TPT Tips and Tricks & September CCSS Writing

Hello, hello!  It's been a while!  I've finished my second full week of teaching my sweet 2nd graders and my second full week of teaching at the university level as well.  For those who don't know, I also teach EDU 489: Student Teaching Seminar at the university in ALL my spare time...LOL!  But I am surviving and have absolutely fallen in love with teaching the university students.  It is definitely my second passion after teaching my little 2nd graders.

So...I thought I'd write about some little tips and tricks for navigating your downloads and purchases through TeachersPayTeachers.  Take notes :)

First, have you been leaving sweet quality feedback after you purchase an item?  If not, you're missing out - literally!  When you download products, they move to your My Purchases section of the TPT site.  In the My Purchases section, you will see a list of everything you've purchased.  From there, click Provide Feedback beside each of our products.  Each time you leave sweet  quality feedback, you receive TPT Credits.  These TPT Credits can be used towards your next purchase!  Brilliant!  You can find out more about TPT Credits on the TPT site {here}.

Next, the sellers on TPT often get many, many questions regarding the downloads of products.  If you are trying to download a product, open it, and you see blurry or black boxes, this is what you need to do.
  1. Know that this is not the seller's fault or error.  It's an issue on TPT's end at times and an issue on your computer's end at times.  It's easy to fix, so please don't leave poor feedback due to this.
  2. Go to your My Purchases page.
  3. The third paragraph of text will tell you what you need to do to fix this issue.  It's usually just a quick download of the newest version of Adobe Reader.
  4. If you are on a Mac, DO NOT try to open TPT files in Preview.  All TPT files must be opened in Adobe Reader.  To choose the program to open with on a Mac, find your downloaded file, hold down the Control key and click on the file, go to Open With..., and choose Adobe Reader.
  5. If you are still having problems viewing a file and none of the above worked, go to your My Purchases page and look to the right of the screen to find Download Difficulties in RED.  This will direct you to a page where TPT can email you the file or you can Contact TPT for assistance.
  6. Finally, if you still cannot download or open/view a file, go to the bottom of any TPT screen and find Contact Us.  From there, you can Open a Support Ticket and TPT will help you with anything you might be having trouble with.  They usually respond very quickly and are so sweet to work with!
Some buyers also run into the problem of not being able to print the downloaded file, or it only prints half the pages and then stops, or you click File Print and then the icon just spins and spins.  There's an easy fix for this too.  In Adobe Reader click File, Print, then click Advanced, and check the box beside the words Print as Image.  This will help if you're having trouble printing due to large file sizes or files with lots of backgrounds and graphics.

I have to give a shout-out to a very sweet blogger named Linda Kamp from Around the Kampfire.  She just posted a sweet-as-can-be post about me on her blog.  Go check it out {HERE} and go ahead and follow her while you're at it.  She has some great resources and is a super sweet lady too!!

And last, but certainly not least, I am finally finished with the September Common Core Writing Activities.  They follow the same format as my August Common Core Writing Activities.  You can see where I blogged about those {HERE}.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my writing instruction thanks to these nicely aligned writing activities.  My students are loving the real-world connections and are finding it easy fun to write!  I'm lovin' it!  Make sure to hop on over to my TPT store and check them out.  {Click Here} to Download!



Finally, if you haven't "liked" my Facebook Page yet, head on over and follow me there!  I post a little bit more often and give you the heads up on new products and products in the works.  There are even secret giveaways on occassion for all of my Facebook Followers :)  So make sure you follow 2nd Grade Stuff on FB!  

Thanks for stopping by!

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Neon and Bright Classroom Decor

Well, it's done and ready for students!  Take a tour of my classroom below.  It's full of neon and bright classroom decor!  Feel free to pin the vertical picture at the bottom to save for later.

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