Here's how to structure your practice session, what to focus on for each piece, and resources you need to have the best practice session ever.

Words Their Way is a wonderful approach to developmental spelling stages. It targets each child and helps teachers to instruct based on individual needs! Pro: I can't say enough good things about it! Con: Organization of WTW can be tough in an elementary classroom. Solution: Read on to find out!! This is a long post but, I assure you, it's worth your time because there are lots of FREEBIES! Organizing Words Their Way! 1. Groups 2. Daily Activities 3. Sort Mats 4. Sort Containers 5. Words Their Way Sort Organization 6. Sort Notebooks 7. Individual Student Charts Keeping groups organized is key! For WTW to be effective and to show growth, you must first administer one of the WTW Spelling Inventories which can be found in the Words Their Way book. I found this AMAZING excel program from Techy-Teacher on Teachers Pay Teachers. You certainly don't have to use any outside excel program but it does make life a bit easier! Whatever you use, you will need to group your students. (All student names have been changed. This is actually all family members!) Now I have my groups ready. Next I put their names into a quick and easy way to help me, on a daily basis, remember groups. It is also very useful if you have someone push into your classroom to help out. Click here to see how I made this folder to help organize flexible groups! At the beginning of the year, all students have the same sort and are working on the same day. I go through the whole process slowly (days 1-5) two or three times. It's not until about week 5 that I have students working independently on different sorts and the groups on different days. Clip Art was purchased from Mrs. Stewart here! Notice students only need a teacher on Days 1 and 5!! (If using Spelling City, find someone who has already typed in all the sorts! It will save you hours of work to simply import lists from another user!) I keep a smaller version of this in their WTW notebook for easy reference! During our morning meeting we go over our daily schedule and WTW schedule. This is displayed in our meeting area. It reads like this: Red group-Sort 34 day 2, Orange group-Sort 15 day 5, Yellow group- Sort WW11 (Within Words Book) day 3, Green group-Sort WW16 day 2, Blue group-Sort WW21 day 4. Click on the picture for your free copy! Sorts are done on little sort mats from the Target Dollar Spot. I simply cut them in half so I need only one pocket chart for two students! You can find these cute Q-tip containers at Walmart for 97 cents! I feel it's kind of expensive to do your whole class but I hoping to get a few years out of them! Plus the added bonus of getting to keep all those Q-tips!! Click the picture for a free copy of the "word work" labels! Just print on 2x4 labels and cut off the sides to fit! Clipart by Ashley Hughes! I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year getting materials ready. This saves me TONS of time throughout the year. I keep all WTW sort copies in a file cabinet. Most of our sorts come from the Letter Naming (LN) or Within Words (WW) books. The Letter Naming book is red so labels are typed in red. The Within Words book is yellow so the labels are typed in...yep, you guessed it... yellow! Click on the pictures to get a free copy of each! Inside each folder I keep copies of the sort, baggie with sort for teacher discussion day, and a test. *Update: I now include a Words Their Way Home List. The kids are given one when we start the sort and I suggest putting it right on their refrigerator! Click here for a post on how I use these! I find it much easier to keep all of their paperwork in one place. I ask students to turn in their notebooks after day 5 so I can check them. This saves on the amount copies you make to keep the program running smoothy! The colored dot helps the kiddos remember what group they are in! Click on picture for your free copy of notebook labels! Individual student graphs are a must! These graphs are intended to be colored in by each student and kept in their data folders or for the teacher to keep one class binder and fill it out each time an assessment is given. I actually plan on doing both this year! Click on the picture to check them out! I hope you have enjoyed this rather long post (and the freebies) about organizing Words Their Way! I would love to hear any tips you might have on using and organizing Words Their Way! Words My Way Data Recording Charts (Second Edition) Words My Way Letter Name-Alphabetic Spellers Home Lists Words My Way Within Word Pattern Spellers Home Lists Words My Way Syllables and Affixes Spellers Home Lists Words My Way Data Recording Charts (Third Edition)

Have you ever noticed what chance has a given number to start with the digit 1? Does the digit 1 has the same probability to be a leading digit as 9? To let you know that the leading numbers of a…

Im Grunde ist Husten ein wichtiger Schutzmechanismus: Wer hustet, stößt mit bis zu 480 Kilometern pro Stunde Luft aus, um Schleim, Staub und andere Fremdkörper aus den Atemwegen zu entfernen. ...

