Coupon Deals!

Okay my DEALS for today:

Walgreen's:

(1) 8x10 Photo Collage reg. $3.99----- used code "FUNDAY" got it for FREE!!!!!!

(2) 2 pack Pink Erasers reg .99---- on sale 2/$1

(3) Scotch Tape reg. $1.29---- Walgreen's coupon makes them 2/$1------- coupon for $1 off 3 scotch tapes = .50 cents for 3

(1) Dawn Dish Detergent reg. 1.59----- Walgreen's coupon makes it .99----- .50 cent off coupon = .49 cents

(2) Tylenol 8HR reg. $4.49---- On sale Buy One Get One Free----Plus I had 2-- $2 off coupons = .49 cents for 2

Actual Total: $20.41

Paid $2.73

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Rite Aid:

Magnum M5 Razor 6.99 (this is the sale price, I don't remember the reg. price) ---- $3 off coupon and I get a $2 SCR back= $1.99

Colgate Advanced Total Toothpaste: reg. $3.99 on sale for $2.49---- $1 off coupon and I get possibly up to $2.49 back= Free or better!

Tylenol 8HR reg $5.99 on sale for $2.99----- $2 off coupon and I get a $2 SCR back= $1.01 MM

Actual Total: $13.97

Paid: $6.47

Get Back: $6.49 (!)

= .02 cent MM!!!!

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Other deals from today:

Kitten Food $4.97-$3.50 coupon= $1.47

Wipes: $2.50- $1= $1.50

Cat litter: Reg $12.xx, on clearance for $6.xx, used $1off coupon below it= $5.xx

24 pack of Crayola Crayons at Walmart .20 cents

Pull-ups at Albertsons $9.99-$1.50 coupon - $5 off (I had gotten)= $3.99

Power Ranger Toys: reg $12 on clearance for $1.97

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Tomorrow I am headed to Fred Meyer to get FREE SCHOOL SUPPLIES (I have $2 off a school supply purchase of $2 or more) and look for the kids some school clothes. I also have $8.50 in coupons from my Fred Meyers Rewards Card!

With some time off this summer, I have been spending time collecting resources that I think may be useful in my future classroom. I am proud that I have started to somewhat organize everything. I discovered the OneNote program on my computer and have been using it to try and organize my life (somewhat).
I have separate "folders" for different thematic topics that I could possibly use in the future, as well as folders with songs, and helpful hints that I can look back at.
I've also used it to make my grocery lists, and organize my list for sales and what coupons I need.

When we go back to school, I hope I will be able to further utilize it to help contain my lecture notes and "great ideas"

More pics from the wedding

Julie and I at Amanda's wedding

Trisha and me (not looking) at the wedding

Newsletter I Designed

Amanda's Wedding

I went to my old friend Amanda's wedding last night. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, with a mix of very interesting people. Here are some of the pictures from last night:

Photoshop Class

My product from last night's class on Photoshop.


Here's the original. I didn't like seeing the A/C unit behind her and wanted to surround her in flowers.

PowerPoint Ideas

Last night's class I had was interesting. I was already pretty familiar with PowerPoint, but did learn a few new great things. One things was to embed videos into the PowerPoint slide.

For my personal life I think it would be very cool to create a PowerPoint with pictures of my daughter and include videos of her throughout that show her milestones as well. This would be great for my family to see. In fact, I think I may put together one to show her off to my aunt's that will be vi sting this week. I'll just hook my laptop up to my TV using the HDMI cable.

In the classroom I think it would be very interesting and interactive to create stories using student's pictures. Say every week we have a student of the week... how cool would it be to create a short story about the student and their interest to show to the class. I could "crop" their face out and put them in pictures (as I did in my PowerPoint story for class "breaking the rules", I figure things like that grab the attention of younger students and would essentially "work").

Another use for PowerPoint could be to create a slide show to run during a Back to School Night. It could loop pictures of the students in the classroom completing daily activities. As a class we could also make a video to accommodate this.

These are just some of the great, fun new ideas I wanted to write down while I had them in my head. I'm sure they will come in great use in the future!

Registration Troubles

Ohh the joys of having to jump through hoops. Seeing as I hadn't applied for my degree back in December, like EVERYONE else (according to the woman I spoke with); the awarding of my bachelor's degree was greatly delayed. In all honestly I had no idea that I needed to apply for my degree, my academic advisor did not mention anything to me except to apply for the Graduate program and pay the $50 fee. NO one ever mentioned the $70 one I needed to do.

Having finally been awarded my degree, I attempted to register for ED 559: Foundations, once it was already over. Since it was past the end date on the course I was then told (after emailing what seemed like a million people) that I needed to file an academic appeal. It seems like a bunch of silly paperwork that has to be completed to "jump through their hoops". I faxed off the paperwork and received an email stating they had not received it. Today I finally received an email stating they had received it and it would go before the panel to be reviewed next week....

Hopefully early next week this will all be cleared up and my financial aid will be fully awarded as well. I was able to register for the Ed Tech course as well as the courses for Fall, so I suppose that is the good news of it all.

Usefulness of Blogs

After completing my NCLB Paper today (YAY!) I have spent some time exploring the links on the Wiki. Just now I ran across some information that I thought was interesting.

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From website:

Using the Blog in the Classroom
As an educational tool, blogs may be integrated in a multi-faceted manner to accommodate all learners. Blogs can serve at least four basic functions.

Classroom Management
Class blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board.

Collaboration
Blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work to further develop writing or other skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can offer instructional tips, and students can practice and benefit from peer review. They also make online mentoring possible. For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills. Students can also participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions.

Discussions
A class blog opens the opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Students have time to react to ideas and reflect on learning. Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog.

Student Portfolios
Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference.

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I could see blogs to be used as many different tools in the classroom. Since I would ideally like to work with younger elementary aged students, I think a blog would be a perfect communication for parents. I could relay important information to parents about upcoming events and provide them information about what we are doing in class, complete with pictures.

I, as a parent have heard so many times "I didn't do anything" in response to the question "What did you do at school today?" This would be an ideal resource for me to see what my child is learning, and what they are really doing at school (since we all no they aren't just sitting there doing "nothing" all day).