If you are like me, you are already thinking about next year and what you will do in your classroom to make it 'spiffy'. Also, if you are like me, you have no desire to really think about curriculum while you are either finishing up your year or just finished it.
BUT.....in thinking about all of this, I decided that it doesn't hurt to think about some fun things that you can do in your classroom and have them ready to go for the fall. Enter, my Cricut that I got myself for Christmas with the intention of using it in the classroom for those 'craftivities' that we love! Things were so crazy this past school year that I never got around to even using it to make anything for myself or my students to use. In fact, the little time I spent trying to use it made me think that it would be best to get some lessons from someone that knows how to use one at least a little bit. Enter, my sister, Jeane! Tomorrow we will be going to check on my mom and go to my niece's summer dance recital and I plan to spend some quality Cricut time with my sister. We rarely get to spend any kind of quality time with each other ever, so this is going to be a treat. And, if I get some 'craftivities' done for school, then, so much better for next year's students! But most of all, it is going to be great just being a sister.
Attention all Cricut users! Please leave a comment letting me know how you use your Cricut in your classroom. Do you cut out sets of shapes for your students to use? Do you cut out 2 patterns, one for a model and one for students to trace in order to cut out the pattern? I am really curious as to how they are used in the classrooms.
Also, for those of you that access the computer program on line to design your Cricut patterns, is there a way we could use Dropbox.com is order to share patterns across the country? Is there a Cricut law we would be breaking? That is an idea that popped into my head a few minutes ago an I don't even have a way to research due to time constraints. So...if any of you out there are Cricut Aficionados, please let me know what you think about that. I would love to create a dropbox.com account and share the password/sign in info here on my blog and create a 'go to' place for patterns and such for school displays. Anybody know if this could even work??? PLEASE let me know!! I'll see if I can figure it out tomorrow, if I can.
On the other side of things, I am joining up with Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle's summer linky party!! Read on!!!
BUT.....in thinking about all of this, I decided that it doesn't hurt to think about some fun things that you can do in your classroom and have them ready to go for the fall. Enter, my Cricut that I got myself for Christmas with the intention of using it in the classroom for those 'craftivities' that we love! Things were so crazy this past school year that I never got around to even using it to make anything for myself or my students to use. In fact, the little time I spent trying to use it made me think that it would be best to get some lessons from someone that knows how to use one at least a little bit. Enter, my sister, Jeane! Tomorrow we will be going to check on my mom and go to my niece's summer dance recital and I plan to spend some quality Cricut time with my sister. We rarely get to spend any kind of quality time with each other ever, so this is going to be a treat. And, if I get some 'craftivities' done for school, then, so much better for next year's students! But most of all, it is going to be great just being a sister.
Attention all Cricut users! Please leave a comment letting me know how you use your Cricut in your classroom. Do you cut out sets of shapes for your students to use? Do you cut out 2 patterns, one for a model and one for students to trace in order to cut out the pattern? I am really curious as to how they are used in the classrooms.
Also, for those of you that access the computer program on line to design your Cricut patterns, is there a way we could use Dropbox.com is order to share patterns across the country? Is there a Cricut law we would be breaking? That is an idea that popped into my head a few minutes ago an I don't even have a way to research due to time constraints. So...if any of you out there are Cricut Aficionados, please let me know what you think about that. I would love to create a dropbox.com account and share the password/sign in info here on my blog and create a 'go to' place for patterns and such for school displays. Anybody know if this could even work??? PLEASE let me know!! I'll see if I can figure it out tomorrow, if I can.
On the other side of things, I am joining up with Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle's summer linky party!! Read on!!!
Thanks for the Linky Party, Jeannie!
Enjoy!
It's fun to have time to just do nothing besides stay up late watching a tv show and not having to worry about getting up early in the morning!
ReplyDeleteLori
Conversations in Literacy
I love having time to blog, plan, and relax!
ReplyDeletejeannie
Kindergarten Lifestyle.
I do not have a Circut, but I want one sooooo bad! I know I would probably use it because I love making things.
ReplyDeleteI got my cricut last summer and loved using it so much I volunteered to make things for other teachers. I made train car name signs for the kindergarten class's coat hooks. We're a brand new school, so I made class signs for each classroom door. In my own room, I divided a bulletin board into enough squares for each student. I made tags with each kids' name and placed each in one of the squares. The section was for them to place any papers they were especially proud of. We called it our "brag board." Of course, I also cut letters for themes for bulletin boards. I made a big target with graduated sizes of circles plus a big arrow. I put a magnet strip on the backs of both and posted them on my board. Each week I wrote a different "target" next to the visuals. Some examples were walking quietly in line, proper paper headings, clean desks.
ReplyDeleteWow!! Lots of ideas! Thanks for letting me know. I love the target idea!
ReplyDeleteAs a Christmas gift, my husband bought me a Cricut to use in my classroom. When the craft stores have good sales ($10-20) on cartridges, I snatch up every cartridge that includes some kind of font b/c I can always use those for bulletin boards. I like using my Cricut for lettering better than a die cut machine b/c I can type in an entire word or title w/o having to keep track of the number of letters I will need. I also create my own nametags using colored sentence strips and thematic shapes from the Cricut.
ReplyDeleteThe Cricut is handy for spicing up anchor charts/posters (I'm soooo NOT artistic), creating sets of thematic flash cards or game cards, designing centers/manipulatives...it's crazy how many uses there are!
For craftivities, I will only cut out class sets of designs if they are really intricate (I teach 3rd grade and the kids STILL don't have great cutting skills by then). Otherwise, I try to save time & paper/cardstock by cutting out a couple "masters" for kids to trace.
I'm still learning all that my Cricut can do...good luck experimenting with yours!