Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!!

Woo-hoo!!  It's here!  It's finally time to reveal the fantastic fun taking place over at iTeachSecond!
We know how hard it is to be a teacher - and how rewarding!  We take on the craziness of testing, the difficulties many of our students have both at home and in school, the endless paperwork and the loooong days... all because teaching means something to each and every one of us - and to every one of our students.

So to celebrate you for taking on one of the hardest and most rewarding professions - and doing it with a passion! - my bloggy friends and I over at iTeachSecond have put together a giveaway perfect for ANY teacher!

That's right - you can win one of 4 $25 gift cards - one to Target, Starbucks, Amazon or Teachers Pay Teachers.  And it is sooo easy to enter!  Just head on over to iTeachSecond and enter using the rafflecopter.  (You can click the image above to jump over!) That's it!  Winners will be announced on Sunday May 3!

Now, just to get you thinking... what could you use those wonderful gift cards for?  Once again, the bloggers over at iTeachSecond have you covered!

Before we begin, I have to be honest.  The Starbucks gift card doesn't do it for me. Not only is the nearest Starbucks about 30 minutes away, but I don't drink coffee.  So no ideas from me on that one.  And while I know I can find something anytime I go to Target, that's also not the one I like the most.  My go-to shopping spot is Amazon. (Love that Amazon Prime, too! And I am not affiliated in any way with Amazon. These opinions are my own.)

I walked around my classroom and tried to think about what would be some new and exciting ideas to share from Amazon.  Books, of course, are always on my list.  But these two green buckets hold two of our favorite classroom items.

Let's start with the Hot Dots.  My kiddos LOVE them!  We have the subtraction and the place value sets.  I have them as a math center right now, but I also use them as an early finisher activity and as morning work. (the pens and the cards are sold separately.)

Kids figure out the answer and then touch the black dot that has their answer.  If it is correct, the pen lights up and makes noise (it's quiet and not too distracting!).  For an incorrect choice the light is red and a different sound is made.

If I won that gift card I would definitely add more card sets to our collection!

Next up are the Boogie Boards.  We use these for all sorts of things!

I have a set of 6 in my room.  They are link a dry erase board but without the dusty mess!  Students write with the stylus (or their finger!) and press the button at the top and the board erases. I use them during book groups, small group math, to write a quick idea of explanation for a student (or for them to write it for me!).... the possibilities are endless!  The boards have something like 50,000 erase cycles before the battery dies.  It can't be replaced, but by then it would be worth purchasing another board!

Oh - and one more quick thing!  I am absolutely IN LOVE WITH my Quirky stapler! I blogged about this before, but I just can't tell you how great this guy is!

So there you have it! If you gave me the Amazon gift card.. I would have NO problem spending it - and then some!  And if you're looking for more ideas of how to spend those gift cards, you can check out the linky below and visit some of the other bloggers from iTeachKinder, iTeachFirst and iTeachSecond and see what they would buy. And don't forget to head over to iTeachSecond to enter the giveaway!

An InLinkz Link-up