Those last few days of the school year...

For those of us in the South, there are very few school days left, and some of you probably have a few more weeks. No matter how much longer you have, you know how hard it can be to keep the children engaged when all the books and supplies have been collected, the schedule is totally out the window, and you still need to have class. Here are a few ideas:
Educationworld.com   is such a great site; there are several good ideas for different ages on this page.
What a great resource DLTK is.
Here are some good sites for those of you with SMART Boards.
Memorial Day Activities  are available here, and there is a concise summary of the holiday here.
If your students are old enough-- say, 3rd grade and up, you might want to read and discuss "The Blue and the Grey," 
This is a poem that was written after the Civil War, when the holiday was called Decoration Day. At that time, it was custom to adorn the graves of fallen soldiers. Francis Miles Finch was inspired to write the poem when he saw some Southern ladies laying flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers.
Hope you like the new layout-- since I found that nearly all readers are women, I thought I could go with something a bit more "girly!"
Please have a safe weekend!

Field Trips, Continued!

Hello Friends,
   First, let me ask you to bear with me as I refine the layout of this site! I am attempting to make the look less cluttered, and may end up with a completely new template. The name and URL will remain the same, though, so don't think you are in the wrong place!
   I wrote previously about bringing some field trip ideas to you.
Instead of listing them in a post, I have put the list on a separate page.
To find the list, please look below the header where it says "Field Trip Ideas" and click on that link.
All but one of these are virtual field trips, in that the visit is via the internet, instead of in reality.
There are many lists online of these virtual field trip sites; I have combed through quite a few of them to find links that work, and those that I feel have a  substantial amount of information. I will add to the list as I find more good ideas.
   As always, I welcome your input, and invite you to share your field trip ideas, real or virtual, by leaving a comment on the Field Trip Idea page, or on this page.
   I hope all of you are having a wonderful week!

Teacher Appreciation Week Roundup Of Freebies!

Just a quick post about things available this week for teachers!

A-Z Learning is opening a different subscription page for free this week.
Free entree at Applebees on Tuesday, May 4th-- take a pay stub or school ID. Read the link's fine print to make sure the Applebees near you is participating!
Discovery Educator Network has free teaching tools lined up for the week.
Lakeshore Learning is having some giveaways, including chances to win $100.00 gift cards. At any rate, you will find some good free resources there.
I will add more as I find them, or feel free to leave a comment about any offers you want to share.

Update: YAY!

Congratulations to the winner of our drawing-- a teacher from the beautiful state of Maine!
Thank you again to all of you!

Thank you to all of you who entered the drawing this weekend; I will announce the winner as soon as I verify the entry.

To all of you who have visited Free Teacher Tips and Tools, become fans on Facebook, and have been all-around encouraging during these last three months, I say THANK YOU!