Diary of a Techie Chick

Digital Savings and More

I have been doing research on saving money through digital coupons. During my research I came across the Procter and Gamble e-Store. I had no idea they had an online store. I had really never thought to look for one either. In the past when I am out of toothpaste, laundry soap, and etc... I just head for the store and purchase what is available.

I browsed their website/e-store and found digital coupons that only worked with their e-store. I looked through what they had to offer and boy did I find a variety of items I wished our small town store would carry. I looked at their e-store coupons, shipping cost, shipping time, and sale items. Then I decided I was going to give this a try. I picked only items that had a e-store coupon and I didn't need right away. I had an e-discount code that gave me 20% off my order plus I met their free shipping requirements. I ended up saving $21 by purchasing my toothpaste, dish soap, and etc... this way. I should receive my oder in 5 to 7 days.

Tips:

Only place an order if you meet their FREE shipping offer.
Pick items that have a coupon or items you can not normally get from your local store.
Check to see if you can find a e-discount code.

S'Mores Kupcake for Kids

Since it is summer time and my favorite memories of summer always ended in making S'Mores. I thought what a better cupcake to try to make. I did a search for s'mores cupcake recipes and found 2 that I liked. I took the decorations from one recipe and the frosting from the other. The proceeds of these cupcakes will also go toward the Kupcakes for Kids school supply drive.

Recipe:

Your favorite chocolate cake mix (eggs, oil, & water)
Mini chocolate candy bars (unwrapped)
Mini gram crackers
4 Sticks of butter (room temperature)
2 cups of powder sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
16 oz jar of marshmallow fluff

Bake cupcakes according to directions (I baked mine without cupcake liners)
In a bowl mix the butter, powder sugar, vanilla, and marshmallow fluff together until nice and creamy.
Place the frosting mix into a piping bag
Swirl some frosting on the cupcakes
Stick a candy bar into the frosting on top of the cupcake
Stick a gram cracker in the frosting next to the candy bar

I had placed each cupcake into a small clear plastic cup before decorating.

4th of July Kupcakes for Kids

My little elves have been very busy baking and decorating 4th of July Kupcake for Kids. Kupcake for kids is a little fundraiser that Epsilon Pi is having to raise funds for school supplies. Since I am one of the happy bakers and I know several people that couldn't make our Vendors Market on July 14th I offered to bake some cupcakes before the actual event with all proceeds going to the Kupcakes for Kids project. Since it is almost the 4th of July I offered to make some 4th of July cupcakes.

Recipe:

Confetti cake mix (3 eggs, oil, & water)
Peel-a-part Twizzlers (cut into 3rds)
Red, White, & Blue Sprinkles
White Fluffy Frosting
Mini American Flag (optional)
Red & Blue Cupcake Liners

Bake cupcakes according to directions
Cool cupcakes
Place Fluffy White Frosting in a piping bag and swirl on some frosting on each cupcake.
Take a Twizzler and pull down the sections half way.
Poke Twizzler into the middle of the cupcake.
Sprinkle some red, white, and blue sprinkles around the twizzler.

Before I decorated the cupcakes I placed each cupcake into a small clear pastic cup.

iPad App Evaluation

With iPads becoming more and more popular in the classroom so has iPad apps. As teachers and even parents we need to stop and think about a few key elements of the apps we are about to either purchase or download for free.

Relevance - What is the relevance of the the app? What is it's focus and is it relevant to the subject and or topic being taught or learned?
Customization - Does this app offer complete flexibility to alter the content and settings to meet the student's needs?
Feedback - Does the app provide any kind of feedback?
Thinking Skills - Does the app encourage any higher order thinking skills, which could include creating, evaluating or analyzing?
Usability - Can the app be launched and operated independently?
Engagement - Does the app highly motivate the student?
Sharing - Can the student share easily share the student's performance or product he or she created?
Common Core - Can this app be used to meet any of the common core standards?

I have created a printable App Evaluation you can download it either in my TPT store or my Teacher Notebook store. Using the App Evaluation you can rate the relevance, customization, and etc... You can also record/rate the instructions, sound, differentiation of the app.