Today’s a New Moon and of course, the energies have me ready to work, organize, and spread the LOVE. New Moons asks us to go within, peel back the layers of our past and deal with issues that…

The Essential Checklist: How To Start A Life Coaching Business How To Become A Life Coach This is one of the most frequent questions I get. How do I start my coaching business from scratch? Or I’m overwhelmed, how to do I start in becoming a life coach? I've created a free checklist you can use so you don't miss a step. >>> Download Your Checklist <<< If you start to feel overwhelmed about all these steps remember that as you start a business many of these steps you only ever need to do once! #1: Take training from a reputable school and consider becoming certified. There are many icf accredited training programs. The international coaching federation icf is one of the governing bodies in the life coaching industry Check out this blog post on how to become a professional coach.#2: Log as many hours as you can. Both free and paid. The more you coach the more skilled you will be. Keep track of the number of hours you coach.#3: Get organized (paper and/or electronic tools). You will need a calendar, a way to invoice your clients, an agreement with payment and cancellation policies, a welcome package, discovery and completion paperwork. To make a professional impression on your clients, and save time and energy, grab your 8 Must-Have Forms for Your Coaching Business here. #4: Get good at doing sample sessions. This is where most new coaches get new clients. They offer a complimentary 20 or 30-minute session to a potential new client with the intent on deciding whether they are a match and to ask them to be a client. #5: Find people to offer a sample session to.#6: Establish your rates and signature packages. #7: Learn how to market your services. There are many options to choose from, use the platform(s) which will give you the most access to your tribe. Some ideas, your website, blog, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn), in person, public speaking, workshops, conferences and networking events. Choose 2 or 3 platforms and master them. It's better to leverage your chosen platforms instead of inefficiently dabbling in all of them.#8: Successful professionals learn how to ask for referrals.#9: Decide on your coaching niche (the problem you help clients solve).#10: Decide on your target market or ideal client (your tribe, who you help).#11: Have a professional looking website.#12: Set short and long-term goals for your business. When you're thinking of the next steps you need to ask yourself what do I want my business to look like in 5 years? In 1-year? What is my business model? Do I want to work with people full or part-time?#13: Treat your business like a business, not like a hobby and you will build your business more effectively.#14: You are a business owner. Allocate time to work ON your business and time to work IN your business. Working on your business will be marketing, paperwork, networking. Working in your business is when you work with clients i.e. doing sample sessions and coaching.#15: Register your business with your local provincial, state or federal agency.#16: Establish your leadership team. This may sound strange since you’re just starting out but it’s better to know who your trusted resources are before you’re in a tough situation and need help. In some cases you will only need a short meeting, in other cases, you might outsource it to one of your favourite service shops or use an online outsource agency (like Fiverr or Upwork). Depending on your skill set you may fill one or more of these roles. The resources you will need: Legal (a quick consultation to set your business up in the most favourable way) Accountant (understand what you can and cannot write off, the potential for income splitting, how best to plan your finances and structure your company) Virtual Assistant (a good VA can do the administrative stuff faster and for a very reasonable cost, which may free you up to find more clients) Marketing IT (A good backup plan for when your computer crashes before a big presentation or maybe you need a quick repair or a loaner) Business Coach will save you time and money #17: Keep track of your costs and how much money you earn.#18: Set up a business bank account.#19: Create and use a secure and confidential filing system (electronic or paper) where you keep track of your clients. If you’re overwhelmed about all these steps there is good news. Many of the steps you only ever need to do one time. If you like this kind of training, I've created a free checklist you can download immediately so that you don't miss a step >>> The Essential Checklist To Start A Successful Coaching Business <<<

Organize-Along Week 4 Welcome to week 4 of the Bee Sew Inspired - Organize Along! This week we are organizing your Tools of the Trade! This includes rulers, scissors, glues, needles, pins etc... In the private Facebook groups and the Bee Sew Inspired YouTube Chanel, I share a few ideas on ways to inspire you to organize your tools and keep them and you safe! I am even going to link a FREE tutorial for a fun Mason Jar pin cushion!!! Thank you for being part of the Organize Along! It is FREE a

America had Al Capone. Sydney had Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine - who *hated* each other.

