Most Amazing FREE App...EVER!!

So, I cannot hide it - I was TOTALLY excited to log on to my blog this evening and find that it has reached 200 followers!  Yippee!  (Yeah, yeah, I know that's nothing compared to so many of you out there, but it makes me feel special.)  Thank you to those of you who take the time to read my posts...that I randomly write, hehe.  :)

 

Anyway, I have 1.5 hours to post something new before April officially concludes.  One of my New Years resolutions was to blog at least once a month and I was doing well...until April came around.  So here it goes!

 

 

There are many things I would love to share with you right now, but the one I am probably most excited about is a new app that I recently came across called "booksapp."  You can click HERE to read more about the app on its website.  There is also an introductory video for those visual learners out there.  (Apparently, there is also a "booksapp2," but my phone does not seem to have that version.)  It is an app for your phone that allows you to very easily and quickly organize a list of your classroom library and/or personal collection of books.  There are so many AMAZING features about this app, but I will share my favorites:

 

1 - The app is on your phone, so you can access it anywhere...school, home, Barnes and Noble...you name it!

 

 

(This is what the "home" screen looks like...very simple.)

2 - The app does all the work for you!  Seriously...it has a built in scanner and all you have to do is scan the bar code on that back and all the information for the book pops up, including the title, author, publisher, number of pages, the dimensions of the book, a picture of the front cover...anything you can think of!

 

 

3 - You can tag each book by subject area.  Now this part I LOVE!  So when I am unit planning and I am wondering, "What books do I have that teach...say...numbers 1 through 10?"  I can go to the subject area that I have called "Numbers" and all my number books will pull up.  A-MA-ZING, I tell you.

 

 

(These are some of the subject areas I have created so far.  Haha!  Nevermind my reflection in the phone.)

 

4 - Do you lose track of what books you own?  I sure do.  I often find myself browsing at Half Price Books, spy a favorite book, and then ask myself, "Do I have this book already?"  You can type in the title of a book in the search or "filter" feature and it will let you know if you have that book or not.

 

 

(This is my book list so far.  I have lots of books to scan yet!  Do you see that white rectangle at the top?  If your eyes are good, you might even be able to read "Filter" inside the box.  Anyway, that is where you search for books.)



 

5 - Do you see that link that says "Lend book" in blue?  If you borrow a book out to someone, there is a feature on this app to make a note of that.  Someone was definitely thinking here!!

 





 

 

6 - It is 100% FREE!!

 

Seriously...I am in love!  <3

 

Okay, one more random picture.  Last month, I wrote about some things I was doing for Spring Open House and I talked about the raffle I was having for kids who showed up with their parents.  I noted that one of the prizes was a t-shirt that said, "Proud Student of Janes Elementary School."  Well, that cool t-shirt now has an owner and I asked him if we could take a picture together.  This kid is a superstar for sure...I wish every teacher had a kiddo like this guy in their class.  :)  (If only I could show his sweet face...)

 

 

And I am done...with 1 hour to spare.  ;)  As always, thanks for stopping by.

 

Creating a Cozy Library

Are you looking for an easy way to create a more inviting and cozy classroom library?  Here is an easy tip:  include baskets of stuffed animals.  I added stuffed animals to our classroom library this year and my kids love it!  Our school year started on July 11th and, of course, I had some little ones who were apprehensive about this whole Kindergarten-thing.  The stuffed animals were handy when it came to getting them into the room.  We read Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney on this first day of school and talked about how Llama Llama carried around a stuffed animal to make him feel better and then I offered them to my kiddos, too.

BONUS!  Keep an eye our at Kohl's Department Store, since they frequently carry inexpensive ($5.00) literature-based stuffed animals, such as Clifford, Llama Llama, etc.  You can check out what they currently have available by clicking HERE!  And to make it even better, your money spent goes towards a good cause.  Yay!  (Barnes and Noble also has literature-based stuffed animals, but they are more costly.  Keep an eye out for when they are sent into the 50% bins!)

Big Book Storage

Do you have an overwhelming amount of Big Books in your classroom and not enough space to store them?  Well, here is an idea that will keep your Big Books organized and within easy access for your students.  I purchased this rolling rack for clothes at Target (I want to say it was $10 or $20, but it was so worth it).  I also purchased clothes hangers with clips.  I prefer the kind that have rubber on the clips, since those grip the Big Books better.  Anyway, I put the rolling rack together as normal, but I did not include the top poles.  I have also seen teachers use tall laundry baskets.  I bet those work well, too.

Hot Reads!

If your students are anything like mine (which I am sure they are), they will often ask you, "Teacher, can I read that book that you read to us during story time?"  What I used to do is go fetch it from behind my desk (which takes time) and tell them, "This is one of Mrs. Unger's special books, so be VERY careful!"  I am a little over-protective when it comes to the kids reading books that I have purchased with my own money.  Well...I have gotten a lot better about sharing, haha!  I even have a special spot in my room where I display books that I have read during story time.  I use a sign that says "Mrs. Unger's Hot Read!" to help "advertise" the book.  You can find it at my TPT Store and download it for free.  Hopefully you can edit it and change the name...still not sure how TPT works.  I am afraid the fonts and formats aren't downloading the same as they look on my computer.  You'll have to let me know what it looks like on your end!