The Candy Dish

Book Covers Brickified

Sometimes you see an idea on Social Media that you just have to try right away. This is exactly what happened today.

Over on 100ScopeNotes, elementary school librarian Travis Jonker posted book covers which had been put through Brickify, a convert-to-LEGO online app.

Not only did I love taking his little quiz, but right away I thought of the endless possibilities for my own classroom.

Every year, my classroom keeps track of our Read Alouds through GoodReads. I decided to try it out on a few of the books my class has already read this year.

Happy READ IN WEEK!

See if you can GUESS THE COVERS!

(Answer Here)

1W Bots

In the fall of 2015, I bought my friend Shauna Pollock's book Creating Classroom Magic. When I received her book in the mail she sent me my own MAGIC BOT.

I was curious about BOTS and wanted to learn more. So I researched more about Gary Hirsch. I found his website BotJoy and learned how BOTS came to be. From there I also watched his TEDx 'Talk Meet Your Monster'.

I felt like I had to have my own BOT from Gary Hirsch so I ordered a few for myself and also gave some away to friends. You can buy your own BOTS made by Gary on Etsy. I decided to keep a BRAVE BOT and an I LOVE YOU BOT for myself.

By now my brain was over flowing with all the possible ideas on how I could STEAL Gary's idea and use it in the classroom.

Gary provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own BOTS to put out into the universe.

The end of the school year is one of the most exciting times for me and my students. I try hard for us to really embrace the final days of school. We do the ABC Countdown, we have many special surprises, lots of fieldtrips and I knew giving them their own BOT to remember 1W would be extra special.

So I spent a few nights creating one-of-a-kind 1W BOTS for each one of my Grade One Friends. I created a label for the back, found simple white boxes to keep them safe and then gave them to my students.

I am so happy with how they turned out and how special and unique each 1W BOT is - just like my students.

Thank you Shauna Pollock and Gary Hirsch for the inspiration.

A Year of Positivity

Always end the day with a positive thought.

No matter how hard things were, tomorrow is a new opportunity to make it better.

At the start of 2015, I started my journey of Positivity Post-Its. The PURPOSE was to end each day with a positive thought or reminder. Each night just before bed, I would think about the day and record a positive thought on a post-it and then put it on Instagram.

I knew it would require dedication and commitment. I knew there would be days I would be tired. There would be days it would be hard to be positive because the day was rough. Or even while I was away on vacation I would have to be committed to doing a post-it. But, what I learned from this experience was it forced me to look at life in a different way. It forced me to look and see the positive in each day. It forced me to develop a positive habit. It forced me to just laugh more at things which frustrated me.

So now, 365 days have past. 365 Positivity Post-Its have been created. I have grown. I have accomplished something I set out to do. And my hope is that maybe I inspired or spread a little positivity into someone else's day as well.

You can find all my Positivity Post-Its on this page - Positivity Post-It

The truth of the matter is, most people don't finish things! Look around you, the evidence is everywhere: People don't finish. They begin ambitious projects with the best of intentions, but then they get stuck in a mire of insecurity and doubt and hairsplitting...and they stop.

So if you can just complete something-merely complete it! - you're already miles ahead of the pack, right there. -Gilbert

You Better Be ALL IN

Not everyone needs to believe in your dream, but YOU BETTER BE ALL IN.

You will have people say you can't.
You will have people say you are crazy.
You will have people criticize.
All of these people are not you.

At best....
Surround yourself with the people who push you.
Surround yourself with people who wish more for you.
Surround yourself with people who will ask how they can help.

Ultimately, though.....
You are the one who has to be 100% invested.
You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.
You have to give it your all.
You have to be ALL IN!

Go out and make your dreams a reality.

Life Has No Roll Over Minutes

As 2015 comes to an end- you will hear people start to say, "WOW! Where did the time go?" or "The year went so fast."

I encourage you to reflect how LIFE HAS NO ROLL OVER MINUTES. Every day we awake with 1 440 minutes. That means each year we have 525 600 minutes.

You have the power to control the minutes on your clock.
You have the power to choose what you will do with your time.
You have the power to choose who you will spend the minutes with.

Make the most of each day. Be present. Stop to enjoy the minutes.

Get Going!! Have a fantastic 2016.

Dear Back to School Teacher

Dear Back to School Teacher,

I know you are frantically thinking about all the things you need to do.
You have stopped by Dollar Tree, Walmart and Target almost daily.
You have driven to multiple stores just to make sure you have 24 of each item.
You have walked through the school supply aisle and admired the fresh new crayons and the awesome smelly markers.
You have scoured through Pinterest, blogs, Instagram, and Teachers Pay Teachers looking for possible new ideas.
You have watched many hours of Periscope hoping not to miss one important nugget you can use in your classroom.
You have participated in Twitter chats and are ready to connect your classroom globally.
You have spent hours spray painting, cutting, laminating, and decorating your classroom to make it look inviting.

And although you have done all these, the most important thing you need to do has yet to happen.

The most important thing you need to do is make sure every child feels welcome, loved, unique, safe, and supported in your room.

Relationships are the most important. Make them feel and know they MATTER.

Have a wonderful school year!

Living Your One Word

As we have recently passed the half way point of 2015, many individuals who created New Year's Resolutions 194 days ago may have forgotten what they were or were just not able to follow through. That is okay, and as we always say - Life Happens.

One way I have been able to continue to stay focused during the year is by printing off my one word and having it framed. It sits in my loft area beside my computer so I look at it every day. I also keep my PURPOSE 15 in '15 list on my phone so I can look at it regularly.

This post is about one of the more important items on my list of 15 in '15.

Continue to provide service of any type. Be giving of yourself and of your time. Volunteer when you can. Donate. Do RAKs. Do whatever you can to give back.

As many of you may remember, I had something similar on my list last year.

Give the top 5 items needed for the food bank.

I was able to do this and even had the help of my dear friend Stacey (@StaceyLeePhotog).

This year I was able to come across another organization who was in need through a friend on Twitter. Joveena (@milzofsmilz) posted the picture of the Summer Wish List from the YESS Organization. I actually had never heard of the YESS organization before and am always looking for new places to donate. I found they needed supplies to help youth through the summer months. My own challenge for myself was to fill a backpack and drop it off.

So I called up my dear friend Dana (@DanaAriss) and asked if she would like to join in the fun.

Dana had also seen the Bissell Centre was in need of water. She contacted Devin Komarniski and found out how best to donate.

So, today we went on a wonderful mission. We donated two flats of water to the Bissell Centre and dropped off a full backpack and a few more items at YESS.

I can't fully describe the powerful moments we had today. But in my heart I knew I was living my one word.

I challenge you this summer to come up with one way you can give. You may choose to donate or give your time. It would be fun to think of a way to do it as a family.

I look forward to living my one word for the remainder of 2015. So many wonderful moments ahead.