Where does Kanban come from and what are its basic steps? Find out with this handy 1-pager by Roland Wolters.

For this Teacher Tuesday I'm showing you my music stand that I keep at the front of the room when I'm teaching. It is my command center during the day- I really only touch my desk before and after school. Maybe during lunch if I'm lucky. I try to keep it uncluttered and sorted so I can grab what I need without missing a beat during class. On the stand itself I have three things that are always there: a magnetic clock/stopwatch/timer, my class schedule, and a clipboard with all my seating charts on it. I got the clock in the kitchen section because my wall clock is not where I can see it when I am teaching most of the time. It has come in handy as a timer and stopwatch too though, and it's easier to see at a glance than a wall clock anyway! I made a condensed version of my class schedule with the start and end times, laminated it, and put little magnet dots on the back so I could reference that whenever I need to. I find that I sometimes get lost in the lesson and can't remember when I'm going to need to stop! The clock and the schedule help me stay on track throughout the day. On my clipboard I have my seating charts for each class. At the beginning of each day I get out the ones I will be using that day and put them in order, so that as I teach a class I can put it at the back and have the next one ready to go. I write down EVERYTHING on the seating charts. Besides the obvious seating assignments, I also have space to jot down grades for informal assessments, part assignments (if I want them to continue working on the same part of a song next class), who has played those instruments everyone wants (like the bass xylophone), notes about the class as a whole, behavior notes tracking (more on that another day...), and anything else I want to remember about a student or class. By the end of each trimester those things are chock-full and pretty worn down, but it is the best system for me for sure! I don't like to have to stop class for even a second to pull out a grade-book, list, or other chart. And I don't want to have to go looking for something when I need information in the middle of class unexpectedly. It's also handy for parent conferences, because it's easy for me to find everything I need about a particular student to talk to parents. Plus I'm more likely to remember where Johnny in Ms. Smith's 2nd grade class sits than what Johnny's last name is- so it's better to have that information by seating rather than alphabetically. **You can download the seating chart I use for free here or get a set of seating charts in several class sizes and configurations here!** Then we have the make-shift organizer that hangs down from the stand. It's actually one of those cheap aprons from Home Depot. I had seen people using them on the backs of student chairs to hold books and supplies, and bought one to see if they would work in my room. Although I decided against using them for the student chairs, it was a perfect solution for my music stand! Ever have your projector remote sitting on the stand, pick up the clipboard and set it back down on top of the remote, and then spend 10 minutes trying to find the remote? Maybe that's just me... In any case this really helped with that problem! Now all the other bits and pieces I used to keep on the music stand are in one of the two pockets of the apron. On the left, we have my projector remote and infared pen (for my DIY interactive whiteboard). I use both of them frequently during class but they are constantly either getting lost behind my clipboard or falling off the stand. Now they have their own space where they don't bother anyone :) I keep all of my behavior management-related things on the right side. I wrote about my letter system in this post on behavior management. The extra letters (for if they earn letters beyond the original word) are in this pocket. I also have my behavior slips and happy notes and a pencil for students to use to fill it out during class if needed. It's very poorly-made, but I had some leftover fabric from another project that was just the right size, so I hot-glued it over the front to cover the Home Depot logo (and make it look a little less apron-y). Someday I may go back and spray paint it or something, but for now it's functional and cute enough to not bother me too much when I use it :) Do you keep a music stand at the front of the room? What things do you have on it and how do you organize all of your stuff? Leave a comment below or come join the conversation on facebook by clicking on the link in the header!

