It's hard to believe that it's back to school time...and there is so much to do to get our classrooms and our "selves" ready for the rush of the first days of school. I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with a quick back to school photo show! Once things settle down, I promise to get back into the routine of real blogging! Although this post isn't a real classroom "reveal", I ... Read the Post
Back to School Ideas: Reader Tips!
Looking for some great back to school ideas? Today is my FIRST installment of "Reader Tips", a new feature on my blog where I work to collect some of the GREAT expertise from my readers on a certain topic. My first question was simply a request for back to school ideas and tips--and I think you'll agree with what you read below! Tips about building classroom culture... Jessica from ... Read the Post
What Refreshes Me As a Teacher….
OK...let's be honest. We work in a highly stressful field. (Sorry if this is news to you...Maybe stop reading now...) We have to be "on" from the minute we walk through the door until the minute we leave. We go home and think about our students...about our planning...about the events of the day...about tomorrow...about the immense responsibility placed upon us. We lay in bed ... Read the Post
Puzzling Start!
Early in the year I like to give my students time to revisit some of the work quality expectations along with a little bit of fun, and using "puzzles" has been something I have done for years! To begin, I teach a little lesson about what it means to do quality presentation-worthy work. We brainstorm a list that includes everything from using pencil before you color, cut carefully, color ... Read the Post
Day 1 in the books!
Just thought I'd post a little bit about my first day back with students--and I think I can summarize it in just a few words. I am so exhausted. My throat hurts. HA! I'll bet a few of you are in the exact same boat. We spent the day starting to get to know each other... And I thought I would share one of the most fun moments of the day! We started the day in a community ... Read the Post
Ready or not–here they come!
I spent the morning at school trying to finish up last minute details before heading into the weekend, and arrived at school only to find out that I got another new student. Isn't that always the case? So--new line order list. New locker list. New name tags. New bulletin board labels. I guess I'm glad I went in today or I would be frantically doing it Tuesday ... Read the Post
Meet the Teacher and Deja Vu Again and Again
Every year it's the same thing. I promise myself that I will be ready for Meet the Teacher (2 pm on our work day) and I have everything put away and be sitting calmly at my desk working on lesson plans. Every. Single. Year. And every single year I fail. This was going to be different, however. I had some new systems in place, I had left my room in ... Read the Post