Starting Five For Friday (a day late)

This week has been crazy busy - just like the other three weeks!! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my very first Five for Friday (a day late)!

1.

AMSTI Science

 I am loving AMSTI Science and so are the kids. So far we have learned about three different types of clouds while making them with shaving cream. We have discussed what the weather is like in Daphne right now and graphed if we like hot, cold, or warm weather best. We have begun learning about the water cycle by making puddles in pie plates. The kids were astonished when all that was left was a blue stain 3 days later. The kids and I both are learning a lot!!! I am now working with a wonderful teacher from AMSTI to incorporate Talk Moves into my science lesson. (More info coming soon! Talk Moves mini posters here.)

2.

Rockin' in Our School Shoes / Digital Renaissance

 We LOVE Pete the Cat and we are in the process of finalizing our very own Rockin' In Our School Shoes video. We are using Garage Band and iMovie to put together our own version of our favorite cat's book! It has been a slow process. I am still learning how to really edit music and video in both Garage Band and iMovie while letting the kids help as much as possible. We also found out that making projects like this is about to get a whole lot easier. Our school board voted to extend the county's Digital Renaissance, which has previously put MacBook Air laptops in the hands of student 8th-12th grade, to K-6th grade as well. All K-2 students will be receive iPads to use in class while all 3rd-6th grade students will receive MacBook Air laptops. How awesome is that! So, if any of you have any great lessons you teach using iPads, PLEASE feel free to post!

3. 

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Soy Protein Shake

 First, please, do not judge my messy desk! My teacher neighbor introduced me to these FABULOUS coffee flavored protein shakes. I have recently learned I am allergic to dairy and very sensitive to gluten. I have felt a little down over how hard it is to eat anything other than meat and fresh fruit & veggies. Don't get me wrong, I love those things but finding filling breakfast foods I can eat on the go has been hard (I can't eat eggs either). These shakes are now my new addictions and are really filling. I usually drink mine around 7:00 and I am just getting hungry at 11:45 when we go to lunch.

4.

piZap - Free Online Photo Editing

I have been using Instagram and the many different apps associated with Instagram to make collages and edit pictures I take on my phone. However, tonight when I wanted to make some collages using pictures already on my computer, I realized that my Instaframes app was not going to do me much good. I did a quick google search and tried the first site that showed up. piZap is a free online photo editing tool that is so easy to use. I am not an expert in photo editing so someone more picture savvy might feel differently. In my oppion this site (and app!!) is a lot of fun. I think it might even be easy enough for my kiddos to use. The picture of my beautiful puppies above is a little on the obnoxious side but I just wanted to show some of the different features of the site. The other collages in this post are also from piZap.com as well. You can make collages, edit filters, add text, backgrounds, and stickers all for free. You can save your creations or post them to the site (I think) or to Facebook and Twitter. I did not spend a lot of time of the site - I was watching a very tense football game (we won by 4) and just played with the parts I needed for this post. I will definitely use it again!!!!

5.

Scrappin Doodles!!

I have an unhealthy addiction to all things Frogs! I discovered Scrappin Doodles this summer when I decided to redo my room decorations/arrangement from the past 8 years. I have learned how to use PowerPoint to make really cute numbers, letters, calendar sets, and more for my room. It has become an obsession.  Thanks to the TOAD-aly cute Froggy series at Scrappin Doodles I can no longer use just any kind of sign in my room. NO! I have to make them myself so I can add frogs to it. I am now working on making Daily Five signs. (Update: Here is a link to my Daily 5 signs!)

Thank you for stopping by for my Five for Friday!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Melissa