Ever find yourself struggling to remember Kanban terminology? Forget the struggle of setting up your new board with this Kanban cheat sheet!

DECATUR — As a young girl, Edwardsville resident Snail Scott liked to play with her crayons, but in a way as unconventional as her own name. Instead of seeing them

Most design schools make it mandatory for a student to do at least one project that revolves around disaster aversion and management. There are a lot of project

This 30 day organizing challenge will help you organize your life and house. Grab your free 30 day organizing printable challenge today that'll help you declutter your home and life!

The wedding procession, or entrance of the bridal party, occurs in a certain order that culminates with the bride. The bridal procession begins after all guests

Papers and photos and sticky notes, oh my! Tame your family history research chaos with tips on getting started. Plus, a free genealogy organization ebook!

Sarah demonstrates how to print the appliqué shapes on the stabilizer and how to use them for machine appliqué.

The #1 mistake people make trying to organize their photos is to go about the process in the wrong order! You have to follow this system to organize well!

Stains - at some point we will all get some in our clothing, our carpets and even on furniture. So how can we get rid of these? This char...

Discover how to set up bullet journal meal planning spreads that'll help yout to feed your family healthier, save time and stay on a budget.

A "modern" Straw Bale home just outside of Sacramento, California. http://images01.olx.com/ui/16/38/56/1318691036_106683256_1-Pictures-of--Lovely-custom-straw-bale-home-Euro-Gourmet-style-24-acres.jpg Building a house out of straw may seem, at first, like a foolish idea. However, over the past couple of decades, there has been a steady increase in Straw Bale homes being built, and with it has come better research showing the wisdom of this ancient building material. I am not going to get into the details of construction today. I just want to show the beauty of these energy efficient homes. A modern Straw Bale home under construction. http://www.nachi.org/images10-2/windows-in-straw-bale.jpg http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/pictures%202008/straw-bale-home-hybrid-house-glow.jpg http://www.syncronos.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/straw-bale-house-and-green-building-picture.jpg A modern Staw Bale home with Passive Solar and Solar Photovoltaic design. http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/pictures%202008/entry%20straw%20bale%20house.jpg A Straw Bale "Farmhouse". http://www.syncronos.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/straw-bale-house-and-green-building-picture.jpg Unusual Straw Bale home at the Lama Foundation in Taos, New Mexico http://leicesterexchanges.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/lama-foundation-21.jpg A small, Straw Bale, second "home" in a Berkeley, California backyard. http://blog.whatsnexthomes.com/2011/07/23/live-like-one-of-the-three-little-pigs.aspx A Straw Bale mountain home. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/uploadedImages/articles/daily/2008/2/EarthFlowDesignWorks-straw-bale-house.jpg Very unique Straw Bale home in Pembrokshire, UK http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/straw-homes-461209 A Straw Bale home in Argentina. http://naturalbuild.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/el-trebol-del-monte-yacanto-cordoba-argentina/ A Straw Bale home with Passive Solar design in New Zealand. http://www.builditgreen.co.za/Portals/0/Images/straw%20bale%20house%20finished.jpg The first Straw Bale home in New Zealand. http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoProperty/PropertyPhotoTour.aspx?propertyId=1265&imageIndex=4 Exterior and Interior of Straw Bale home in Oakland, California. http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/1-oakland-straw-home2.jpg Interior of Staw Bale homes can be beautiful! http://images.morris.com/images/cjonline/mdControlled/cms/2007/12/29/229851509.jpg The interior of the Straw Bale home shown at the very top of this article. http://images01.olx.com/ui/16/38/56/1318691036_106683256_1-Pictures-of--Lovely-custom-straw-bale-home-Euro-Gourmet-style-24-acres.jpg Unique floor and ceiling details in the Straw Bale home. http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/apr2_strawbal3.jpg This couple built their Straw Bale home... one thing I love about these structures. http://www.designforward.net/news_diary.jpg Fine finished interior of a Straw Bale home. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/921390003_d42bd63944.jpg Non-conventional is a huge selling point with Straw Bale homes... http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/3/X/1/-/IMG-1549.jpg ...but many Straw Bale builders choose more traditional designs. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1342/922243328_3122ad066a.jpg Deep inset windows are typical with Straw Bale homes. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/79/266169446_af3e9e112d.jpg Exquisite interior of a Straw Bale home in San Luis Obispo, California http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/straw-homes-461209

Explore yesimple's 14 photos on Flickr!

