Questions about Postcard Exchange????

Good Evening All!

Today has been a whirlwind of activity for me.  First a trip to the doctor with my dad, followed by piano lessons for Katie and I ended the evening with riding lessons for Abby.  Just 10 more months until I have another licensed driver in my house to help with running around town.

I have received two emails asking if I was going to do our postcard exchange again.  Is this something everyone wants to do or do we want to do something else?  I will be honest in saying that I am open to new ideas.  Do you have any?  I want to know what you think.  Send me an email (mechele.barrow@gmail.com) and let me know.  IF there is enough response I will host a postcard exchange postcard or something other type of exchange.



I only managed to complete one activity off my to do list.  I just revised by Welcome/Informational Brochure that my parents will receive during our Meet-n-Greet in August. Time is tacking away.  I only have 21 days left of my summer vacation.  How long before you go back?

8 States Neeeded, Currently, Where are we cards

Happy Sunday.  Are you ready to start a new week?  Might as well be, it is here!

I am hoping that we have a complete postcard exchange.  We only need 8 states.  If you live in Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, or Vermont.please consider being a part of our exchange.  All you have to do is email me your school name and address and  mail about 50 postcards before your Thanksgiving Break.  I look forward to hearing from you.


Now this month's Currently.  I am linking up with the famous Farley from Oh' Boy, Fourth Grade.

My B2s must haves are very basic.  I wanted to share why I included Teaching Buddies on the list.  I think it is important that we have friends that are teachers.  Sometimes, they are the only ones that can understand what is happening with you and they can offer support and help.  It is very helpful if you all can work as a team.
  If you will remember, Amy from The Resource(ful) Room and I collaborated on the Schedule Cards based on some themes she has created.  You can find these here.  I used the black and red theme and created some cards I can hang outside my door to show where the class is.  I will try to post a picture of the finish product tomorrow. Here is the red and black set.  If you are interested in any of the other color combinations to match the schedule cards let me know.   Where Are We Cards (Red Black)   Be sure to check out Amy's blog for additional resources.  

4th of July, Currently, Postcards

Happy  Fourth of July Eve!

I will be spending tomorrow with family at our annual reunion. Each year one person is asked to read a poem, verse etc… in honor of the family members that has passed during the year. Well, this year it is my turn. I have a couple of things picked out, but, if you know of a poem or a verse I should consider please let me know. It should be a great day full of food, fellowship, fun and fireworks!




Now, for my Currently…I am linking up with Farley, she has the best Pledge of Allegiance posters! Although I am sure you have seen them since I am late joining the party.  

As for the favorite read aloud I chose Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse just because both my girls loved this book when they were younger.  There are so many fabulous read aloud that it was hard to choose just one.  Right now my go to book is Math Workstations because I am trying really hard to implement the math workstations better this year.  I am also reading Guided Math and it is a wonderful resources to improve my math instruction.

 WOW! This postcard exchange is going to be great. My new friend Lili shared some things she used when she teaches about the United States. She wrote "I made a big map of the U.S. and every time we learn from a new state they paste the state on it and then we put the nickname, bird, and flower, I also made these using cute clipart from DJ Inkers. In general is a great activity that we really enjoy."   She included this picture:




The best party is that she has the pieces she uses for her Map free in her TPT Store. Check it out! 




We still have a few states left in “The Great Postcard Exchange”.  If your state is listed below and you would like to participate in our exchange please email me at mechele.barrow@gmail.com.

If you still want to participate email me, I have some contacts that are also organizing other exchanges.  If you are organizing another exchange please let me know so I can pass on your contact information.

The Great Postcard Exchange for 2012-2013

Last year was so much fun so let's do it again!  

Do you want to participate in a postcard exchange? 

A postcard exchange is where 50 teachers (one from each of our great states) agrees to have their students write and mail the postcards out to the other participants. 


You will need 50 postcards. Mail out 49 postcards, keep one for yourself. You will need to purchase postcards and stamps.

I would like to open the exchange to all teachers who have a blog, website, wiki or any other means to share postcard exchange updates, pictures, etc...   Check out the page just for the postcard exchange.  If you keep reading to the bottom you will see a list of what states in the exchange are filled.

The exchange will be open on a first come, first serve basis. All participants should mail out their postcards by Thanksgiving Break. The deadline is set to allow time for correspondence between participants throughout the upcoming school year.

I would like for all participants to include an introduction to their classroom and a fact about their state. Please also include a line "want to learn more about ____________, just Skype us at _________" OR "want to learn more about __________, just contact us at ___________."

If you would like to join the exchange email me at
mechele.barrow@gmail.com.
Please include in the email your name, state and blog/class website. I will then send you a conformation email. If a reply isn't made within several days, I will select the next person available.

We still need participants from the following states:

Postcard Exchange Update

We need 19 states to compete the postcard exchange. Please view the list of states available. You DO NOT have to have a blog/wiki/ website to participate! If you are participating in another exchange please tell your teacher friends about us! We are needing teachers from the following states:

• Alaska
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Idaho
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

Please feel free to give our postcard exchange a shout out on your blog!

