Wow, what a blur this last two weeks has been! My fifth graders are a blast, but I must admit that I am pulling every classroom management trick out of my pocket to keep this super talkative bunch focused! Today I’m going to share with you two things that I do every morning to get the kids working right away, and to keep us on schedule! 1. Self Starts: When the students come in every morning, they know to expect {Read More}
Self Starts, Lunch Choice and Attendance Management and a Glass Magnet Tutorial
September 9, 2012 by 5 Comments
I’m Done, Now What? Early Finisher Activities
September 2, 2012 by 2 Comments
Ahh. There’s the question we all hear- probably at least once a day. When I’m walking around helping individual students, or working with a small group during reading workshop or centers, every student that needs to know ‘What to do now?’ is interrupting valuable teaching time. For a while my students had three pretty generic options if they were early finishers:1.)Read2.)Draw3.) Finish any other unfinished work I soon realized that this time could be put to better use! So by {Read More}
My Blank Classroom Canvas!
September 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
I shared in my last post that I was recently thrown into a 5th grade teaching position at the last minute! Well, not really thrown, I CHOSE to accept it. But it was last minute, nonetheless! I promised before and after pictures, and I plan to deliver!But today, you only get to see the ‘before’. Once the ‘After’ is perfected, I’ll post those pics too! The view from the hallway door, looking towards the back door. My desk and closet {Read More}
SOS! New job assignment and school starts in 2 days! Help!
August 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Hey everyone! I am always amazed at the twists and turns my life takes when I least expect it, and these last few days exemplified that!I have yet to share my current teaching position on this blog. That is because I took off the last two years to stay home with my now-two-year-old daughter. This summer I have been applying for jobs both with my previous local school district, and with two online schools. The goal was to secure a {Read More}
A Quick, Healthy, Delicious on-the-go lunch for the School Year!
August 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Hey everyone! One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is getting my diet in order. It seems like every school year, I have two problems: 1. I never have time to sit and eat well-rounded lunch. I mean, c’mon. We all know that every minute of our short lunch period is precious time that is usually spent prepping rather then eating. I always find myself eating a non-sufficient granola bar while running around my classroom getting things ready {Read More}
5 DIY Teaching-Partner Appreciation Gift Ideas for Back to School
August 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Today I was thinking about my old teaching partner Jill, and how she always made the cutest gifts for each member of our teaching team to kick off the new school year. I’ve always seen a ton of super cute teacher appreciation gifts posted on mommy blogs and Pinterest, and with a couple tweaks, I think these are also perfect for making a fun and hopefully useful gift for your fave teaching partner bestie or co-worker! And we all know {Read More}
Ink Removal Tutorial and a Back-to-School {Freebie} !
August 7, 2012 by 2 Comments
I’ve been hard at work creating my Back-to-School Challenger/”I’m Done Now What” Packet for my TPT store. And a bit later in this post, I can’t wait to share a Freebie from that packet with you. But first- a slightly off topic tutorial. Yesterday I left my 2-year-old at home with her Daddy while I went out grocery shopping. I came home to this piece of “artwork” on my NEW white micro-suede couch: Yes. Let’s all collectively gasp while we {Read More}
“A Little More About Me” Linky
July 31, 2012 by 9 Comments
Hello friends! Today is my birthday! I couldn’t think of a better day than today to link up with Amy Lemon’s “Tell me More, Tell me More” Linky party! And because I’m the new blogger on the block, this is a great way to introduce myself! So let’s get down to it…and I will start by introducing you to the two most important people in my life: 1. I have an amazing boyfriend named Justin. We met online! He’s tall, {Read More}
Swimmer’s Ear? and Terrific Teaching Tools for your Home Office!
July 29, 2012 by 7 Comments
Today I am linking up with Mrs. Castro’s Class to talk about Totally Terrific Teacher Tools that I have at home. But FIRST, I have to tell you about my “Swimmer’s ear”. *sigh* *poor me* Last night at 10pm we hightailed it home from camping in beautiful Cascade, Idaho. Why did we go home at that late hour? Let me count the reasons! 1. My almost two-year old did not appreciate going to bed at 8pm in a tent where {Read More}
Keep a ‘You Time’ Drawer {Freebie}
July 26, 2012 by 5 Comments
As teachers we are surrounded all day long by 30 something children. On any given day, two or three of those students may be needing something, when your principal walks in for an impromptu evaluation, a parent emails you requesting a conference that day, and if your life is anything like mine, you were probably running late to work that day because you couldn’t get your toddler to eat breakfast that morning! It’s times like these that I take those {Read More}