If you’re like me, you have a stash of yarn waiting for the right project. Or yarn that you’re certain you’re just never going to use. I tend to be gifted old yarn collections and sometimes the yarn is just so-so or it’s just not in a color I like. My solution? Give it to […]

Welcome! Hello to you all!! I hope you enjoy your time here at Faith, Grace, Crafts, and that you enjoy seeing my craft room. My name is Doni and I am a lover of all things beautiful and lovely. Pearls, Lace, Vintage Thread and Sewing Notions, Buttons and Rhinestones are my top faves. My room is a mixture of all the things that inspire me and things I love. You might see things stay the same for a long time, or things might be changed often, but I have had SO much fun preparing for the party! This is the third year I have joined Karen at My Desert Cottage for the Where Bloggers Create party and I want to give her a huge thank you for hosting! Be sure and check out the other blogs that have joined! And a huge thank you to each of you who have shared your spaces in the past for the inspiration! I LOVE looking through your spaces and look forward to seeing what y'all have to share this year! Now on to my room! Feel free to PIN! The huge long wall of shelving is my main work space. I have used a door from Home Depot for a table (left side), and an old desk on the right. Storage beneath the table is covered with a thrift find...a pink baby bassinet skirt tacked to the sides! If you were here previously, you might remember that I wanted to change rooms with a larger, lighter room that was the guest room. Well, starting in January, I did just that! Everything was changed from one room to the other! It was a HUGE job, but I'm sooooo glad I did it! The button shelf (below) is dedicated to my vintage rhinestone buttons, favorite regular buttons, and rhinestone bead collections. Many styles, colors, and types are stored in glass jars. Most are small spice jars found at Goodwill and garage/yard sales. The larger jars are jelly jars, cleaned out with labels removed. Free is always good! The little salt cellars are almost all of them from my birthmother's collection! The peach colored one below is from a blog friend in Austrailia! Thank you Melanie at French Blue and Peachy Pink!! It fits perfectly with my collection! OK, enough buttons. How about some other items?? Last year I had many of the items I collect displayed by theme. For example all the threads in glass jars all together. This year I put my items similar color groupings. By the way, my favorite color combination is pink and cream... The next area of interest is my collection of lace trims which are displayed in vintage dresser boxes. They are divided boxes and are perfect for perusing the stash! They sit on top of lovely quilted satin boxes (or glove boxes as they are also known), some matching, others not. Lace trims are some of my favorite things, and I love playing with them. I use them in almost all of my blog posts, and I've recently begun to make fabric and lace collages with them. See my older posts if you are interested in fabric and lace collages! The chair above is the most comfortable chair I own. I have owned it for many years. AND although it lacks in style and has shabby tatty arms, I love it and won't get rid of it. Instead, I have my most favorite and gorgeous piece of floral barkcloth over the back, and some hand-stitched arm doilies displayed. Believe me, it's the best spot in the house! And if you were guessing that these boxes below must have laces in them too, then you were correct!! The wallpaper drawers store my doilies as well as my huge collection of colored seam bindings and tapes in packages. The bottom box of 4 drawers is full of paper flowers! Next we can have a peek at the sewing corner where my machine resides. Above it is my collection of vintage thread cards. I just love these little bits of color! And next to the machine is a shelf full of vintage sewing boxes. Yes, they're full of lace. Mostly. There IS some thread in ONE of them. I have blogged about the drawers of lace in the past and have more to show you in the future! I love these old sewing boxes and would love more!!! But their prices are getting too high... Nadine is the name of my dress form, and I've introduced you to her before here. She is wearing one of my most exciting finds! My husband and I went to an estate sale last spring, and way in the back of the house was a huge trunk. I opened it up, and dove in. Anything with lace on it I grabbed. I noticed the dress (I'm sure the look on my face would have made you all laugh!), and quickly bundled all the pieces together to add to my official "PILE" of objects for purchase. Get this....the whole pile of laces was only 5 bucks!! The musical dress form below is one I made using cardstock printed with old music, then glued to a plastic dress form with Mod-Podge! Thanks to Carol at the Polka Dot Closet and her great tutorials! The tray of pearls (above) has been one of my favorite spots in this room. I did a post about it previously HERE, and still can't make myself do anything different with it! So, the pearls will stay here. There are some other pictures I took of the room, different spots of interest here and there, and I hope that you have spotted some fun and interesting items. This lovely Limoges bowl is from my friend Beverly at Tea Cottage Pretties!...specially picked out for me by her daughters and her!! It's so beautiful. Be looking for a special post about it in the future!! Yes, the door is pink! It has been so wonderful to have you come over to visit me. I hope to see more of you! Please feel free to PIN any of my pictures that you'd like. I have a Pinterest Board full of my favorite pictures that I got from all of YOU!! You all inspire me!! And come back this fall when I will start up Pearls and Lace Thursday again. It's been wonderful to be a part of Where Bloggers Create again this year. Thank you again Karen for such a fun party, and for hosting this awesome event. And again thank you all for coming by!! Blessings to each of you, Doni

