Linkin' Up

Another linky going on over at The Teaching Tribune - three things to be thankful for.

I'd love to know what you are thankful for at this moment in time so please leave a comment :-)

Summer Similes

I am sharing another worksheet via The Teaching Tribune and this week's subject is ... summer!

Last time I really didn't pay attention and uploaded a maths worksheet rather than a literacy one - I am still getting used to American acronyms I think - so hopefully anyone following this link will find the worksheet they were looking for.  And I have also made sure it is one page only as instructed this time (I really am quite well behaved in school - honestly!!)


I don't often make one page worksheets mainly because most of my creations are activities for children with learning difficulties with maybe an attached worksheet (but these really won't work as stand alones) or as homework with guidelines for parents which also tend to cover more than one page.  However, as we have just begun work about similes I created this summer poem for the children to expand their learning and create their own poem (they will have a picture sheet to give them a choice of similes they may want to use) but I thought for maybe older children this would work as a one page worksheet.  Let me know what you think or if you would also like the visual reference page as well.  Click on the button below.

I also have a few "FREEBIE" summer words resources posted on my TpT store so please feel free to check these out too and leave feedback there.  Click on the pictures below to go directly to the resource on TpT.

This resource is available with both USA and English spellings.

Getting to know you?

Once more linking up via The Teaching Tribune website to get to know a little bit more about everyone out there.

Here is a little bit about me that you might or might not know :)

It's not just teachers I'd love to hear about so please leave a comment below and share your three facts about you :)

Summertime Smiles

Well it's been a long time coming but the past few days have had a fair amount of sunshine and hot weather.  Just in time for the summer solstice and a particularly nice relaxing weekend taking in the delights of food festivals and morris dancing in the old medieval town we visited as a family (a rare event these days).

I know I posted sometime ago about how I find relaxing in my garden one of the best ways to unwind from the pressures of teaching (that and stroking cats) so I thought I'd post a few pictures taken over these last few sunny days to spread some serenity and summer smiles.

This is one of the entrances to my little wood.

Then this is the middle by the little stream.

I know it does look a bit like a jungle but it is so green and lush due to all the rainfall!!

Here is the view I love when I look up through the trees into the canopy.  The light is so energising :)

And finally one just to prove that it is not all just green in my garden.

Part of my more cared for garden (I will be doing more weeding now the sun is here).

And before I go I am letting you know about a great free resource being posted by a very talented teacher - Cara -  who has just started her new blog   Cara's Creative Playground

She has created a blank face frame two page document for children who are learning about emotions - that allows the teacher or child to draw in the faces.  Please click on the picture below to be taken to her webpage.  It is an excellent resource for children with autism or those suffering from abuse or neglect to help learn about expressing and owning emotions.

Have a lovely weekend (what's left of it) and make sure you recharge your batteries.  Tell me what you do to unwind - I'd love to know.

Inspirational Thursday

The Teaching Tribune is asking teachers to contribute inspirational or funny quotes as teaching tips.  So here's my own contribution mainly because I have always taken risks in life and have had to face the wrath of others despite the benefits to my students (well once they've got over the shock that something exploded, they got soaked, something got burnt, they got lost etc etc - but let's remember no-one got hurt and they all have memories to last lifetimes or maybe memories to be worked through with therapists later!!)

Please click on this button to go and find out what others have posted or join in and post one yourself!

Let me know what inspires you in your line of work or what your teachers did that helped inspire you to become the person you are today?

Trying Bloglovin'

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12056895/?claim=zntnazhxsdf">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Another new venture for me is trying to link to blogs through Bloglovin to improve my experience of receiving valuable updates of blogs I'm interested in.  My teaching blog links are rising rapidly so I'm hoping this will help me locate new posts easily especially any to do with special needs teaching methods and resources.  So bear with me whilst I try this bit out and get Bloglovin' to recognise my blog.

I'll probably be updating this post to let you know how things are going and maybe to ask for help like I normally do!!  Oh well - here goes :)

Well I can see a line of code on this post so who knows - but I have installed a new button in the sidebar for those who prefer to use bloglovin' so hopefully they can now connect to my blog via this option.  If anyone is willing to try this out and report back I'd be most grateful.  Many thanks :)

Worksheet Wednesday

It's another opportunity for me to link up with other teachers from around the world (via the linky at The Teaching Tribune)

This allows us not only to share worksheets on a whole load of different topics but to also find other new teaching blogs which is always so useful for the ideas and support they can offer.

I decided to share one I have used in the past with my special needs maths group.  They are working at about the Reception Class/Year One stage at school (UK) P8/1c levels (Kindergarten/Grade One equivalent - US- I think according to Common Core levels).  Yummy cakes seem to hold most children's attention as well as my own!  Please click on the button below to download this freebie :) and happy teaching!

To add to all the excitement The Teaching Tribune is also giving away a TpT $25 voucher if you pin an image of any of the worksheets to any Pinterest board and enter their rafflecopter so please feel free to pin mine to any of your boards in order to enter.

Fingers crossed that it all works as it should!!  Please leave a comment as all feedback is welcome and if you're visiting via the linky I'd love you to stop and say hi!

Back to the Future I Go

It's the Monday Meet Up over at The Teaching Tribune so I'm linking up with others to share a letter that we might have written to our future selves when we first began our blogging adventure! Hit the button below to see what others are writing.

Here's my own letter and let me just say a big thank you to all of you who have helped me along the way especially with the technical issues!!

Can I Share Something With You?

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted anything. I think it's because summer is such a busy time for me behind the scenes in a school year: so much paperwork needs to be put in order before the start of the new school year; reports need to be written; final year meetings with parents need to be convened; transitions moving from and into the school need supporting and finally thinking of and getting/making the presents you are going to give everyone at the end of term!

I also want to get the hang of being able to share docs with others out there who may not want to join teaching sites (because they are not official teachers) but still might find such docs useful e.g. parents, grandparents, other family members.  So this will be another of my having a go posts and let's see what I can make happen (or not as the case may be)!  I have managed to download my Google Drive and have uploaded a file so far so now for the sharing part and this is where I will need your help to tell me if it has worked or not - so please leave a comment and if it hasn't worked any suggestions would be MOST helpful!!

Let's try a very simple ladybird count the spots worksheet

What I am hoping is that if you click on the ladybird this will take you to the google doc that is the downloadable worksheet.  Fingers crossed.

Please, please, please let me know if this works or doesn't.  Many, many thanks.

Worksheet Wednesday

I am going to try to take part in the Worksheet Wednesday free download linky party over at  http://www.theteachingtribune.com/

I say try because it often takes me a number of attempts to get these things right.

Below is my contribution just click and download from TpT:

                                                   Maths Worksheet One More One Less

Worksheets such as these are particularly useful for children with special needs as they give opportunities for over-learning and differentiation.  Learning to use a worksheet with support a number of times can lead to a child being able to work independently on it later in the week and give them success.

Let me know your thoughts on worksheets.  Are they over used at some schools?  Are they useful for homework activities?