PK1 CONFERENCE RESOURCE FINDS – PART I

Well, y’all . . . I am back from one of my favorite teacher conferences on the planet and I have some amazing goods to share.  This is going to be a two part installment as there were a handful of epic teacher goods up for grabs this year. Seriously, folks.  I was drooling all over myself.  I just have to share a few of my supa cool finds.  Here I be with Part I . . .   

SIMPLYCIRCLE
This is such a cool concept . . . a concept that just makes sense for EVERYONE involved.  Let me explain.  SimplyCircle is a FREE resource that helps groups of people communicate more efficiently.  As teachers, many of us have found that hard copy just doesn’t cut it any more.  Notes aren’t being read and the flow of information has started to break down.  

Knowing that notes aren’t being read, my teaching partner and I use email as a way to send information (I am sure that many of you do too).  However, we have noticed that our communication is STILL not always reaching our intended target – PARENTS.  

The folks at SimplyCircle helped me understand why emails aren’t always the best from of communication.  Think about all the emails that get buried in your inbox.  It happens to me all the time — you read it at the stoplight or on recess break and forget all about responding or adding it to your calendar. Well, it’s the same for parents.  I never really put the shoe on the other foot and thought about this simple notion.  I don’t have kiddos of my own and I didn’t realize how many streams of communication could be coming at a parent (especially those with more than one babe) . . . teachers, schools, coaches, scout leaders, etc. Once I stepped out of my bubble, the genius concept behind this simple program made immediate sense — let’s create one space for multiple streams of information to land.  

You see . . . parents can be in multiple circles and all of the information is funneled into their home page.  As a teacher, you can type in information and have emails sent that not only hit their inbox, but also store in their home page. This works for everything from field trip reminders and newsletters to volunteer opportunities and donation requests.  Parents can also use the site to communicate with one another . . . privately.  Yup, emails are NOT visible, but they can shoot messages to one another or the entire group when they are inside the circle.    

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to SimplyCircle.  This service does SO much more and I can only hope that I am doing this program justice. It truly is a great idea and is worth a click to learn a bit more — HERE.  Take a peek at this brilliant program and see if it might just be the communication piece you are missing. What do you have to lose?  Try it.  It’s FREE 😉

SHOW & TELL APRONS
Another amazing resource I stumbled across at last weekend’s conference was Show & Tell Aprons.  These absolutely blew my mind and I had to order one! Just last week I was trying to organize a pocket chart lesson and my hanging charts were full.  I had to quickly pull one apart on my lunch break.  Too bad I didn’t have my sweet Show & Tell Apron.  My problem would have been solved before it even begun.  Um, just take a look at these and tell me that you don’t want one . . . 

The old “wheels” started churning as soon as I spied these.  The possibilities are absolutely endless 🙂

• Addition Facts
• Missing Addend
• Subtraction Facts
• Word Families
• Sight Word Spelling
• Vowel Teams
• Simple Sentences
• Parts of Speech
• I could go on . . . and on . . . and on!

I ordered this one . . . SWOON!