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Learning the ways of the frugal can often help you to realize what mistakes you're making in your life. Learn 32 things that frugal people don't do!

Here are a couple printables that are sure to enrich your family and children! Hop over to Creating Better Habits and read my article about how to incorporate them into your family :) I also have some great tips and suggestions about hosting your first Family Council HERE and your first Personal Interview HERE These printables go hand in hand with the teachings of Linda and Richard Eyre- parenting experts who have blessed my family beyond anything I could have ever hoped or imagined. It is their books that got me started on my love (instead of frustration) of Early Childhood Development and all things parenting related. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE DOWNLOAD If you like these, check out my Family Planner printables as well. These go great hand in hand. I keep my Family Council and Interview pages behind the Sunday section so that I remember to do it that day. p.s. if you can't get my free printables to download (for whatever reason) email me (email is under the contact tab above) and I'll send you the PDF's directly.

We focused on graphing this week. We graphed our shoes in different ways and showed how a graph will give the same information horizontally or vertically. We also used link cubes to sort and create a graph based on color and identified which color we had more and less of .

For those who have been following my blog, it's been a full week since I released the post on Depression is For The Weak . ...

How to explain to an unconvinced Christian that homosexuality isn't sinful. [flowchart]

Most of us are lazy, at least some of the time. It’s only natural. Being lazy just means you want to expend as little effort as possible—and who in their

A wonderful list of websites providing free online courses. Click the images to visit the site & find courses right for you! At the start, OpenupEd offered around 40 courses, covering a wide varietyContinue reading

Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here By Jodi Bash The digital age of photos gives us so much to be thankful for. Photos can be edited, shared, deleted, and ordered in a frame at the touch of a button. I am so used to this convenience that when faced with a physical copy of … This May be the Fastest Way Ever to Scan Old Family Photos, and it’s Free Read More »

Disastrously smart.

20 DIY Vintage Suitcase Decorating Ideas to create. Vintage suitcases - for accessorizing a room, extra storage or repurposed into a piece of furniture

These apps, techniques, and habits have helped entrepreneurs manage the heavy workload that comes with starting a business.

Need some fabulous tips for hosting a swap party and organizing clutter? Well, my friend Beth from Unskinny Boppy stopped by to tell you all about it while I'm on vacay in Orlando. Don't be jealous. It's awesome, I know. Thanks so much to Beth for doing my work while I slack, and I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get home. Hey everyone! I'm Beth! I blog at Unskinny Boppy, where I talk about my latest home DIY projects and decorating ideas. I appreciate Jocie giving me the opportunity to take the wheel on the