Back-To-School resources to help teachers get their year started on the right foot!  To get your free copy, please follow my blog and click on this link to download the FREEBIE pictured below!

Establishing a positive learning environment through classroom expectations is so important from the very first day of school, and when students have a voice in the expectations which are set, they tend to strive to meet those expectations.  Just in case, a behavior modification form is included to help students reflect on what they have done and how to fix their behavior in the future.

I would love to hear your comments!

                                                Graphics by:  www.mycutegraphics.com

My First Blog

Well, I am new to blogging, but certainly not short of ideas.  I suppose I will begin with an introduction.  My name is Shari Beck, and I am currently a mathematics professor at Navarro College.  In this position, I work alot with future teachers at Navarro, at Texas A&M Commerce, and through Teacher Quality grants.  My passion is teaching, so naturally, I am interested in future teachers.

I recently completed my Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in math education at Texas A&M University (2010).  My dissertation research focused on the comparison of the performance of 3rd and 4th graders in a dual language program with students in regular education on the standardized test in Texas (TAKS Test at that time).  I was really interested in learning if the use of visuals possibly influenced scores and if the learning of a 2nd language possibly had an effect on scores.

I attend professional conferences focused on teaching mathematics at multiple grade levels, and I personally have 7 years of experience teaching at the high school level and 12 years of experience at the community college level.

I look forward to learning more about my followers as I embark on this new adventure!