For more information about The Great Postcard Exchange click HERE.

The Great Postccard Exchange Update

Come and join
"The Great Postcard Exchange"!

Click HERE for more information about The Great Postcard Exchange.

You do not have to have a blog/wiki/ website to participate! If you are participating in another exchange please tell your teacher friends about us! We are needing teachers from the following states:

1. Alaska

2. Connecticut

3. Delaware

4. Idaho

5. Maine

6. Maryland

7. Montana

8. Nevada

9. New Hampshire

10. New Jersey

11. New Mexico

12. North Dakota

13. Oklahoma

14. Rhode Island

15. South Dakota

16. Utah

17. Vermont

18. West Virginia

19. Wyoming

We are going to share ideas that we have and any fabulous finds or ideas for finding postcards.

• Carmen (Kansas) emailed me a great book she found and she even got her local Walmart to donate all of her postcards! Way to go Carmen!
• I have started a board on Pinterest for postcards ideas and activites. You can find that by clicking on Pinterest Postcard Ideas and Activities.

Please email me at mechele.barrow@gmail.com if you are interested in participating in The Great Postcard Exchange or have any ideas or activities that you would like to share with everyone!

The Great Postcard Exchange Update

Come and join
"The Great Postcard Exchange"!

Click HERE for more information about The Great Postcard Exchange.

We have the following states available:

• Alaska
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Idaho
• Maine
• Maryland
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
  
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
  
• Utah
• Vermont
• West Virgina
• Wyoming

Please email me at mechele.barrow@gmail.com if you are interested in participating in The Great Postcard Exchange!

A special thank you to Kirsten from Ladybug Teacher files for posting the first four videos on creating a classroom blog. I can't wait to see the rest of the tutorials. I am learning so much from her.

Postcard Exchange

Do you want to participate in a postcard exchange? I do!! Well, I was late to the party over at Primary Graffiti and my state was already taken. So I took Cheryl's advice and I am going to begin another exchange.


A postcard exchange is where 50 teachers (one from each of our great states) agrees to have their students write and mail the postcards out to the other participants.




You will need 50 postcards. Mail out 49 postcards, keep one for yourself. You will need to purchase postcards and stamps.





I would like to open the exchange to all teachers who have a blog, website, wiki or any other means to share postcard exchange updates, pictures, etc... Don't worry if you don't have a blog yet. Kristen from Ladybug Teacher Files has done some wonderful tutorials on how to get a classroom blog started very quickly. This can be your opportunity to start one! I would like for all participants to be able to share in some form and a blog is super easy!


The exchange will be open on a first come, first serve basis. All participants should mail out their postcards by the end of October. The deadline is set to allow time for correspondence between participants throughout the upcoming school year. Look HERE to see if your state is available.

I would like for all participants to include an introduction to their classroom and a fact about their state. Please also include a line "want to learn more about ____________, just Skype us at _________" OR "want to learn more about __________, just contact us at ___________."

If you would like to join the exchange email me at
mechele.barrow@gmail.com.

Please include in the email your name, state and blog. I will then send you a conformation email. If a reply isn't made within several days, I will select the next person available.

Postcard Exchange Availability 2012-2013

Each state is listed alphabetically. If your state is not taken please send an email to mechele.barrow@gmail.com with your name, state and blog address.

Please note: I will assign the first to email with each of the states available below. I will email a confirmation. If a reply isn't made with several days, I will select the next person available.

This is just a list of who as contacted me first. If your state is in red, then, it has been confirmed and is taken! Sorry:(

State	Blog/Website
Alabama	Barrow's Hodgepodge
Alaska
Arizona	Mrs. DeBono's 5th Grade
Arkansas	Ms. Willis' First Grade
California	I Learned It There First
Colorado	First Things First
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida	Faithful in First
Georgia	The Classic Crafter
Hawaii	Ms. Shiraishi's First Grade
Idaho
Illinois	Thirst for First
Indiana	Mrs. Dillard's First Grade
Iowa	Ms. Fangman's First Grade
Kansas	Exploring Third Grade
Kentucky	Mrs. Burton's Second Grade
Louisiana	Erica's Elementary Excitement
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts	Mrs. Lynch's First Grade Class
Michigan	Mrs. Roose's 1st Grade
Minnesota
Mississippi	KinderBliss
Missouri	Freedom In First
Montana
Nebraska	Ms.Bakers' Class Website
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey	Welcome Aboard First Grade
New Mexico
New York	Kinder By Golly
North Carolina	Hawk's Nest
North Dakota
Ohio	Ms. Garber's Classroom
Oklahoma
Oregon	Shannon Jones
Pennsylvania	Ms. Kennedy's First Grade
Rhode Island
South Carolina	First Grade Escapades
South Dakota
Tennessee	Kinder Kraziness
Texas	Little Miss Kindergarten
Utah
Vermont
Virginia	The First Grade ELL Jungle
Washington	The Accidental Mom, Runner, Teacher...
West Virginia
Wisconsin	First Grade Blessings
Wyoming