Wednesday, July 11, 2012

School Supplies

Guess what is on Walmart's shelves?  SCHOOL SUPPLIES!!!  I am mailing my list out to students today.  Parents, when you buy pencils, please get the Ticonderoga brand.  Please, please, please, please.  I know they cost more, but they are worth it.  A child can go through 4 - 5 packs of regular pencils as compared to 1 pack of Ticonderoga pencils.  They just don't break as easily and they sharpen so much better.  You don't know how many times I have to stop teaching to go sharpen a 4th or 5th grader's pencil.  Then we usually end up throwing it away because the lead keeps breaking.  It is very time consuming and takes away from teaching time. 

Other brands I like are Crayola and Fiskars.  I am a little bummed that the Crayola crayons went up in price this year, but I will still buy them for Olivia because they are labeled better.  Some brands' label colors do not match the actual colors of the crayon.  This is confusing for students and may cause them to mess up their work.  Plus Crayola crayons have a smoother finish to them and are less waxy.

Fiskars scissors have better blades.  Some scissors will bend paper or tear it.  Other pairs are hard to open and shut, whereas Fiskars are not.  I really recommend buying these brands just to make school a little easier on your child.  School is hard enough as it is.  Don't make it more frustrating because their pencil keeps breaking or their scissors won't open.  My daughter Olivia gets upset very easily and quickly gives up on challenging tasks.  I know she will never have to worry about the little quirks of her school supplies with Ticonderoga, Crayola, and Fiskars!  

Don't feel obligated to buy these brands.  But I wanted to explain why we tend to put brand specific items on our school supply lists.  They just tend to make the school day a little more easier.  You really will get more out of them for your money!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

My First Blog!

Hey!  I'm finally taking a shot at blogging!  I'm not sure if I will even keep up with this, but Pinterest has really inspired me to start a classroom blog.  This will be a site for parents, students, and friends.  I will try my best to keep this site updated for my 4th and 5th grade classes. 

My blog's name kind of sums me up.  Since I'm a  teacher, this blog will focus on "SING", which stands for Standards, Ideas, News, and Goals. I put the lowercase "i" in front because I love technology, hence the play on iPad/iTunes, etc.  Plus I love music and singing off key!   Another thing about me is that I love cake and icing, so I thought this wacky blog name would work great.

I'm getting ready to mail out my "Welcome to 4th Grade" letters!  I am really looking forward to this school year.  I love teaching 4th and 5th grades!