My Limo Ride

I am dead set against fundraisers in schools that involve children selling things. The items are overpriced and the school gets very little - usually less than $5 per item. In that case, I would rather write the school a $5 check.

My daughter's church youth group had an excellent fundraiser. They send home a small styrofoam cup with a lid. On the outside, they taped a label with instructions to fill the cup with loose change and return by a certain date, along with information about the reason for the fundraiser. We spent a couple of weeks filling that cup with spare change and ended up with over $20! How's that for a fundraiser? And every child can be involved with that because it's just change, right?

Well, my school did a fundraiser earlier in the year. (I can't believe 1/3 of the school year is over already, and I can talk about things that happened earlier in the school year) The kids got certain rewards for selling a certain number of items. One of the rewards was a ride in a limo to a restaurant for lunch. How exciting! I had several students going, so I got to ride in the limo, too.

I've never ridden in a limo!

As a first-timer, a did it up big. I wore a boa and dark glasses and brought some for my students. We took pictures and had a fabulous time. We got to be celebrities for a couple of hours.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt I needed to write about my experience.

When I stepped into the limo, I imagined the world would look different. But it didn't. The grass was still brown and dying. The same buildings and trucks and people lined the street. A limo doesn't change the world. And I imagine that any number of fine things wouldn't either. It's how you look at your world that makes a difference.

God Bless!

Jayna

New Product on Teacher Pay Teachers

I just added a new product on teachers pay teachers. It's another original song...well, 6 original verses added to 2 verses of a Barney & Friends song. "If All the Raindrops" can be purchased here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/If-All-the-Raindrops

Why do we have to pay for it? Why can't you just post it here?

Because I'm a starving teacher AND a starving writer for Pete's Sake! I would have to go and pick two of the most underpaid professions in the free world. So this teacher/writer a bone, would ya?

Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Jayna

Teachers Pay Teachers

Awhile back, I joined Teachers Pay Teachers. It's a site where teachers can post their original songs, worksheets, spreadsheets, printables, and more. You set the price, and others can buy your products. It's been so long that I had forgotten about it, but I got my first sale! Whoo-hoo! Follow the link below to order your copy of my original song, "Letters on the Bus."

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Letters-on-the-Bus

And keep checking for more products. I'm pumped now!

Jay

Endorsement for The Writing Claw!

Last year, I order a set of writing claws for my students who had pencil grip issues. They are amazing. The owner sent me an email, asking me to review the product. I happily obliged, and I just discovered today that my review is posted on their website. Check it out:

http://writingclaw.com/NewTestimonials.aspx

If you haven't tried them, I would highly recomment them. They aren't expensive and you get a bunch. I shared with a couple of other teachers.

Let me know what you think.

Jay

Featured at the Institute for Children's Literature

I am so thrilled! Thanks to a heads up from some new blog readers, I discovered that one of my blog entries was featured in the Children's Writer's eNews from the Institute for Children's Literature (ICL), also known as Jan Field's Rx List for ICL. This is really special to me because I didn't request to be featured in the newsletter. My blog was "discovered" and rewarded for its merit. It's nice to know that people are really reading my blog and that I truly do have something to offer others. This also explains the recent surge in membership to my Yahoo! Group. Thanks everybody!!! Below, I have copied and pasted the part of the newsletter that has my feature.

Children's Writers eNews
September 11, 2008
"The Write Words to Read"
The Institute of Children's Literature
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you're not scared, you're not writing.... A state of anxiety is the writer's natural habitat."
--Ralph Keyes, The Courage to Write (Henry Holt and Company, 1995)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
1. News For You: Chat is Back!
2. New: "Attention to Detail" with Bev. Cooke
3. Vintage Goodie
4. Next Guest Speaker Event
5. Come Hang Out in Chat
6. A Blog Worth Reading
7. An Agent List
8. Article
9. Critique News
10.Good News

Lucky #7 is mine and here's the rest:

7. Agent List

This lady has created a list of children's writing agents who are accepting queries.http://delynfisherromance.blogspot.com/2008/03/gift-for-you-writers.html This one is for everyone who has asked how you find a list of agents for children's writers.

All I can say is, "WOW!" Thanks and glad I could be of service.

Please visit my writing blog to see the list: www.delynfisherromance.blogspot.com

Jay

Author/Teacher Laura English Gives Me a Shout Out!

Teacher and Author, Laura English, posted a little ditty about yours truly on her blog, Expressing Myself, and I thought I would post it here. If you would like to actually see the photos of her cards, then follow this link: http://lenglish07.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/more-kindergarten-ideas/

Laura writes...

"From a forum that I joined on lulu.com another teacher shared her blog:

http://www.kindergartenkaraoke.blogspot.com. She shares her ideas of what she does in her kindergarten classroom. Well I really liked how she uses the free products you can get from vista.com. So I decided to use one of her ideas as well as come up with one on my own. I used the 250 free business to make a discipline card (idea thanks to the blog above) and then I used the 100 free postcards to send home to the parents to let them know during a certain nine weeks what their child is having trouble learning so they can help them at home. So for those products I only spent $8.50 on shipping. So not bad!

So I am excited to have found this other teacher’s blog to give me these fabulous ideas! I think it’s great when teachers put their ideas out there so that others can view what they have done and utilize it in their classroom setting if it pertains to them. It truly is fantastic and I definitely love to share!"

Right back atcha, Babe!

XOXO
Jay

Week 1 Graph

Boy / Girl Graph

I got this graph idea from www.jmeacham.com, but I altered it for my purposes. Mine is done using construction paper circles in various skin tones. The students drew their faces on the circles. This year, I have twice as many girls than boys!!