As teachers, we know the importance of getting to know our students, their interests, learning styles, preferences, and families. Getting to know your students is important for building relationships, which leads to stronger classroom management and higher levels of engagement. Knowing your students also helps you create learning opportunities that even your most ... Read More
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Free Digital Back to School Math Activities
One of the most important parts about back to school is getting students back into the routine of learning AND giving them multiple chances to get to know and interact with one another. One way we do this every year is through traditional back to school activities. You can also do this digitally! This post shares two of my favorite digital math back to school activities ... Read More
Beginning of the Year Math Interest Survey Activities
Math can be quite the polarizing subject for many students once they get in 4th and 5th grades. Some students love it and are confident, and some need a little (or a lot of) extra support and encouragement to engage with and enjoy math. It is so important that we get to know our students and their beliefs about math as soon as we can. These free digital math interest ... Read More
Free Digital Reading Interest Surveys
One of my favorite things as a teacher is getting to know my students as readers. One of our jobs as teachers is to engage even our most reluctant readers in books and texts that they enjoy. The first step to do that is to get to know your readers and one way to do that is by using reading interest surveys, But, the same old survey-style worksheets just don't seem to ... Read More
Teaching Empathy and Perspective in Grades 4-5 (Free Activities)
Empathy is very important for students and adults to have. I strongly believe that empathy is one of the most important "soft skills" that teachers can cultivate and grow in children. The ability to have empathy for others saves a lot of conflict and negative feelings from both sides...the person receiving empathy and the person giving empathy. Because I feel so strongly ... Read More
Free Back to School Math Activities
One of the best parts about the beginning of the school year is having the time to get to know our students and their interests, including their interests in different subjects. I love using activities that allow me to get to know my students' interests as well as their math skills. This post shares my favorite back to school math activities for grades 4-5 (free download ... Read More
Tips and Activities for Teaching Procedures
How you start your year off can really make a difference in the success of your year. Teaching procedures effectively those first few weeks of school is so important (second only to building relationships and setting high expectations for behavior). On this post, I will share lots of tips and activities to help you create and teach your classroom procedures, including ... Read More
Amazon Prime Day Deals for Teachers
Amazon Prime Day is over for 2019 but will be back in 2020! If you are a teacher and love Amazon shopping, keep reading because I have taken the top 10 best selling items during the sale and listed them below. I love seeing what other teachers are buying for their classrooms. And you never know, they may go on sale again throughout the year. This post contains ... Read More
Free Back to School Activities for Grades 3-5
Each year, I like to incorporate a few new back to school activities during those first few days of school. However, I do have some tried and true favorites that I pull out year to year (or have on standby if we have extra time). On this post, I will share some of my favorite printable back to school activities (with a link to download them for free!). I "Mustache" ... Read More
Free Back to School Reflection Activity
My favorite back-to-school activities are the ones that get students up and moving and/or have them talking and sharing with others. This post will share a free back-to-school reflection activity that has both of those qualities (depending on how you use it). About the Back to School Reflection Questions This free back to school reflection activity (available to ... Read More
First Day of School Activities for Morning Work (Free Printables)
The first day of school is always an exciting time (and sometimes scary time ;) ). My first principal would always say that we couldn't leave the day before the first day until we had that first day of school activity ready and waiting on the desks for the students. I still remember and follow this advice after ten years of teaching. Having a task for students to do right ... Read More
Reading Notebooks in 4th and 5th Grade
One of the things I do every year that really makes a difference in my students' learning is having them use notebooks to store notes, examples, work, and basically house all of the learning they have done that year. Having these notebooks makes it so easy to spiral content because the students have a ready-made resource to refer back to. On this post, I will share how I ... Read More
